What soapy thing have you done today?

[Misschief]

Yes this!!!! I sell/sold for a company that sold their stuff at a high price. You say it more eloquently than I do, but I agree, do not compromise on your price in the right market.

However, $45 a lotion bar is excessive. But if i could sell my stuff at $45 I would.

People at work buy these cupcakes from some random guy that just comes in and sells cupcakes. They are really huge, big cupcakes. I had soap, and someone asked me why $8, and didn't want to pay $8 for a bar of soap. I'm like... you just bought a $5 cupcake that is going to be gone in less than 5 minutes, and you are questioning $8 for soap that is going to last your family for a month? On that...I sold soap to her.

i can't speak for lotion bars...never made them. But I take into account my packaging, ingredients, labeling, and the free samples and sometimes full bars of soap that I give away. It all costs money. Depending on recipe, most of mine average $2.50/bar to make, and then some higher, but I have been keeping them the same price for selling even if it costs a little more to make, cause it's merely pennies per bar (Haven't sold my salt bars yet, but I am thinking about selling higher because of the rent-space they have to take up for a long cure LOL).

Note that I did actually end up going to the linked website and wrote this:

ETA: Ok, I actually looked at the website. First off, you'd be paying for the packaging - bamboo containers, bar wrapped in linen. Full size bar is 3.5 oz, mini bar (1.5 oz) sells for $14.00. The base ingredients are cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, aprictot oil, fractionated coconut oil, and avocado oil.... nothing outrageous there.

When you look at it that way, her prices aren't really much out of line.

In reality, when you look at her pricing ($45 for 3.5 oz), which includes a bamboo container and a linen wrap, it comes down to $12.85/oz. Her mini bars are $14 for 1.5 oz, which comes to $9.33/ oz but doesn't include the high end packaging. I sell my 40 gram bars for $15, which includes the tin. Honestly, given her market (and marketing), the price isn't really that much out of line. She's definitely marketing to a group that doesn't mind paying her prices.

 

[linne1gi]

Yesterday, I made a line pour design soap - I am calling it Swishes - because it looks like it swishes from side to side. Scented in Christmas Cabin - but I don't think it smells Christmassy. It smells like cranberry and cinnamon to me.

 

[coastmutt]

Started designing a summer-y soap batch to lift my spirits about the current weather here! I might need to order more FO though...

 

[linne1gi]

Started designing a summer-y soap batch to lift my spirits about the current weather here! I might need to order more FO though...

You're kidding right?!!! I have enough fragrance to last through the end of time - and yet, I still buy more

 

[TashaBird]

The hubs asked me this morning if I was “going down to pull through town?” Hahaha He really is a gem!
And so down I went! Planning my pull throughs with their excess for the soap dough I need. It feels like playing chess. The red and gold one went well. But the blue dragonfly one got too thick. Guess I over compensated. I hope the colors in these last for the soap dough. Because they don’t gel sometime they turn meh.

 

[Zing]

This lotion bar pricing discussion is fascinating to me and clearly I am not a capitalist! Mrs. Zing just said that she thinks of lotion bars as a "spa item" and soap as an "everyday item" so maybe that helps to explain it. My youngest son just reminded me. When he was a teenager he was a beekeeper (yes, our honey was hyper-hyper-local (backyard) food). He told the corner restaurant he'd sell at $5 per bottle and give them $1. The owners said, no, they didn't need a take and he needs to sell at $12 per. He sold out in a day.

Yesterday, I made a line pour design soap - I am calling it Swishes - because it looks like it swishes from side to side. Scented in Christmas Cabin - but I don't think it smells Christmassy. It smells like cranberry and cinnamon to me.View attachment 52828

Awesome design and awesome color combo! How do you do a Linne1gi Swish??!!

 

[linne1gi]

This lotion bar pricing discussion is fascinating to me and clearly I am not a capitalist! Mrs. Zing just said that she thinks of lotion bars as a "spa item" and soap as an "everyday item" so maybe that helps to explain it. My youngest son just reminded me. When he was a teenager he was a beekeeper (yes, our honey was hyper-hyper-local (backyard) food). He told the corner restaurant he'd sell at $5 per bottle and give them $1. The owners said, no, they didn't need a take and he needs to sell at $12 per. He sold out in a day.


