# Advice for markets please



## Pawpaw (Nov 29, 2013)

I'm doing my first market on Sunday. It's not a huge market, about 40 stall holders and as a new market (it only started a month ago) how many people attend is an unknown. There is another woman who does soap, but only natural olive oil soap whereas I do natural and fragranced and unusual soaps so I'm not too worried about competition from her. What I want to ask though, which is worrying me, how do I know how much stock to make? Also how can I display soaps- I'm only doing soaps and have no ideas on that. I've been making so many soaps, I've got about 200 I'm starting to run out of creative ideas.


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## Pawpaw (Nov 29, 2013)

Another thing  I'm going to try put up some photos of a few, do they look ok? Would they look interesting enough to sell? the first is a floating soap, then a orange and clove soap, a rose and clay soap, (south) African black soap and there's a Himalayan salt soap there are about twenty five other varieties too. Is that too much ? Too little?


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 29, 2013)

From a product point of view, I'd say tidy them up a wee bit around the edges.  But they look lovely in general.

But I'm really concerned, or maybe just confused - you're going Sunday, 2 days from now, and you're talking about making stock?  It will take a while to cure, surely.  And only now you're thinking about display?  I'd say it's a wee bit late in the day for it!  

That being what it is, how many of each type of soap do you have ready?  How are they packaged at the moment?  Maybe keep it simple (based on time!) and have whole soaps packaged on display, little samples for smelling and then stock tucked out of sight to actually give to people (keep the display intact while you can).  Without knowing more about what you have in the way of soaps and marketing collateral (eg table cloth with your logo on it) then I can't give more help.

But good luck!


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## pamielynn (Nov 29, 2013)

If you have 200 soaps, I'd say bring them all, if you can carry them. It's the holidays, so you may do better than you expect. Don't put them all on the table, but have them in case you need them. If you have a tablecloth and some baking pans, you can make a simple, leveled display by putting the pans under the cloth. Make sure you have signage and prices displayed so everyone can see. Have little samples for people to take. Have business cards that you can put with their order. Be ready to explain why they should buy your soap. Get a before and after inventory. Relax and have fun.


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## twinkie (Nov 29, 2013)

I too have my first soap sell coming up tomorrow. I have about 60 to sell. I decided not to wrap my soaps but bring tissue paper to do a quick wrap as they r sold. I found some beautiful floral tissue paper at dollar tree and cut it into squares. I think the little sample chunks of soap to hand out is a great idea!


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 30, 2013)

Pawpaw, let us know how it worked out in the end?  Good luck for tomorrow


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## Pawpaw (Nov 30, 2013)

Sorry I should of said I've got 200 plus/minus soaps cured and ready for bathing. Thanks for your ideas. I've made little signs for the soaps, with ingredients etc I'm not putting prices out, and maybe I'm wrong about this, because I want people to look, smell and love the soap and not see price first. Does that make sense? All tables come supplied with a black table cloth, I've got a neutral colored table clothe I'm laying over that. I haven't yet got a sign as I'm not sure if we are allowed to put one up. I've got a little one for the table. I've also got business cards. I'm wearing a bright red apron with a soap logo on. I didn't have ideas for display as I was so brain tired from soap making. But thanks for suggestions, I'm going to try them. I was thinking of selling the soap naked, but the tissue paper sounds lovely and I do have some. Thanks for all your suggestions. I'm off to sleep now and will let you know how it goes. Hopefully sell out  I've got more soaps on the curing rack for next weekend.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Dec 1, 2013)

Pawpaw said:


> ...............I was thinking of selling the soap naked.........................



Apart from the red apron?  :mrgreen:

I'm not sure about putting pricing out or not either - will be interested to read what more experienced soapers do


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## Pawpaw (Dec 1, 2013)

Lol. That would really boost sales with the men. The soap is naked. I am fully clothed.


