# Soap samples - do you hand them out at shows?



## bodybym

Do you hand out samples of soap at shows? Why or why not?

If you do, do you think it helps sales?

I have been to shows where some do hand out samples, and some where they don't. I am not the kind of person that if someone hands me a sample I would be more likely to purchase, so I'm not sure how well samples work.

Thank you.


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## Lindy

I find them hit & miss.  I do at times hand out samples but I also carry some in my purse and will give them to a sales clerk that was particularly helpful, a cashier, people like that....


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## wetshavingproducts

It would only be helpful with sales if the customer remembered you and found you. Otherwise, you're just giving away soap.


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## Stacy

All this is pure opinion, but I think returns on samples for a product like soap would be very limited.

I  used to sell gourmet chocolate and I gave out samples. It helped a lot,  but only because they consumed it on the spot and then could understand  the difference I was talking about between my product and something  they would find at the grocery store or WalMart.

Unless you're  working with a crowd that you know will be coming back to your store (or  show, market, etc), they may not remember or care to seek you out  again.

Targeting your samples would be very powerful in my  opinion. Drop a selection of products to local spas if you want them to  carry your products, or give them to a friend (who understands your goal) to give to their friends,  stuff like that.

One thing to remember about sampling is that  everyone wants it if it's free, but if they're not going to be at the  next event you are, then how do will they find you. It can be hard to  imagine but lots of people are still uncomfortable shopping online, is  your target audience likely to shop on your website if that's your main source of sales?

Personally,  if I was considering samples, I'd be more likely to include a sample of a  new product or scent with a purchase.  This is someone that's proven to  you that they are willing to spend the money on your product and it's  more likely that you will get a return on your investment if you try to  grow that then just giving out samples to everyone with their hand out.


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## Lindy

One of the things you can do with your samples is to attach your business card to the packaging so the have your card and know how to reach you....


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## cmzaha

I make little flower samples, all are shrink wrapped labeled with soap fragrance and our contact information. Using a 1.375" round label they are to little to add ingredients, but our label and contact info is on the label. I sell these little .75 oz guys for $2.00 or 3 for $5.00 and actually sell a lot of them with customers returning to buy a full size bar.  I gave up free samples after my first year of selling. During the holiday season I have to really stock up on the samples since a lot of customers buy 25-50 at a time. You just have to figure out what works


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## LunaSkye

In terms of samples, you and I have something in common as a sample would not guarantee my purchasing the product. However, I try to  keep in mind the names of the sellers whose products I liked and have sometimes recommend them to other people. Hopefully this is helpful.

Additionally, I remember Sabon giving out slivers of soap as free samples. I only bought 1 or 2 things from them, but not when I initially received the sample. Sometimes giving samples can work out like that as well.


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## jessirebq

I sell my soaps out of my husband's computer business.  He has a basket of samples that he gives to customers he does work for.  Sometimes I make a sale from them and sometimes not.  Mine is two fold . . . it either sells for me or him.  I am starting to branch out to area farmer's markets and flea markets.  I probably won't do samples, but sell sample packs.


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## bodybym

Thank you all. I will try the sample with purchase for the next couple of shows. I do have people who are repeat customers from the same show the years before, and that does help. I'm trying to figure out how to get new repeat customers. 

I will also look into other small sellables to see what works. I do have a sale soap basket with soaps that are less than perfect, and those tend to do well, but they don't tend to bring back customers.


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## SozoArtisanSoaps

I had samples available today for the first time. I sliced a bit of soap off a bar, put it in snack size baggie, stapled my business card to it, and whallah...It went over really well for me. People who may not have given me a second look, stopped when I said I have free samples. The majority of people that took a sample bought soap. Now I am not sure if it is because they felt guilty for taking a sample and not buying a bar of soap, too, or what. But I got my name out more and sold 50 bars of soap today


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## pamielynn

I always hand out little samples. In little ziplock bags with logo, website and name of soap. I give them to anyone who stops by my booth and doesn't buy. I have had tremendous success from sampling. It's a huge PITA to cut up bars and put them in these bags and print and attach labels, but it works so well for me I wouldn't dream of NOT doing it. And they are just little tiny slices - enough for one shower or a couple of hand washes.


