How "perfect" are your products

[100%Natural]

All of my bars are cut with a wire cutter and are a minimum weight. I also polish each and every bar to give it a shiny appearance and smooth out any rough edges. Appearance and scent are the two most important things when selling soap. One thing I hear a lot is how professional my products look. It seems to instill a confidence in the customers that they aren't buying sub par products from me. I've had several customers come from a soap booth in the same show and buy mine instead because they thought the other soap wasn't as good because it was rough, had soda ash, tossed in a plastic bag, unevenly cut etc. and the seller looks like the soap - rough and unpolished. To me, that shows laziness and a lack of caring about your product and the quality. If you're willing to sell soap that looks sub par then where else are you being lazy and sloppy?

Take pride in what you sell and that includes appearance! Any bars that don't meet my standards are put in the 'Misfiit' basket and sold at a discount. Most will buy the full price bars over the Misfits which shows me that appearance does matter.

And while we're on the subject of appearance - make sure your personal appearance is professional as well!

 

[eyeroll]

Well said, 100% Natural.

As a consumer, I definitely want a bar of soap to be the stated weight, not half an ounce or an ounce less. That's pretty important. If I got a bar home and it was less than advertised, I'd never buy from that seller again.

I expect to see uniform cuts (very, VERY minor crookedness) and clean edges, though they don't have to be beveled. I don't care about partial gel or tiny air bubbles; I won't buy a bar with visible cracks, or botanicals or glitter on top.

 

[cmzaha]

All of my bars are cut with a wire cutter and are a minimum weight. I also polish each and every bar to give it a shiny appearance and smooth out any rough edges. Appearance and scent are the two most important things when selling soap. One thing I hear a lot is how professional my products look. It seems to instill a confidence in the customers that they aren't buying sub par products from me. I've had several customers come from a soap booth in the same show and buy mine instead because they thought the other soap wasn't as good because it was rough, had soda ash, tossed in a plastic bag, unevenly cut etc. and the seller looks like the soap - rough and unpolished. To me, that shows laziness and a lack of caring about your product and the quality. If you're willing to sell soap that looks sub par then where else are you being lazy and sloppy?

Take pride in what you sell and that includes appearance! Any bars that don't meet my standards are put in the 'Misfiit' basket and sold at a discount. Most will buy the full price bars over the Misfits which shows me that appearance does matter.

And while we're on the subject of appearance - make sure your personal appearance is professional as well!

I actually have some customers that wait for my discount basket, but you are correct most will buy from the main stock and not the "misfits" Ash have never stopped a sale and some think the look is interesting. I admit I do not polish my soaps, never stops a sale, but I do bevel the bottom edge since it makes it easier to hold on to. Some of my ugliest soaps are my best sellers. I have a few that turn dark and have to be hot processed, but there are top selling fo's. When packaging up to 500 soaps at a time I simple do not have the time to polish and wash off soda ash. When you build up a customer that know your product is consistent quality they will return to your booth and not the other booths. Quality, consistent sizes, strong, mild, no fragrance, and wrapped soaps make a huge difference.

 

[100%Natural]

I actually have some customers that wait for my discount basket, but you are correct most will buy from the main stock and not the "misfits" Ash have never stopped a sale and some think the look is interesting. I admit I do not polish my soaps, never stops a sale, but I do bevel the bottom edge since it makes it easier to hold on to. Some of my ugliest soaps are my best sellers. I have a few that turn dark and have to be hot processed, but there are top selling fo's. When packaging up to 500 soaps at a time I simple do not have the time to polish and wash off soda ash. When you build up a customer that know your product is consistent quality they will return to your booth and not the other booths. Quality, consistent sizes, strong, mild, no fragrance, and wrapped soaps make a huge difference.

Agreed! I have customers that love the Misfits too and scoop them up when I have them available.

As far as the time to polish and wrap all those soaps. I hired a small staff to take care of this end of things for me. Worth every penny and frees up my time for other things.

A good example of my staff paying for themselves is when I have time to look for shows to attend that I wouldn't have had if I was doing all that work myself. $40.00 worth of labour vs a day of sales that brought in $900 is money well spent. I'd never have found that show if I didn't have my helpers! I'd not have had time to polish and wrap all those bars either and the appearance of my products may have suffered and then in turn the sales may have been reduced as well.

