Soapmaking supplies from eBay satisfactory?

[narnia]

I found some shea butter at a great price on eBay and was wondering if people on this forum bought supplies from eBay for soaping? Essential oils as well?

 

[Dana89]

I buy a lot of fragrances there, frontporch fragrances are really good, around 6.50 for 4 oz and free shipping. My favorites from them are BackPorch, Leaves and AppleJack N Orange peel. I also buy FOs from Fragrance Buddy, they have some good ones and there are a lot of reviews on here. They ship for free also.
Buying on E-bay is always a toss up when buying from a supplier I have never bought from, check out their feedback, always.

ETA-I bought EOs from WF-Med on there, I was NOT happy with them at all. To be fair they gave me a full refund but were very sarcastic toward me. The EOs smelled like gasoline.

 

[narnia]

Thanks, Dana! I will look into frontporch!

 

[cmzaha]

I found some shea butter at a great price on eBay and was wondering if people on this forum bought supplies from eBay for soaping? Essential oils as well?

I had to admit I do not trust suppliers on Ebay at all. For what you might end up wasting you could probably spend the same from a reputable supply company. Pure fragrance Oil has flat rate shipping as does soapsupplies.net. These two companies sell mostly fo's.

 

[narnia]

I had to admit I do not trust suppliers on Ebay at all. For what you might end up wasting you could probably spend the same from a reputable supply company. Pure fragrance Oil has flat rate shipping as does soapsupplies.net. These two companies sell mostly fo's.

Thx. I am mostly interested in oils, butters, beeswax, etc. and some EOs. At this point...I don't think I will be using FOs.

 

[cmzaha]

For oils usually Soaper's Choice is a good choice, without exorbitant shipping cost. Do some searches and see if you can find a restaurant supplier locally, they usually have great prices on 5 gallons of high oleic canola, lard, tallow shortening, rice bran oil and Costco has good prices on Olive Oil, grade A light pure olive oil. On Ebay you cannot guarantee liquid oils will be 100% and not mixed with cheaper oils. I understand this works if you are in the US. Walmart also has decent prices on tallow shortening and lard.

 

[narnia]

Thank you! I did not think that light OO was usable for soap making....

 

[shunt2011]

I agree with Carolyn on Soaper's Choice. Especially if buying in bulk. I don't purchase from EBay either. Tried when I first started and was disappointed.

 

[narnia]

Thank you!

 

[Dana89]

If you are mostly interested in oils, butters and EO's, I highly recommend New Direction's Aromatics. They have great Clays, Butters and EOs, their Olive oil is pricey, but the Coconut, Avocado, Grapeseed and other oils are priced well and shipping is generally lower than competitors. The only downside is you have to spend 100 dollars or there is a 20 dollar admin fee.

 

[Saponomancer]

I agree about WF-med, their peppermint EO smells like industrial solvent, when its supposed to be steam distilled, I tried to talk to them about getting a replacement or something because I really needed the EO and they were extremely rude with me and insisted there couldnt be anything wrong with their product

 

[Saponista]

Several really reputable companies sell supplies on eBay and I often purchase from them as postage is free through eBay, but you have to pay in their web store. If I just want one item then going through eBay makes a lot of sense and saving. I wouldn't just buy from any old random seller on there, especially not EO's. There are a lot of misleading descriptions of essential oils and absolutes that if you read carefully turn out to be fragrances. Especially from sellers in China and India so I would avoid them. Especially with florals being sold at prices that are way too good to be true.

 

[narnia]

Several really reputable companies sell supplies on eBay and I often purchase from them as postage is free through eBay, but you have to pay in their web store. If I just want one item then going through eBay makes a lot of sense and saving. I wouldn't just buy from any old random seller on there, especially not EO's. There are a lot of misleading descriptions of essential oils and absolutes that if you read carefully turn out to be fragrances. Especially from sellers in China and India so I would avoid them. Especially with florals being sold at prices that are way too good to be true.

Would you mind sharing who those reputable merchants are?

 

[Arimara]

I've bought a wood loaf mold with a silicone liner. Not a bad purchase but I found I prefer my individual bar molds.

 

[Saponista]

I'm in England narnia so I didn't think many people would be interested. The reputable sellers I like using are freshskin, mystic moments and mother nature's goodies.

 

[navigator9]

I've only bought molds on Ebay, and I've been very happy with them.

 

[narnia]

I've only bought molds on Ebay, and I've been very happy with them.

What type of molds and from whom?

 

[navigator9]

What type of molds and from whom?

Silicone molds...I don't remember specifically from which vendor, but they were from China, if I remember correctly. I've also bought quite a few from Aliexpress, and been happy with them, too. You can't beat their prices, but shipping can be slow. For me, it's worth it, I love silicone molds.

 

[narnia]

Silicone molds...I don't remember specifically from which vendor, but they were from China, if I remember correctly. I've also bought quite a few from Aliexpress, and been happy with them, too. You can't beat their prices, but shipping can be slow. For me, it's worth it, I love silicone molds.

Looks like you were lucky. I bought some recently from eBay, molds that look like Crafter's Choice loaf molds (I have a thread discussing this), and one is sturdy and the other 2 are very flimsy. They are not liners....they are supposed to be stand-alone, but I will have to build a box to support it, as it bows quite badly.

 

[Susie]

Thank you! I did not think that light OO was usable for soap making....

It works fine for making soap. You do not have to use pomace OO, and I truly do not like using EVOO. Light OO gives consistent results that I don't have to worry about.