# How much do you sell your soap for?



## Nupine

I am thinking about getting into soap making in the spring, and I was wondering how much do you sell your soap for, and where do you sell it?
Ashlyn


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## Guest

Hi Ashlyn, I sell mine for 5.00 per bar or three for 13.00, they are very large bars of soap.. 
when i first started, I sold to family, friends and at farmers market, doing a few shows a yr.. Now don't do more than two shows a yr,,, 
Barb


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## mill-valley

I sell my 4.5 oz bars for $4 or 6 for $20.


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## kidsngarden

5 oz. for $5.00.


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## mamatomany

I sell mine that are generally over 5 oz. for $4...BUT mine are not as "fancy" as you all's beautiful soaps. Plain Jane here


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## Sondra

even plain jane soaps are $1 per oz don't sell yourself short Linda Wholesale /unwrapped yeah $3 or 4 is ok


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## Kalne

$4.50 for 4.5 - 5 oz bars I'm going to work on getting consistent weights this year. The bars that end up on the heavy side make the bars that are right on look small.


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## Faye Farms

I sell my 3 - 3.5 oz soaps for $3.50 a bar. Most are closer to 3.5 oz but I just put 3 oz on the label because I worry about weight loss from curing and variations in cutting. I sell at 3 farmer's markets. 2 are full time markets that are once a week. The other is just once a month so far. These markets run from June-September. I also did a few holiday craft shows this year but found I much prefer farmer's markets. I also sell online and at my farm.


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## Nupine

Thanks, it seems as though the prices are pretty consistent. Is there typically a lot of business at farmer's markets?


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## DostThouHaveMilk

You know what I sell mine for...lol
$3 a bar or 4/$10
My bars are hopefully 3.5-4 ounces a piece, though some run down to 3 ounces. Below 3 ounces and they get cut up for samples.
I do Farmer's markets in the summer, craft shows in the fall and right now have soaps in a store in Flushing and another at SIBS at the Ohio Valley Mall. I pay a monthly booth fee there and will likely be pulling out after January, if not before. I also sell online and have done decently with that.


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## Faye Farms

Oh, I have my soap in 2 gift shops as well. They are both run by the same winery. They have my soaps on display and I make 2 private label soaps for them. 

As far as how well you can do at a farmer's market. I would say that totally depends on the area. I do very well at the farmer's markets that I attend. The longer you are there the more of a customer following you will have. It's worth my time to go to these at this point.


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## Aja-Sammati

A $1 an ounce is pretty normal.


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## Kalne

We sell at 2 farmer's markets and then at least 6 craft shows in the fall. And a holiday home show and a little on-line. I like doing the markets best. As mentioned you get regular customers that way and they continue to buy throughout the season. At the craft shows you have to convince half your customers to give your products a try.


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## Nupine

That is pretty good. There is a feed store/deli/bulk food/folk art/etc. store in our town. Several people sell things like baked goods, meat, eggs, candy, etc in there. We are friends with the store owner, and if I was able to supply him with goat milk soap to sell, I am sure he would. If he can make a few dollars off of something that you make, he will certainly do it. lol He is a ncie person, but certainly the ''businessy'' type. But I guess that is ok.


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## Nupine

Also, I was wondering, how do you wrap your soap to sell? What is your favorite recipe? I looked at a few recipes and besides the lye and goat milk they are all quite different. How much time is involved in making a batch of soap? Does the whole batch have to be the same scent and color? Those are my questions for now, lol.


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## hsmomof4

Depending on the size of your batch and the size of your mold(s), sometimes you can split batches, but I'm talking about something like doing half of your batch in one mold with one scent and color and the other half different....and in most cases, we are talking about a log or slab mold that then gets cut up into individual bars. You probably aren't going to be able to make one bar of this and one bar of that. And certainly, I wouldn't start out trying to do a split batch! Try the walmart recipe up in the sticky with no scent and no color and no goat milk to start out with and then go from there. It's not like it's rocket science, but there are timing issues and stuff, so after you've got that down, you can start to do some of the more fun things.

As to favorite recipes, everybody's different. What one person likes, another may not. Again, start with the walmart recipe and then after you've made that a few times, you can try substituting different fats/oils (using a lye calculator to figure out how much lye to use, because it varies with the kinds of fats) and see what you like. People all also wrap soaps differently. If you look at the soap swap critique post, you can see pics of what different things people are doing.


