# Favorite Market/Show Questions



## Miz Jenny (May 3, 2013)

"How do you get it (soap) to look like that - do you bake it?"


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## Ruthie (May 3, 2013)

"Does it contain lye?"  I still love that one!


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## Miz Jenny (May 3, 2013)

Ruthie said:


> "Does it contain lye?"  I still love that one!



I get that one all the time. Then I have to don my school marm hat and 'splain the science of soap. There's a mistique surrounding making handmade soap that elicits questions
The more we can educate, the more we can sell.


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## MaitriBB (May 3, 2013)

Miz Jenny said:


> I get that one all the time. Then I have to don my school marm hat and 'splain the science of soap. There's a mistique surrounding making handmade soap that elicits questions
> The more we can educate, the more we can sell.


 
I love getting that question, because then I can show off my soaping knowledge and then they know that I know what I'm talking about!

I usually get "Do you have ______ soap?" where _____ is a scent that I do NOT have.  Usually it's lavender.  I have some lavender soap curing so next time it'll be something else :Kitten Love:


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## cursivearts (May 3, 2013)

I don't even sell my soap yet and I get the lye question still, usually from my mother-in-law (and yes, she has asked it more than once).  She has also asked me if I could just use a 'few drops' of this one really expensive EO she bought to scent a batch.  I love her to death, but you have to explain things to her multiple times.  SHe's a smart lady but terrible at paying attention.  

Also, MaitriBB, love your signature, because I love HT.


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## theath2010 (May 3, 2013)

I've gotten the "But really, does it actually do anything?". She proceeded to buy a bar as I politely tried to explained the benefits. I'm honestly surprised at some of the remarks people can have.


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## Miz Jenny (May 3, 2013)

So what y'all are saying is next time someone asks if I have goats milk soap I shouldn't say "Lord, no, the smell makes me gag." What habituated this concept that natural soap doesn't contain lye?


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## Krazekelly (May 3, 2013)

What is it?? Is it wax??


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## Relle (May 4, 2013)

It looks like fudge or I could eat that or I thought it was cake.


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## Mommysoaper (May 4, 2013)

Yeah, I get the "Is that fudge?" comment quite a bit.  I even got  someone thinking one of my soaps looked like cheesecake and I do not make soaps that look like cake, pies, or cupcakes.  Nothing against them but I have a one year old that tries to eat my soap as it is and making it look even more like a dessert than it already does.


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## Ancel (May 4, 2013)

I actually had a customer come back and said she had taken a bite out of it thinking it was white chocolate fudge. :Kitten Love: Actually it was coconut soap. We don't make fudge. But she took it pretty well and bought some chocolate. We do make bars of dark chocolate.


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## OliveOil2 (May 4, 2013)

I make some cupcake soaps and everyone asks if they are cupcakes. I have them on the table with the rest of my soaps, so I always thought they could figure it out. But everyone asks, it is actually a good conversation starter. I did have one lady come back and tell me her husband took a bite out of the cupcake because she left it on the kitchen table. Maybe she was mad at him! I don't see how he wouldn't know that it wasn't candy, it doesn't feel anything like cake.


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## moonbeam (May 5, 2013)

I always get "is it cheese?" I always say no, you can eat it, but I promise you wont enjoy it! LOL


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## Serenity (May 5, 2013)

I loving hearing about all your experiences with customers. It's funny how people are so concerned about the lye, yet they'll use shampoo with SLS, toothpaste with fluoride and saccharin and eat food full of artificial colours and flavours!


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## azimuth (Aug 17, 2013)

I had one little girl about 7 years old come up to my table at my first craft fair and put one of my soap samples directly in her mouth... It happened so fast. I started to say something to her but then her mom comes up and says "What did you just put in your mouth? Honey, that is SOAP!!! Not candy!" and give ME a dirty look! :Kitten Love: Watch your kid!


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## Stakie (Aug 17, 2013)

I would be devastated if a kid did that. Then I would give the kids mom a dirty look right back. Like.. WOMAN your kid just ATE my sample!

But for real, I get a lot of (or use to) those smell so good I could eat them comments. "They aren't food right?" Nope, no they are not food.


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## karenbeth (Aug 17, 2013)

I sell honey at a farmers market. I also have some beeswax for sale. So many people ask if it's soap. One day it will be soap.


