More popular - soap mold shapes or plain bars?

[Bnky]

I've seen many differnt typs of soap molds on the market, but have never experimented with any of the shapes. The other day I was in a store that had jello silicone molds shaped like two oranges (packaged w/ four molds). I almost bought them for an orange scented bar, but decided against it. Does anyone have experience selling both shapes and basic bars? I am wondering if the shapes sell better or if the basic bars sell better.

 

[vivcarm]

I don't sell, but I prefer bars to fancy shapes.

 

[Guest]

Fancy shapes can be a real pita to get out of the mold it is to bad cause they look so pretty. I sell bars .

Kitn

 

[Jody63]

Good old fashioned bars by far!

 

[MikeInPdx]

I don't sell, but I give lots away. No one has ever expressed a preference for the pretty fancy stuff, or for the plain ol' bars. So, I do big slabs now that I cut into bars.

 

[alwaysme07]

I like square bars myself, but the rest of the family like them regular. Go figure.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

My experience has been that the pretty shapes become bathroom ornaments and do not get used ~ so they do not need to be replaced too often, and that is not good for sales.

Customers often say about the bars "They are so pretty and smell so good I would hate to use them"

Then you have to convince them that they deserve to be using only the best on their skin.

We do what we have to so that the general public can become educated about our soaps.

My personal preference though is bars.

 

[heyjude]

I like bars. That said, today I soaped in my silicone Christmas Tree Shoppe leaf and pumpkin molds. My reasoning is that I will be giving them away at Thanksgiving and each mold holds less soap than I would cut from my log mold, so there is more bang for the buck. (I hope that makes sense)

Secondly, if I can get them out of the mold in one piece, I think there is a bit of a wow factor. (Cross your fingers and toes I can get them out in a few days!)

Jude

 

[Dixie]

My experience has been that the pretty shapes become bathroom ornaments and do not get used ~ so they do not need to be replaced too often, and that is not good for sales.

Not only that but a lot of them are difficult to handle.

 

[Bnky]

Thanks for all the replys. It sounds like the bars have it (I am glad to hear). MagiaDellaLuna, you are right "Customers do often say "They are so pretty and smell so good I would hate to use them". One of my coworkes still has not used a bar I gave her (months ago) for that very reason. While the other coworkers have used them and want more. I always ask people to use them and give me feedback, but I think I am going to do what Gramma (I think it was Gramma) does and type up a short survey for my Samplers to fill out. this way I get honest feedback and they use the soap.

 

[SilverMaple]

Surveys work well. I do them all the time.

I have a few testers that wanted more soap, but didn't give me useful feedback on the first bars-- I want to know more than 'it's nice.'

So, I typed up a little form, and let them know that I'd send them a new bar to test if I got the feedback form returned from the last one. So far, so good!

It also helps people to know what you are looking for regarding their opinions-- feel, lather, appearance, scent, etc. To a lot of folks, soap is soap. They don't know what you want to know unless you tell them

 

[honor435]

bars have done better for me, but some people like shapes for decor.

 

[Harlow]

It is going to be determined by your customer base. What type of customers are you trying to reach? What would they prefer?