Awesome design and awesome color combo! How do you do a Linne1gi Swish??!!

Thank you Zing. It’s sorta like an in the pot swirl, check out Tree Marie Soapworks. She has a couple of videos on line pour technique.

 

[Misschief]

This lotion bar pricing discussion is fascinating to me and clearly I am not a capitalist! Mrs. Zing just said that she thinks of lotion bars as a "spa item" and soap as an "everyday item" so maybe that helps to explain it. My youngest son just reminded me. When he was a teenager he was a beekeeper (yes, our honey was hyper-hyper-local (backyard) food). He told the corner restaurant he'd sell at $5 per bottle and give them $1. The owners said, no, they didn't need a take and he needs to sell at $12 per. He sold out in a day.

I'll never forget a former customer at the yarn shop I worked at (yes, I'm a knitter, too). She had a booth at our local, large, Christmas market where she was selling her lovely scarves, made with a variety of fancy yarns. She had them fairly priced and sold almost nothing the first day. She was getting pretty frustrated when a fellow vendor (also a knitter) told her she needed to double her prices. The next day, she did just that and sold out.

 

[linne1gi]

I'll never forget a former customer at the yarn shop I worked at (yes, I'm a knitter, too). She had a booth at our local, large, Christmas market where she was selling her lovely scarves, made with a variety of fancy yarns. She had them fairly priced and sold almost nothing the first day. She was getting pretty frustrated when a fellow vendor (also a knitter) told her she needed to double her prices. The next day, she did just that and sold out.

I wonder how many of us have another hobby? I also paint - acrylic on canvas.

 

[The_Emerald_Chicken]

I wonder how many of us have another hobby? I also paint - acrylic on canvas.

Neat! Maybe we should make a new thread for posting pictures of our hobbies I'm a crocheter (mostly of amigurumi). I also dabble in drawing, painting, photography, hand lettering and other crafty things that strike me.

 

[Misschief]

I wonder how many of us have another hobby? I also paint - acrylic on canvas.

I think many of us do. I've done all kinds of things... knitting, crochet, cross stitch, petit point, watercolour painting, rubber stamping... just to mention a few.

 

[Zing]

My hobby is watching YouTube soap videos.

 

[Martha]

And in a lot of cases, it's perception. You could have the identical product in high end packaging or just wrapped in plastic and one will be perceived as a luxury item while the other will be perceived as an everyday item, which should cost much less than the so-called luxury item.

I completely agree. I’m not disparaging her product. I think the packaging is lovely. Her website is nice (although it doesn’t seem to be working when I try and click through it. And good for her that she got a write up in NY Magazine. She’s going to have a huge waiting list, which will probably make people want them even more. Perception is everything and the thought and effort to make a beautifully designed and packaged product warrant a higher price tag than something slapped together. I thought it was worth sharing. I love your anecdote about your lip balm selling better when you raised the price. Humans are such funny and predictable creatures. Glad you have someone encouraging you to raise your prices.

And back on topic, I made 2 batches of soap and 2 batches of lotion bars. @Zing I used your 3-ingredient recipe. I’m ready to hear the angels sing when I use the one with meadow foam oil! I might even name it Oh Meadowfoam!

 

[Zing]

Thank you Zing. It’s sorta like an in the pot swirl, check out Tree Marie Soapworks. She has a couple of videos on line pour technique.

I'm not kidding, @linne1gi , this video may be life-changing for me. #1. Must. get. pallit (sp?). knife. Where? #2. When she mixes her colorants, what is the liquid she squeezes onto it? #3. Must. get. little. white. bowls. Where?

My hobby is playing piano and I'm a big-time gardener. At our new house, I turned our weed patch front yard into a creeping Jenny and strawberry patch. For the first time in decades, I did not have to mow the yard. And thanks to a summer tornado that downed our tree, I didn't rake this year. Now about that snow....

