Choosing a Bulk Soap Supplier

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 3 pounds, some a little more. This gives you ten large, 4 – 4.5 ounce bars just like we sell at aromagregory.com. 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 carry both essential oil soap and a line of fragrance oil soaps. The aromatherapy-essential oil soap contains 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.

Our line of fragrance oil soaps are made with high quality body-safe fragrances. Not all fragrances are created equal. Some are beautiful, intricate scents while others smell like cheap chemicals. We want you to know that we throw away more fragrance samples than we keep, because we have high standards when it comes to scent. No cheap fragrance for us (or you)!

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 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.

Trusting that your supplier actually KNOWS the difference in essential oils and fragrance oils is an important factor in choosing who makes your soap. We carry both real essential oil soap and soap made with fine fragrance. The two are never mixed. Essential oil soap is ALL essential oils, while our fragrance varieties contain no essential oils. Each type is clearly marked. Worse yet, many fragrances are names the very same names as essential oils. On the internet, just because a soap says LEMONGRASS doesn’t made it is made with real lemongrass. This is why it is important to know if your supplier is actually knowledgeable and educated. 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. A fine fragrance can make a lovely rose scented soap. But that doesn’t give the supplier the right to call it a natural essential oil, just to make the sale. 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 $20 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