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## Pawpaw (Dec 1, 2013)

So far things are goin good. The not pricing works because people ask; breaks the ice a bit. I thought I wouldn't have enough soap and ended up worrying I wouldn't have enough table! Was a bit quiet but had picked up now. No one else sells soap. So that's nice. All in all a good idea to have taken a table.


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## Pawpaw (Dec 1, 2013)

Done and dusted! It went well. According to some other stall holders who have been there before it was a quiet day but I think that's be aside there's a huge gift expo in town. Must get into that next year! I did more then I expected sales wise. Sold out on a few fragrances. Thank for all your help and suggestions. Next Sunday I've got another table and the Saturday I'm having a stand at a car show (figured something pretty for the girlfriends/ wives/daughters to look at). They're expecting about 4000 people to attend  fortunately I made soap last week. Thanks again for all your help!


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Dec 1, 2013)

Glad to hear it went well!


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## girlishcharm2004 (Dec 13, 2013)

The black cards, I assuming that was to label all your beautiful soaps?  Did they ever blow away?  Would you try something different next time? I'm going to have mine wrapped with a naked sample for people to see and smell.  The wrapping will have the name on it, but I'm looking for a way to price each of the soaps because they are all different costs.


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## Pawpaw (Dec 13, 2013)

The black cards didn't blow away because I made them a L shape and put the first slice on top of the bottom of the L so it stood even in wind. I think what I'm going to do is change my display a bit; I think it's boring. I'm going to use wooden trays of different heights and stack soap on them and around. The names I'm going to change to these little tiny black boards on sticks I found. I don't really hVe different prices, all slices are one price, squares another and blocks another. I don't price my soaps because I want people to ask me and this I feel helps break the ice. Also they see the soap, smell the soap, love the soap and by then they want to buy it and price is almost irrelevant. In my own opinion of course  I've also got a big flat blackboard now with a sign on saying it's soap. It's getting old having people ask of its fudge/ cake. I do have one thing for me, there's another lady selling soap and she's been away for a few weeks and a friend of mine was with her when a mutual friend of theirs told her that she should look out for me because my soaps are so nice and well priced.


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## Pawpaw (Dec 13, 2013)

And regarding the wrapping I did have a lot of people asking if I could wrap, for gifts I guess, so what I've done is bought some cheap plain white tissue paper and wrap the soaps in that and tie a piece of strong around it and found this tiny plain white gift tags I out on with soap name. I don't think I'm going to charge though. It only costs me about 50c. When people did ask me about wrapping I said I sold it naked because packaging was expensive and in order to keep prices low I didn't cover and besides they're so pretty to look at you can't hide them. But now from people asking; I'll just offer the option.


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## Relle (Dec 13, 2013)

I think price is relevant, I would walk past your stall and not look because asking a price can sometimes be embarrassing if you can't afford it even if it is a good product. I think if you are proud of your goods you display a price and customers decide whether to look further. You might find you get more sales if you do, as then they know it's not out of their reach and then you can talk to them about your soap. 

 You say it's getting old people asking if it's fudge/cake, it's only your first market , wait until you've done a couple of hundred :smile:,that can sometimes be a talking point to sell people your soap - just say something jokingly like - if you want to buy and eat it you can, but don't blame me if you blow bubbles.


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## girlishcharm2004 (Dec 14, 2013)

Relle9 said:


> if you want to buy and eat it you can, but don't blame me if you blow bubbles.



Haha, I laughed out loud.  That was funny.


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## girlishcharm2004 (Dec 14, 2013)

How heavy was the paper you used?  Was it any type of card stock?  I have some black "chalkboard" paper, but it looks and feels like construction paper.  I thought colored chalk writing might look nice, but I don't know. I'll have to experiment.  

I know what you mean about the different levels.  This is my first show and spent my funds on making soap -- not decorations for a booth!  I'm going to see if my mom has any tiered cupcake trays or something.  Maybe I could find a big enough table cloth at a thrift store or I could put boxes underneath to put soap on.  Again, I don't know.  I have to figure this out!