And I've always made every Christmas card -- after marriage it's become a couple's project.

And back on topic, I made 2 batches of soap and 2 batches of lotion bars. @Zing I used your 3-ingredient recipe. I’m ready to hear the angels sing when I use the one with meadow foam oil! I might even name it Oh Meadowfoam!

Oh, @Martha, you've gone from "Zing, it’s truly hideous" (from another thread) to "hear the angels sing"! I still frequently re-visit your hideous post and laugh so hard I cry.

So, bad Dad confession here. I am about to say this out loud. I FORGOT TO GIVE MY BOYS SOAP FOR CHRISTMAS!! Tonight I wrapped them up, slipped them under the tree, and then yelled at them for not noticing them on Christmas morning.

 

[Misschief]

I'm not kidding, @linne1gi , this video may be life-changing for me. #1. Must. get. pallit (sp?). knife. Where?

I don't know what craft/art stores you have down there but you should be able to get a palette knife in the paint section. They're often used by artists to mix oil paints. (I used to manage a craft store at one time so I'm familiar with them.)

 

[TashaBird]

The soap dough I wanted to work with was WAY not ready. It was a sticky mess. So back in the vacuum sealed jar it went!
But I was all geared up to play with some dough and I had some old stuff that I figured I should use up. I had a grand idea to attempt an 18” shamrock cane for my St Patrick’s day soap. I’m 99% sure it was an epic fail! It started becoming comical. I’ll have another look at it tomorrow and show you. It’s pretty awful.
But, when I was cleaning up I made a ball from some scraps and it looks like a globe and I kind of love it!
The hand cranking on this extruder takes some serious commitment! SHEESH!
Edit: and when I washed my hands from the old dough it was really nice soap! Could it be fully cured, just soft? It’s at least 6 weeks old.

 

[linne1gi]

I'm not kidding, @linne1gi , this video may be life-changing for me. #1. Must. get. pallit (sp?). knife. Where? #2. When she mixes her colorants, what is the liquid she squeezes onto it? #3. Must. get. little. white. bowls. Where?

My hobby is playing piano and I'm a big-time gardener. At our new house, I turned our weed patch front yard into a creeping Jenny and strawberry patch. For the first time in decades, I did not have to mow the yard. And thanks to a summer tornado that downed our tree, I didn't rake this year. Now about that snow....

And I've always made every Christmas card -- after marriage it's become a couple's project.

I’ve been following Teri for several years now. Yes, she’s amazing. I bought palette knives and the acrylic plexiglass on Amazon. I also bought the little white bowls. And the liquid is olive oil, but as she says in the videos, any light oil will do.

 

[Martha]

Oh, @Martha, you've gone from "Zing, it’s truly hideous" (from another thread) to "hear the angels sing"! I still frequently re-visit your hideous post and laugh so hard I cry

I have another soap to add to that thread. I think I’ll call it saggy skin. Photos to come.

 

[Misschief]

I wasn't holding out much hope for this soap. I had something in my head, the batter poured beautifully but I couldn't pour the top the way I wanted because the batter just wasn't firming up fast enough. Finally, almost an hour later, I managed to get it done and into the saponification box (two oversized what were supposed to be molds that work perfectly for what I use them for). It still wasn't quite what I wanted but another hour later, I was able to do my "signature" top.

When I cut it this morning, I was VERY happy! It's scented with Green Tea FO.

 

[linne1gi]

I wasn't holding out much hope for this soap. I had something in my head, the batter poured beautifully but I couldn't pour the top the way I wanted because the batter just wasn't firming up fast enough. Finally, almost an hour later, I managed to get it done and into the saponification box (two oversized what were supposed to be molds that work perfectly for what I use them for). It still wasn't quite what I wanted but another hour later, I was able to do my "signature" top.

When I cut it this morning, I was VERY happy! It's scented with Green Tea FO.

View attachment 52852 View attachment 52853 View attachment 52854

I love the swirl! Pretty.