some pics of my soaps

[Woodi]

Some of these pics are 5 years old!!....I need to take new ones, will do....
but my soap today looks pretty much the same as it did then, maybe less colorful now cuz I don't like colors leaching out onto sinks, tubs, counters etc.... I've become more simplified.

but anyway, since jezzy asked.... here goes:

this is one I used for most of my brochures, or when applying to be in a studio tour:

my basic olive oil soap, swirled with pink clay:

Two-layers:

green and blue swirls, for euc and peppermint

and some wrapped: (I put a second cross-wrap slice of paper to prevent the soap from slipping out of its wrapper when picked up by a customer)

Note the upper right bar is olive-colored; my newest version of this will be yellow. DH suggested I name it: Lavender Gold, and I just might.

and these Buddhas are my favorite shape. I gift many of these to visitors at a nearby Buddhist monastery. (the oval egg was some leftover soap which didn't quite fill the 5-ounce Buddha mold.)

My soap stand for home tours (or out and about town, when I felt like transporting boxes of soap)... pic taken in my home during a fall tour:

My soap cage for curing, which protects the soap from country mice, who love to eat it. The netting is hardware cloth, very strong, sturdy. I make soap in my cool basement.

had enough? I can go on and on.....lost touch with this world for awhile....but back again this weekend.

I now sell to only one store in town, like to keep it small...getting too old for this. Nowadays (approaching my 65th birthday) I like to gift away soap instead of selling it (as well as using it myself, and supplying my more appreciative family members with it).

 

[semplice]

Love the pics!!

 

[juliet]

Great pics. I love seeing what other people do with their soaps. It inspires me. Thanks!

 

[Hazel]

Thanks for sharing! They're all lovely but I have to admit my favorite is the blue and green swirls. I've been thinking of trying Eucalyptus/Peppermint EOs in HP but haven't gotten around to it. (I know I say this a lot but it seems like there is never enough time.)

 

[Jezzy]

Beautiful!

 

[brandnew]

thank you for sharing that!! By home tours do you mean you go to people's homes to sell the soaps? The soaps are lovely...always nice to be inspired! All the best!...by the way when did you Start making then selling your soaps?

 

[LadyM]

Great pics, thanks for sharing!

 

[Woodi]

brandnew: here's my story (sorry - it's rather long)...

I began making soap in July 2000; before I knew it, I had 300 bars at home, and my DH had to make a cage to hold them, to keep our country mice from eating the delicious soap, lol.

When the cage was full of soap, I told my hubby that I needed another. To which he responded: "no, there's no space for another shelving unit - you'll have to sell your soaps".
I replied: "Sell my babies?!!!" (at this point I was just creating, experimenting, learning....and had no idea where the products would go, except as gifts).

So I mentioned this to a neighbour, who worked in a local high-end craft store in town (many artists live out here in the countryside: potters mostly, a print artist, many painters, a few sculptors - mostly in wood, one in stone; jewelrymakers, weavers etc....

She invited my soaps into the co-operative store of artists, of which she and her DH were members. I felt so thrilled, honored....until I later learned that the store was having plumbing problems upstairs, and the smells were bad, so she thought my scented soaps might solve that problem....and for a time, it did seem to!, but I humbly came to realize, hehe....that she would have taken anyone's soap at that time. I just happened along at the right time (being in the right place at the right time helps).It's important to keep one's eyes opened for places you'd like to be..... and sell 'from', not just 'to'.

Then at Christmastime, 2001, a small craft show was setting up in a local building with many shops. (note: Shop owners do not like craft tables selling outside their stores).... I set up in the foyer. So Dec. 2001 was my first show, along with only 3 other craft vendors.

After that, I was hooked on the process, and making more and more soap, kept selling, with about 4 to 6 shows per year, wherever one seemed to fit my product, and where I could get in.

I focused on mostly the upper-end (i.e. more expensive shows, higher table fees) and kept my per-bar price as high as I dare ($1.50 - $1.75 per ounce, retail)...mostly because I was too old and too limited in energy to do much more than that.
My wholesale price I set at $3.50 per bar, way back then!

