cbv1

I have a website and my problem is that I can't get into any of the farmer's markets because there are already too many soapers that have been there before me. They get first dibs so I no longer try. The mountain towns here in Colorado are better but they just wear me out. The travel, setup, horrible weather. The last one I went to we had such high gusting wind my tent almost blew away, though weighted down. Then it hailed and I just said, that's it. I work full time at another job so money isn't the issue. I tried Etsy for over a year. Paid for extra things like show casing my product, banners on facebook, you name it. I was exhausted and disallusioned. I make wonderful CP soap, but also make lotion, body butters, bath products. I started in 2007. I have taken a break this summer. I seem to give more product away and in this economy people don't want to pay a fair price for me to make any profit. I don't want to bring you down. This was just my experience so I have given up on Farmer's Markets. I now solicit Salons and small stores in the mountains and that works better for me. On another note, I have an anxiety disorder and have since childhood. My suggestion is to talk to your primary care physician. Mine wanted to put me on Zoloft for years and I fought her tooth and nail. Things really got bad last year when I was laid off from my real job and I finally took her advice. No more panic attacks. I am on a very low dosage and I feel in control. We all have to make our own decisions, but your doctor can help you find the right choice for you. I was embarrassed because I felt my anxiety was a sign of weakness. It is NOT. It is a disorder that you should seek professional help for so you can live your life to the fullest. I wish you the best!

Me too!

I use the sisal soap savers and the sisal wash clothes from Cotton Blossom Crafts http://www.soapguild.org/public/handcrafted-soap.php. I use the sisal soap saver myself and love it, and all the feedback I get about both has been very positive.

I use the shrink wrap from Sage, Dan's Bands, when I sell at craft fairs. I put my cigar band on first, then the shrink wrap. Yes, the ends are open but I can tell you from experience if you leave the shrink wrap on for more than a month you will start to see those dreaded orange spots on your soap. I made the mistake of not taking the shrink wrap off after a craft fair and a few months later those soaps had orange spots. I live in Colorado where it is DRY, DRY, DRY. All of my soaps without the shrink wrap are fine and never develop any DOS at all. For soaps sitting in a store, I use the soap box with the cutout. This way they can see the soap and smell it, AND the soap can breath. For craft fairs, if I don't have another one coming up immediately I take off the shrink wrap until the next fair.

Thanks tlc, those are beautiful and I have been to this website before. My concern is the cost. $11 - $15 might be nice for me to buy for myself, but would someone buy a gift set that would include something that expensive? My gift sets with wooden dishes sell for $8 to $16. Changing out the wooden soap dish for the glass or ceramic ones would up the price quite a bit for me to make any profit. Since these are handmade I certainly think the prices are fair. Just not sure I can recoup the cost.

Everyone must be using wooden soap dishes?

Thanks for the heads up!

I am trying to find a wholesaler who sells more upscale soap dishes. Right now I package gift items with wooden soap dishes but I would like to also offer other types of soap dishes for people who prefer a more modern look. If anyone can recommend a company that sells these types of soap dishes at wholesale prices please let me know. So far I have found Couronne Co. but they only offer 3 types of clear recycled glass soap dishes. They are nice but different colored glass, ceramic or laquer soap dishes would be nice. I have found some but not at wholesale prices so they are very expensive.

Thank you for the tips! I have a lot of work to do!!

Bulkfoods.com is where I get mine also.

Well, I put in applications to 2 other Farmers Markets so we will see how this turns out. The thing I like about these is they are scheduled each week throughout the summer. Craft Fairs are usually 1 weekend so you spend a lot of time traveling and if you don't have a place to stay, you have to get a hotel room so that cuts into profits. I have 2 craft fairs that are in the mountains but I have a place to stay there. I will have to do my research on other craft fairs around. If a Farmers Market is large who cares if you have multiple soapmakers? Do they limit the number of people who sell vegetables? Not everyones tomatoes are the same.... gosh I am just so annoyed. I am losing my full time job on 3/24 and was hoping to make a living doing what I love most, making soap. And I am trying to think positive. I am looking into wholesale clients too so time will tell. I guess I am just freaking out a little more now that my layoff date is so close!