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## bodybym

SozoArtisanSoaps said:


> I had samples available today for the first time. I sliced a bit of soap off a bar, put it in snack size baggie, stapled my business card to it, and whallah...It went over really well for me. People who may not have given me a second look, stopped when I said I have free samples. The majority of people that took a sample bought soap. Now I am not sure if it is because they felt guilty for taking a sample and not buying a bar of soap, too, or what. But I got my name out more and sold 50 bars of soap today



That is great! I am so glad samples worked for you. I am going to give it a try at my next show and see how it works.


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## wetshavingproducts

I'll be trying this sample packaging out. .5 oz tins are too expensive. Cello bags are less than a cent a piece.


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## leapinglizards

IF you are in a regular location, and/or have a good selling website, YES samples help- but it's all in when and how.

My partner and I are selling,  we do a few things- this is at farmers markets often with SLOW traffic.

1- We always stand up and greet anyone who walks by.

2- We put it in their hands while saying "Smell this- handmade veggan soap- don't worry, you can't get it dirty- it's SOAP"

3- We walk away so they have to come to the table to put it down.  There we encourage them to smell others while we tell them about the features/benefits of OUR soap.

4- If that interaction does not end with a sale, before they bolt we say " Well, before you go, Let me give you a free sample-  What was your favorite smell on the table?"   They always stop and smell ALL of them at that point.   Once they pick a "favorite" we give them a sample of that with the tagline that "You should use it to wash your hands for 3 days, and when you notice the difference, we are here every (whatever) day- let us know what you thought good or bad so we can improve our product!"  We keep our samples in a big sealed bin under the table, with little plastic bags, and when we put it in we mention "So your pocket doesn't get soapy."

We always make friends, MANY of those come back and tell us how they liked it, and many purchase when they come back.    YES  we work for the sale.

BUT handing out samples to everyone stopped pretty quick....  and we had several people at farmer's markets eat the samples.   So, we make sure we say SOAP like 10 times.

Also, we always make small (Like 1/4th a normal bar) size ones up and go around to all the other vendors at a new market, and we ask: "Do you like fruity smells? Flowery Smells?  Manly Smells?  or NO Smells?"    Depending on the answer, we give them a 1/4 bar, tell them about our vendor discounts, mention where we are, and get info about what THEY sell, so we can inform guests of other options.

If we see a new vendor who has samples of THEIR products, we always offer to take a small basket of them and put them at our tent, and tell our regulars about the new vendor too.

Ok... so I got off on a tangent about selling.... but I think it's related in terms of sampling and HOW/WHEN to offer a sample.

One time show, especially if you don;t have a good website etc.... don't bother TOO much.


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## bumblewood

I hand out samples at the shows I do. I use the ends from my loaves, cut them in half, then slice slivers off. Enough for a few washings. Then I package them into little plastic sleeves I got from a paper & plastic supplier, add in a printed piece of paper with my company name, website, and which soap it is, then tape it shut. I also take the tiny bits of my body butters and lip balms that aren't enough for a whole item and package them into little 1/4 oz round size pill pods. Just enough for a sampling. Better than the excess getting tossed in the trash. 

I don't hand them out to everyone, depends on who I feel needs one. I usually ask passers-by if they'd like to try our body butter or lip balm, and if they say yes I give them a tiny sample on a Popsicle stick. (I can usually make a sale by this method if they do try it.) If they don't want to try I will try to get them to take a sample home with them. I will also add a few samples of what wasn't bought to the bag if they make a purchase. (They buy just soap, I add a sample of body butter.) Some shows I wind up handing out a ton (with business card & brochure, of course), and some shows I hand out just a few.