Were you nervous?  I'm so nervous.  I don't even know if I should be!   

As for listing the prices, I wasn't going to say anything because I know I'm not a typical shopper.  If I don't see prices, then I don't stop and look.  I know a lot of realtors do what you say to draw people in, so it must work!  But there's also influence in a price -- both good and bad.  I'll just have to make that decision as I go.

Did you have/need/recommend a tent?  What kind of change did you start with (e.g. $1 in pennies, $5 in nickles, $10 in quarters, etc.).  

Thank you for your responses!  It's truly helpful!


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## AKjulz (Dec 14, 2013)

My 2 cents, I list my prices ( pun intended). I'm one of those shy shoppers and I hate to ask a price. I would rather walk by then ask. Of course I have a pretty good sized price sign for my soap, like 7"x12" right in the middle if all the soap and lots of people still ask.  Haha
Glad your show went well!  My display is constantly growing and changing, and I think that's a good thing.  Don't worry about having everything perfect or you'll never get out there.  At every show You learn more of what works for you and what doesn't and just keep making little (or big) adjustments.  

I do think using vertical space is important.  You get more out if your space and it adds more visual interest. Doesn't need to be expensive, just cover some boxes with  piece of fabric, table cloth, pretty sheet. Think outside the box when your at thrift stores or yard sales too. You
Never know what display treasure you may find. 

Good luck!


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## pamielynn (Dec 14, 2013)

I'll jump in with MY 2 cents on pricing and carrying change around - use round numbers when you're at a show, especially a busy one. When people are crowding around, asking questions and trying to buy - counting out .89 change is a time waster and adds to confusion. End all your prices with a 5 or a 0, for example $5.95 or $12.00. Makes your life much easier and you can carry less change in your money box.


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## Lin (Dec 14, 2013)

I also usually won't ask a price and will continue on. For me I don't have much money so I want to know the price before I look. If I can't afford it, I continue going. If I don't know the price/can't see it, I keep going. 

I know this is very different, but for example on craigslist etc if someone doesn't list a price or says "make me an offer" "what do you think its worth?" etc I can't stand that and won't bother with it. Or reserve prices on ebay, just list your starting price as the minimum price you want for gods sake! I'm not going to waste my time bidding and guessing what your reserve price is and wondering if I'm going to win the auction even if I'm the high bidder. I'd rather spend my time finding the product elsewhere and know exactly what the seller wants for it. 

How long do your cure your soaps? Are they CP or HP?


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## eyeroll (Dec 14, 2013)

I'm another one who would keep walking if there were no prices out. 

DH says he would ask if it was something he wanted, but his concern would be the vendor would just be inflating the price if they thought they could get more $ out of you. Maybe have a printed price list you don't display but can hand out so customers know the prices are firm and not arbitrary?


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## Pawpaw (Dec 16, 2013)

The paper I used was a cardboard. Not a thick one, but one that held its shape and was sturdy. Thicker then printer paper, maybe three pages together 
Pricing, I agree, all my prices are a round number like R15, R20. The change I keep in my float are R5 and small notes. Obviously I have a different currency  
Displaying pricing: I tried that about halfway through my market yesterday and honestly don't know the effect as it was a quiet day. Will try again next weekend. 
Display, originally I just put all my soap out in lines as I didn't have anything. Yes it looked boring. So I decided I would use my wooden soap moulds. I wanted to keep the natural handmade look.theyre clean so there's no embarrassment there. I saw another table took empty cardboard boxes, wrapped them in wrapping paper and put an overlay over the table. It looked quite pretty with her products but then again they (she does foam bath etc) were all in fancy packaging. 
I'm quite lucky in that the market I attend is in a marquee and you get a table, two chair and black tablecloth with your stall. So I just need to display. I also made a biggish blackboard sign saying what it was. And I made a nougat soap so if anyone makes a fudge comment I can point that out


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## Pawpaw (Dec 16, 2013)




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## Pawpaw (Dec 16, 2013)

Only saw other posts now. I do cp soaps. If it's a nice windy day i put them outside for a bit. I find they take about 1.5 days to cure and dry out. The floating soaps and milk bars seem to take a bit longer though. 
I didn't think that people would think I was making up prices. I think I'm going to put prices up; don't want to create that impression.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Dec 16, 2013)

1.5 days cure time?  They're hard after so short a time?

