# Size of the average bar



## danielle22033

I am new to this forum and was wondering if I could be given some advice for how big a bar should be and what the average price should be.  I do not want to rip off a customer nor myself.  I have browsed a lot online and I have found the costs being anywhere from $3 to $6 but size is never mentioned.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


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## Lindy

My bars are 4.5 ounces and I sell for $6.00 going all the way up to $8.50 depending on ingredients.


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## CaliChan

My bars are usually either 3.25 or 4 oz and they range.between 4.75 and 8 bucks depending on ingredients
I come up with the cost by adding the (cost of ingredients+ how much I pay myself)÷ number of bars in the batch. Then you multiply that number by 2 for retail sale or 1.5 for whole sale


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## Lindy

Actually Cali you have pricing mostly right.  Your cost including labour x 2 for wholesale and x 4 for retail....  That makes sure you are covering overhead (power, equipment depreciation, etc) and still making a profit at your wholesale level.

ETA - what I have quoted above is our industry standard and has been for a number of years.


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## Lucidcat2

I'm not a seller, but, from what I've seen & read, the soaps weigh between 4-7oz (some considerably more though up to about 12) & price is based on cost of production of the bar of soap (materials, your time, overhead etc) then double that amount & that's how much you should sell for. I'd suggest you google it for more thorough info.


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## DeeAnna

What Lindy said. 

If you sell at retail using the formula "2 x Cost" AND you also sell at wholesale, your wholesale customers are going to be unhappy with you. The rule of thumb many shop owners go by is Delivered Cost (including shipping) x 2. You will be underselling them by a substantial amount.


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## Serenity

Hi Danielle

You might be interested in this thread that I started a couple of months ago. I'm still not sure what size or thickness is best, but my husband always says my bars are too big to hold comfortably. The measurements are in my post below. 

What size bars do people like? http://www.soapmakingforum.com/search.php?searchid=199787


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## danielle22033

Thanks everyone.  How do you judge how much you charge yourself for labour?  Is it an hourly wage? depending on how long you take to make a batch vs. the about of bars produced?  Thanks


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## manwithbeers

danielle22033 said:


> Thanks everyone.  How do you judge how much you charge yourself for labour?  Is it an hourly wage? depending on how long you take to make a batch vs. the about of bars produced?  Thanks



Generally you charge yourself whatever you would need to pay someone else. If you are too expensive you hire someone else to do it. Certain portions of the job may require enough skill or proprietary knowledge (secret info) that only you are able to do and you charge more for that portion.

Start with minimum wage and go from there.

Regards,


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## Lindy

That's what I do is charge minimum wage and then I break it down into 4 parts:

* Set-up
* Production
* Cutting
* Packaging

That way I can get really exact...  Plus some things don't require cutting KWIM?


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## robtr31

i would start at 15.00 a hour and see what your price per bar is , it may sound hi but it a job / craft and that include are pension, sick benfits, ei and slow time etc.

don't cut your self short , get paid for what u do


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## Tony

here's my cost sheet.  I cheat and add all of the ingredients that I use for the different types of soap that I make into the per batch cost - whether or not I use them for a particular batch.  So, I make more on some types and less on others, but the cost is figured at the highest amount.  I dont take soap to work and sell it on the honor system because I've been robbed blind by the honor system.  Tax is built in.  $6 a bar.  I've yet to begin shipping so there is no shipping cost.  But I'd just add it up in the spread sheet.  My packaging is very minimal.  Per bar size is 4 to 4.5 oz.

well, i was going to upload an excel spreadsheet.  But I guess that I dont know how.

i've been told that uploading spreadsheet is not allowed.  so, I can email it to you if you wish.


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## Robert

In general I'd say the fancy soaps come in smaller sizes, with a few exceptions for people who like whopping big ones.  I've seen YouTubes of people saying they stretch the soaps they buy from Lush by slicing them into what seem to me to be institutional (like hotel room) sizes; these were not big serve-yourself logs of soap to begin with, but I guess the users didn't want to see their fancy purchase go down the drain too quickly.

If you look at the opposite end of the market, the very utilitarian Ivory soap, the trend has been downward in size.  When we were little, it commonly came in a 9 oz. "Twin Cake" that was scored to break in half so my sister & I could wash simultaneously in the tub.  Then for a long time their "Personal Size" was 3.5 oz., but in recent years that's been progressively stepped down to 100 g, then 90 g, now 3 oz.  OTOH, alongside their 4.5 oz. size (same as what you'd get from each half of the old twin cake, but more oblong) they briefly had a humongous (especially when you consider Ivory's puffed up with air) 7 oz. "Bath Size"; they also tried briefly a totally ridiculous unscored 9 oz. "Family Size".  I bought a package of those when we had a _Twin Peaks_ themed costume party, to be the thug who slung soaps in a sock as a weapon that wouldn't leave bruises.


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## Paintguru

robtr31 said:


> i would start at 15.00 a hour and see what your price per bar is , it may sound hi but it a job / craft and that include are pension, sick benfits, ei and slow time etc.
> 
> don't cut your self short , get paid for what u do



Unless, of course, you price yourself out of the market due to your labor costs.


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## onugs

I think it depends on where you live. Example, I live in an area where there's a lot of "Old" money. If I were selling, I could ask top dollar for my 3.5 x 2.5 x 1 inch bar (5oz.). Just check out you market. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Soap Making mobile app


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## OklahomaJamie

Tony said:


> here's my cost sheet.  I cheat and add all of the ingredients that I use for the different types of soap that I make into the per batch cost - whether or not I use them for a particular batch.  So, I make more on some types and less on others, but the cost is figured at the highest amount.  I dont take soap to work and sell it on the honor system because I've been robbed blind by the honor system.  Tax is built in.  $6 a bar.  I've yet to begin shipping so there is no shipping cost.  But I'd just add it up in the spread sheet.  My packaging is very minimal.  Per bar size is 4 to 4.5 oz.
> 
> well, i was going to upload an excel spreadsheet.  But I guess that I dont know how.
> 
> i've been told that uploading spreadsheet is not allowed.  so, I can email it to you if you wish.



Would you email it to me please? JamieCody at gmail dot com


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## judymoody

4.5 ounces cured.  That corresponds to a recipe which allows 100 grams of oil per bar of soap, measuring the standard 1x2.5x3.5


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