Well, the other vendor must make a few other things I make so they still rejected me. I guess I will just have to keep looking around for other fairs. I know I have been at other fairs with other soap makers and they only sold soap. I sold other things along with soap so I am not sure why they only allow one here... oh well.

I didn't think of that, I will call them back and see.

I am so disappointed. I just found out a Farmers Market I applied to participate in turned me down because they already have a soap maker who has been there before. So, they only allow 1 vendor with the same product? I make more than soap. How am I ever going to get a chance if only one vendor gets accepted and they get first dibs every year if they have been there before?

Oh, that is priceless! I will have to remember that one. I also find that at craft fairs people always want a discount. I barely make any profit as it is when you think about booth fees, travel time, time you put into making your product. You get what you pay for. High quality handmade products can never be compared to commercially made products! If they were so happy with the ones in Kmart then they should keep buying them there. If this is on the level I would hate to see what their skin looks like using those every night! :rolleyes2

Thanks for the info! I will need to look into getting a brand, that sounds interesting and could come in handy for other things.

So, the brand doesn't burn the paper up? I guess I thought brands would only be good on wood and not paper.

I set up mine but I can't figure out how to send requests to friends that aren't on my personal page. I can't see that their is an option on my fan page to find friends or I should say FANS. I created an add for 1 month to see if this helps. I do have fans that I do not know personally and they are not friends of my friends so I am assuming they clicked on my add. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Sudsations/246181744246

I use herb mixtures for color and have never had a problem with them leaving a scent. I get mine from Eporium Naturals: http://www.emporiumnaturals.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=22&zenid=slg1ol1ofckjgef03u285f5at6

Wonderful!! Wishing you great success in your new store!

I was looking at the Pangea Organics website after reading an article about their all natural products. They say they do not use synthetic preservatives. From what I have read on this board over the years the majority here say there is no natural preservative. If so, what type of preservative could be used that isn't synthetic and is natural as organic companies do?

So, you use Propay to swipe the card but you still give the customer the imprinted paper credit card receipt that just has your info and maybe the last 4 digits of the card, expiration date and customer name? Right now I imprint the card on my manual knuckle buster so I can understand customers not liking that. Then I enter them in PayPal using Virtual Terminal but that costs $30 monthly. I turn it off when I am not using it so I don't have to pay that monthly fee every month if I am not using it.

Thanks for the advice WildCrafter. I do plan on doing Farmer's Markets and Craft Fairs whereas I haven't been able to do more than a few in the past because of my full time job. I also plan on meeting with my web guy at the start of the new year to talk about search engine stuff, and update my website with new products and packaging. I don't know how I would set myself apart from other soapmakers. I just stress that my products are handmade and vegetable based. I make dynamite body creme and I use all natural products. I plan on working more on perfecting my liquid soap, then going on to liquid bubble bath, bath gels, and creme soap. I have a lot to keep me busy that is for sure. And with a severance package I am hoping to buy some time and have money to live on. My husband does work so that is a plus. If I have to get another job I will, but my thinking is, what do I have to lose? I could easily freak myself out and not even try and just get another full time job. That is what I have done in the past. I want to try a different route this time and I have to be brave. I know I can work hard, I have a very strong work ethic.

I know, that is the scary part. I have seen a lot of different businesses go under and this recession seems to have hit everyone really hard. Especially the small businesses who don't have a lot of money to fall back on. I have my eyes open believe me. But one thing I think about a lot is that I am 55 years old and have always taken jobs because I needed one, not that the job was something I loved to do. I may wind up doing that again, who knows, but I would like to give MY dream a shot first this time! :smiley2:

Thank you so much for the positive wishes! I have helped so many other businesses succeed and achieve their goals. I am not afraid of hard work so I am going to give it my all! BTW... I haven't been on the board for a few days and got confused with the last few pages of posts regarding spammers etc... I thought I was on the wrong thread or something!