inflation & consumer views of handmade soap cost

[my2scents]

I'm wondering for those of you who sell soap what your experiance is with raising cost per bar?
I was shopping at an amazing farmers market yesterday & looking at some of the soaps there & over hearing some comments like " $6.50 a bar?! its pretty & smells nice but thats alot!"
We all know the cost of ingrediants has gone up quite a bit & when I got home I looked on Etsy & it seems that just a few months ago $5 per bar was standard & now its $6.50- $7.00 a bar for most sellers.
I do give alot of soap away but when folks ask me for it then I ask them to pay & I always say $5 & my co worker told me " you should ask for $6 or $7, thats what most of the soaps are at my farmers market & frankly yours are much nicer!"
Strictly as a consumer I would have a hard time paying anymore than $5 too, I toatally get that. Times are tight for alot of folks with the price of gas & all.
Sellers, whats your experiance with the rising cost of handmade soap?

 

[jennikate]

I to would like to hear from some that sell. I am in planning stages ie finding out local regs ins pricing ect ect and pricing is area I am still working on.

 

[cp chick]

I don't sell, but the local soapery business in my town sells them for $7.95. 8 oz of lotion and shower gel are in the $19-22 range.

 

[TJ]

Well I think it really depends on the size of the bar. A bar of soap will outlast any bottle of store bought liquid body wash I use. So for me that would be: $6.50-$7 for a bar that will last a long time, or the same price for some body wash that seems to go really quickly?
Also the lather of a bar goes a long way. If your bar has got a lot of lather, it's easier to clean your whole body with less soap. You know what I mean? I think if your bars last a long time, that should be something you let your customers know. They're not just paying for a pretty looking, good smelling bar of soap. They're getting 4 months worth of soap in one bar practically (depending on bar size and lather). So really it's not all THAT expensive.

 

[Tabitha]

I, personaly, do not know of anyone who is charging more than $6.00 for a 4-5oz bar of soap. Look at well established soap makers (who have been around 5,10,15 years) like buttermilk creek, gingers garden, soap deli, they are charging $5-6.00 per bar. I charge $6.00 (which I just raised from $5.00 this year) and so does Deda.

If your supplies are so high that you must be charging more than $6.00 dollars for a bath size bar, I am of the opinion you are paying too much for your supplies. Are you buying in bulk to cut costs? Ordering closer to home to cut back on shipping expenses? Making large batch to lower your labor cost? Buying your fo's in the 1# size & not ordering every new sparkly color or scent that grabs your eye? These are the things you need to be looking at f it is costing you can not afford to sell your soap for $6.00 (or less) per bar.

 

[cthylla]

Also, I imagine it would partially depend on your existing customer base. Just walking into the market... $5 is a reasonable price even if your profits are more slim.

If you have a larger, loyal customer base, it may be easier to get away with the higher prices especially if you explain why you need to raise them.

As a new customer, I would pay $5-$6 for a decent sized bar of handmade soap, but not more if I had no experience with it.

 

[NewSoapGuy]

Welcome to the world of Easy Money Policy, brought to you by The Fed with support from the rest of the world's central banks! :roll:

Actually, we've been in it for a while, but the printing has been particularly abusive lately and the piper's asking for his pay. Seriously, get used to this quandry, it's going to get worse before it gets better. Simple answer is that you're going to have to raise prices because the value of each dollar is lower than it used to be (because there are too many of them in circulation). Eventually everyone will get used to that, and get used to paying the new prices, but until then it's just a matter of timing for you. How long can you live with lower profits/higher cost per bar?

Or, even better, just stop accepting USD all together! Try trading your soap for stuff you can use. That helps to keep the gang of monetary thieves out of your wallet.