I don't know if I've necessarily had a sale come of it later (I sell online as well as shows), but I have had people like my Facebook page and tell me thank you for the samples, they loved them. So one assumes the sales will come eventually. I did get a sale from our mail lady from giving her samples after she asked me what was in the great smelling packages! 







http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## lenarenee

leapinglizards said:


> IF you are in a regular location, and/or have a good selling website, YES samples help- but it's all in when and how.
> 
> My partner and I are selling, we do a few things- this is at farmers markets often with SLOW traffic.
> 
> 1- We always stand up and greet anyone who walks by.
> 
> 2- We put it in their hands while saying "Smell this- handmade veggan soap- don't worry, you can't get it dirty- it's SOAP"
> 
> 3- We walk away so they have to come to the table to put it down. There we encourage them to smell others while we tell them about the features/benefits of OUR soap.
> 
> 4- If that interaction does not end with a sale, before they bolt we say " Well, before you go, Let me give you a free sample- What was your favorite smell on the table?" They always stop and smell ALL of them at that point. Once they pick a "favorite" we give them a sample of that with the tagline that "You should use it to wash your hands for 3 days, and when you notice the difference, we are here every (whatever) day- let us know what you thought good or bad so we can improve our product!" We keep our samples in a big sealed bin under the table, with little plastic bags, and when we put it in we mention "So your pocket doesn't get soapy."
> 
> We always make friends, MANY of those come back and tell us how they liked it, and many purchase when they come back. YES we work for the sale.
> 
> BUT handing out samples to everyone stopped pretty quick.... and we had several people at farmer's markets eat the samples. So, we make sure we say SOAP like 10 times.
> 
> Also, we always make small (Like 1/4th a normal bar) size ones up and go around to all the other vendors at a new market, and we ask: "Do you like fruity smells? Flowery Smells? Manly Smells? or NO Smells?" Depending on the answer, we give them a 1/4 bar, tell them about our vendor discounts, mention where we are, and get info about what THEY sell, so we can inform guests of other options.
> 
> If we see a new vendor who has samples of THEIR products, we always offer to take a small basket of them and put them at our tent, and tell our regulars about the new vendor too.
> 
> Ok... so I got off on a tangent about selling.... but I think it's related in terms of sampling and HOW/WHEN to offer a sample.
> 
> One time show, especially if you don;t have a good website etc.... don't bother TOO much.


 

So when you say you "put the sample in their hands", is that with or without their permission?  That reminds me of the salespeople who come to my door and spray it with their "Never before has there been such a remarkable environmentally safe cleanser like this!"  If that is your method I can guarantee you I will ignore your product for the rest of my life.

However, I love the rest of your methods; they'd work on me!


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## cmzaha

lenarenee said:


> So when you say you "put the sample in their hands", is that with or without their permission?  That reminds me of the salespeople who come to my door and spray it with their "Never before has there been such a remarkable environmentally safe cleanser like this!"  If that is your method I can guarantee you I will ignore your product for the rest of my life.
> 
> However, I love the rest of your methods; they'd work on me!



I am with you on this, I never want any putting anything in my hands or on my hands. I know one lady that sells "Magic Cure All" olive oil and she smears it on anyone that walks up to her booth. I told her do not even think about it when she tried to rub it on me. I may not be allergic to Olive Oil but I am very allergic to many herbs and plant materials. My hubby will hold out a smell sample and entice people to smell the Best Smelling Soap...if they wave him off he understands that they may not be able to handle scents. I always ask before giving a lotion sample. I had a person selling bath salts with heavy fragrance come up and stick it under my nose. I told her to get away with it that I am allergic to Lavender. She laughed and told me no one is allergic to Lavender. Wanna bet. I have to wear a mask when working with lavender. Handing out samples became very old a few years ago. That is why I sell my sample soapies


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## kmarvel

bumblewood said:


> I hand out samples at the shows I do. I use the ends from my loaves, cut them in half, then slice slivers off. Enough for a few washings. Then I package them into little plastic sleeves I got from a paper & plastic supplier, add in a printed piece of paper with my company name, website, and which soap it is, then tape it shut. I also take the tiny bits of my body butters and lip balms that aren't enough for a whole item and package them into little 1/4 oz round size pill pods. Just enough for a sampling. Better than the excess getting tossed in the trash.
> 
> I don't hand them out to everyone, depends on who I feel needs one. I usually ask passers-by if they'd like to try our body butter or lip balm, and if they say yes I give them a tiny sample on a Popsicle stick. (I can usually make a sale by this method if they do try it.) If they don't want to try I will try to get them to take a sample home with them. I will also add a few samples of what wasn't bought to the bag if they make a purchase. (They buy just soap, I add a sample of body butter.) Some shows I wind up handing out a ton (with business card & brochure, of course), and some shows I hand out just a few.
> 
> I don't know if I've necessarily had a sale come of it later (I sell online as well as shows), but I have had people like my Facebook page and tell me thank you for the samples, they loved them. So one assumes the sales will come eventually. I did get a sale from our mail lady from giving her samples after she asked me what was in the great smelling packages!



