Holiday Market supply

[MarnieSoapien]

I've signed up for 2 holiday markets this year. This will be the first time I've sold my soaps at a market and am not sure how many soaps I should have available for each market. To make things more interesting, I think both of the markets are new, so I don't know how many visitors are expected. When you do a holiday market, how many bars of each soap do you take?

 

[SoaperForLife]

Depends on the market... I have done one where I sell hardly any soap (10 bars if I'm lucky) but I sell lots of body butters. Another one, I have to spend all summer building up inventory to sell there. I would take into consideration what venues you will have available to sell product after these two markets and how many bars you have of your best selling varieties and go from there. You don't want to have a lot of inventory after your 2nd market with no where to sell it. How well you do will also depend on whether there will be other soap vendors there.

 

[MarnieSoapien]

I'm assuming I'll be the only soap vendor there. There aren't a lot of small soap makers here yet. Right now I'm only selling soaps. So, if I were planning on selling like gangbusters, how many bars of each fragrance should I plan on?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

My mold makes 16 bars. Which is plenty for a single fragrance. I would recommend no more than 8-12 fragrances. Too many choices and people tend to get overwhelmed and walk away. Every one of the fragrances should be well-know top sellers like lavender, lemon verbena, patchouli, eucalyptus mint, etc. and distinct one from the other. Any vanilla based FO is a good seller. I had one customer at my first event that kept coming back to the table a few times because he couldn't choose between two vanilla-based scents.

If you have time, I would give a lot of thought about packaging and presentation.

 

[cmzaha]

I never have anyone get overwhelmed and walk away. I take a min of 40 different fragrances with 14-42 bar depending on the fragrance. I always have 3 batches of DB, DB and Nag Champa, Mango Papaya, Bonsai and a couple of others. The first year is a tough one, but even my then I had the same selection, although I was not only doing 1 market.

 

[shunt2011]

I carry between 30-40 scents at any given time during my show. Never once had anyone complain. I suggest taking as much as you can. You just never know how much you 'll sell. In my experience what sell well at one show may not be as good at another. I keep track of what sells best and plan accordingly since I pretty much now do the same shows each year.

 

[LilyJo]

Dont forget the OP is in Denmark which means (depending where they are selling etc) that each fragrance would need to be safety assessed and registered before sale so most EU soapers wouldn't have anywhere near 30-40 different fragrances or products.

How many bars kind of depends of location, footfall etc - we've always taken about 12 of each fragrance (10 fragrances) per market plus mixed in other products.

 

[maxine289]

I've signed up for 2 holiday markets this year. This will be the first time I've sold my soaps at a market and am not sure how many soaps I should have available for each market. To make things more interesting, I think both of the markets are new, so I don't know how many visitors are expected. When you do a holiday market, how many bars of each soap do you take?

One consideration is having enough soap on your table to make a good display and have a good presence. Even if you know that you won't sell that much because it's a small market, you don't want things to look too paltry.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I never have anyone get overwhelmed and walk away. I take a min of 40 different fragrances with 14-42 bar depending on the fragrance.

@Carolyn are you recommending that many fragrances/bars to the OP?
I'm one of those that would walk away, but that's just me.

I'm reminded of Megan Cummins (You Smell Soap) from Shark Tank... She sold only 3 fragrances, at $12/bar in retail shops -- amazing packaging! While fragrances sell, packaging and presentation are also key, IMHO.
In a 2013 interview, Megan said, QUOTE:
'When I went on the show I had nothing. No inventory, no salary, nothing. We started shipping orders in April and now we're in over 200 boutiques, have been contacted by half a dozen major national and international chains, had celebrity orders, I could hire myself and my fiancé full time, we've fully paid for 7 tons of soap, are about to release 8+ new SKUs, and we're already beginning to break even (which is something you'd expect after 2 years, not 5 months."
END QUOTE

 

[Nanette]

I've signed up for 2 holiday markets this year. This will be the first time I've sold my soaps at a market and am not sure how many soaps I should have available for each market. To make things more interesting, I think both of the markets are new, so I don't know how many visitors are expected. When you do a holiday market, how many bars of each soap do you take?

Try about 50 bars....makes a nice showing! But seems that everyone else takes a LOT more, so just as long as you have a robust showing....ok 100 bars...

 

[MarnieSoapien]

I'm starting small, 7 or 8 fragrances this year, soap only. I'll adjust as needed next year. Right now, I'm just trying to get my name out there and hopefully get a base clientele. I just want to make sure I have enough bars of soap ready to go without going overboard. The shows are a week apart, so I won't have time between to make more to replenish my stock. My hubby was thinking that 7 bars per day per show should be sufficient. I thought I'd ask those who have actually sold at holiday markets

I take a min of 40 different fragrances with 14-42 bar depending on the fragrance

I don't have a car, and will probably be transporting my products via my backpack. There is no possible way I could transport that many soaps!

 

[TheGecko]

I've signed up for 2 holiday markets this year. This will be the first time I've sold my soaps at a market and am not sure how many soaps I should have available for each market. To make things more interesting, I think both of the markets are new, so I don't know how many visitors are expected. When you do a holiday market, how many bars of each soap do you take?

I am attending my first Craft Fair this weekend, but I'm in the United States and as noted by a soap making friends in Australia and England...they vary so much from country to country it's really hard to give a definitive answer. Holiday craft fairs are kind of a big deal here and are usually well attended, the one I am going to is an established one (10th year) and well advertised.

I have approximately 90 total soaps, or rather 87 since daughter and hubby grabbed a few bars in case I sell out (bless their hearts) in about a dozen or so different scents, but I will only display about three bars each of six or seven at a time as not to overwhelm folks. If they express an interest in something in inventory (under the table), I can always pull it out. I'm taking 5 different scents of 14 each Lotion Bars. I was going to pre-package them in sets of two, but have instead decided to just put 'testers' in little dessert dishes and let folks choose their own scents. I'm also taking 20 jars total of four scents of Bath Salts.

Hubby and I sat down last night and worked on my pricing. I wasn’t overly exact on my costs...as in I didn't break down the cost of Sodium Lactate, Kaolin Clay or colorants, but just rounded up. Then I added in a bit of 'overhead'...shipping cost of ingredients, electricity, water, dish soap, labels and packaging and then set a decent market price.

 

[cmzaha]

No, you could not transport that many via backpack soap is very heavy. Gopd luck to you MarnieSoapien. If you have to pay for these markets just make sure you can transport enough to make some money and pay expenses. How about using a rolling cart or wagon. You can get quite a lot in a wagon and even get up small hills if necessary.

@zany I did not recommend anything, I said what I do and I am not the only seller that does. I normally outsell anyone in a market that has a little display. I am not the only seller that takes a large display. We need all the help today with so many new sellers coming into markets and markets disappearing. So if you would walk away so be it, most do not. Why are you adding a quote from someone that picked up on Shark Tank. Because now she was picked up or at least seen nationally her sales have gone through the roof. Good for her, not even a drop in the pond get to Hollywood with their product. So we should all be impressed. It does not apply to Zany, just because she had a few bars in a shop at at $12 ea. There was a former member here that made gorgeous that was trying a target market in the Burbank/Holly market and it just did not work. No "Shark Tank" no go. Sorry guy, a tad off topic, but it irritated me.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Sorry guys, a tad off topic, but it irritated me.

No worries, Carolyn. I know where you're coming from and age does have its privileges. Say what you think. It's all good.