So Gave away MORE soaps today and...

[Shalisk]

Had a bit of a strange experiance. I frequent a metaphysical shop, and promised the ladies there that when I had some that were 'ready' they could have some for free if they gave me honest feedback. All of them qere quite anxious and happy to do so, (After some re-assurances on the location of some of my products, actually had to do some homework for them )

Anyway, I showed up today with my peppermint tea-tree, my orange clove, and my dragons blood, after a little sniffing and touching and questions she said somthing that floored me:

"I want to talk with <name> who is in france right now, and we will see about selling thse if you make more"

and I was shocked I even stammered (Ask ahroun thats no small feat) and I said "I'm sorry but these are just my first soaps, I just would like some feedback and stuff, but im working twords that goal" She was talking to me about incorperating, insurance, labeling and branding before I knew it! O.O

Now, I am not trying to brag, or anything of the sort. Infact its quite the opposite, I never think anything I do is 'good enough'. Ahroun can also back me up on that one, I always find flaws in most things that I do, from cooking to soaping. But she liked them enough on touch and smell alone to say she had special customers she wanted to give the extras too, ask for my adress and number and other things.

Now having been around metaphysical shops off and on for many years, I know they deal a /lot/ with oils, soaps, candles, and such, and she seemed to understand my hesitation, and I know that I am one that needs gental prodding to make me realize that even though its not 'good enough' for me, its good.

I definatly plan on waiting for the feedback from these soaps, and others I have finishing up the cure process, but have you folks had similar things happen to you?

Be it have people instantly (or damn near) be curious if you were selling?
Or not be happy with what you were doing no matter how much praise it got?
I know generally a crafter is their own worst critic but not only am I pretty damn new to this, I am also very self critical of things that I do.

My bars are not pretty, they are not even uniformly cut!
But in order to really put myself out there and ask for genuine honest feedback, if I can find a cost effective way to do so...I would be willing to send out a few bars to people in the states (Heck if you are in colorado near denver/englewood) I would be happy to mail/hand you one.

As im on a pretty tight budget thats dependant on shipping, and no promises what shape they arrive in

But i would love to hear your experiances to help me judge my own...?

And before you panic, no, im not thinking of diving into wholesale storefronts or anything of the sort, I told her that 'those are my VERY FIRST three soaps and I dont know if they are ready for that kinda thing yet" And she seemed to understand...

So yeah, hook me up with some knowlage folk

 

[neeners]

Isn't it great to have happy customers???

To answer you question, yes. I started soaping just last year. A few batches into it and pictures on fb, people were asking to buy and I should sell. I felt the same as you - certainly not ready to be selling!

 

[Relle]

I wouldn't put her off totally, as you told her, they are your first soaps and you need feedback and time to get your product up to a standard that you are happy with and that you'd be happy to sell to customers. Don't let her push you into selling if you are not ready, but let her know that when you are comfortable with your goods after a certain amount of time that you would be happy to put your product in her shop. Definitely don't let her push you into doing it before you are ready. I would hand out samples to friends, family, colleagues etc before shop keepers at his stage and get feed back from them.

A lot of us have had people say - Why don't you sell when you have only just made a few batches of soap - that is not new. They don't understand that it is not like knitting etc when you make something and sell it the next day you are not hurting the customer in any way shape or form if they have a jumper that doesn't fit them. They don't understand that soap needs time and testing before it becomes a great product and that doesn't happen overnight as you know.

If you are not happy with your product now, tell her you are not, don't degrade what you have made, but tell her you are not happy at the moment and you want to be able to sell her the best quality product to her, no if's ands or buts and you want to be happy with yourself before you sell it. Depending on how many you are going to make weekly, will depend on how long it takes you to work out a recipe your happy with and the testing and how long it will take to get stock into a shop. It might be a year away, so be clear, that selling is what you want in the first place, not just because someone thinks that's what you want.

 

[Bex1982]

congrats, it's always nice to hear that other people like your stuff!
My first few batches were nice and stuff but I had a lot of things to figure out and I've come up with better formulas since then. I had to have my first lye heavy soap, non gelling soap, separating soap, over heating soap, mushy soap... I had to learn what to do in those cases and how to prevent it.
Just imagine having a big order come in and your soap over heats and comes out of the mold even though you did the same thing you did last time.
Even experienced soapers have those things happen, but it's good to have a few mishaps so you can learn from them.
When I was first making lotion but hadn't figured everything out yet, I had a friend of mine who owned a gift shop buy some, well 2 weeks later they had mold growing in them and after that she would never place an order again. I did eventually figure out how to correctly preserve them though.

 

[DeeAnna]

There's also the issue of whether soaping is something one does as a hobby for relaxation or as a business to make money. Which do you want it to be?

Generally I prefer to do hobbies on my own terms, on my own schedule, and strictly for my own pleasure. It doesn't need to make money or even be cost efficient -- it's a hobby, after all.

A business is quite different -- there are other people's expectations to meet, outside demands for a certain level of performance, and a certain pressure to eventually become and remain economically viable. Running a business can be rewarding and enjoyable, but it is not always fun and relaxing like a hobby.

I used to do leather work for a hobby. I now do leather work as a full time job -- I'm starting my 13th year. I seldom do leather projects on a hobby basis anymore. It's not as fun or relaxing. Kinda sad, actually.

 

[Shalisk]

Well I did tell her I was not quite ready, and to be honest, its somthing I was like "This seems interesting, maybe it could be a viable work from home..." (Like i have wanted to for many years) so yeah, I would not mind running a biz again, I have a time or two in the past, transportation and packaging, but this is new, and unexplored. And while I have yet to have a 'bad batch' persay one that was lye heavy or mushy, anyone who has followed any of my posts knows im having a overheating issue that I need to iron out as well as the top of my beer soaps being a bit slimy (WTF o.o) but the RESULTS of the basic soaps I have done I am quite content with, and while room mates, friends, and relatives are great to see if it melts skin off them, they tend to be bad sounding boards for honesty. I learned this from my husbands gaming industry:

Your friends and family are biased. THey cant help it. They want to see you succeed, and happy, so they will downplay serious things and ignore minor things. And these are things you cant have in a video game or in a honest feedback situation.

I gave these to the shop owners because they have standards (IN shop and in personal life) and I know if these do not meet the standards, I will hear about it (They outright refused to even have my one soap with lard in it on the counter, not in a mean way but because it clashed with the belief and the vibe of them and the store)

They have customers that they trust, so that it will also cometo that as well, if they have people that they can give it to, thats 2 degrees of seperation these people have 0 reason to be 'nice' to me.

Thats what I need

 

[Seawolfe]

I have friends who think I should be selling. Its a sweet, and very kind compliment. I just tell them that I'm still learning, they are my guinea pigs and I need feedback
I like being in the hobby phase, don't know if I'll ever want to sell seriously - it looks like a lot of work!

 

[Bex1982]

I used to sell on etsy but it was hard keeping up with demand and the whole issue of curing soaps and sometimes not having them in stock. And people always have something to say, mostly good but some are rude and hard not to take personally.
Anyway now I just make soap for fam, friends and sell sometimes at the farmers market but actually paying for a spot doesn't always pay off since it comes out of pocket. But now I can make the soaps I want when I want and there is no pressure. Except from my hubby for shaving soap

 

[Lbrown123]

I agree with DeeAnna!
I have made soap for friends based on the original samples I had given out. It's not as much fun as trying a new recipe or technique. I could not imagine having to make 200 bars of soap is relaxing. Also it seems you would need a dedicated space to make large amounts of soap. I would have to add an addition on our house to make more! Lol! But the possibility is exciting! It is a great compliment to your talents.