Soap samples - do you hand them out at shows?

[cmzaha]

I don't call them samples, I call them 'travel soaps'. I sell them and they are popular with non corporate travelers. Have you seen the choices available for travel soaps in drug stores? dismal.

When someone makes a purchase above a certain amount (you determine that for yourselves, for me it is $20) I give them a complimentary travel soap - and tell them it is a chance to try one of my .........fill in the blank soaps. They already bought something so they are now a customer. You'd be surprised how well this goes. Everybody likes free stuff! (even Oprah I hear).

This is not a hard fast rule. When someone comes by my booth and I am sold out of their favorite soap, I'll just give them a travel sized one to tidy them over, if I have them of course. It might be a person who just buys one soap, but they have been doing so for a while. 'I will have them again next week, here is this travel one in the mean time' Again, they really appreciate this and they do come back when their favorite soap is cured!

Once I gave soap samples as halloween treats (clearly marked as soap do not eat! I even asked the kids to read that part to me before giving it to them). Nothing ever came out of this free soap hand out. I will not do this again. However, samples for regular customers are a very good idea.

We must think alike. I have done all the same other than the Halloween, which I have seriously thought about.

 

[bumblewood]

Great idea!!!! I have an event coming up on 20 Sep. I am going to try the free sample idea. Where can I get those little clear plastic ziplock baggies??

It is called Paper Mart (papermart.com) and the specific bags I got are the "3 x4 1.5MIL Poly Bags". They don't zip, you do have to tape them shut. But they work great for me, and I have even printed out some little stickers that have coupon codes to seal them with if I am putting them into goodie bags or such for a specific event.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[firedancer]

Because everyone is handing out samples at our Farmers Market, ie samples of strawberries, peaches, baked goods, etc. We weren't able to complete for customer attention, without some kinda of free sample

So, we hand out little sugar scrub samples, or bath bomb samples. The sugar scrubs are enough to do a foot and the bath bomb samples are small and will give the customer an idea of how they work on a very very small scale.

We often use the tag line, "Tired of the same boring old bath?" or " Free smells!" Both the offering of a free sample and the tag lines bring the the customers closer to the table and more often than not we at least have the customer interested. We hand out soap samples judiciously.. I only hand out soap samples to people who have bought another soap or a candle.

I have discovered that if someone picks up a soap or picks up our candles and begins to smell them, there is a higher likelihood of a sale. Somewhere I read that people when they hold a product become attached and begin to think of it as their own...what ever it takes, eh!

 

[cmzaha]

Here is the halloween soap basket I made. I used junk mail flyers to make colorful cigar band. As I said, not much return on that 'investment' but if you are going to buy candy for kids anyway, this is something most of us already have and the kids did like them.

Love the idea. I just have to do something similiar for Halloween. We may be at market on Halloween, I have not decided yet, but if we do I just might do similiar for trick or treats

 

[CiCi]

One time, I made up a ton of soap samples and had three large bowls full. People came up and grabbed them and told me how nice they smelled. I gave them a flyer with business card attached and I did not get one contact. They just wanted the free sample, so I don't hand them out, anymore. On the other hand, I have been at fairs where I put out samples of my skin cream that they can try on the spot and that has made a lot of sales for me, where they buy a jar after trying it.

 

[Iluminada]

I used to give out samples and still do sometimes if I have extra mix left. I put any remaining soap mix in little molds. I then take the soap and seal them in shrink wrap but don't shrink it and put a label on it with the company name, name of soap and website. Has not helped so I make sure to make changes to my recipe to avoid overages.

 

[bodybym]

I ended up not giving out samples at this show - time got a way from me, but I don't think it hurt sales.

I do want to have some for the next show and do what some of you mentioned, give a sample when they purchase something, I think that might help draw additional sales in the future.

 

[cmzaha]

I ended up not giving out samples at this show - time got a way from me, but I don't think it hurt sales.

I do want to have some for the next show and do what some of you mentioned, give a sample when they purchase something, I think that might help draw additional sales in the future.

People do love to get a free goodie in their bag. A word of advice on those poly zip lock bags. They will eventually react with your fragrance and the soapie sample can start smelling pretty bad. I had to dump a whole bunch of samples I tried that way before I starting shrink wrapping my little soapie samples. My samples each get a 1.5" label with our contact info and name of the soap. No ingredients on sample label

 

[Spice]

I'll be trying this sample packaging out. .5 oz tins are too expensive. Cello bags are less than a cent a piece.

I was looking at my samples, and thought, that I needed to organize them better, I just didnt know how. Thanks for the idea, I hope you dont mind.
Sometimes I feel dumb rummaging through my samples while I have customers waiting looking for a soap samples.

 

[bodybym]

What about a small Christmas ornament storage box? The kind with compartments for individual ornaments? Christmas decorations are almost here, and I'm sure they come in lots of sizes. Otherwise, something at Home Depot to store small fasteners (like screws and such) might work to keep them separated.

How about something like this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RL9E16/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

Something you might consider when deciding whether to give out samples at a given show- is there a public bathroom with a sink (not just a port-a-potty), and how far are you from that location? I might consider samples for people who could likely try the product and thus make a purchase that day. Otherwise, I suspect you'd just be giving out free product with little prospect of getting a return on investment.

 

[bodybym]

When there is a public restroom at a show (such as a school or church/temple hall) I do put a bottle of foaming wash in both the men's and ladies bathrooms. If it's a large event where you have a stall number I will put my number on it. I've even put a sign that says to come by for a sample of lotion after you wash your hands. I find that helps at times as well.