With deepest apologies to the creators of The Shadow for the title of this post.
Since this is the time of year to spend money with reckless abandon for some people, it seemed appropriate to try and sell my soaps wherever possible. My hairdresser liked the soaps so I dropped of a basket of one of each type of soap at her salon, thinking her clients would pick up a soap or two as a stocking stuffer. That was approximately two weeks ago .
I called her today to follow up and she said there was no movement whatsoever. She will buy a couple, but none of her other clients wanted any. One woman had shown interest in an animal soap for her granddaughter, but when shown the product, she didn't want to spend $6 on a gift for a 2 year old. Is $6 too much?
This just means that I have to work harder at trying other avenues. Or I just take the rest of the holiday season off to enjoy with friends and family because that really is what this time of year is all about, isn't it?
I simply cannot believe it. I know Etsians sell similar soaps for similar prices. Does this mean that people in Vancouver have no taste???
ReplyDeleteIt depresses me that people are willing to spend money for cheap, plastic crap made with child-labor from another country and not for handmade, artful goodness that's not fattening and won't collect dust. :(
I think, as hubby said, it's the fact that I was trying for a market that wasn't in Vancouver proper. I think people who live in the city are much more appreciative of local artisans and are more willing to support them. But you're right, people would rather put give their money to large corporations to buy cheap toys made by child labourers.
ReplyDeleteTeresa hit it perfectly- I don't get it- I don't think your soap in the salon is over priced at all! Anything less won't be right.
ReplyDeleteAround this area is all about "zip code"- which means the higher price housing area- the cost of products are hiked.
One area near me sells ALL soap for between $7.50 to $12.00 each. Yes, most were packaged very nice, but most, if not all, were from big companies- so we know they're not handmade, and probably sitting in a warehouse somewhere before it gets shipped to suppliers, etc.
Don't get too discouraged- The salon is just one place- there are many more. AND I agree about people putting their money to large corps. to buy cheap toys made by child laborers.
There's nothing to get Carrie, that's the problem. These people don't see value in things. But you make a good point, I should be going into higher priced neighbourhoods to pitch my soaps. ;) You're right, the salon is only one of many avenues I need to pursue and somehow I need to make people understand the value of handmade, local products.
ReplyDeleteIf $6 is too much to spend on small children then I'm in trouble :( I think location is key, like Carrie mentioned. My hair dresser purchased her own shop yrs ago and tried selling handmade products, jewelry etc... in the shop but nothing moved. She eventually sold because of divorce and now works for a friend about 5 miles from old shop. The new shops sells handmade soaps, jewelry, scarves, etc... and they can't keep anything on the shelves very long. Strange huh. The only difference I see is the new shop is in a wealthier area around a lot of businesses.
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to think that woman didn't like her granddaughter enough to spend money on her. ;D I think that's probably it, like with anything else, location, location, location.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking last night about where to sell. I always always too timid to just walk into places and ask them to sell my products and I wish I hadn't been because so many local artisans have had great luck with finding shop owners to buy from them.
ReplyDeleteHere are a list of locations I know of locally that were willing to sell handmade soaps or let artisans sell (maybe this will give you some ideas)
Natural food stores
Cafe's
New age stores
Farmer's Market
Renaissance Festival
Gift Shops
Gardening Stores
Thanks Michelle! I hadn't thought of many of those places, so that's great! Thank you so much for the list. Hope you and your family have a great Christmas.
ReplyDelete