How to Package Soap Continued

I ordered some sample gusset polybags from the SAKet Co. I found that 2 1/2 x 1 1/4 x 7 1/2 gusset bag is the perfect size for a bar of soap (well, perfect if you use my recipe and soap mold from my DVD "How to Make Goat Milk Soap with Oatmeal." ) If you are packaging soap to sell, the price couldn't be more reasonable. 1,000 bags are $24.28 which breaks the cost down to 2 1/2 cents per bag.

I tie my bags with an approx. 12 inch piece of ribbon. I just use inexpensive organza ribbon and try to keep the same color ribbon on the same kinds of soap. This makes my display pretty and helps me identify my soaps quickly. I have found that many people like the soap packaged this way at craft shows because many of my customers purchase soap for gifts.

Having the soap packaged like this makes a nice gift for teachers, babysitters, grandmas and other relatives, etc.

I believe the total cost of packaging my soap this way about 10 cents per bar. If you sell your soap for $4.50 per bar (4 oz.) you should be able to make about $3.40 - $3.90 profit depending upon your fragrance and other ingredients in your soap.

You can find this website at The Saket Company.

It is also easy to attach lables for your soap on the back side of your packaging. I use address labels that you can purchase at an office supply store ( I get the size where thirty address lables are on one page).

You are not required by law to list your ingredients, but if you don't, it is nice to have a brochure to hand out that lists the types of ingredients you use in your soaps. I like to list ingredients on my labels as well as my company's name and a way for a customer to reach me (phone number and email/website).

Cheap Ways to Package Soap

Our landfills continue to overflow and soon little white plastic grocery bags will be banned. Looking to be good stewards of our environment meshes with cheap ways to package soap. The cheapest way I know of to reduce cost in packaging soap is to not package it at all.

What? But what about labelling soap and providing our customers with reorder information?

Well, that is quite simple. Include your business card with their purchase. If they truly need more information, you can easily supply that on a small notecard size paper.

Soap makers are not required by law to label their soaps, but I do like to let my customers know what kinds of oils I use. A small note card listing your ingredients and your company's information would truly suffice. Let's say a customer buys 5 bars of soap and you only give them one or two note cards, you save paper, time, and money.

Perhaps you sell your soaps wholesale and need to have them individually labelled. A cigar band paper label is one of the cheapest ways to package soap that I know of. Most computers have software that allows individuals to do a pretty decent job of manufacturing labels. Of course this is a little labor intensive if you sell a lot of soap wholesale. You will need to design, print, cut and apply all of your labels to each bar of soap.

Another idea is to tie a piece of raffia ribbon (also very cheap) around the soap and attach a small gift tag style card with your company information. This presentation gives the purchaser the feel that the soap is a little more "gift like" and has a quality of "boutique" about it.

Another idea (not quite as cheap) is to attach a clear mailing label with your company info printed on it directly to the soap. This is probably my least favorite option as the labels may not always stay on the soap.

I have used these labels in the past by applying them directly to a small gusseted plastic bag that I put the soap into and tie shut with a ribbon. Although I preferred to put the soap into the bag without any label at all except a small label on the back with my company information on it. I like my customers to see my beautiful soap. I always bought the ribbon on sale or from a wholesale ribbon source. The plastic bags ran about 5 cents per bag. I felt this presentation wasy very nice and a cheap way to package soap, but again it was time consuming to prepare my soaps for soap.

So....if you want my opinion on cheap ways to package soap, I would recommend that you NOT pakcage them at all and allow the beauty of the soap to sell themselves. Make yourself a card that gives all the useful information you want to share about your company and your philosophy about soap and share those with your customers.

It may be a good idea to give repeat customers a magnetic business card and they'll always have your phone number handy. You are keeping good customer records, right?Please visit my website at How to Make Soap

How to Package Soap Part 1

The next few posts will share some thoughts on packaging soap. There are many different thoughts to consider:
the time it takes to package your soap
the extra expense involved in packaging your soap
the look you want your finished product to have
how will you label your soap
will your packaging withstand shipping in the mail or handling by customers in a store
will your packaging hold up well with time in storage
There are probably other thoughts to consider as well, but these are the main ideas that I will touch base on in the next few posts.

Time is a major factor for packaging for the small entrepreneur. When I first began making soap to sell, I did not realize that packaging my soap would take almost as long as making the soap itself. I had a specific look I was trying to acheive with clear, gusseted, polyethelene bags and ribbons. By the time I put the bar of soap into the bag, twisted the top of the bag so it looked good, cut a piece of ribbon, tied it in a bow, and attached a label on the back side of the wrapper, it took a good half a minute to wrap each bar of soap. I soon discovered that I didn't have enought hours in a day to do this myself. Time is a factor to consider in putting together an idea for packaging.

I have seen other individuals wrap their bars in fabric and then put a label around that. This also seems to be a very time consuming idea. First cut the fabric, then wrap it around the soap so it looks nice, then attach a label around that and either tape or glue it. Besides the time it takes, I also do not like the fact that my beautiful bar of soap is all covered up and it cannot be seen. Part of the joy in creating soap is creating beautiful bars that contain interesting colors or items in the soap.

I have seen just a paper wrapped around the outside of the soap, but I have also seen that paper turn icky in storage or at a craft show that may be outdoors with high humidity. No one wants to buy a nice bar of soap that has a yucky label on it.

I have a friend who used to package her soap, then changed to selling it without packaging. This was ideal, except that she took the time to trim every sharp edge off the bar of soap. This, again, is time consuming. I tried doing that as well, but I really didn't like the fact that I was shaving weight off my bar of soap and the sharp edges became soft themselves with only one or two uses.

So.....what is a good option? Perhaps, depending on your market....try NO packaging and just bag up the soap your customers purchase in a brown paper lunch bag. The benfits would include:
passing a saving on to your customer, or producing a bigger profit margin for yourself.
saving your self a lot of time
being a better steward of resources by not using needless packaging
minimizing how much you have to label. You can put together one brochure that gets included with every purchase that lists ingredients you use and the benefits of your soaps

If you find you MUST use some packaging on your soap -- for instance because you are selling it retail -- it would be a benefit to PAY someone (like a young teenager who is willing to work for peanuts!) to do this for you! This will free you up to be more productive with your own time.

After all....TIME is the ONE thing we all have the same amount of.
Use yours wisely!