Packaging help

[seven]

I am currently torn about how to package my soaps. I mostly do fancy soaps (although i also have a few basic ones), swirls and that, and as much as I like soaps wrapped in real nice paper/label, i find it a bit sad that customers cannot see the inside. As i look for inspirations on the net, i am in awe with those soaps wrapped in fancy papers and i really really want to do something similar.

I have bought blindly before many times. Soaps wrapped in fancy packaging, real nice paper, can't see what's inside. And almost every time as I opened them, the soap is a basic one color, nothing fancy.

Do you think it's more sensible to do transparent packaging (shrink wrap with a simple cigar band) so customers can see my handy work?

OR

Do a really fancy packaging totally covering the soap and sell based on packaging?

Any ideas appreciated.

 

[shunt2011]

I shrink wrap as I too make fancy soaps with lovely swirls and colors and want my customers to see what they are purchasing.

 

[Corinne]

I've chosen to go the route of packaging that covers the bar completely... but since I'm selling at a farmers market I plan to have "samples" out for people to smell/touch/feel. I thought about it a lot and decided on this because I'm going for eco-friendly packaging but didn't want a gaping hole anywhere. So they are closed recycled paper boxes. I'll let you know how it goes when I take them to the market.

Edit: Are you selling them from a farmers market or something else? Because I guess that matters a lot, haha. And maybe if anything you could put some hi-res photos on display wherever you sell them?

 

[dixiedragon]

I don't sell (did 1 tiny craft show last year) but what I did was unwrap a few of each type and have them beside the stack of wrapped bars. I also took a role of tape and scissors with me, so if anybody wanted to inspect before they bought, I could easily open the packaging, then re-tape.

 

[pamielynn]

It is quite a disappointment when the packaging is prettier than the soap. If you want to show off your swirls, go with a transparent box or shrinkwrap and a nice label.

 

[Dorymae]

If you are selling at markets or in person then wrap anyway you want to. At the front of your display have one bar unwrapped in front of the wrapped ones. That is the one people will look at hold, smell, and drop (well hopefully not drop but...). When your done with your show gather your "display soaps" and give them a water bath to get rid of the finger marks etc. Let them dry completely and your ready for your next show.

On the internet selling you can show one bar unwrapped and then done up in your pretty package.

 

[seven]

@shunt2011
makes a lot of sense. i mean, why waste time and energy doing fancy swirls if it ends up covered, right? that was my initial thought too.

@Corinne
we don't have farmer markets here, but i've noticed a few times when customers came to my house they always go to the ones with the transparent packaging. like i said, i'm still not sure about what i want, so i have a few soaps totally wrapped with paper, and i put a sample bar in front of them for customers to see. they almost always never touched the fully wrapped ones and kept sniffing the transparent ones, lol!

@dixiedragon
i don't mind putting a sample bar in front of the stacks, but as i said above, customers mostly go with the ones they can see and sniff.

@pamielynn
that is very true about the packaging being prettier than the soap, but it happens a lot. i've been disappointed a few times when i bought blindly, only to see the inside was a wet, nasty soap. i guess at the end one needs to choose, do a basic soap and sell based on packaging, or do the other way and concentrate on the soap itself.


that said, i just purchased a heat sealer and a heat gun, and i'm going to experiment shrink wrapping. never done it before, always went with cling wrap that can get ruffled sometimes if we don't pull it properly. not to mention very time consuming and looks not very professional. i'm kinda good for now, but wait till i start browsing soap packaging again and see those fancy papers, lol!

 

[seven]

@Dorymae
i sell mostly offline, but i do have an online shop. lots of my customers come directly to my house to inspect the soaps, and they always go to the ones they can see and sniff. so, i think even a very pretty paper will be a waste of money me thinks, coz it didn't catch their attention. i just found out that the heat gun that i bought tonight has a very high wattage (1600), hmmmm... electricity ain't cheap here, i may have to stop using it if my electricity bill goes through the roof.

 

[Dorymae]

Use a hair dryer, you don't need anything fancy. I bought a travel folding hairdryer at a yard sale for 2 dollars. Works great to shrink wrap anything I need.

 

[navigator9]

I mostly sell at craft fairs. I use an unwrapped end cut as a sample, so people can see and sniff. My soaps are wrapped in tissue paper and then a horizontal cigar band.

 

[AutumnBreezeSoaps]

What a great thread, I was also wondering how to package. I was thinking the cigar band type but I made some samples and put them on my soaps and I can't see the soaps that way. SO was considering shrink wrapping and having the bands ready to go so I can add them at the time of sale so they have the info needed for the soap. If you shrink wrap do you guys put stickers on them or give out the info separate?

 

[lenarenee]

I'm not a seller, but as a consumer I can't develop a relationship with your products if I can't interact with them. (basic marketing concept) Buying soap from a grocery store is a mundane and predictable experience, and it's tv commercials who dictate your relationship to the commercial product.

Homemade is very different. Holding, smelling, seeing the soap is what starts the relationship. To me, a soap with lots of packaging (especially a rattling box or excess "bouffant" cellophane tied with ribbons) It's also a turnoff for me to handle, smell soap that 30 other strangers have
touched (have you noticed that many people actually hold the soap physically touching their nose in order to smell it?)

The single open sample soap, with boxed soap seems the best answer. But I personally would find that attractive....that beautiful soap stuffed into a jail cell. Other sellers might chime in on what their customers seem to prefer.

 

[seven]

thank you for your input guys.. i'm going to experiment with shrink wrapping tonight. we'll see how it goes..

 

[Bex1982]

I'm changing my packaging too. I always had my stuff in those bakery/white cookie bags and no one could see them. I put a label on the front and back, it was cute in my opinion. The reason for this was because I felt like it protected the soap and kept the scent more intact while still allowing some circulation. It probably really is one of the best ways to store your soap.
Anyway, people kept saying they would sell my soap if I would only change my packaging. I had no other ideas really. I didn't sell much at the craft fairs either, all of my sales were online because online customers don't care much about your packaging, they just want a picture of the soap and a nice description.
So this year I went the cigar band route. I didn't really want to because I felt like everyone and their brother uses cigar bands. I wanted to stand out. But I have sold a lot more soaps this year. People want to see them and smell them and pick the one they think is the prettiest. I put an unwrapped one in the front of the display and everyone seems to pick it up, sniff it and all that. I still envy those companies with really fancy wrapped soaps with pretty labels.