totally curious about something

[lionprincess00]

Well, I'm new to soap making. I am in the process of gathering supplies, experimenting to find my most perfect long lasting recipe. I'm loving all the fo's and different coloring fancy techniques. This process will take over a yr plus some until I feel comfortable in making a quality product... and in that time, I will go broke. Haha. I will want, probably one day, to start selling as a means to counter my addiction. One day far far away lol.

So I do think about some things, when it comes to selling, when it comes to my ultimate goals, and would love to hear from sellers about these things to help me decide which way I want to take this soaping.

Do you sell one main recipe that you scent and color differently (maybe adding the occasional clay to the main recipe), or do you sell soaps of many different recipes to accomplish different things (like a cleansing one, a conditioning one, a naked bar, a grease monkey bar, and a milk bar, etc etc etc)?

Do you change up your scents often, or did you experimenting finding your fave scents, and stick to those only with the occasional holiday one? (everyone's always discussing these eo/fo's they purchased and I wondered...Do they change it up monthly or just stick to a certain scent every time).

Do you stick to more natural looks, or go for fancy colors and swirls etc?

On average, how many types of soaps do sellers typically sell, not you per say. Oh I'm going to browse etsy to see if I can answer some of these questions, but I'd love your all's experience as well!

I'm thinking about what my main goals will be one day, and I'm trying to decide what "soaping school lessons" I want to be learning to better my soaping future lol. I'm trying to decide "do I want to gear towards the perfect go to recipe, or try many different soaps like a tallow one (but many dislike animal fats in soaps is a thought of mine), and a coconut cleansing and an all veggie one etc; try many different fo's changing it up or find my few faves; start experimenting with eo's which I haven't done yet; use natural colorants by infusion or stick to my oxides and micas, etc etc).

I suppose I'm looking for experienced sellers opinions as inspiration as to what my learning curve is going to be over the next yr to two plus yrs. Thx! I know trade secrets of a seller aren't given away easily lol, so I appreciate anything you can provide to help me decide what my future goals will be. Right now, I'm feeling scattered and a tad overwhelmed I suppose.

 

[Susie]

This has been asked many times. Usually about when people hit the completely addicted and totally overwhelmed stage.

I don't sell my soaps yet. Not quite ready. The market for bar soap is super saturated in my area, and Etsy is full of gorgeous soaps already. So, I give bar soaps to friends and family while I work on my liquid soap recipes. You need to go to your local craft shows and farmer's markets to see what your market is like before deciding what and how to sell.

I have gotten to a recipe I like best, and while I am still tweaking, I use much the same proportions of brittle/solid/liquid oils over and over. I have developed a few hard and fast rules that I follow regardless of what else I do to avoid dry skin and lack of lather.

 

[lionprincess00]

This has been asked many times. Usually about when people hit the completely addicted and totally overwhelmed stage.:lol.

Or after you spend 70$ on bramble berrys fragrance sale! :crazy:

I just need to find my path and stick to it so I'm not OVER experimenting if that makes sense.

So I'm not the first to ask huh

 

[cmzaha]

I take anywhere from 40-60 different soaps to my markets weekly. During the holiday season for craft shows I usually take more. I do not use 1 base recipe that I just fragrance differently. I have several different recipes and they can change at any given time. Always evolving. I sell salt soaps, clay soaps, oatmeal, vegan non vegan etc. As for holiday scents I do not do many, they just are not the popular for me. I have some scents that I try to always have in stock, carry many that will appeal to men, my biggest clientele. You will eventually learn your market but do not get stuck selling one type of soap such as Goat's Milk soap, it will limit your market because you just knocked out the vegan. Over the years I have had people very suprised when they ask for a particular soap and I say yep I have it. It is really funny because many times they are asking so they have a reason not to buy. It is always fun to see their expression and sometimes they are really asking to buy such. I am never out of neem soap, many ask for neem. Selling and staying ahead of the competition is a continuous upward battle.

 

[Earthen_Step]

I started off making micro batches of 2-3 bars of soap. I was nervous of messing up from all the horror stories I read about. I would tweak little things, with every batch. I tried different oil configurations, colors, swirls, scents. I wrote down every recipe and amounts so I could replicate it if it was great. I ended up figuring out a general base that we loved at our house and started playing with scents/colors a lot more at that point. I increased my batch size with anything we really liked. Then I had a stockpile of hundreds of soap that I couldn't possibly use up.

At that point I started shipping out little boxes of soap to family and some close friends. I also gave a lot out to my local family/friends. People fell in love and said I could really sell this stuff! So I started looking into creating a business and kept experimenting and playing around. I first focused on creating a website, although it was a pain I learned a ton and I think the site is "good enough" for now. Once the website was functional I password protected it and sent it to all my friends/family and orders started happening. Once I was fully restocked and ready for the world I unlocked it and asked them to spread the word to anyone that may be interested. I have gone in phases as not to sell out of inventory. I am now on phase alpha 4.0 code name "social networking"!

The entire thing will constantly be evolving -- I have so many plans and just not enough time/money to do it all right now. After the website went live and things slowed down I talked to shops in town to see if they would carry my product. I ended up going with my favorite shop in town for local produce. The store has sold a great amount for how small this area is, and it's on a side street even. I plan to start expanding further and not over-saturate my own little town. I want to scout out and try and get into 1-2 shops in every town within an hour or so from my place. I also would like to get into other states with help from family/friends for leads.

For starting I would just play around a lot, and find what you really like to make. Find what direction you want to take it, and figure out some soaps that you really love to use. If you don't love what you make you probably wont be able to sell it, if you are the salesman for the product. I cannot tell you what to make or what would be best because that is personal in my opinion. I do think it would be fine starting with 1-4 bars of soap for sale and expanding from that.

 

[shunt2011]

I agree with Carolyn. I carry 35-40 different fragrances and 3-4 different recipes. During the holidays I make a couple different scents that sell well. I also make specialty cupcake soaps in holiday scents (limited edition). I make soaps with GM, CM & Buttermilk as well as beer and coffee. I have been experimenting with liquid soap but haven't begun selling it as yet. I also make shaving soap and other products. I like having variety and a good selection of men's fragrances too. As stated you really need to find your niche for your particular area(s). It just takes time and a lot of work.

 

[cmzaha]

Hey Shunt I am soooo glad you are not in one of my markets ;-) we would definity be in competition!! Having such a large selection is what keeps me alive in the markets here. Our area is very saturated with soapmakers especially new.
I do not in the least agree with Earthen about making 1-4 bars for selling. If you ever set up a booth customers will bypass a booth that looks empty. This has been from almost 5yrs of doing markets

 

[Earthen_Step]

Hey Shunt I am soooo glad you are not in one of my markets ;-) we would definity be in competition!! Having such a large selection is what keeps me alive in the markets here. Our area is very saturated with soapmakers especially new.
I do not in the least agree with Earthen about making 1-4 bars for selling. If you ever set up a booth customers will bypass a booth that looks empty. This has been from almost 5yrs of doing markets

If you are focusing on farmers markets/fairs for sure. But if you are starting in shops/online I think you can start much smaller.

*I started with 12, and the route I have taken I think I could have started sooner with less product variety. I think it is better to get started on the business side than wait till you have a huge assortment. If I had waited till I had 40+ scents I thought were "sell worthy" I would be waiting a very long time. Once you have some products you love and want to sell, see what you can do with it. I have yet to enter the farmers market/fair side of things. I plan to within the next 2 years (if I need to) but I'm in no rush as it's the least appealing to me.