Being an indie artist is a heap of work, but that first sale is so worth it! I sell online and wholesale so I will be sharing my process, safety, and outlet ideas.
First, let’s talk selling online; I started with Etsy. This site is easy to figure out, super user-friendly, and the listing prices are ideal! At the time of publication of this book, listing your first item only cost twenty cents for four months. They take a percentage of sales, but we’ll get into pricing in a moment. Shopify is another wonderful site for creating a store online with lots of control and great information for small and starting business owners. I have used them and love them, although they are a bit more expensive per month and the learning curve is a bit larger than the simplicity of Etsy.
Building your own website. Plenty of sites are free and most use an easy drag-and-drop method, but they will advertise on your site and their name will be in your dot-com. I own my own domain (through GoDaddy, but you can purchase your own domain through any host of your choice) and utilized the WordPress platform to build my website using a template of my choice. Though it takes time and a bit of learning, the complete control that comes along with having your own domain and using the WordPress platform is 100 percent worth it. There are wonderful step-by-step tutorials all over the web that can teach you how to do this and more than 45,000 different plug-ins (plug-ins are essentially apps for your WordPress website), including shop plug-ins for you to create your own online store. wordpress.org is the most flexible platform available, aside from coding your own entirely from scratch, which most developers won’t even do.
If you’re interested in selling soap, you will need to consider pricing. The first idea I want tackle is: under no means should you under sell your product. The recipes in this book and the ones you will come up with make the most awesome soap ever crafted with your own hands and love and time. People use various formulas to come up with a price for their goods, but this one works for me: Calculate cost of product, packaging, cost of time involved, and any other costs you may have accrued into your one bar of soap, and multiply this by 4. Now add on tax if you have any, along with transaction percentage cost and listing cost. For example, if you are selling on Etsy, you have your initial listing cost of twenty cents, add this in. You will also have a transaction cost, generally a percentage of the overall sale (know what this percentage is and add it in), and you have your retail price. Wholesale should be about half of this.
Regulations, Insurance, and Safely Selling
This is a touchy subject, but not as scary as it may appear. If you are using clean methods and following instructions, your soap should be safe to sell. List all the ingredients used in your soap on your label and don’t make any false disclaimers. You can’t make medical claims of any sort unless you are a doctor. Don’t say this cures, prevents, or heals anything. Don’t use any medical terminology that refers to an actual disease. You can use words that express that your product is used to beautify, such as cleans, moisturizes, and rejuvenates as those don’t refer to actual medical issues. For more information, check out the FDA’s website online at www.fda.gov/cosmetics. Also know that if you sell from home, the FDA has complete permission to pay you a visit at any time, without warning. ModernSoapMaking.com covers a surprise home check excellently. And if you want more information, check out Marie Gale’s books Soap & Cosmetic Labeling and Good Manufacturing Practices for Soap and Cosmetic Handcrafters.
Although insurance is not necessary, if you start selling a lot of products you may wish to look into cosmetic insurance to cover your products and the tools used in making your products—and your butt, in case someone claims an adverse reaction from using your products. Insurance can be pricy, but the peace of mind alone can be worth every cent. I recommend checking out the Indie Business Network before going to a regular insurance company, as the Indie Business Network not only has great prices, but is also an incredible resource.
Vending
Vending is so much work, but once you get it down, you just might like it. I vend mainly to meet my customers in person and make connections. I’ve made connections with wedding coordinators (ideal, since you’ll generally make a massive batch of soap and have it sold continuously, since they have your info and love to recommend you if you do good work). You’ll get to meet store owners and people from out of area and hear new suggestions and feedback firsthand. It’s fun, fun, fun! I love interacting with people and having my own little pop-up shop every once in a while, without the responsibility of a full-time brick-and-mortar shop. A lot of events are advertised, but to vend at them you generally will have to contact the festival coordinator well in advance to reserve a selling spot. A good way to search out vending events is to simply Google events near you, or ask at your local chamber of commerce. Find out booth pricing, whether you will need insurance, and what else they will require of you to see if it will be worthwhile. Ask questions, such as, How many people do they expect to attend the event? What are the people attending interested in? Make sure the event is a good fit for you.
I personally like to vend at local farmers’ markets, as they are ideal places to sell handmade soap. I have vended at indoor holiday festivals, but I won’t do outdoor winter festivals because I can’t handle the cold. (But kudos to you if you can!)
Now that you have your beautifully crafted soaps, here are some ideas for packing that are equally lovely.
• Neat art paper
• Ribbon
• Half wrap
• Printed labels on sticker paper
• Organza bag
• Muslin bags
• Muslin bags stamped by hand
• Pressed flowers
• Handwritten
• Printed
• Different threads and ribbons
• Kraft-paper envelopes
• Pillow boxes
• Keep it nude! Your soap is already very lovely, so why not keep it nude with no wrapping?
Options for packaging include using a variety of papers and strings and ribbons. You can also wet a paintbrush, swipe the soap with the wet brush, and stick on your paper label. The soap will act as glue and hold your label on!
(L to R, clockwise): Make your own printed label strips; Use a cute little bow for packaging; Print up your own labels on sticker paper and seal in a glassine bag; try washi tape—the varities are endless!