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## Aja-Sammati

If you look at the soap swap pictures you can see a wide variety of wrapping styles. I prefer to teach a smaller batch than the WalMart recipe for first timers, because that is a lot of soap to go through if you don't like the result! As long as you use a soap calculator, you can shrink or expand any recipe. There is another website with a lot of recipes, millersoap or something like that. Finding your own perfect recipe is a matter of trial and error.


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## Kalne

I shrink wrap some of my soaps and paper wrap others. Some soapers use a simple band that leaves the ends of the bars open. When I first started I used cello bags. 

Ditto what Stacey said....the WM recipe is a very good place to start. And I too would cut it down. I started with 1 pound batches. When you're ready to try changes you'll need to see what oils & butters you can regularly get at an affordable price, and that may be different for each soaper. 

I have split batches up into two-bar portions but only for fragrance and color testing. And I have split a 'master' pot of oils to make multiple batches from. But normally, it's one batch scented and colored or swirled the same. Once you mix your lye & liquid with your oils you're on the clock. Depending on your recipe and fragrance you may have time to play or not.


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## hsmomof4

Oh, yeah, definitely make it smaller...7 pounds is a lot to do for the first time...but those same fats in those or similar proportions are a good recipe to start with. You can take it to www.soapcalc.com and put in 1/2 or 1/4 or whatever of what the ounces are in the original recipe and it will tell you how much lye and liquid to use. And then measure everything very precisely, by weight.


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## DostThouHaveMilk

Ashlyn,
You are more than welcome to come visit when I soap and "help me out."
I can make as many as 6 different scents/colors from one batch, though I don't like to. I prefer no more than 3 different ones from 10 pounds of soap.
I will be moving to shrink wrap soon. I went through three hole punches in less than an hour trying to get holes in my cello bags.
I also use coffee filters on my OMH and other bars that don't rub off or have colorants in them.
Thankfully, in this area, we don't tend to have that many people balk at the lard in the recipe.


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## adillenal

I would be more concerned with making a consistent, quality soap before I worried about how to wrap it or where to sell it. I gave away many, many bars of soap before I ever considered selling. Not trying to be negative, but I do not believe in selling the first batch or so of soap. Testing it out with different water types and with different people is important. 

You will be surprised at how much your soap improves with time and experience.

That siad, good luck with your project and I sell 5-5.5 oz bars at $5.00 each or 3 for $12.00. I use a label that is very colorful with a picture of my herd queen on it and shrink wrap my soaps with the label inside with the ends open. I use rolls of shirnk wrap.


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## hsmomof4

> I would be more concerned with making a consistent, quality soap before I worried about how to wrap it or where to sell it. I gave away many, many bars of soap before I ever considered selling. Not trying to be negative, but I do not believe in selling the first batch or so of soap.


:yeahthat


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## Whitney

I agree with LaNell. 

If you make good soap, you will find that the people you give it away to will come back to buy more, and more, and more. And then more for gifts. LOL Suddenly you will have a customer base and you can grow from there.


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## jimandpj

I fourth what LaNell said. I have had people refuse to take a free sample from me because they once tried somebody's handmade soap and it was so terrible they won't even try anyone else's.

If you can consistently make a great bar of soap - and that comes with lots of trial and error and research, then you can take advantage of potential markets.

We currently retail our soap for $5. Ours average 5.7 ounces, but I say they are a minimum of 5 oz in case the children bag a smaller bar (instead of cutting it up for samples).

PJ


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## Nupine

Thanks, I totally understand what you mean. I was thinking, maybe I could cut small bars [like 1/2 or 1/3 the size or regular bars] and wrap them, then label them with my name, address, and phone number and carry them in a purse or bag or something [I don't carry a purse usually] and hand them out to people at church, feed store, 4-H meetings, and to basically everyone I know and meet. Then they can call me and order some full size bars if they like them. I know there are bad and good homemade soaps. I have tried a few that weren't very moisturizing, or didn't smell good. Roseanne [Dost Though Hath Milk] makes excellent soap. I think the hardest part for me would be actually being in the kitchen for long periods of time! Cooking to me means Ramen Noodles, a peanut butter sandwich, or some overly processed microwave lunch food. lol
Ashlyn


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## Becky-DixieDoesAlpines

$5 each or 3 for $13 for most. I have a few that are $7-9. I plan to up prices this year.
Becky


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