Wonderful setup. I have a few questions, about your soap.
I see your soap has a very pagan element, which (or witch haha) is very cool. After looking on Etsy, I don't see you attributing any magical elements to the soaps. I'm curious if you ever considered changing your business to include Hoodoo folk magic elements to the soap? I see you have very "spiritual names" and the ingredients do include essential oils. What if you were to go further and make "magical" blends with intention?
For example: Van-van.
This oil is designed to clear away evil, provide magical protection, open the road to new prospects, change bad luck to good, etc. It is mostly Lemongrass but some people use it in conjunction with lemon verbena, citronella, ginger grass or palmarosa. I know that scent is very important but just a friendly thought from what I perceive as a capitalizable opportunity!
Also, do you use Keystone pricing?
Ever see Practical Magic?
I'm Sally. (Sandra Bullock)
Well, not exactly, but you get the idea...
While my personal beliefs are of the Pagan persuasion, I try to market my soaps to the masses, so to speak. Many folks don't pick up on the (not-always-so-subtle) innuendo...so for them, my soaps are just soaps that smell good with fantastical names. For those "in the know", they may find intention with my essential oil blends or names.
I don't want to exclude (read: "scare off") anyone from buying my product, but I'm also not hiding some of my creative force behind them. I have had a few crooked eyebrows and whispers behind hands...and one women say that her mother would love my French Quarter Voodoo soap, but would never use it because of the Voodoo reference...and then apologized profusely thinking she insulted me. She didn't. I don't care what you believe, don't believe, practice, don't practice... I don't sacrifice children to the soap Gods. My soaps aren't imbued with eye of newt or toe of frog (or any other animal product, for that matter). You won't be unknowingly participating in some arcane ritual just by using my soap (unless you want to!). I just make great soap, and I just want you to try it. I promise not to curse you if you don't.
(Or will I? :twisted: Just kidding!)
But,to answer your question, yes...I have considered a line of ritual and elemental soaps created with intention. I have some specific ideas written down with corresponding essential oil blends. I love folk magic of all kinds, and definitely see a market for ritual cleansing soaps. I would need to do a bit more study for Hoodoo specific correspondences, but I'm certainly open to that.
As for Keystone pricing...right now I only do a 30% discount for wholesale because my pricing is low as it is...and of course, I'm a one-woman show and it's handmade, so if I want to make any kind of profit, I just can't go too far below that. So for a 6.5 oz/1.5" thick/$6.50 bar (my Etsy price), it would be $4.55 (for a large volume order, I would consider a steeper discount). I just did a bridal shower favor order where I cut the soaps in half (3/4" thick) for $2.50 each (basically $5 a bar instead of $6.50)...not really "wholesale", but a volume discount.
Thank you for the kind words and thoughtful advice!
I have to admit. I saw this thread when I first joined and I was super jealous. Thinking to myself "Dammit, that is what I was thinking my vendor stall would look like." But now I realize that I can have a vendor table that looks like that and not be exclusively like yours. I have grown LOL
Our little Moonshea is all grown up! :clap:
Your vendor booth and marketing style will be exclusive to you, even if you use some of the same elements as I do
I'm not the first person with the idea of a "natural" theme, or covering tables in burlap...but mine will always be different, because the creative eye is specific to each individual - we could use the exact same materials, and have 2 totally different booths because our creative eye sees things just a bit differently than anyone else, if that makes any sense. ...or so I've come to realize from observing other creative artists.
