SoapDiva

I've ordered my scents after doing some research and seeing what I'm discontinuing. I'll start testing in January when I get back from our holiday. I wanted to start earlier, however I've been swamped with other stuff and am battling a bad case of seasonal burn out. I've started playing with ideas on paper and in my head though, so when we're back, I'll be hitting the ground running.

My sales have actually tripled from last year. Profit though isn't where I would expect it to be, mainly because I went a little crazy with the farmers markets and should have bailed some of the slower markets so my expenses were higher. Also, because I had to place multiple orders to the US for additional supplies, my margins slipped due to shipping and customs. I *like* to place ONE order for the year, albeit a large one, but the customs isn't as painful. Picked up 4 wholesale accounts, and hope to get more in the new year of course. Going to a wholesale crafters tradeshow, so I hope that pans out considering the table was almost $800. I've also done the craft show circuit now and know which shows to drop and which ones to keep. I second the whole "larger isn't always better" mantra.

I second the bar soap idea. Many of my customers use my soap as a shampoo.

Oh my, you and I could get into a great (agreeing) rant about that whole thing. There is this soaper who sells these "organic" bars with all these exotic oils in them for next to nothing. Because her selling point is organic, she does well, but I can tell by looking at her ingredients that she is practically giving them away. I take issue with the word "organic" unless you sat there and watched it grow, fed it distilled water and watched the entire process from plant to oil/butter, than you cannot, in good conscious call anything organic. And then, there is the lye. I just say "I keep my formulations as natural as possible".

Dustpuppy, I've scoured the site looking for that info, I finally sent off an email asking. I'll have to start looking around the local second hand stores for some furniture to plump up my "store".

Barncat - what types of displays do you use if you don't mind me asking? I've made some notes. Going to give samples, collect business cards etc. Is there a website out there that teaches people to effectively set up a trade show booth? I've searched but found nothing. I'm a very visual person, so I need to *see* how people have done things to get a feel for what I think may work. The ones I've been too as a retailer, are quite strict in not allowing people to purchase off the floor. I'll have to contact the director to see if that is the case as well, I assume they are so I've been planning on allowing my stock to run low over Christmas.

Sorry, it's this one: http://www.actshow.ca/

I went when I was living in Edmonton, to see what the current trends were etc, but they were retail trade shows, where you'd find commercial companies in with the small handmade start ups. This show is only for artisans and the handcrafted market. I haven't had a chance to get to this show unfortunately, there was supposed to be one this fall, but it was canceled. I've got on my list: Wholesale glossy brochures (about 200) Wholesale price lists (Can/US) - for this is it advisable to have them behind the counter to give if people are interested? Otherwise there may be other people looking for my prices for their own nefarious use. Pictures hanging (3 large ones of close up product shots) on the walls Postcards business cards

I'm going to take my business to a craft trade show in February. For those of you who have done them, how do you set up? Do you go above and beyond? I have all these ideas, but frankly don't really want to invest a lot in display materials that will realistically used once per year. I've designed wholesale brochures, I'm working on wholesale order forms in both CA and US dollars. I know that I do not need to bring all my stock, just a selection. But I don't have a lot of "furniture". I mean my typical craft show set up likely won't do. I have a 10x10 space, carpeted and walled. I'm just wondering if anyone has pictures of how they do their wholesale show set ups, or information. I'm thinking of taking labeling samples (on boxes of soap, with generic company name etc), loafs of soap, of course all my soap and varieties. I'm trying to plan this in advance, and considering the cost I'm already paying for the damn table, I want to be very very prepared.

I've had my consignment go wholesale on me, which was nice. She was taking only 15% on sales, now she makes much more money, which is nice for me as well, because I don't have to go in and do stock, she just orders more when she wants more. I've got my stuff in another store, which I usually have to restock every two weeks. I don't have a lot there, but she is an awesome saleswoman and is excited about my products. She takes 30%, which is still better than wholesale for me.

Yeah, boxes for my soap? The product is 1/3 of what it will cost me to ship, then pay customs on at the end of the day. It's insane. When I place orders to the states, I try to do it all at the start of the year, and ONCE (I keep exact records, and add 20-40% for growth over the year). There have been some times when I've had to re-order, which hurts. But when I make the big order, and I'm getting in thousands of pieces, it brings the CPU down substantially. It's the only way that my business can be profitable. Currently, I have about 50 lip balm tubes left (from 1200 I started out with) and am really really hoping that my current lot will hold over till new years (I have about 200 on hand, but I have 6 parties and two major shows not to mention farmers markets to go).

The good with the bad I suppose. I signed up for a big show in the city, people telling me it was fantastic etc. I paid through the nose for the table ($435) for a three day show. It was crap. First they set me up across from another soap seller, then they shorted me on space (gave me a 6X6 instead of the 8x8 I paid for). I find out when I get there that everyone has to have curtained walls....not part of the table fee...and come over here to drop another 75 bucks on freaking walls. Then I had items stolen out of my booth and three CC transactions were invalid. Yeah, I got snookered. AND there were flea market and non-handmade goods there, when it was all supposed to be handmade items. How can I compete with soap selling for 2 bucks thats been made in who knows where? BUT, it was a learning experience. I got a home party out of it and possibly a wholesale client, so...while I wouldn't do the show again, it wasn't a complete loss. Oh, and there was another show I did, it was for a cruise ship docking. They had 1400 people come off the boat and saunter past about 30 vendors without giving a second glance. We all hoped that when they came back from their excursions 6 hours later that they would be in the mood to buy. Nope. They queued up and got back on the boat. Again, without a second glance. I made 20 bucks selling to other vendors. To add insult to injury, we were set up on the waterfront and it was SNOWING. We froze our asses off. IN the meantime, we were in a secured area, not allowed to leave, and scared to leave because there were people milling about and didn't want to miss a potential sale. I think everyone here has had their horror stories. Yours rates right up there. LOL!

