B & B Sellers Can you answer some of my questions ? Ple

[Guest]

Hi
I have been making soap for almost 6 months now . I am not ready to sell yet ,I want everything to be the best it can be before I sell. So here are my questions for anyone willing to answer.

1. How long did you wait to sell your soaps , lotions , potions .

Asking this because I noticed one of my 5 month old soaps that the testers loved , does not do well sitting in the soap dish drainer , it looks mushy but it isn't. Another thing I noticed is that a batch of solid lotion tarts I made , went fragile after about 3 months .Pieces would break off .I have made the same recipe about 3 times and the rest are fine and older, same ingredients. I do not want to sell anything that would disappoint a buyer and make them not want to return.

2. Did you have testers for your products? How long did you test them for ?

3. Did you develope a starting line of products and add as you went? Or did you start with just a few products ?

4. Did you sell at markets and fairs or start online , or have your own website , sell to stores , consignment or wholesale ?

5.Did you start out wholesaling right away , or do you wholesale at all?

6.Is there anything you have done differently ?

It is such a huge learning curve , I don't want to mess up. I have been searching for the answers to these questions and can't find much, hence the questionnaire .

I can see it being close to a year before I am ready to sell . I can retire in 5 years and this is my retirement dream. Hubby is going to make molds and soap dishes , if all goes as planned.

Thanks so much in advance to anyone who feels like answering any or all of the questions.


Kitn

edited for missing word

 

[AshleyR]

Re: B & B Sellers Can you answer some of my questions ?

I'll answer since I am gearing up to start selling in about 2 months (getting ready now).

Hi

1. How long did you wait to sell your soaps , lotions , potions .

I have been making CP soap for a year. Had some knowledge about it long before that and had been researching for about 6 months before I made my first batch.

2. Did you have testers for your products? How long did you test them for?

Friends and family are my guinea pigs! They tell me honestly what they think of my stuff and it really helps. It took me about 6 months to be totally happy with the recipe I choose to use as my "base recipe" (I made it up with the help of soapcalc!)

3. Did you develope a starting line of products and add as you went? Or did you start with just a few products ?

I am starting with mainly CP soap, but I've also decided to add a few more B&B things to up the business a little. I'm going to have bubble bath (from a base), bath salts, and a few other things when I kick off the business, and will practice on other B&B stuff as I go along.

4. Did you sell at markets and fairs or start online , or have your own website , sell to stores , consignment or wholesale ?

I am going to be doing all of that! My main focus is going to be wholesale and consignment in local stores and then my online store. I'm also going to be participating in as many craft shows/fairs in the area as I can.

5.Did you start out wholesaling right away, or do you wholesale at all?

I will be wholesaling right away. I hope.

6.Is there anything you have done differently ?

Can't answer this yet since I haven't officially opened!

I can honestly say I do feel "ready" to start selling. I think I must have made over 100 batches of soap in the last year... seriously. I have been living and breathing soap since I started this little addiction. I have come a LONG way in a short period of time, but it's all due to practice, practice, practice, and THOUSANDS of dollars. Not kidding - I am nearing 10 grand on soap supplies in a year.

Hope this helps!!

 

[Tabitha]

1. How long did you wait to sell your soaps , lotions , potions . I clear out my entire inventory every 6 months. I run a 1/2 clearance event in July & December. That way I know nothing has set around very long. I make sure I state in my clearance event that this is to CLEAR OUT OLD PRODUCT & that anyting bought should be used up ASAP for best results.

2. Did you have testers for your products? How long did you test them for? Friends & family. I know who is allergic to what & who is sensitive to what. My hubby gets scalded by cinnamon so if I think a fragrance may have cinnamon in it I say "Hey, will you wash your hands w/ this :? ?" Swaps are a great place to test out new products on 10-12 willing victims!

3. Did you develope a starting line of products and add as you went? Or did you start with just a few products ? I started w/ M&P & lotion bars. I added scrubs & bath salts. I tossed out the bath salts & added body butter & body mists. I added fizzies & tossed them out, I added bath melts & tossed them out, etc, etc. I have a core group of about 6 base products I will amke forever & play w/ other things now & again, usually around Holidays.

4. Did you sell at markets and fairs or start online , or have your own website , sell to stores , consignment or wholesale ? I started at shows & think everyone should do shows in the begining for certain. At shows you get to SEE how people persive your items. You get to see what type of faces they make when they smell scents & you get to hear what they whisper to their best friends.... "I wish the scent was stronger" "this would be perfect if the bottle were smaller". etc, etc.

5.Did you start out wholesaling right away , or do you wholesale at all? Probabaly 6 months down the road after I got some things figured out like packing, shipping, prices, etc.