Great idea!!!!  I have an event coming up on 20 Sep.  I am going to try the free sample idea.  Where can I get those little clear plastic ziplock baggies??


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## shunt2011

cmzaha said:


> I am with you on this, I never want any putting anything in my hands or on my hands. I know one lady that sells "Magic Cure All" olive oil and she smears it on anyone that walks up to her booth. I told her do not even think about it when she tried to rub it on me. I may not be allergic to Olive Oil but I am very allergic to many herbs and plant materials. My hubby will hold out a smell sample and entice people to smell the Best Smelling Soap...if they wave him off he understands that they may not be able to handle scents. I always ask before giving a lotion sample. I had a person selling bath salts with heavy fragrance come up and stick it under my nose. I told her to get away with it that I am allergic to Lavender. She laughed and told me no one is allergic to Lavender. Wanna bet. I have to wear a mask when working with lavender. Handing out samples became very old a few years ago. That is why I sell my sample soapies


 
I'm with you both.  I don't believe in hawking my products at shows and hate when others do.  I find it very unprofessional and I wouldn't purchase from them.   I have samples, I get 1 small end cut from my logs, I put them in little zip bags with my business card.  I sell them for .50 most times unless I have an abundance then I'll give them away.  I have received many repeat customers doing this.


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## green soap

I don't call them samples, I call them 'travel soaps'.   I sell them and they are popular with non corporate travelers.  Have you seen the choices available for travel soaps in drug stores?  dismal.  

When someone makes a purchase above a certain amount (you determine that for yourselves, for me it is $20) I give them a complimentary travel soap - and tell them it is a chance to try one of my .........fill in the blank soaps.  They already bought something so they are now a customer.  You'd be surprised how well this goes.  Everybody likes free stuff!  (even Oprah I hear).

This is not a hard fast rule.  When someone comes by my booth and I am sold out of their favorite soap, I'll just give them a travel sized one to tidy them over, if I have them of course.  It might be a person who just buys one soap, but they have been doing so for a while.  'I will have them again next week, here is this travel one in the mean time'  Again, they really appreciate this and they do come back when their favorite soap is cured!  

Once I gave soap samples as halloween treats (clearly marked as soap do not eat!  I even asked the kids to read that part to me before giving it to them).  Nothing ever came out of this free soap hand out.  I will not do this again.  However, samples for regular customers are a very good idea.


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## cmzaha

green soap said:


> I don't call them samples, I call them 'travel soaps'.   I sell them and they are popular with non corporate travelers.  Have you seen the choices available for travel soaps in drug stores?  dismal.
> 
> When someone makes a purchase above a certain amount (you determine that for yourselves, for me it is $20) I give them a complimentary travel soap - and tell them it is a chance to try one of my .........fill in the blank soaps.  They already bought something so they are now a customer.  You'd be surprised how well this goes.  Everybody likes free stuff!  (even Oprah I hear).
> 
> This is not a hard fast rule.  When someone comes by my booth and I am sold out of their favorite soap, I'll just give them a travel sized one to tidy them over, if I have them of course.  It might be a person who just buys one soap, but they have been doing so for a while.  'I will have them again next week, here is this travel one in the mean time'  Again, they really appreciate this and they do come back when their favorite soap is cured!
> 
> Once I gave soap samples as halloween treats (clearly marked as soap do not eat!  I even asked the kids to read that part to me before giving it to them).  Nothing ever came out of this free soap hand out.  I will not do this again.  However, samples for regular customers are a very good idea.


We must think alike. I have done all the same other than the Halloween, which I have seriously thought about.


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## bumblewood

kmarvel said:


> Great idea!!!!  I have an event coming up on 20 Sep.  I am going to try the free sample idea.  Where can I get those little clear plastic ziplock baggies??



