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Price Reduction!

The Chambers Man

The Chambers Man

Chamber Shave Company
Cadre Peeps..

Dave, our fearless leader, recommended I drop the price of my soaps. Since I am new in this space but have created a pretty good soap, I need some feedback on what a good price would be for a launch. I make the 4.2 oz product for roughly $7 with labor and materials... so I am being humble in asking. I would be glad to send samples to anyone as long as they pay for shipping. I have spent thousands in developing this and would love feedback. I am working on a vegan and straight up hard soap option.. but honestly I am not worried about the money but the quality of the product. Here is my question.... my product is a croap. it will last 2 months and lathers quickly...great scent and slickness. I now have Aventus in my arsenal with their blessing. I could easily create a Croap of the Month Club but would love your feedback. In the meantime... I dropped the price and want you to all experience the products.
 
As with any retail venture there are rules of thumb to guide pricing. A good rule of thumb for products made by the retail seller is to price in the neighborhood of 3x cost of materials (to allow for labor cost you can do 3x materials plus labor cost). One flaw in artisan price models is properly figuring labor involved from beginning to final delivery, labor is typically WAY underrepresented. A good reason to calculate labor and materials separately but account for in the total is to ensure efficiency of scale (in either or both material purchases and labor efficiency) is valued appropriately. I know the time it takes to make a run of soap, within reason I could double, triple or quadruple the number of pots running at the same time and produce more product in approximately the same time as one pot...but to do that requires more investment in equipment AND more raw materials on hand, all at an upfront cost. THEN you have double, triple, quadruple the stock on the shelf waiting to be sold ...you could invest a ton only to have a ton tied up in stock on the shelf. I KNOW what you’ve invested to get going and I know the cost of materials you use (FYI guys, some of the ingredients used are more expensive than you might think). What ever the multiple In needs to allow you to pay for what it cost to front load, pay for repurchase of materials for the next run, pay for the product left on the shelf, pay the tax due and leave a little future expansion...and maybe put some change in your pocket.

A little inside baseball here; the wet-shaving community likes 2 things, free shipping and flat rate shipping. I (cbl soap) chose to impose a flat rate that covers the shipping cost of a smaller order but results in a loss on larger orders. I also have free shipping when the order value breaches a certain level. I admit I failed to account for packing material costs but I was able to acquire some bubble mailers from ups at no charge because they were obsolete. Like most, I love free shipping but only if it doesn’t inflate the item cost significantly.

The price per ounce that the community will support depends on how high performing the soap is or is perceived to be. VERY few top tier artisan soaps top $5 per ounce and those that do usually offer a unique experience (the holy black is a good example). The $4 range seems to be tolerated when the performance or experience is top tier. The mid $3 range is quite average for your basic product.

Rather than outright suggest a price I will just say, I think you need to keep the price per tub under $20. For me the $20 handle is a mental barrier that’s hard to break. I LOVE, LOVE LOVE free shipping but I would not build shipping into the cost of individual tubs. I think doing so will reduce the number of tubs purchased in a single transaction. If you decide to offer free shipping when an order is over a particular $ amount try to make it fair. Don’t set the free shipping at $49 when everything you sell is $20, just say free shipping at/over $60 if you want them to buy 3 things to qualify.

I think your soap is worth the price of admission, it’s not a mid-grade or average soap. A price point between $16 and $20 with reasonable (or free...I love free) shipping sounds right to me.

I like the soap of the month idea, I’d been considering something like that for quite some time. There is a thread in my TSC storefront where I asked for input, check it out, the members have given some good input there.
 
Wow! I think Chris really explained it well! I have no idea about the cost, value, and labor of artisan products. But from my limited experience in the retail sector (mostly jewelry) markups typically ranged from 2 to 3 times. (In your case a soap at $7.00 your cost would amount to a $14 - $21 tub). I think from the buyer prospective, $17 - $18 dollars is probably about right for the 4.2 ounce tub. But keep in mind...the user always wants a perceived value.

As soon as the wife drops her guard...I will see about picking up a couple Tubs!
 
I don't know about the business or profit areas, but here's where I'm at as a consumer. $20 for a tub of soap is too much for me, unless it is ultra top tier, does something unique or feels special, or lasts a really long time... more than a couple months. I'm comfortable in the $14-$15 range for most soaps. But will go up from there based on performance.

I know we are very spoiled now, with lots of top performing artisans. And what used to be considered a great performing soap, is now kind of average. So it takes something special for me to want to spend more than $15 on a tub of soap when there are so many other top performing soaps in that price range.
 
CBLindsay said:
As with any retail venture there are rules of thumb to guide pricing. A good rule of thumb for products made by the retail seller is to price in the neighborhood of 3x cost of materials (to allow for labor cost you can do 3x materials plus labor cost). One flaw in artisan price models is properly figuring labor involved from beginning to final delivery, labor is typically WAY underrepresented. A good reason to calculate labor and materials separately but account for in the total is to ensure efficiency of scale (in either or both material purchases and labor efficiency) is valued appropriately. I know the time it takes to make a run of soap, within reason I could double, triple or quadruple the number of pots running at the same time and produce more product in approximately the same time as one pot...but to do that requires more investment in equipment AND more raw materials on hand, all at an upfront cost. THEN you have double, triple, quadruple the stock on the shelf waiting to be sold ...you could invest a ton only to have a ton tied up in stock on the shelf. I KNOW what you’ve invested to get going and I know the cost of materials you use (FYI guys, some of the ingredients used are more expensive than you might think). What ever the multiple In needs to allow you to pay for what it cost to front load, pay for repurchase of materials for the next run, pay for the product left on the shelf, pay the tax due and leave a little future expansion...and maybe put some change in your pocket.

