# Flea Market sales doing well



## Guest (Jun 14, 2009)

I know this is small potatos but I'm a new soaper.  A lady at a popular flea market carries my soaps.  Consistantly with a stock of 21 bars she sells 4 bars each weekend.  I think thats pretty good, no complaints, everyone gets a card with my number with each sale and most buyers are first time homemade soap buyers.

I did a street fair yesterday and sold 10 bars and gave away 5 free.

Not making a big profit but enjoying turning people on to something new.  I wouldn't mind continuing like this for the next year and expanding to gift baskets with high quality washcloths by Christmas.


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## kwahlne (Jun 14, 2009)

I think ANY time you sell a bar a soap, it gives a great feeling, doesn't it?  I love that I am able to make something that someone likes enough that they would pay money for it.

Congratulations on all your sales!


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## Lindy (Jun 14, 2009)

I don't know if that feeling will ever go away.  I'm in awe every time I sell something.  For me I've spent my life in professional sales and it is wonderful to selling something I made and that I know is good for people plus makes a difference in their lives.  Some days it's tough because you're making money $5 at a time, especially when you're full-time, but it truly is wonderful and I am really grateful to be able to do it..... 8)


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## ilovedoxies (Jun 14, 2009)

YEAY!!  That's great!  Once they buy homemade they'll never go back  They'll be repeat customers for sure!


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## heyjude (Jun 14, 2009)

Good for you Phillysoaps! 

And you know that the people you give the bars away to will think of you when they have money in their pocket to be a paying customer.    

Jude


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## Guest (Jun 15, 2009)

Way to go girl . I don't sell yet , but I love giving soap away .People are so surprised and shocked that there are no strings attached, it is just  free ,  that just doesn't happen to often nowadays. It is a pay it forward thing too , to me. Most people will remember it every time they use your soap , and that is a  very good thing.


Kitn


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## carillon (Jun 15, 2009)

Phillysoaps, do you mind me asking you how much she's charging at the flea market for your soap?

I think it's really good that she's consistently getting sales for you.  Four bars may not sound like a lot, but percentage wise it's very good.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a retail store with that kind of turnover of merchandise!

Flea markets around here have not been very good for sales of soap or any b&b products unless it's Avon, so it's good to see that your soap actually sells.


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## Guest (Jun 15, 2009)

carillon said:
			
		

> Phillysoaps, do you mind me asking you how much she's charging at the flea market for your soap?
> 
> I think it's really good that she's consistently getting sales for you.  Four bars may not sound like a lot, but percentage wise it's very good.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a retail store with that kind of turnover of merchandise!
> 
> Flea markets around here have not been very good for sales of soap or any b&b products unless it's Avon, so it's good to see that your soap actually sells.



I wholesale to her for $3 a bar.  I don't care what she charges above the $3 but the sign at the table says $5 per bar, 3 for $12.  I'm a newbie to soaping, so I figure since she is taking all the risk.  I keep her replenished with a nice variety Saturday morning and Sunday I pick up my money.  She brought 5 bars outright by giving me all the money she earned the first week, the rest which I change weekly are on consignment.

When I man the table, be it hers or if I go to another street fair I charge $5 a bar.


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## carillon (Jun 15, 2009)

Getting $5 at a flea market for soap is great.  You're right not to concern yourself with the price she chooses to sell the soaps for, as long as she's buying them from you at the wholesale price you're offering, that's all that matters.  

Some people don't get it though, they will worry that the retailer isn't marking the soaps up high enough, or that they price them too high.  They don't understand, that once the soap is sold, they can retail it for as little or as much as they like, and as long as it's selling for them, they will return for more.


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## Avalon (Jun 23, 2009)

That's good news!  I've never done well at flea markets, so I've given up on them.  Around here people go there looking to buy 10 bars of Ivory for $1.  They act like I'm crazy for thinking anyone would pay $5.25 for a 5oz. bar of handcrafted soap.  Fortunately, people at other venues are willing!


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## Lindy (Jun 23, 2009)

Actually since I sell in the same town as some of my wholesale accounts I have let them know that if they sell the bars for less than my retail price then I will pull my soap.  So far I haven't run into any problems and I have  had 2 more wholesale accounts approach me in the last week so now I am in 3 retail locations plus my mall location.  The good news is that we each draw a different crowd in the locations we're in so there isn't any conflict.  I have also found that since I am so insistant on this, unless they want to go the private label route, I am being approached and being told they would like to  carry my soap as well.  I think it also helps that they see me as a serious business due to my advedrtising and mall location as well as me being very consistant in my standards.

If someone is buying from me on a Private Label basis then I don't care what they sell the soap for sincve they are paying for the right to control the product on their end.

I don't think that we, as soapmakers, should sell ourselves short.  If we're wholesaling into the same community/town/city that we retail in then we should make sure that our own soap isn't undercutting out sales at the retail level.  We don't need to beg people to buy our products and if you appear as a professional then you will have the ability to write that into your sales contract.

Just my opinion, but it is working well for me so far.....


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