It is called Paper Mart (papermart.com) and the specific bags I got are the "3 x4 1.5MIL Poly Bags". They don't zip, you do have to tape them shut. But they work great for me, and I have even printed out some little stickers that have coupon codes to seal them with if I am putting them into goodie bags or such for a specific event.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## firedancer

Because everyone is handing out  samples at our Farmers Market, ie samples of strawberries, peaches, baked goods, etc. We weren't  able to complete for customer attention, without some kinda of free sample

So, we hand out little sugar scrub samples, or bath bomb samples.  The sugar scrubs are enough to do a foot and the bath bomb samples are small and will give the customer an idea of how they work on a very very small scale. 

We often use the tag line, "Tired of the same boring old bath?" or " Free smells!" Both the offering of a free sample and the tag lines bring the the customers closer to the  table and more often than not we at least have the customer interested. We hand out soap samples judiciously.. I only hand out soap samples to people who have bought another soap or a candle. 

I have discovered that if someone picks up a soap or picks up our candles and begins to smell them, there is a higher likelihood of a sale. Somewhere I read that people when they hold a product become attached and begin to think of it as their own...what ever it takes, eh!


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## cmzaha

green soap said:


> Here is the halloween soap basket I made. I used junk mail flyers to make colorful cigar band. As I said, not much return on that 'investment' but if you are going to buy candy for kids anyway, this is something most of us already have and the kids did like them.


Love the idea. I just have to do something similiar for Halloween. We may be at market on Halloween, I have not decided yet, but if we do I just might do similiar for trick or treats


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## CiCi

One time, I made up a ton of soap samples and had three large bowls full. People came up and grabbed them and told me how nice they smelled. I gave them a flyer with business card attached and I did not get one contact. They just wanted the free sample, so I don't hand them out, anymore. On the other hand, I have been at fairs where I put out samples of my skin cream that they can try on the spot and that has made a lot of sales for me, where they buy a jar after trying it.


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## Iluminada

I used to give out samples and still do sometimes if I have extra mix left. I put any remaining soap mix in little molds. I then take the soap and seal them in shrink wrap but don't shrink it and put a label on it with the company name, name of soap and website. Has not helped so I make sure to make changes to my recipe to avoid overages.


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## bodybym

I ended up not giving out samples at this show - time got a way from me, but I don't think it hurt sales. 

I do want to have some for the next show and do what some of you mentioned, give a sample when they purchase something, I think that might help draw additional sales in the future.


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## cmzaha

bodybym said:


> I ended up not giving out samples at this show - time got a way from me, but I don't think it hurt sales.
> 
> I do want to have some for the next show and do what some of you mentioned, give a sample when they purchase something, I think that might help draw additional sales in the future.



People do love to get a free goodie in their bag. A word of advice on those poly zip lock bags. They will eventually react with your fragrance and the soapie sample can start smelling pretty bad. I had to dump a whole bunch of samples I tried that way before I starting shrink wrapping my little soapie samples. My samples each get a 1.5" label with our contact info and name of the soap. No ingredients on sample label


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## Spice

wetshavingproducts said:


> I'll be trying this sample packaging out. .5 oz tins are too expensive. Cello bags are less than a cent a piece.



I was looking at my samples, and thought, that I needed to organize them better, I just didnt know how. Thanks for the idea, I hope you dont mind.
Sometimes I feel dumb rummaging through my samples while I have customers waiting looking for a soap samples.


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## bodybym

What about a small Christmas ornament storage box? The kind with compartments for individual ornaments? Christmas decorations are almost here, and I'm sure they come in lots of sizes. Otherwise, something at Home Depot to store small fasteners (like screws and such) might work to keep them separated. 

How about something like this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RL9E16/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## PuddinAndPeanuts

Something you might consider when deciding whether to give out samples at a given show-  is there a public bathroom with a sink (not just a port-a-potty), and how far are you from that location?  I might consider samples for people who could likely try the product and thus make a purchase that day.  Otherwise, I suspect you'd just be giving out free product with little prospect of getting a return on investment.


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## bodybym

When there is a public restroom at a show (such as a school or church/temple hall) I do put a bottle of foaming wash in both the men's and ladies bathrooms. If it's a large event where you have a stall number I will put my number on it. I've even put a sign that says to come by for a sample of lotion after you wash your hands. I find that helps at times as well.


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