To many scents

[Todd Ziegler]

I am going to eventually sell my soaps but I haven't started yet. I have been handing out samples for people to try and give me feedback. The one thing that I have noticed is that when I describe a scent to someone before they smell it, it influences what they smell.

I found this out a while back when I gave someone a bar but I forgot what scent I used. I smelled it and said it must be my citrus scent. After I went home and checked, it was actually a berry FO but that person went on thinking it was a citrus.

Since fragrance is such an expensive part of soap making, I have decided to just use 5 different FO's, no matter what color the soap is. Maybe I am being short side with this but I just can't see any reason for more than 5. I can always change the 5 out after a while but for now I am going with 5.

What do you think?

 

[Jersey Girl]

If I were selling I would offer more variety than 5. People like choices. My opinion only.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

I'm not saying that I won't ever sell more than 5 scents but just starting out, I can't afford a different scent for every soap. I can turn those 5 into other scents by mixing some together.

 

[jcandleattic]

5 to start off with is not bad, but as you and your customer base grows, so will your FO collection.

I don't even want to tell you how many scents I have and yes, most I blend, so I have even more combinations than the actual FO's I have.

 

[Arimara]

Selling with five scents is quite limiting but it's a good start. You may want to limit yourself to scents that are blendable. That way, you can work one creating custom scents on occasion. You might also want to stick to vendors that are closer to you if that would keep shipping costs down.

 

[amd]

Well there are two sides to this discussion... I had a similar discussion in this thread: Only SIX fragrances??

There's also the Jam Study: More Isn’t Always Better
Basically, people will come into your "store" if you have more choices, but they will buy less or none. Less choices brings less people, but of those who do come, they will buy more.

I've tested this quite a bit in my selection, running from 12 choices up to a whopping 50 choices... and the biggest takeaway I have is that it doesn't matter when it comes to soap, as long as you have something for them to choose from in the scent family they prefer and they want to buy, they will buy. So I don't honestly think it matters if you have five, six, or sixty-two, as long as it's a well rounded offering of scents, you'll do well.

The hard part for me with a large inventory of scents is keeping track of which ones are all in the same family, I'm working on a labeling coding system so I can quickly scan my booth setup and pull out all that fit into a certain scent family. My memory isn't what it used to be.

ETA: Occasionally I have run into customers who "love all the smells", I've finally trained myself to stop leaving them to their own devices and start shoving my personal favorites at them (I'm also a "love all the smells" kind of gal for everything except lavender) to close the sale.

 

[Anstarx]

I think if you are just starting out 5 is actually a good idea. Easier to stock and easier on the customer's side as well. I used to purchase a lot of wax melt off ETSY before I started making my own. Every time I went to select a scent, a huge drop down menu that has over 20 scents just scares me, especially when I never heard of over half of its options. I usually just ended up not buying.
Same thing when I went to Yankee candle store. It's much easier to pick one from the limited options in Target than a whole store of options.

I'd go for have a signature scent from every scent family: floral, green, fruity, earthy, bakery, clean, masculine, etc.

 

[CaraBou]

I too like the model of limited scents. Not to skimp a dime, but because I truly gravitate to less than a dozen myself, even with the oodles I have. My eternal pursuit for 'better and better' continues to distill to classics in broad families, like amd and Anstarx said. I also agree with you in the power of suggestion. Most people can't accurately identify scents.

I admit, I don't sell - so take that with a grain of salt. But after almost a decade of sharing widely, I've found enough agreement that I've slowed way down in buying FOs and EOs. I have far more than I want to use.

Your varieties can include visuals -- and they probably will, given how hard to make the same design twice.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

When I read the descriptions of various scents they almost always contain a floral, citrus, berry, vanilla or coconut somewhere in the top, middle or bottom note. So I am going to concentrate on those scents and mix them up in different combinations.

 

[amd]

You may also want to consider adding some herby/earthy green scents, as well as water type scents and musk scents.
Here's the general scent groupings: Floral, Oriental, Woody and Fresh.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

This is a great thread. As a person who is prone to option paralysis, the results of the "Jam Study" come as no surprise! I'm so glad you asked the question @Todd Ziegler

 

[Todd Ziegler]

This is a great thread. As a person who is prone to option paralysis, the results of the "Jam Study" come as no surprise! I'm so glad you asked the question @Todd Ziegler

Thank you. When I started buying my oils and lye in larger quantities, I figured that I should buy my FO's in larger quantities. However I just kept coming back to the thought that an ingredient that is absolutely unnecessary for a good bar of soap, is the most expensive part of the soap.