By the way, I do love the display.  Do you wrap them after purchase?


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## Pawpaw (Dec 16, 2013)

Oops meant to say week not day. Eish!

Thank you. I offer to wrap them and do that if a customer wants. If find they usually choose that option if it's for a gift.


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## Spicey477 (Dec 16, 2013)

I thought your first market display looked great and organized but I really love your new display! I agree with you that the height really makes a difference!


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## Lin (Dec 16, 2013)

1.5 weeks still sounds like such a short cure time! Have you ever let them cure much longer testing the bars at different points to see how they are after 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks etc?


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## Relle (Dec 16, 2013)

1.5 weeks is not long enough to cure CP soap. You also need to have labels on your product.


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## pamielynn (Dec 16, 2013)

If they're in the US, they don't need to label soap unless they claim it does anything but clean. But the cure time really should be upped (IMO).

eta: Whoops - NOT in the US. I'm so narrow-minded


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## soap_rat (Dec 16, 2013)

I love the name Pep-me-mint!  Everything looks great, especially the chalkboard signs.  I do agree though that soap is a lot harsher before at least 4 weeks.


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## girlishcharm2004 (Dec 23, 2013)

This is the setup I went with!!! I picked up two tablecloths from a party store and cut one in half to make the two squares and put different sized boxes underneath to help with height.  I laid only a couple soaps in each basket and kept the stock in my car so I could keep filling it without the table looking cluttered.  I ran out of time for decorating and setting up so I didn't have time to make price signs.  I thought about something similar to Pawpaw!  I was thinking about using card stalk and gluing it to pop sticks, but Pawpaw's looks much nicer!  I sold at a flea market (huge junk sale) and made enough to make a profit, but that profit wasn't worth 10 1/2 hours of my time!    The flea market definitely isn't my market.  Craft fairs are hard to find.  The farmer's markets in the area sell artisan crafts, but I need some sort of insurance to sell there.  Anyone know anything about vendor's insurance???


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## jcatblum (Dec 23, 2013)

Looks good. For signs at farmers market I use wooden spoons, put the spoon part down in my basket & the handle has a clothespin hot glued on it to hold the price. You could also hot glue clothes pins onto paint sticks. For me I like wooden spoons since they are heavier & smoother.


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## cmzaha (Dec 25, 2013)

I do think using vertical space is important. You get more out if your space and it adds more visual interest. Doesn't need to be expensive, just cover some boxes with piece of fabric, table cloth, pretty sheet. Think outside the box when your at thrift stores or yard sales too. You
Never know what display treasure you may find. 

I use 4x8 tables that raise to different levels so I can put a table behind my front table to add elevation, then I have boards to make additional levels. Doing this I can get 6 tables in my 10x10 space  A good way to pick up real estate. I have a price sign and all soaps are shrink wrapped. I find customers, at least in my area, prefer wrapped soap. Many of my customers thank me for wrapping and tell me they would never consider buying a naked bar of soap. In 5 yrs of selling at open air markets you learn a lot and meet a lot of interesting people!


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## cmzaha (Dec 25, 2013)

of insurance to sell there. Anyone know anything about vendor's insurance

A company caled RLI sells vendor insurance and some craft fairs have insurance available through them. Personally I acquire mine through the Soapmakers Guild. I could get insurance through the production company that I do several markets with but it only covers their markets and the coverage is not as good as the Guilds.


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