Do what you need to do to make sure you look like a pro. Sometimes spending money to make money is the way you have to go in order to 'keep up appearances'.

 

[Nikkor]

I also polish each and every bar to give it a shiny appearance and smooth out any rough edges.

How do you "polish" the bar? I've seen soaps before that I thought had a very smooth, clean look to them and thought it looked very nice. I understand how to bevel but not the polishing.

 

[DeeAnna]

Not 100%Natural, but here's what I do -- I use a very soft, dry cotton cloth. An old tee shirt works well. I rub gently to smooth the surface a bit, remove small crumbs, and neaten up the edges (I bevel before polishing).

 

[Nikkor]

Thank you DeeAnna!

 

[100%Natural]

Here is the thread for how I polish....

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=35802

 

[Nikkor]

Here is the thread for how I polish....

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=35802

Thank you for taking the time to post that thread! I would not have thought to dunk the bars, very interesting.

 

[100%Natural]

Welcome!

 

[cmzaha]

A few years I did take the time to polish until I had a customer ask me if the soap had been used, I told her no that I just polish them. She mentioned that she had been purchasing handmade soap for many years and to her they looked used not like a fresh cut soap. Sure made me stop and think and from that time on I quite washing off ash and polishing soaps. Saves a lot of time...Most customers seem to like that handmade look. As mentioned before my soaps are all uniform cut with my cutter that cuts my loaf and my square and round bars are all poured in the same molds, all wrapped and fully labeled. When stacked on the table customers can certainly see the uniformity of my bars. I do bevel the bottom edge because it makes the bar easier to hold.

 

[MzMolly65]

FWIW .. my hubby commented today that he would rather see handmade soap looking handmade. His comments were, "It shouldn't look perfect and store bought otherwise I don't think it's handmade. It should have lumps and bumps."

This from a man/potential customer who really couldn't care much about the details of soap, just as long as it IS soap.

 

[Dennis]

FWIW .. my hubby commented today that he would rather see handmade soap looking handmade. His comments were, "It shouldn't look perfect and store bought otherwise I don't think it's handmade. It should have lumps and bumps."

This from a man/potential customer who really couldn't care much about the details of soap, just as long as it IS soap.

Agree with hubby. Uniformity indicates mass production - one of millions just alike unless something gets out of whack. We're surrounded with it in our lives. The imperfect handmade object is comforting. It harkens back to a simpler time and signals care and craftsmanship.

 

[DeeAnna]

I have done woodworking from jewelry boxes, tables, and beds to turned boxes and spindles and I do full-time leather working on a professional basis. My expectation is not for a plasticky or perfect finish to my wooden pieces, leather items, and soaps, but I do prefer to see (and feel) a tidy silky crispness that speaks of fine-tuned skill and thoughtful care.

 

[hmlove1218]

I don't sell yet, but on the soaps that I've made, I kind of like the ash and the look of the occasional partial gel. I think it lends credit to the handcrafted feel. And when I do start selling, I'm marketing my soaps as "rustic," so I think it will fit in perfectly with that. My first batches are still curing, so only time will tell how my friends and family react to these same features. That will help determine how my soaps that I sell will look.

I think whether or not you sell "imperfect" soaps all depends on how you market them and the people you're selling them to.

 

[clhigh29]

I feel imperfections should be kept to a minimum. I wouldn't buy a bar of soap with a crack in it, and ingredients are subjective. I personally do not like glitter in my soap (isn't glitter plastic?); however, I will do lavender buds. I've figured out why guys like my lavender soap ... I don't think they use wash clothes and the lavender buds act as a scrubbing agent . In your case of differing sizes, I would price by weight. Sometimes people only want to try a small bar of something.

 

[Sweetie J]

I do like for the soaps to be the exact weight as stated but as far as shiny & polished. I don't mind. I kinda like the homemade imperfect rustic look.

 

[CraftyRedhead]

It may just be my friends, but I took a picture of a "raw" bar and a polished bar and asked what they preferred. Every one of my friends said they would rather buy the unpolished. I didn't mention that the polishing took extra time, I actually had a couple that thought the soap came out of my mold shiny and I roughed them up to get the rustic look!