I believe that with a good sales presentation I can still sell soap and make money without having to have dozens of different types of FO's. Maybe I am wrong but will see.

 

[bonnyny]

I agree with Anstarx about a signature scent from each family. (Yankee Candle used to arrange their stores by type of scent, but have changed the arrangement to color so it wouldn't be as overwhelming.) One person who comes in will love a particular scent and the next will hate it, but each seem to favor a scent 'family'. Have a small bowl of coffee beans available to clear their olfactories!

 

[lucycat]

I think how many scents partly depends on your sales venue. It would be easiest to have a small number of scents if you wholesale or make a line with related products. I think a small farmers market table would work well with less than a dozen but I have done double booth craft fairs with 20 ft of table. I need to keep 25-30 scents. On-line I think several items for sale is needed. If soap is your only product I think you will need more scents. How many scents will make a difference in how long a customer is at your store/booth. I want them there long enough to look at my products. If there are too few items it will be easier for a potential customer to move on to someone else.

Until you develop your customer base and best venue it will be hard to predict type as well as how much variety. Starting out small is fine but I think you need to be picturing in your mind how this will work for you for display, website, etc. I think those items as well as specific customers will be what influences and makes your decision of how many scents.

The real problem with scents is that most of us enjoy them and the fun of soaping keeps us trying more. Also, we change and favorites one year may not be the same a few years later. It is expensive but part of what makes soap making fun.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

I think how many scents partly depends on your sales venue. It would be easiest to have a small number of scents if you wholesale or make a line with related products. I think a small farmers market table would work well with less than a dozen but I have done double booth craft fairs with 20 ft of table. I need to keep 25-30 scents. On-line I think several items for sale is needed. If soap is your only product I think you will need more scents. How many scents will make a difference in how long a customer is at your store/booth. I want them there long enough to look at my products. If there are too few items it will be easier for a potential customer to move on to someone else.

Until you develop your customer base and best venue it will be hard to predict type as well as how much variety. Starting out small is fine but I think you need to be picturing in your mind how this will work for you for display, website, etc. I think those items as well as specific customers will be what influences and makes your decision of how many scents.

The real problem with scents is that most of us enjoy them and the fun of soaping keeps us trying more. Also, we change and favorites one year may not be the same a few years later. It is expensive but part of what makes soap making fun.

I will be setting up at small venues at first and soap isn't my only product.

I will eventually expand the selection of scents but until I get established, I am going to keep it simple.

 

[cmzaha]

As Lucycat mentioned, it depends a lot on your venues. When I first started every market I in my area had more than one soapmaker selling and my main market which at the time was 4 blocks long with 4 vendors wide and up to ten soap sellers. So I needed to have an advantage, this led me to have a very large display with a lot of variety of products and my 40-50 selection of soaps. It took about 1.5-2 yrs for me to become the main soap seller in that market. I will say when I go to a market and there is a seller with just a few soaps I do outsell them. So that is just something to think about. I am not bragging just stating a fact. Selection sells and I have proven it in over 10 yrs of selling. I have a booth with a min of 8 tables set up and 10 if I am in a venue where I can fudge a little.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

As Lucycat mentioned, it depends a lot on your venues. When I first started every market I in my area had more than one soapmaker selling and my main market which at the time was 4 blocks long with 4 vendors wide and up to ten soap sellers. So I needed to have an advantage, this led me to have a very large display with a lot of variety of products and my 40-50 selection of soaps. It took about 1.5-2 yrs for me to become the main soap seller in that market. I will say when I go to a market and there is a seller with just a few soaps I do outsell them. So that is just something to think about. I am not bragging just stating a fact. Selection sells and I have proven it in over 10 yrs of selling. I have a booth with a min of 8 tables set up and 10 if I am in a venue where I can fudge a little.

I agree with you completely. I have been checking around in my local town and county and I can only find one soap seller. It's a knick knack shop and they are buying it from someone over a hundred miles away.

I know that the market is saturated in some areas but not where I am. I know that there could be some sellers that I didn't find but I believe that I have a good place to start selling.

I am not looking to make a living from it yet but I would like it to become something that I can do full time when I retire.