i tried just about every kind of packaging and heres my take on things for what it's worth and what worked for me. packaging is a personnel thing, depends on the look and type of market you are selling to. for my farmers market, naked would be my first choice ( if i didn't have issues with germs) but not the look i would want at an upscale trade show. this is what we have tried over the years.
first choice like i said would be to sell naked and offer a small individual paper bag with scent name and ingredient label on the bag for each soap if customer wanted it. i did actually try this the first year at the fm i just couldn't handle the handling all of the soap by everyone.
pros: customers can actually see the whole bar, more economical and less paper waste, it goes over well with the those who are heavily into being green ( we recyle too but i want my soap clean, lol so please read on)
cons: soap gets dusty from being out in the open every weekend at either farmers market or show.
little kids ( while i luv em ) as well as some adults can't see to keep their hands to them selves these days and insist on picking up and smelling every bar of soap even if it is the same scent and then just toss it back on the table and if i'm lucky it doesn't get dropped on the ground.
knowing that every bar of soap has been man-handled before being purchased to me is a big turn off and i personnaly wouldn't buy a soap that way, i would have to be a pia and ask if they had any extras in a tote. but again that's my quirk. so while i like the idea of naked bars i have not been able to let go of my weirdness and just go for it, but i already said that.
cigar bands: still fairly economical not to much paper waste.
cons: soap continues to shrink some even after 6 week cure time so the labels may need to be adjusted, if it's humid and you are outside the ink may run or the paper gets funky. to much handling gets the labels dirty or ripped. but easy to replace.
label or cigar band under shrink wrap: i think the soap still needs to breath so open ended bands seems like a better option. i still had problems with the humidity and sweating and since my displays were made to hold the soap bars the long way from top to bottom, the top with the dan's band was still left uncovered and picked up dust and who knows what from someones nose being on it. again my quirk
wrapping each bar completely in paper, back when i started i was going for a country look and wrapped each bar in forest green or burgandy gingham printed paper with 2x4 label. made me happy knowing each customer was getting a fresh clean bar of soap, free from everyone's germie hands, but took to long wrapping.
i have been using white soap boxes for the last couple of years, they're quick to package, the individual bars stay clean, the boxes have a cut out so customers can see and smell the bar they are getting, ( i set a bar out for display that is shrink wrapped with the top end exposed ( yeah i know ) and i tuck a small black and white label down the front with the name of the scent and price , this way customers can see what the soap looks like and smell it. customers seem to like them packaged this way especially if they are giving it for a gift.
and yes you can say it, my family tells me all the time how anal i am.