A little inside baseball here; the wet-shaving community likes 2 things, free shipping and flat rate shipping. I (cbl soap) chose to impose a flat rate that covers the shipping cost of a smaller order but results in a loss on larger orders. I also have free shipping when the order value breaches a certain level. I admit I failed to account for packing material costs but I was able to acquire some bubble mailers from ups at no charge because they were obsolete. Like most, I love free shipping but only if it doesn’t inflate the item cost significantly.

The price per ounce that the community will support depends on how high performing the soap is or is perceived to be. VERY few top tier artisan soaps top $5 per ounce and those that do usually offer a unique experience (the holy black is a good example). The $4 range seems to be tolerated when the performance or experience is top tier. The mid $3 range is quite average for your basic product.

Rather than outright suggest a price I will just say, I think you need to keep the price per tub under $20. For me the $20 handle is a mental barrier that’s hard to break. I LOVE, LOVE LOVE free shipping but I would not build shipping into the cost of individual tubs. I think doing so will reduce the number of tubs purchased in a single transaction. If you decide to offer free shipping when an order is over a particular $ amount try to make it fair. Don’t set the free shipping at $49 when everything you sell is $20, just say free shipping at/over $60 if you want them to buy 3 things to qualify.

I think your soap is worth the price of admission, it’s not a mid-grade or average soap. A price point between $16 and $20 with reasonable (or free...I love free) shipping sounds right to me.

I like the soap of the month idea, I’d been considering something like that for quite some time. There is a thread in my TSC storefront where I asked for input, check it out, the members have given some good input there.
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Hey buddy. Did you try that Roulette? What did you think?
 
This is just my advice as a consumer and a self admitting 'soap addict". I am not in the soap business but do own my own company and understand a bit about running a business nonetheless.

I agree with the under $20 assesment. There are a select few well established artisans that have a "elite" level performance/scents that can justify a higher price tag. Many people do not feel comfortable paying more than that to gamble into the unknown.

Since you are starting out and want to get your name out there and have as many people try your product as possible, i would recommend doing something similar to what Lisa's Natural did. Lower cost at first to establish yourself and get word out, then you can always upgrade formula/scents with a price to reflect the change. This way people can have a option between a more affordable product or a "premium" product.

Samples are something else to strongly consider, many of us will NEVER finish a full tub of soap plus samples allow a customer to try a variety of scents to find what they like best. The fourms are full of guys that refuse to buy a soap unless trying a sample first as scents are a YMMV thing and noone wants to be stuck with a full tub of a scent they dont like. Perhaps a " build your own sampler pack" would be a good idea for both you and the consumer as i understand samples can be a PITA and this would ensure you are compensated for your efforts and detour someone from ordering 1 sample or things like that.

I wish you luck with whatever business decisions you happen to make. This is a niche market with tons of options but if you come up with interesting scents or a top tier formula i would imagine things would work out beautifully for you indeed.
 
The Chambers Man said:
Hey buddy. Did you try that Roulette? What did you think?
Click to expand...
I have actually used it several times since getting it. I like it VERY much. I’m not great at complex reviews but I know what I like. The scent strength is right about where I like it for this kind of scent. The scent it familiar somehow but I can’t place it, regardless it’s an enjoyable scent (an aftershave in the same scent would be nice but an EdT might not be to my liking). Loading off the tub is fast and effortless as is producing a fantastic lather. Unlike others, I am not a fan of samples because they don’t allow ideal loading. If this were sold as a sample I suspect it would not take much to achieve a good lather. I really can’t say much about post shave feel because I’m not particular sensitive to post shave qualities, the shave quality is as good as I expect.

A word of potential advice. Samples can be a pain to make and sell BUT I get a lot of requests for samples (I don’t do samples as a rule but will prepare them on occasion... I simply don’t have the time or desire to make a full line of samples available) If you are willing and interested you might consider building a sampler that contains ALL your scents (since you have a fixed line up of a manageable size) and is sold as a single pack, you might get a lot of interest and have an opportunity to get your soap into a lot of hands quickly...particularly if you target the cadre. Then they would get a chance to experience the quality I reference and sniff test scents that they may not fully understand by description alone. Pricing for samples is typically a little high on a per ounce basis because a lot of expense goes into containers and labels (if used). No reason to take a loss on the samples but if priced right i’ll Bet the cadre would be all over it (they will not be sorry, the quality is worth trying)
 
The Chambers Man said:
All,

After great feedback I have elected to drop the price of the Shave Croap to $16 for 4.2 OZ. I think it is a steal. I have also added free shipping for orders of $50 or more! I hope this helps and thanks for trying!
Click to expand...
Hard to argue that isn’t a great price. I look forward to getting more soon.
 
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