# Trying to spend $ wisely



## a4patch (Oct 7, 2009)

We finally have sold enough soap to reorder some fragrances. I have two questions.

Our best sellers are Tea tree, Lavender +7 herb,Lavender Mint, Cranberry Marmalade, Cucumber Melon( I am not a big fan of CM but people like it)

I was only able to purchase a limited number of EO's and Would rather not get them from the same source.

I would like to pick one or two scents in large quantity EO or FO(Vicki, I am a good listener) which would be the best use of my money?

My first thoughts would be #X Peppermint and Lavender 40/42 and purchase them from New Directions.

Question #2
I purchased all of my scents from the same company ( I did not know any better and was overwhelmed)Candle Science. 

Now I have read enough....taken tons of notes and would like to switch my FO's to Aroma Haven.

cucumber mellon
cranberry marm
Luv spell
Sex on the Beach
Green Irish tweed (never tried)
Monkey farts (Never tried)
Bay Rum (never tried)
Black rasberry Vanilla (never tried)


Most of you have reviewed these positively from AH. 

Does this sound like a reasonable plan.


----------



## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

I have a *rule* not to buy any scent without testing it myself first......even when others rave about it. Most of the time when I break my rule I regret it. I often don't have the same opinion and what sells well in one area may not be so in another. Not sure what you mean by *large* quantity. I will buy 5 lbs of my tried and true scents that I well know my customers will buy and I will use it up in a reasonable amount of time. I will buy a full pound of something I have tested just an ounce of if it performed well and it's not close to something I already have and I think my customers will go for it. Once I see how it performs on my table I'll decide whether or not to add it to my line.


----------



## a4patch (Oct 7, 2009)

Large quantity would be 5-10lbs.

I will order the samples of these scents and compare them to what I have still in empty bottles.


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I would never buy 5 or 10 pounds unless I have used the scent from that company and love it. Aroma Haven sells sample sizes, 4 ounces, that make a nice sized batch of soap. I don't think you can really learn anything from soaping 1/2 or 1 ounce. Especially how it is going to behave as you move to larger batches.

Even though I do purchase in bulk now, I do use candle science their prices are excellent in bulk pricing and you aren't going to find cranberry marmalade cheaper or better than they sell. 

I think going about it this way is smarter. What are your best sellers, sure cucumber mellon types sell well this time of year, but does your sell during the winter? I moved all my best sellers to 10 pounds, used the money for more and bigger molds, make purchases from columbus foods in the larger containers, buy a pallet of lye, you will pay half of what you pay per 50 pound sack. I buy my essential oils from NDA but I hate their FO's. I still buy some of my scents from SOS in 5 pounds. I buy 3 scents in 25 pounds.

And I agree, I test my own scents. I have had several scents fail from aroma haven that someone previously wrote on the forum worked great for them, so I tried them again and same oil slick failure. I would not want monkey farts as part of my line, I do make it for my son, it is very hard to work with and rices and siezes without notice. It's the same with rice flower shea from SOS, it is part of my line and I can not move it to a big mold because of how it rices, this is very limiting but it is also a very good seller. My advice to anyone who thinks they want to soap commercial is to really limit your scent selection. Don't keep anything from the very beginning that you can't do in your sleep. Anything that is fussy don't do it. Limit the amounts of soap that have intricate swirls or textured tops....one day a week I do nothing but pour swirls and textured tops, I make exactly half as much soap that day doing more work than the days I poor full molds, that is stupid  If you can use a tank or other commercial cutter than use your money to buy it rather than moving your scents from 5 to 10 pounds. If a website doesn't appear to sell in 5 or 10 pounds ask them if they do, if they don't move to another one that does. The problem with buying from aroma haven or any of these kinds of resellers is that when they discontinue a scent, like my Bonsi, it's over....you use up what you have an you either pay to have it duped or you move it out of your line...if you use Trilogy or any of the other manufacturers than it's yours because it's a recipe....well as long as the company stays in business  And if you aren't crazy busy, think about reselling yourself. Especially if it is scent that we use on the forum. Vicki


----------



## a4patch (Oct 7, 2009)

WOW thank you. I would have ordered a bunch of samples. We just started marking the items that sold. It has been different each time. We only set out 10 of each item. When we packed up we knew how many had sold. Sadly, I did order some samples from AH yesterday....

The lavender 40/42 seem to sell each market. Peppermint and Tea Tree. I would like to order them in bulk because they sold so well. Would that be a good step?


I did purchase lye in bulk. Gulp. what a purchase. It took me two weeks to get up the nerve to spend that $. I had been purchasing from Lowe's before.

Thank you Vicki.


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Essential Oils don't go bad, but how much can you really use? Especially the heady single note ones like Tea Tree and the mints, you use them so sparringly...I wouldn't go crazy with poundage on them. Course I don't know how much soap you are talking about making. Vicki


----------



## a4patch (Oct 7, 2009)

What is a lot to me is probably itty bitty to you guys. I make about one/two batches a week. Each batch is 42 -48 bars depending on how well I cut with the miter box. (a cutter would be next on the list of things to get. 

Sadly, I was just laid off from my job. I need to earn a certain $ amount before we are in jeopardy. This is not a huge amount of $. I have some extra business $. I decided to make soap with part of it because the soap can make more money. I needed to spend wisely to make the most bang for my buck.

Hope this makes sense.


----------



## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

Personally, as someone who soaps on a very small scale, I think I would take the money and spread it out over several more popular scents, instead of doing a big investment on just a few. Customers always like variety and new things on the table bring a lot of attention. For a larger investment, I would probably go with a lavender, because it can be combined with so many other scents and is very popular. You'll get requests for things like tea tree (very popular) lemon grass, rosemary and rosemary blends, patchouli, citrus, rose, etc. I've found that I sell a lot of fragrance oil soaps, but the best customers who buy the most, usually spend the most money on essential oil soaps, and then throw in a few of the fragrances when they are making their larger purchases. Variety sells.


----------



## Nigilover (Oct 29, 2007)

It's a fine line to walk--- figuring which scents and how many to offer. I definitely have 3 top sellers--- every time, good show or not. However, my regular customers are always asking me what's new. My husband is convinced people are looking for a scent at shows and could care less about what it looks like--- people just keep picking up and smelling until they find a scent they like. So I agree totally that variety sells. The big question is how much variety do you really need. I haven't figured that one out yet. A scent that does bad at one show can sell out at the next.....frustrating!!


----------

