Bernadette Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I make a line of novelty guest sized soaps that I sell in sets. I have one set of a specialty animal that people love. I sell them in sets of 5 and each soap weighs one ounce. Each soap has the eyes,mouth, ears, nose, and since the animal is sitting, the pad and toes of each foot painted. Really rather labor intensive. Anyway, they are packaged in a clear box on top of the paper filler, and look like the guest soap sets you used to be able to purchase in drug stores years ago. I sell them for $7.50 a set. Years ago, the drug stores sold these for $10.00ea.(and I'm talking at least 16 years ago). Anyway, although I don't do wholesale, I have had a request this week from someone that wants to buy them wholesale. She owns a soap shop. I'm trying to wrap my head around this...when I look at the cost of supplies(as I don't buy huge quantities of anything for price breaks, as everything is made to order and I have a huge selection), labor and time,etc., I feel these are already priced at today's wholesale. $7.50 a set isn't even 2x my cost. Probably why I've never offered wholesale on these...So am I missing something or do you think she's being a bit unreasonable? I'm so confused on this one. I have no problem selling these for $7.50 set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twoscentsworth Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Not sure how she is being unreasonable? she has no idea what they cost you to make. Just tell her "sorry I don't wholesale these". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Because if you sell something priced at $7.50 a retailer will expect to purchase at wholesale at about half the price or $3.75 - $4.00. You should be selling your product at 3-4x your cost. You wholesale at 2x your cost. That is normal. But you are selling your product at below wholesale.Personally I would not offer your soap for wholesale as you are not ready for that. Until you are able to keep your costs down and start purchasing in larger quantities so that you can afford to sell at wholesale you should wait.Not everything can or should be sold at wholesale. You have to have your product just right to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnvyCandles Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 While I am sure the owner would love to sell them- they sound sooo cute- I think the labor aspect is really the issue. Even if you were to buy in enough bulk to lower your costs, would you really be able to make enough to cover your labor?I agree with Candybee- some things are not meant for wholesale. If your retail is not even 2x cost, unless she wanted to pay more and mark them up, I don't think you would really benefit. I don't think it is her being unreasonable, but, she wants to make money as well. If you sell them for $7.50 to customers, she should get them for much less because she would be buying them in bulk. Her concern is profiting, not necessarily your costs or time.Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernadette Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 Like I said, I've never wholesaled soap, mainly because I don't just do soap bars per se. They are all novelty type items that are different colored soap parts or painted using mica and other colorants. This particular item I have no problem selling on my website, and do give quantity price breaks to many people who buy for baby showers or birthday parties, but wholesale...guess not. These are not available anywhere else. It was a special mold I had made for these, and there is alot of labor. Thanks for the replys...I know they would sell for alot more in a store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeana Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) I think the biggest question for you should be what is the absolute most you could get for this product. Don't go by what you have been getting so far or everyone else's formulas. It sounds like you have been underselling your retail price so far. Because these are made from custom molds and hand painted you may be able to get more for them. What are people saying now when you tell them they are $7.50 retail? Maybe you could have been getting $9.95 or even more all this time you have been selling them. You could test the waters with a much higher price to see if she could get that in her store. I think when we first start out we under sell ourselves. I remember how amazed I was that I actually sold more soap when I raised my prices. I started to wholesale and wanted to be more in line with what my accounts were charging. If you plan on selling soap for a business you should also start looking for ways to cut your costs such as finding cheaper suppliers, and ordering at larger quantities. HTH Edited July 21, 2011 by Jeana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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