1 dollar soap

[seven]

without naming names, there is a local seller who sells her soaps for 1 dollar (or slightly more). mind you, her soaps are around 80g, scented with imported FOs and imported colorants. now, i suck at math, but how can she pull that sort of thing? imported stuff are.. well... not cheap.

her ingredient list consists of 8 oils (yes 8!), so it ain't just cheap local oils like palm and coconut. i am still dumbfounded to this minute.

/end confusion

 

[Obsidian]

Maybe she isn't making a profit and is only trying to cover some expense for supplies. Is this a small time seller or a large company?

 

[Seawolfe]

I know people who have started selling their soaps just in order to make room at home - so cost would be secondary. Or maybe shes just really bad at math.

 

[seven]

she's a small time seller, and she's also taking orders for wedding favor soaps, etc... so i guess she's quite serious about the business. but yeah, who knows, maybe she ain't looking to make money... more like... giving out free soaps, lol! fyi, even at that price, costs are barely covered.

 

[Cactuslily]

Perhaps she is trying to build up a customer base?

 

[seven]

dunno. whatever her marketing strategy is, i am still confused. soaping is not a cheap thing to do, esp if you import things from abroad. what i'd like to do is to get inside her head though

 

[Seawolfe]

I have noticed that sometimes when people haven't made a lifetime of working for a living, they tend to completely undervalue the cost of time and other things. But its one of those things you have to kind of let them figure it out for themselves.

 

[seven]

lately, i've seen quite a trend over here in my country, new soapers who are... well.. clueless. not trying to be a snob or anything, but there is an old soaper here who teaches basic soapmaking. i've no idea what her style of teaching is, but her students came out: clueless. one came to me for another class, coz she had no idea how to calculate lye, and what superfat means. another student came to a friend of mine (another soaper), also for another class. same thing same story, she had no idea that if she changed the amount of oils, the lye had to be adjusted as well. can you imagine if that person started selling with that limited knowledge?

scary stuff.

it is quite the norm here not to list your ingredients. some ppl are like racing to sell the biggest and cheapest soaps, it makes my head hurt from shaking too much. okay, this is another whole different topic, but i am in the mood for a rant, sorry

 

[Soapacetic]

The way my brain works, I would have to say it would be part of a marketing plan. Any soaper would know that it does not cover the full total cost of manufacturing. But as part of a marketing plan, it takes money to make money and in its own it is advertising. Like an instant rebate sorta thing. Probably just gaining customers. Getting the word out. Spreading the joy etc. It could also be moving out inventory of bad sellers or overstock. Might also just be underweight bars or sample recipes. But in no way is the person not taking an actual true loss on costs/overhead.

 

[DWinMadison]

Yeah, I gotta guess he/she is losing their proverbial a$$ financially. Some people,are jus bad business. We call them "democrats." (Kidding!!! I'm kidding!!)

 

[xraygrl]

Yeah, I gotta guess he/she is losing their proverbial a$$ financially. Some people,are jus bad business. We call them "democrats." (Kidding!!! I'm kidding!!)

LOL!


Yeah, I could never sell soap for a dollar and make a profit off it...even back in the day when ingredients were cheaper, and shipping costs were much less. Selling your soap for a dollar is not good marketing. If she is selling it that cheap to get up a customer base, then they will expect her to keep selling it at that price, or something close to that price. Seems like a recipe for failure.

 

[seven]

we'll see how long she lasts with this strategy. it will be interesting to see. i will be watching from afar she's still importing fragrances and colorants, so i guess she's still taking losses... quite happily i must say, lol...

 

[Moody Glenn]

First thing that came to my mind (what's left of it) was "cheap things equals cheap results." You get what you pay for. :thumbdown:

 

[coffeetime]

Is it CP? Or M&P? Is it possible she got a really cheap, large batch of M&P at auction or close out sale? In that case she might just be selling til it runs out to see if she likes doing it.

 

[pbandtay]

will still need to keep in mind how many people are now brand minded. I have seen a ton of people that will buy something they think is great food clothes whatever. When the prices go up they just reach a little deeper in the pocket, then look around for a better deal. Just my 2 cents.

 

[seven]

Her soaps are cp.

Someone bought a few of her soaps and in 2 months: dos.

I also dont think she understand how to list ingredients properly from the looks of it. Ppl like her are destroying the handmade soap market.

 

[CaraBou]

I give my soap away, and sometimes wonder how that is perceived since it may also undercut someone's sales. Soap is purely a hobby for me (that's part of the beauty of it), and I am aware it is a money pit. But it gives me pleasure and I can afford it. This may be part of that person's modus operandi as well. I think the differences between us are that I only give to people I know, I never give at an open market, and I am not actively recruiting new friends lol. My volume is likely a lot lower too, but honestly, I make far more soap than a non-seller needs.

I can't help it! I'm addicted!!!

 

[xraygrl]

I give my soap away, and sometimes wonder how that is perceived since it may also undercut someone's sales. Soap is purely a hobby for me (that's part of the beauty of it), and I am aware it is a money pit. But it gives me pleasure and I can afford it. This may be part of that person's modus operandi as well. I think the differences between us are that I only give to people I know, I never give at an open market, and I am not actively recruiting new friends lol. My volume is likely a lot lower too, but honestly, I make far more soap than a non-seller needs.

I can't help it! I'm addicted!!!

This is me too. Except that it's kind of a need for us too in that we have sensitive skin. I do consider it a hobby too though. Right now we have enough soap to last us at least into next year, but I'm still cranking it out LOL! Thus the need to give it away. I have curbed it down from what I used to make though. I only have so many friends and I don't want them to feel like I'm shoving soap down their throats every time I see them LOL!

 

[seven]

Hobbyists are totally different story, and i never perceive them messing with sales.

I doubt this is the case with her. She has a lot of soaps and keep offering new ones. Not to mention she also takes orders for souvenir soaps in large quantities. If you are well off and just want to share, would you sell online in various platforms?

 

[snappyllama]

It reminds me of a woman I once knew who was *very* well off. She had a trust fund that stipulated she must be working to continue to collect with a bonus if she had her own business as her family didn't want her to become an artist. She liked to paint so ran her own gallery of just her work. Sold the paintings for less than the cost of the paint and sent in the sales receipts to the trust fund manager. Deceased Grandpa had never specified she needed to make any money at it. She laughed and said she got to paint as much as she wanted and thumb her nose at Grandpa...

Side thought: it's amazing what folks will tell you after some wine.