# Once a Year Sale



## dibbles (Nov 12, 2019)

Many of you know I am a hobby soaper - I don't sell. But once a year I go to a sale with a friend of mine who has a business and sell soap. It's a one day sale, 9 AM to 2 PM,  in a church five miles from my house, $30 for a table. I thought I'd share some stories.

I had my soaps in boxes with a sample unwrapped for sniffing and showing what the design looked like. Why do people have to put their noses directly on the soap? I will never understand this - if you are doing it, don't you think others are too? And some people still pick up the box and sniff. It grosses me out.

One young woman stopped by, smelled everything and we were talking about scent and essential oils. Then she said she makes MP soap and uses her DoTerra EOs to fragrance. I just said 'that's an expensive way to fragrance your soap'. Fortunately someone else came along and I didn't have to get involved in a discussion about that.

Only one kid dropped a soap, and it's okay - it was one of my daughter's BFF's little girl. I didn't see one kid running wild - all children had an adult with them.

A couple was picking out soaps, and the husband was definitely involved in the choices. They chose several, and a couple of them he said he didn't like because they were too sweet. He ended up choosing Lily of the Valley.

My sales were very good - this is the third year I've done it and I think I will continue to do this one. Having to get ready for this gets me in gear to get my Christmas gifting soaps done in time. 

I had about 20 different soaps. The best sellers for me this year were Black Raspberry Vanilla, Honey I Washed the Kids, Peppermint Stick (which didn't sell especially well last year, but SIL loves), Frosted Birch and Juniper, Mango (which also didn't sell especially well last year and this year sold out), Spiced Apple, Lemongrass Mint, and 3 Wise Men. Others sold well enough. The ones that didn't sell well were Orange Blossom (I have to just learn to understand that not everyone loves this like I do), Pink Chiffon, Orchid and Pink Amber and Espresso.


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## Millie (Nov 12, 2019)

dibbles said:


> Why do people have to put their noses directly on the soap? I will never understand this - if you are doing it, don't you think others are too? And some people still pick up the box and sniff. It grosses me out.


Ewwww!

And I love that the guy chose lily of the valley. 
It is difficult to predict who will like which scents. I was with a few friends and we were all swooning over the scent of some fancy deodorent for men, so we each got one for our boyfriends/husbands. Nope. Not one of them tried it. I think many "masculine" scents are appreciated more by women. Wonder if the reverse is true too?

Sounds like a fun day! I love market day/craft sale threads. Thanks for sharing!!


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## Marilyn Norgart (Nov 12, 2019)

I love anything orange also but find it really doesn't sell well.  isnt it weird that one year something sells and the next it doesn't or vice versa--kinda hard to figure out what people want---other than lavender GM mixed with any other scent hahaha.  sounds like you had a nice day


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## dibbles (Nov 12, 2019)

Marilyn Norgart said:


> I love anything orange also but find it really doesn't sell well.  isnt it weird that one year something sells and the next it doesn't or vice versa--kinda hard to figure out what people want---other than lavender GM mixed with any other scent hahaha.  sounds like you had a nice day


I did have a nice day, thanks. The orange blossom is floral and I use a neroli based FO to blend with it, so no orange notes. Interesting that orange doesn't sell well for you - maybe blend it with lavender . It's nice, I promise!


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## Marilyn Norgart (Nov 12, 2019)

dibbles said:


> I did have a nice day, thanks. The orange blossom is floral and I use a neroli based FO to blend with it, so no orange notes. Interesting that orange doesn't sell well for you - maybe blend it with lavender . It's nice, I promise!



I love Neroli too--it has a base of orange in it also but I cant smell it. maybe I will try the orange with lavender--I love it alone or with Anise (the orange not the lavender but then again lav and anise is ok).  it does sell mixed with Anise.  a lot of people smell and go ohhh but don't buy---who knows why


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## SideDoorSoaps (Nov 12, 2019)

> Why do people have to put their noses directly on the soap? I will never understand this - if you are doing it, don't you think others are too? And some people still pick up the box and sniff. It grosses me out. for sniffing and showing what the design looked like. Why do people have to put their noses directly on the soap? I will never understand this - if you are doing it, don't you think others are too? And some people still pick up the box and sniff. It grosses me out.




I don’t get this either! And this is why I can’t stand naked soap. I don’t I know how many people’s noses have touched it. I switched over to boxes that have a sniffy hole and while people put the box up to their face it’s not as close as when I shrink-wrapped or in the muslin bags.

I’m so fascinated over what sells and what doesn’t. This year I added some FO soaps to my lineup and I’ve been pleased over the sales. my citrus blends always do well, especially the orange ones. The more manly scents seem to do less sales for me so I don’t make many of those.

glad your show went well. Thanks for sharing!


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## Mobjack Bay (Nov 12, 2019)

It’s always interesting to hear about these markets and the apparently very wide ranging customer preferences.  I’m storing it all up in case I ever decide to go public with my soap.  Noses on soap, kids and soap... I may not have the disposition to sit there and smile .  I’m happy to hear that you had a good day!