Hey, I have a fanpage too! http://www.facebook.com/Elorajade?ref=nf#/CreativeWanderings?ref=sgm Also remember to add pages to your pages favorites!

I'm just wondering if I should include this in my wholesale information for customers. I've been contacted by a potential customer and they were asking about display units to display my soap on. My husband has volunteered of course to make them units, which I would sell at cost plus labor (I'm guessing?). What do you do?

Congrats! That's exciting for you!

I decided I should suck it up and just go. Luckily we can get cheap housing in the city so I can be with my kids for at least a while, the husband can come down and relieve me so I can get a break. Now, I just need to make stuff like a mad woman! Thanks for letting me vent and talk it out!

Thanks! To answer your question, yes and no. Usually by the time I blend the top layer with TD or add whatever color I am using, and dusting the bottom layer with cocoa in the mold, the bottom is firmed up enough to handle the top layer. The top layer doesn't have to be at a thick trace. There have been times where it hasn't been that way, hence the not perfectly straight lines. When I pour one layer, it pushes into the bottom. I've had that happen a few times I'm cool with that, I think it looks cool and very artsy that way. I've stopped trying to be all perfect. Most of the imperfections I see people love.

Thats what I keep thinking too. Just do the damn show. But then I have the overwhelming show fear of sitting there as scads of people walk by and ignore me. I have issues.

I use cocoa powder. I don't like making a straight line with some though, just as a break between the two colors. I just put the powder in a small sieve and sprinkle between layers.

I've been agonizing over doing a large show in a major city for some time. I've been doing the smaller markets, the tables are cheap (anywhere from 20-120 for a two day show with good traffic) and I do quite well at them. I've been temped. Tempted badly into doing a major show in the city, table fees are 400 dollars over three days (plus gas - driving three hours, 90 minutes each way, food etc). The thing is, is that the best I've ever done at a smaller show is 900 over three days. This was several years ago though. The traffic for this show is supposed to be phenomenal. I've tested the market so to speak by working a Winery while they had people up from that city and did very well over two days (free table too, so it was all gravy). I kept being asked if I was planning on being at any of the larger shows in the city. Is there a magic formula that I should be using when weighing the options? For a table costing that much over three days - what should I make in order to make it worth my while? I mean yes, I could very well meet multiple wholesale clients, which would be awesome, and the spin off income could amazing. I just can't get past the idea of 450 dollars for a bloody table. I have to sell a LOT of soap to make that. Then there is the COGS overall, plus the driving back and forth daily. On the other hand I've talked to one woman who owned a soap business several years ago, and she said she would easily make 3K at those larger shows. I think I'm talking myself into this here. I've been going back and forth now for literally MONTHS about this.

When I rebatch, only I know it's a rebatch, people don't seem to notice a difference. I use those crockpot bags, and use the low setting on the crockpot for 9 hours or so, I also add some water. Once it's all mushy, I take oven mits and massage the hell out of it, then pour it into the mold and cover with saran. I try to smooth it out as much as I can. If it's a soap that won't darken naturally, I tend to add color after I shred it. It looks pretty funky. Someone I gave some rebatched soap to gave me hell for not selling it because she thought it looked awesome.

My website is currently down due to the recent zen cart massacre of 09. I'm in the middle of a major bike rally/festival so I don't have time to reinstall full force right now. I do have someone working on it for me, I also have a few things listed on Artfire. http://www.artfire.com/users/CreativeWanderings I uploaded some more recent images to my flicker account. http://www.flickr.com/photos/65576222@N00/ If anything interests you I can send you an updated wholesale list. I'm a busy for the next few days due to the festival so I may be a little slow in responding.

I've recently had some issues with my EO soap, specifically star anise and lavender. They have been going bad, fast, which is weird. I've been using the same EO's from the same suppliers, with the same recipes for years with no problems. I recently had two batches turn. One made in the winter (Feb) and another made in June. After I re-made the lavender and Star anise, the lavender went rank within a few weeks of making it! The star anise so far seems to be fine. We had a major heat wave, and I had to purchase a dehumidifier for the basement. I've also installed an exhaust fan, and have two fans running to circulate the air around the soaps on my rack. Do you think that my EO's went bad? Base oils? Was it the heat/humidity? My base oils are canola, olive oil, coconut and palm oil. Ideas?

I have TD powder, not sure what kind, but I put it in a lotion squeeze bottle with Glycerine and shake the crap out of it. It makes a nice liquid that I can squeeze into my batter.

Isn't it funny how we soapers "see" what it is supposed to look like in our heads and know that it looks nothin like the finished product. So, we see faults? I think it's beautiful. But then, I don't know what it's supposed to look like. So often I'll be at a sale, and someone will pick up a bar and exclaim it's perfection and beauty, but instead I see the imperfections and how it was supposed to turn out. Awesome job, I aspire to be able to do swirls like yours.