6.Is there anything you have done differently ? I would have more seriously considered my name/logo/theme. Once you get going, you are pretty much stuck w/ it!!! You can modify but any big changes can confuse your customer base & could be like starting all over after you have invested time & money. I would try to not get sucked into every new fragrance that catches your nose and every new package/box/bag/bottle/jar/ribbon that catches your eye. Those are the things that eat up your profits, having to have every scent on the planet, every coloring, every additive. Choose a few & stick w/ them to increase your profits & reduse your waste EX) I add poppy seeds to my scrubs, all of my scrubs. I do not add strawberry seeds to my strawberry scrubs & oatmeal to my OMH, and louffa to this & walnut to that. Just poppy seeds. My customers expect them & I only have to stock 1 exfoliant.

 

[Guest]

Re: B & B Sellers Can you answer some of my questions ?

I'll answer since I am gearing up to start selling in about 2 months (getting ready now).

Hi

I can honestly say I do feel "ready" to start selling. I think I must have made over 100 batches of soap in the last year... seriously. I have been living and breathing soap since I started this little addiction. I have come a LONG way in a short period of time, but it's all due to practice, practice, practice, and THOUSANDS of dollars. Not kidding - I am nearing 10 grand on soap supplies in a year.

Hope this helps!!

Thank you Ashley,
It does help and I know what you mean about feeling ready . I am not ready , I have probably made 50 batches of soap , but every batch teaches me something. I in no way shape or form want to sell something that isn't the best I can make it. I want customers to be totally happy with their soap.
Living and breathing soap I know very well.LOL but I do love it. You have me beat on the supplies lol, I just did my books up last night :shock: .I noticed a huge decrease once I started buying 20kg of oils I use a lot of and lye etc.So that is a good thing.

Many Thanks
Kitn

 

[rubato456]

kitn those were great questions....i've been wondering the same things myself and those were great answers....thanks so much!!!

 

[Guest]

Thank you Tabitha
I hear you on the name and branding thing .I think making the soap is the easy part :wink:
Swaps , I never thought of that , we have one going right now ,yeah!
I appreciate your other points as well. We have tons of craft sales here, a weekly farmers market and a weekly indoor flea market .
Getting rid of older product is a good thing , I got a soap online that must have been very old , it smelled awful , and went to mush after 1 use,I threw it away.

Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions.
Kitn

 

[Tabitha]

As for consignment .... This is going to sound real bad.... esp since I own a consignment gallery.... but... I won't ever consign again. It's like they say about making a loan.... just give the money to the person who needs it & don't expect to get it back... if you do what a pleasant surprise. Any time I consigned I got screwed. My stuff got lost, stolen, damaged and more. I hade about 30 bars of soap some teenage boys carved their initial in. When I pointed it out to the shop owner she said she wondered why they were over there messing with my soap for so long :shock: . Tops stolen of bottles fingers jammed in jars & once $300 worth of inventory stolen by the shop manager. No more.

 

[Guest]

holy cow Tabitha, that is awful .

Kitn

 

[jbarad]

Consignment can really stink I know Tabitha, I lost over $400.00 in products just a few weeks ago. Sent it in for consignment, 2 weeks later the doors are locked and the owner is gone

If you do consign, be sure the gallery/store you're dealing with has a well written consignment contract laying out who's responsible for what IE : theft, damage, etc.

I'll be opening my boutique in June hopefully and we'll be taking consignments, but the contract we're having drawn up is very detailed and hopefully gives vendors some piece of mind.

 

[AshleyR]

Thanks for the warnings about consignment!

There is only one shop in my area that has told me they would want to do consignment rather than buy the soap from me wholesale. They are a small little womens clothing store and have a few gift items too.

I think if I do do consignment with them I will make sure that there is a clause in the contract about them being responsible if anything is damaged or stolen.

The owner of this shop really likes b&b stuff and also suggested that I just give her some products each month rather than paying her a consignment fee. So, I'll save some money there!

 

[Guest]

I love your fur baby Ashley , he looks like a sweetheart.

 

[AshleyR]

I love your fur baby Ashley , he looks like a sweetheart.

Thanks! It's a she! She's lucky she's got her looks, because she is he11 on wheels! LOL. She is turning 1 in a few weeks - it has been a heck of a year! Puppies are hard work.... especially this one. :wink:

 

[Lindy]

Re: B & B Sellers Can you answer some of my questions ?

1. How long did you wait to sell your soaps , lotions , potions .

I started making bath salts, milk baths, lotions about 15 years ago due to allergies - I tried M&P about 10 yers ago but it didn't really do much for me - neither did the lotion bases or other products made from bases but I loved the salts and milk baths and stuff like that which I made from scratch. Last fall I got into making CP soaps and I have so far made just over 100 batches and I knew once I started that I wanted to go into business making these products.


2. Did you have testers for your products? How long did you test them for ?

Friends & family who can be brutally honest about what they like and what they don't like....their input was invaluable!

