Everybody, take a calming breath, PLEASE!
As the original poster, I just wanted to point out that to me it appeared that BB is now more expensive than a lot of the other suppliers! My relationship with BB started about 5 years ago. I am forever grateful for the Soap Queen's instructional videos that spurred my exploration into soap making. They have some REALLY good fragrances. I noticed the price change when I started shopping for a re-order of some my favorite scents.
I live on the EAST coast and BB is on the WEST coast. Shipping was always expensive with BB, so I've always watched for sales and coupon codes to help offset the expensive shipping. I started shopping other fragrance companies a couple of years ago because BB's shipping time and cost were a concern to me. At that point in time BB was very competitive price wise. When BB re-structured their fragrance size options, they also changed their pricing. Now, their fragrance prices seem to be at the higher end of the spectrum ( for the smaller sizes), but the shipping seems to be more competitive. I have 16 0unces of fragrance in my shopping cart right now and the shipping is $8.50. At the 2 lb mark, my shipping was $9. At the 5 lb mark, my shipping went up slightly to $13.
On this order, I wanted to try some new scents that were recommended to me. I prefer to purchase new scents in the one ounce size because I don't want to waste my money buying a bigger size when in reality I might not like it. So, spending $3 on a size of 1 ounce is more cost effective to me than paying $6 for a 2 ounce bottle of something I may end up throwing away. With BB, shipping is based on WEIGHT and Distance. So, buying a bigger bottle of something I may not like costs me more in shipping.
So at the end of the day, BB's pricing schedule is competitive on the larger scale - 7 ounce or bigger bottles, but not competitive on the smaller sizes. Those smaller sizes are what I like to try new scents out. Without a major sale, it just isn't cost effective to try new scents. I discovered so many of my favorite scents back when BB would let you select a fragrance sample for free with your order. I miss those days !
I don't know how realistic it is for bigger companies, BUT I LOVE the business model that Mica's and More has going on. She does a video where she test a new fragrance. She then slices that loaf up into small slices and sends them out as samples upon request when you place an order with her. OMG, this is brilliant IMHO! I would be willing to pay her a nominal fee for these samples because it makes my life so much easier! The benefit to me is that I get to smell the fragrance in CP soap without making a batch! Plus, I get to judge how well the fragrance sticks without committing to a bottle of fragrance. The last samples she sent to me, I checked them monthly for 3 months. At which point, I placed my order for the fragrance. When that order arrived, I requested a new fragrance sample. I didn't like it! I am so glad I didn't have to order the fragrance to find out I didn't like it!
The other model that works great for me is when companies like Candle Science or Rustic Essentual do their .99 sample sale once or twice a year. I found a 50% off the one ounce sizes of fragrances from LoneStar this year too. That made their fragrances $1.00 to $1.25 for 1 ounce.
Yup, I noticed right away with FOs I purchased from other places that it required more and the scent didn't stick as long. I have some soap that's 2 years old and I CAN still smell the scent. With those from other vendors, the scent had faded some or altogether by 6 months. If one must use more for the same amount of soap batter it isn't really less expensive to use even though per oz it is less expensive to buy. Despite the less expensive cost, if the scent dissipates much sooner then it's not serving me well.
I have had good and bad with EVERY company that I've order from INCLUDING Bramble Berry! In fact one of the WORSE CP soaping experiences I've ever had was with BB's Apricot Freshia. That scent morphs to something NASTY if it is allowed to gel. This is why I am so big on ordering SMALL sizes and testing the fragrances myself, regardless of who I purchase the scent from.
As for shipping with BB, I think they are great now. I ordered on a Wednesday and got my order on a Tuesday, in Canada. Shipping wasn’t bad but the brokerage fee
but they are FOs I needed.
That is a REAL IMPROVEMENT! It use to take them at least 7 days just to ship my orders. Then another 5 days for it to travel to the East Coast. Everything was shipped UPS Ground. I was always waiting at least 2 weeks to receive my order and that was after paying at least $20 for shipping.