This worked for me, as there were few soapmakers around then. However....as you all well know.....people copy a successful product and sales presentation. So now I'm surrounded by several soapmakers. One even opened an entire soap store, in a small town nearby.

but with world trade, and a more open market trading overseas for very low prices, not so great anymore, for this lone entrepreneur. Her shop only opens 3 days per week, in busy selling seasons.

I still supply soap to the one store, artists' co-op in town, and have kept prices the same by making the bars slightly smaller each 2 years....similar to what chocolate bar makers have done.

So I branched into teaching, giving classes.....share the fun!

oh, and to answer your question about what I mean by home shows:

Here, in my rural neighbourhood, I discovered that there are many artists, who open their "home studios" to the public, on one or two long weekends per year, usually in the fall to catch Xmas sales, and now one in springtime. Each artist with a studio invites as many guests as they can fit into their space. So I began as a guest in a potter's studio; after a few years, as guest in two or three different studios, I was able to convince the team that I could open my home as a 'studio' on the tour (only when a space became available, because they liked to limit the studios to 10). One year in which one artist was sick or traveling? (can't remember)....I was invited to be the 10th 'studio'. My 2 guests were a jewller and a herbalist.

I did that for 3 years, but my DH really disliked having hundreds of people pouring through our home for 3 days non-stop. Tiring!

I found it immensely interesting and kind of fun! But it certainly was a LOT of work. You have to create signs, make parking areas, make sure of a good traffic flow, both outside and inside your house, not to mention cleaning, taking care of meals and sharing your personal home with strangers, some of whom may prove to be almost too "interesting"...

But all in all, it has been an enriching 12 years!

So here, it's a combined effort, where a group of artists and artisans pull together some money for advertising, design a brochure, and co-operate to spread these around as far and wide as possible.....all done in a sort of old-fashioned (by hand) way, never in a large commercial enterprise with flashing lights and glitter and glamour. and with LOTS of sharing - of effort, time and money too.

I hope this small writeup is helpful to any of you considering selling.

 

[kaaty]

thank you for sharing. This is great, i love them

 

[green soap]

Great pictures, great story.

Where did you buy the buddha mold? It is awesome!

 

[panpaste]

Nice!

So organized. I love your soap display. Thanks for the inspiration to get organized again. You have very beautiful soaps.

 

[brandnew]

Another question Please?.....if someone wants to sell soaps do they have to have any sort of insurance? Do all these on-line sellers have insurance? I wonder/worry about that aspect. Thus, the attraction of keeping it intimate. I'd love to get to the point of being able to sell but I need to exit the 'mediocre' stage....even when a batch isn't particularly what I'd planned (look or smell-wise) I have to laugh and say "I still love you"!!! Had to smile when you were appalled at the thought of selling your babies!

Your story is so interesting and encouraging...it's about desire and effort isn't it? Thanks again...also for the advice! I live in the country and had NO IDEA that mice would eat soap!!! :shock:

 

[new12soap]

What a great story, and your soaps are beautiful! I covet that lovely organization and display...

 

[jax1962]

what a lovely thread and what fab soaps - thanks woodi!

thanks also for the advice on selling, some day i'd love to do this but have to improve on everything first! i also think the regulations are even more stringent here in france. i'm 'lucky' in the fact that my other half runs a little shop out of our cellar so i'd have a point of sale but i'm really scared at the hoops i'd have to jump through, in a foreign language, to be certified. it's good to read about peoples' experiences in setting up.

as brandnew also touched on: is there much difference in selling over the internet than over the counter?

 

[Woodi]

as to insurance: It can be very expensive here! Each person must do what they can afford.
Some soap sellers I know sell only in small ways, and small amounts. I do keep a tally of everything, so that our government gets its share....we wouldn't want to have happen what has happened in some European countries, where the common man doesn't want to pay taxes, do we?

So I guess it depends on how BIG you want to be, as a business. The bigger you are, the more you need to share with others. Ask Oprah....what is her expression?...."the more you are given, the more is expected from you". I would change that a bit to: "the more you succeed, the more is expected of you".

selling over the internet is a bigmarket....it involves the postal system, or some sort of delivery service...and language issues, border-crossing fees.....etc. I would suggest starting small, and keep things in your local area until you gain knowledge and experience of a market for whatever product you offer.