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## Ashleigh (Nov 12, 2019)

dibbles said:


> Why do people have to put their noses directly on the soap? I will never understand this - if you are doing it, don't you think others are too?



What grossed me out the most was at a sale when a mother brought a very young child to my table and he clearly had a cold, like nose visibly dripping. She continued to hand him soaps to sniff, nose right to the soap. After sniffing a few they walked away. It was a small sale and not busy so when I saw that they had left I grabbed the soaps they sniffed and cleaned them off with IPA, all I had on hand. Yuck.


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## dibbles (Nov 12, 2019)

Ashleigh said:


> What grossed me out the most was at a sale when a mother brought a very young child to my table and he clearly had a cold, like nose visibly dripping. She continued to hand him soaps to sniff, nose right to the soap. After sniffing a few they walked away. It was a small sale and not busy so when I saw that they had left I grabbed the soaps they sniffed and cleaned them off with IPA, all I had on hand. Yuck.


That is inexcusable! Some people...


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## shunt2011 (Nov 13, 2019)

People can be gross.  That is all.    I'm glad you did well.  It's amazing how some scents sell and others don't depending on where and when.   I can't sell Black Raspberry Vanilla. One batch lasts forever in soap.  Sugar Scrubs sell out every time as do bath bombs for me.


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## Marilyn Norgart (Nov 13, 2019)

Mobjack Bay said:


> kids and soap



this is my challenge--some parents don't have a clue but I have only had one bad experience where the parents just let them do what they wanted to and since then if it even looks like it could get out of control I will hold the soap and say her let me help you to the kids and the parents caught on and helped them


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## Megan (Nov 13, 2019)

shunt2011 said:


> People can be gross.  That is all.    I'm glad you did well.  It's amazing how some scents sell and others don't depending on where and when.   I can't sell Black Raspberry Vanilla. One batch lasts forever in soap.  Sugar Scrubs sell out every time as do bath bombs for me.



BRV sells okay for me but I can't sell that Honey I Washed the Kids lush dupe to save my life. To be fair...it's not my favorite either, but I had high hopes for it.


I don't mind whatever people do to the sample bars. Usually parents I've run into are telling their kids not to sniff/touch and I'm like: that's what they are there for! Plus if a kid picks it up and is like "MMOOOOOOMMMM, I like this one"...it's pretty likely that I'll get a sale.


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## bookreader451 (Nov 13, 2019)

dibbles said:


> I had my soaps in boxes with a sample unwrapped for sniffing and showing what the design looked like. Why do people have to put their noses directly on the soap? I will never understand this - if you are doing it, don't you think others are too? And some people still pick up the box and sniff. It grosses me out.



I had my friends over to show them the soap I have made and one of them did that.  I wanted to snatch the soap out her hands.


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## Ashleigh (Nov 13, 2019)

Megan said:


> I don't mind whatever people do to the sample bars. Usually parents I've run into are telling their kids not to sniff/touch and I'm like: that's what they are there for! Plus if a kid picks it up and is like "MMOOOOOOMMMM, I like this one"...it's pretty likely that I'll get a sale.



I generally don't mind what people do to those samples, and what the kids like often dictates the sale. I usually encourage sniffing, sometimes I put a sign out "Free Sniffs" which gets some laughs. But I think its pretty disrespectful to hand your child that clearly has a drippy nose bar after bar to sell. Luckily that was the only time something that gross has happened.


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## Megan (Nov 13, 2019)

Ashleigh said:


> I generally don't mind what people do to those samples, and what the kids like often dictates the sale. I usually encourage sniffing, sometimes I put a sign out "Free Sniffs" which gets some laughs. But I think its pretty disrespectful to hand your child that clearly has a drippy nose bar after bar to sell. Luckily that was the only time something that gross has happened.



I've had worse. Not gross, but disrespectful for sure: One mom just let her kids hang on my camping sink like a monkey and fill up her water bottle. I eventually had to tell the child (her mom had left and the kid kept coming back) that the water was for all of my customers and to please stop. I was lucky in that instance that the kid seemed fine with my explanation and left it alone after that.

To be fair though, since I'm a mom of young twins I get that sometimes kids just have drippy noses in general...I mean the kid could have been sick... or maybe he just had allergies, or any other of a number of things, maybe just going in from the cold air or whatever. I'd just wipe it off and let it at that. It's weird because I used to be ultra germaphobic, but now I'm just desensitized I guess.


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## amd (Nov 14, 2019)

Megan said:


> Plus if a kid picks it up and is like "MMOOOOOOMMMM, I like this one"...it's pretty likely that I'll get a sale.


Man... I must have some cranky moms running around my area because way too many times the kids don't get the soap. I try to pay attention and if I see that it is another vendor's kid, the last half hour of the show I will wander over and slip the kid the soap that they picked out (especially if they were well behaved. Naughty kids not so much.) 'cuz dang, if you can get a kid to be excited about taking a bath you're winning as a parent in my book.

