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LOOK AT THE SOAP LOAVES CAREFULLY WHEN
SETTING OUT TO PICK YOUR SOAP SUPPLIER
I am sure it goes without saying that we would love you to choose
SOAP BY THE LOAF to be your bulk soap supplier. But, either
way, let's discuss some of the things that you should look for in
a bulk soap supplier.
THE WEIGHT
Many customers have asked why our
soap loaves are more expensive than a popular soap loaf supply
company. Easy, first of all, our soap loaves weigh more than
most of our competition. TWICE as much as some of our
competitors. Many people searching for soap loaves are excited to
get going with their business. They don't always slow down
and truly look at every aspect of the soap itself. Quality is
everything when you are trying to build your reputation. In
the long-haul it will be the reason for your success, or, your
downfall. SOAP BY THE LOAF soap loaves weigh a full 48
ounces. This gives you an entire dozen of big, four-ounce
bars of soap, just like we sell at
Green Pergola.
Let's say you are wanting to sell 3 ounce bars of soap, the same
size of the ZUM bars found at
Indigo Wild. This would allow you 16 bars of soap from one
loaf.
THE INGREDIENTS
Is the supplier you have chosen
listing all of their ingredients? Once again, quality, quality,
quality. What is the supplier using to fragrance the soap
loaves? We at SOAP BY THE LOAF only use real essential oils
from plants. In other words, the lavender came from the
French lavender flower, the peppermint came from the American
peppermint bush, the patchouli from the bushes found in Indonesia,
the lemongrass from fields in Sri Lanka. If your prospective
supplier has scent selections like Cucumber Melon and Apple Pie,
these are always artificial fragrance oils. Furthermore, not
all fragrance oils are created equal. Many are beautiful
smells (but not natural) and others are cheap, chemical-like
smells. The only way to determine this is to order samples.
But, sometimes the price says all
the need to know about the quality. Have you found a
supplier this is selling you a loaf of soap for only $8? $5?
Even as low as $3? Really? Come on. Our soap
loaves here at SOAP BY THE LOAF COST more than that
to make! a NOTE on ingredients - if a supplier is listing quality
ingredients and there prices are super low, chances are those
ingredients are in very small amounts with a whole lot of the
filler ingredient. So, how is the supplier doing it?
There are usually just one-of-two explanations. Either they
are using the cheapest ingredients they can lay their hands on or
they are completely insane and thrilled to make fifty cents off of
each loaf. And the words "completely insane" bring us to
....
THE SOAP SUPPLIER'S SALE PITCH
How is your potential soap supplier
presenting their company? Does their presentation, website
and even the general wording on their website say 'professional'
to you? Or, does it sound like a used car salesman making a
pitch? Or worse, like a late night infomercial with words
like - BUT WAIT, IF YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER IN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES
WE'LL THROW IN FREE SHIPPING! You can't help but laugh at
those sales pitches.
MORE ABOUT THE SCENT CHOICES
Now here is something that can be
really confusing to people. Many artificial chemical
fragrances SOUND like they come from nature because most of the
time they are named like plants. Telltale sign - most FRUIT
scents are not essential oils, minus citrus oils. Fruits
like papaya, mango, kiwi, raspberry are not real essential oils.
These fruit have such a high water content that it makes it almost
impossible to extract essential oils from them. In theory,
one could make an essential oil from such fruits but it would take
so much plant matter that a single ounce of those essential oils
would be thousands of dollars.
Sounds like natural to me!
Worse yet, many artificial fragrances are names the very same
names as essential oils. Just because a soap says LEMONGRASS
doesn't made it is made with real lemongrass. The price will
tell the entire story. The price will let you know whether
your lemongrass came from the flowing green fields of Sri Lanka or
if it is a chemical soup brewed up in a concrete factory.
Familiarize yourself with real essential oils, how they smell and
what they do so you will know if you are receiving a genuine
product. Mainly because, nothing makes you look more foolish
in front of customers than to claim your soaps have real essential
oils and customers with knowledge can tell it just isn't true.
They will look at you and wonder if you are lying to make the sale
or if you just don't know your own business. Either scenario
isn't a good calling card for your soap company. Extra hint,
rose soaps are almost always artificially scented. Real rose
essential oil is hundreds of dollars and ounce...wholesale.
So, educate yourself about essential oils, fragrance oils and how
to tell the difference before choosing a soap supplier; especially
before you begin selling your product.
ORGANIC VERSUS NATURAL SOAPS
Now we come to the organic claim.
Many of our soap loaf customers came to us after their "organic"
soap supplier went out of business. But the thing is, they
all said that they were paying less for the soap loaves than we
charged. Once again, what does the price say to you?
Our soaps at SOAP BY THE LOAF are natural, they are not listed as
organic. I know that all of the base oils such as olive,
coconut, etc. cost THREE TIMES as much for the organic. So,
how were these suppliers offering them at lower prices than our
loaves? One-of-two reasons - Either this is WHY they went
out of business or, to put it simply, they were lying. If we
were to use all organic oils in the soap loaves, they wouldn't be
in the $24 range -- the loaves would be more like $60. So,
how do you tell who is a good supplier and who is jerking you
around? Trial and error. If anything, your gut
instinct is the best thing you have. Remember, quality is
crucial to your business.
Quality creates repeat customers.
Low quality makes for a one-time customer. Which one are you
trying to attract?
Questions to ask yourself when
searching for a bulk soap supplier:
- How long have they been in
business?
- Are their prices too good to be
of quality?
- Are they professional?
- How much do the soap loaves
weigh?
- real essential oils or
artificial fragrance?
- will their soaps create a
long-lasting business for me?
Gregory
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