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## pamielynn (Aug 17, 2013)

"oh, my daughter, sister, cousin, neighbor, grandmother, brother's wife's sisters co-worker makes soap." With the disdainful look down their nose. 

Ok, but not technically a question  Pretty much everyone down my way that handcrafts anything gets this line at least once a show.


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## Koshka (Aug 17, 2013)

"Do you make theeeese?" I always get asked that question. And when I say yes, they give me a weird look full of disbelief. "But they are so professionally packaged!" Yes, I wear high heals, jewelry, have my hair and my nails done, and my soap wrappers are all different colors, but come on!


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## paillo (Aug 17, 2013)

Relle9 said:


> It looks like fudge or I could eat that or I thought it was cake.



Hah, these are the ones I mostly get too, even though my sign says Soapworks. And during a demo of ingredients one time, I had some unwrapped samples of lemon poppyseed soap on the table. And, you guessed it, before I could stop her, a woman took a bite. We all laughed and laughed, and mercifully she laughed too


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## MooreThanBags (Aug 17, 2013)

I make goat milk soap and the even unscented the smell is very pleasant. I don't get the "gag" think in regard to goat milk soap. Maybe it has to do with the quality of the milk and we milk our own does and do not keep a buck on the property. Plus I add the lye slowly to the frozen goat milk to keep it from burning.


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## squigglz (Aug 17, 2013)

My favorite was from a guy that came to my table at the convention (come to find out: he was also selling soap, and wondering why his weren't moving, and someone pointed him to my table ~_~).

"What is all this?"
I start my friendly spiel. "It's soap ^_^ Hot process, and glycerin, and--"
He cuts me off. "I KNOW THAT, I'm a soapmaker too."
"Oh, how lovely! I--"
"What's hot process?"

I was a bit bemused to say the least. Why ask a question you know the answer to?

I also got a lot of 'is it fudge?' I had signs up saying that it's not food, don't eat, etc etc, and someone STILL bought a bar and started to eat it. I found this out from a friend that saw the guy walking, unwrapping, and taking a biiiiiiiiiiiiiig bite. I think he was too embarrassed to say anything or come back.

And the amount of 'I need a NATURAL soap without lye in it' made me roll my eyes so hard I was afraid they'd fall out.


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## LuvOurNewf (Aug 21, 2013)

Our beer bars are round and at the center of our display so they are the ones that get noticed first. When we tell them it's soap we get "oh I thought it was cheese". Yup an open display of unwrapped cheese on a 90* day sitting for hours on end. How many you want?

Or our salt bars which are all unscented, but different colors. When they stop and look I explain they are all unscented and everyone still picks em up and smells. I gave up as some will say "oh I love the coconut smell". Beats me but if they can smell it and like it we hope they tell their friends.


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## savonierre (Aug 21, 2013)

I get the "it looks like fudge" so often I am often tempted to say okay take a bite..lol


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## Second Impression (Sep 16, 2013)

"What's your strongest smelling soap? I need something to cover up the smell of the cat box" 
Yes, someone really asked me that 
She did buy a bar and I'm a bit thankful I've never seen her again at my market. 

My favorite recurring question comes from folks who once made a pound of MP soap that one time, they insist on drilling me about what base I use and where do I buy it even after a lesson in CP. Geeze, if I was selling MP, I sure wouldn't give away my base that easily!


Sent from my XT907 using Soap Making mobile app


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## jenneelk (Sep 16, 2013)

Good to know all this. I've done shows with my other business but not soap. Going to do a carnival we have at our school that's pretty big now for being a school
Show. Think we had over 600 tickets sold last year and just $40 for a table
For 3 hours. 
No clue what I'm taking but looking forward to the questions. I will have some soap this time.


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## shunt2011 (Sep 17, 2013)

I too get the is that fudge question frequently.  Same with the does that contain lye.  I just smile and explain that it's not edible and you can't have soap without lye and explain the process if they are interested.   My cupcake soaps draw people in since I display them very prominently.  Most always leads to a sale.  However, I do have a sign that says SOAP, do not eat!


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## jlroller (Sep 17, 2013)

My favorite question is "doesn't the lye make the soap really harsh?"  Well, not if you don't make lye heavy soap.  My stepdaughter won't use my soap because it's made with lye.  She has to use the store bought soap.


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