Great job @dibbles. And yeah, with the noses... why? I had a customer do that once and a little soap crumb stuck to her nose. I felt so awkward telling her... um, you can still smell the soap because there's a bit stuck to your nose.


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## math ace (Nov 15, 2019)

dibbles said:


> Many of you know I am a hobby soaper - I don't sell.  .  .
> I had about 20 different soaps. The best sellers for me this year were Black Raspberry Vanilla, Honey I Washed the Kids, Peppermint Stick (which didn't sell especially well last year, but SIL loves), Frosted Birch and Juniper, Mango (which also didn't sell especially well last year and this year sold out), Spiced Apple, Lemongrass Mint, and 3 Wise Men. Others sold well enough. The ones that didn't sell well were Orange Blossom (I have to just learn to understand that not everyone loves this like I do), Pink Chiffon, Orchid and Pink Amber and Espresso.



*Where is your orange blossom from?*
I just discovered Pink Chiffon. OMG, I think it is a wonderful scent and plan on making it one of my regular fragrances.  

*Who makes the spiced apple?  Did you have any trouble's soaping with this fragrance?*  I just made a batch of soap using Bramble Berry's Hot Apple Pie.  I had already tested this fragrance for its ability to stick.  It behaves well in CP,  but it discolors.  My batter was a pretty purple until I added the fragrance.  Then it became more gray than purple.


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## dibbles (Nov 15, 2019)

math ace said:


> *Where is your orange blossom from?*
> I just discovered Pink Chiffon. OMG, I think it is a wonderful scent and plan on making it one of my regular fragrances.
> 
> *Who makes the spiced apple?  Did you have any trouble's soaping with this fragrance?*  I just made a batch of soap using Bramble Berry's Hot Apple Pie.  I had already tested this fragrance for its ability to stick.  It behaves well in CP,  but it discolors.  My batter was a pretty purple until I added the fragrance.  Then it became more gray than purple.


My orange blossom is a blend of Orange Blossom and Naran Ji - both from Sweet Cakes. Spiced Apple is what I named Leaves from Fragrance Buddy. It is not a bakery/pie type of scent, which I don't care for. 

I don't know where you got your Pink Chiffon. I really like the fragrance and tried a version from both FB and WSP. They were similar but definitely different. WSP did not discolor and FB version discolored to light tan. They both faded very quickly. I have a sample vial from Elements which I am going to test at some point, but my feeling right now is I won't be buying this again from anyone.


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## math ace (Nov 15, 2019)

dibbles said:


> I don't know where you got your Pink Chiffon. I really like the fragrance and tried a version from both FB and WSP. They were similar but definitely different. WSP did not discolor and FB version discolored to light tan. They both faded very quickly. I have a sample vial from Elements which I am going to test at some point, but my feeling right now is I won't be buying this again from anyone.



I got mine from LoneStar.  I have a sample bar that is 3 months old and still holding the scent.  I like a really strong scent to my soaps, so I wanted it stronger than the scent level that I got at 6%.  I've got another bar curing now that I did at 9%.  Whoa baby, that one is probably too strong.  So, I am thinking that 7.5% will probably be the right scent level for me.    Cost Break Down... Lone Stars regular price is $2.50 for ONE oz,   $9 for 4 oz,  or $23 for 16 oz.  I bought my 1 oz bottle when they were having a 50% sample sale.  So, I only paid $1.25 oz, so I can afford to go a little heavier on the fragrance percentage.  

I just ordered the Pink Chiffon form WSP!  Dang girl, I am not happy to hear that the WSP version faded quickly!  I did get it from WSP while they were running their 30% off fragrance sale.  Their regular prices  for this scent are -  $5.85 for 2 fl. oz,   $9.05  for 4 fl. oz,  or   $31.20 for 16 fl. oz.  OOB, I do like the Lone Star version better.


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## dibbles (Nov 15, 2019)

@math ace Good to know you found one you like and is sticking for you. Your results may be different than mine for WSP, so definitely give it a try. I like the fragrance OOB, but probably not enough to search out. I really don’t want to add yet another FO supplier to my list. At least right now since I have an over abundance of FOs I need to pare down, but maybe in the future. Although if a FO isn’t strong enough for my tastes at 6%, it’s generally a no go for me.


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## math ace (Nov 15, 2019)

@dibbles

I hear you!  I am normally a 6% max usage person too,  however the Pink Chiffon from Lone Star was especially pleasing scents to my nose.  Plus, I got the scents when they were 50% off... so at 1.25 an ounce, it was worth the experiment.

I totally get the over abundance of fragrance oils.  This was my year to fall down the rabbit hole in search of  some long lasting fragrances for CP soap.   I don't know what I am going to do with all my rejected oils!  I've tested so many fragrances in the last 6 months that I can't stomach the idea of making another test batch!  I NEED to do something more CREATIVE!


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