Where Is Everyone?
- Thread starter GGMA0317
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Most of the markets are closed, so I do not think many are working on much. I know I am not and since I do not even know if my market will ever re-open I am not restocking, just working on small orders that come in.
Yep, markets all closed, shows cancelled, not making my B&B right now. Only soap.
Same here. There's a possibility I'll have a market at the end of June but even that is still up in the air. It seems soap is not considered an essential item so it's only food producers that are allowed to sell at local markets. (Cake pops are more important than soap, apparently.)
Thanks everyone for replying. I don't do markets anymore since I decided to go another route. I did Etsy briefly as well. Both were interesting and sometimes it was actually fun. I'm always experimenting and developing new formulas so whether selling or not I'm always working on B&B as well as other hand crafted things.
I made so much soap I had to give a lot of it away. Do any of you have your own website or have you ever had one?
My daughter is working on mine and my target date is in July. So while I wait for that I'm working on a body wash, soap and body sprays.
I got my order for a few surfs and E/O's last week as well as
new soap molds so I can't wait to play! 
I come to this board often to see what's new but there's only tumbleweeds and crickets!
Here's a photo of my last hand soap/ body wash. My daughter loves it so I'll be making a larger batch soon.
I made so much soap I had to give a lot of it away. Do any of you have your own website or have you ever had one?
My daughter is working on mine and my target date is in July. So while I wait for that I'm working on a body wash, soap and body sprays.
I got my order for a few surfs and E/O's last week as well as
I come to this board often to see what's new but there's only tumbleweeds and crickets!
Here's a photo of my last hand soap/ body wash. My daughter loves it so I'll be making a larger batch soon.
I have a website. I recently took it down to work on it and haven't brought it back up yet. May be awhile. Most of my customers reach out via facebook, email or text these days. They are long time customers.
Our Farmer's Market is able to do curbside pickup drive through. All orders have to be prepaid, so there is as little contact as possible. I set up a site for pre-payments through Square, it is working fairly well.
Yes, I have my own website. MAXSMIXTURES.COM. It's hosted by GoDaddy. I built it myself using their tools. I take all the pictures, except for the cover photo which was taken by my brother-in-law. I used to use a white background for the pictures but really liked Kiwimoose's pictures on a black background so I started doing that except mine don't look nearly as good as hers. The fairs and festivals are all canceled so I'm trying to boost my web sales. It's a struggle but there has been some slow progress. I don't make B&B, only soap and candles. I decided against Etsy because of the cost structure, the number of other soap vendors and I prefer to do my own thing.
Wonderful and good luck! I used Etsy as a testing tool. It isn't a good idea long term. I received very good feedback and they were great for later customer testimonials. I do my own photography as well. The photos I post here are cel pics lol. But I take that part as seriously as I do formulating and making my products. At one point I was making too many things so I had to step back and re-evaluate my goals. I'm glad I did!
I wish you the best with your new site!
I wish you the best with your new site!
That's funny because you'd think that soap is absolutely an essential item! The farmers markets that I go to are all still running, with strict social distancing, masks, hand sanitizer, one-directional foot traffic, long lines and a post-apocalyptic feel. One of them says they don't have room to put another tent (giving precedence to farmers, understandably), another says I can come but can ONLY sell soap and masks. My B&B products account for over 50% of my sales, so it's not appealing. I can't face the summer heat with a mask on, I feel like I'm suffocating.
Our market will be starting up again at the end of June! Our area of British Columbia (215,000 square kilometres) has zero active cases and hasn't had any new cases in over a week now. The powers that be are considering moving into phase 3 of recovery within the next week or two.
I made the argument that soap is an essential item and our Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, even wrote a book about the importance of soap and water but until the local health authorities received something in writing, they weren't going to allow anything but food vendors at our local markets. Now that we have zero cases, they're opening the markets back up again, with fewer vendors, more spacing, and proper physical distancing and sanitation protocols in place. I am SO looking forward to getting back to the market!
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