3. Did you develope a starting line of products and add as you went? Or did you start with just a few products ?

For my starting line-up I focused on soap and created a master recipe that I use for 95% of my soaps. Once I felt comfortable with my soaps I brought in the B&B products I've made for years and then added lotions.

4. Did you sell at markets and fairs or start online , or have your own website , sell to stores , consignment or wholesale ?

I love dealing with my customers directly and it is through that contact that I have brought new scents into my line-up. I refuse to do consignment - I have a website that has starting do some sales for me - I do sell to stores and I am pursuing wholesale as well as Private Label sales.


5.Did you start out wholesaling right away , or do you wholesale at all?

I didn't start out wholesaling however I am still in my start-up stage and I am now preparing to pursue that end of the business. I feel for my company to truly be well-rounded I need to have that as part of my business.

6.Is there anything you have done differently ?

I haven't been in business long enough to answer that.

HTH
lindy

 

[Guest]

Thanks Lindy.

 

[Lindy]

I love your fur baby Ashley , he looks like a sweetheart.

Hey double that for me!!!

Kitn - you're welcome - something I didn't mention is that I have worked retail kiosks in the past with another business so I have 2 things that I am drawing on - 1 I've been in business before and 2 I've worked mall kiosks and know what to expect. I know that not every day or weekend is going to incredibly profitable but that it will build....

 

[topcat]

Hi Kitn - I am only just starting out really, so will answer what I can:-

1. How long did you wait to sell your soaps , lotions , potions .

I started with making MP soap and giving it away to friends & family. My hairdresser saw me giving a bar of soap to someone and asked about it and straight away offered to have a table of my products in her salon...she practically begged me to! I was very hesitant but she is a very persuasive lady :wink: Last October after lots and lots of research I began CP soaping. I have only made my own recipes based on knowledge I have gained (a lot of it right here on SMF) and my very first recipe is still the one I use as my base now - slightly modified. I started selling CP through my hairdresser last month after about 50 batches made - once again, at her urging... (lol). I have now done my first two markets this month.

2. Did you have testers for your products? How long did you test them for ?

With my CP and body butters I use myself, family and friends. Like Tabitha, I know who has sensitive skin or irritation issues and my soap has to be usable for them before I will ever offer it for sale. Each soap is used for at least a week by my chosen testers. Body butters were also trial and error initially. I have found a recipe that will stay stable after some experimenting and I didn't offer that for sale until I was sure it was still exactly the same consistency at 3 months.

3. Did you develop a starting line of products and add as you went? Or did you start with just a few products ?

First MP, then body butter, then CP and now salt scrubs. I had the MP and body butter going when I started selling.

4. Did you sell at markets and fairs or start online , or have your own website , sell to stores , consignment or wholesale ?

No website as yet; nor wholesale. Both of those I will develop when my time is right. I consign to my hairdresser and she is such a sweetie. If they don't have something down as sold on my sell sheet and it is gone, they always pay me for it.

5.Did you start out wholesaling right away , or do you wholesale at all?

I am thinking about developing some wholesale accounts now. Still in the thinking stage here!

6.Is there anything you have done differently ?

I wish I had started CPing years ago!!! Otherwise, too soon to know Kitn.


HTH!

Tanya

 

[Guest]

I hear you Lindy about being in business before , We have had an online business for about 7 years .So we know about the books and taxes , the expenses ,mileage ,etc. Thank God for that .

I am going to give consignment a try ,of the samples I have given out , 3 store owners have asked me to . I know the store owners and one is a very good friend. We talk about it a lot and have made it perfectly clear what each other expects. I will see how it goes. I will persue other venues too . When I retire in 5 years , I would like a small store .
I was thinking about a kiosk at Christmas time , were you in yours last Christmas ? Do people think soap and lotions are a good stocking stuffer or present. I do :wink:

Kitn

 

[Guest]

I love your fur baby Ashley , he looks like a sweetheart.

Thanks! It's a she! She's lucky she's got her looks, because she is he11 on wheels! LOL. She is turning 1 in a few weeks - it has been a heck of a year! Puppies are hard work.... especially this one. :wink:

Don't tell her we called her a boy, she is gorgeous.

Kitn

 

[Guest]

Thanks Tanya , I appreciate your answers very much . I am with you on the wish you had started soaping years ago . it is an incredible thing to create and the possibilities are endless , gotta love that.

thanks again
Kitn

 

[Lindy]

Kitn I wasn't in a kiosk for last Christmas and I'm actually glad I wasn't. This year I'll have the full year to develop my customer base so I should be able to expect a strong Christmas. Personally I think that any of us who do want to sell could set up for Christmas somewhere and do well though - you just have to make sure you have enough product - it would be horrible to sell out a week before Christmas and not be able to take the fullest advantage of those Christmas Sales....