Re: Wedding favors -- NEED HELP

[Guest guest]

Cost of the mold is up to you to eat as a business tool... you buy once and

use over and over so that can't really go into the final cost to the customer

unless they want to take the mold when your done.

3.50 for 1/2 oz of FO! Yikes-O-Rama!... better get a better price for several

oz's of it.

$112.00 a pound is what that works out to!

for 150 favors your going to need close to 40lbs soap base so you have to

figure scenting by the pound. That much base you'll be able to get it cheaper

too.

Things like colorants are just guesses for me.... I don't usually figure

them into the cost of a batch.... I know my sample packs of colorants have

lasted more than a year and they only cost $19.00... so I add a base of .20

cents to the cost.of a batch.... this evens out as some batches require a

LOT of colorant and others just need a pinch or 2.

so once you figure your cost.... soap base+FO (per oz) +any shipping that

it takes to get all your supplies.. divide it up by the 4 1/4 oz bar of soap.

Kick in a few cents for colorant and this will give you the cost of one bar

of soap just the cost for materials.

Hope some of this helps...

Off to watch my show

Terri

nne Jensen wrote:

Glacier

Hey guys!

I might have a "commission" job making

wedding favors for a friend of a friend who is getting married in February

2002. The details of this job are quite sketchy at the moment, and I don't

even know if she will want soap or what she will want me to make, but just

to give her something to look at, I'm drawing up some ideas and a price

list for her. They will have 150 people maximum at their wedding (they're

not really sure about the final guest count at this point). The problem

is, it's a very hard task trying to figure out how much it costs to make

a typical bar of soap!!! How in the world did you guys figure it out? I

know I must seem stupid for asking this question, but I am very much a newbie!

hehe :-) Here is what I know so far:

cost of mold = $4.50 (one mold makes

three bars that are 4 1/4 ounces each)

cost of glycerin = four pounds is $11.75 (I usually buy this from Wholesale

Supplies Plus)

cost of colorant = if I use an ivory-colored

pearly mica, it's four ounces for $8.50 (their colors are ivory and burgandy)

cost of scent = if they want me to

use my wedding cake scent, I got that for free as a sample, but normally

it's about $3.50 for 1/2 oz.

cost of labor = ???

There is also the consideration of

whether they want the soaps wrapped in tulle and tied with a ribbon or if

they want the soaps in a white gift box tied with ribbon (or whatever).

Anyway, any help that you guys could give me would be greatly appreciated

.... it's hard to calculate in part because you only have to buy the mold

once, and then after that, the cost goes down with the more soaps that you

make. And how would I break down the cost of the colorant? I would only

maybe use 1/8 of a teaspoon in one bar of soap! According to the information

above, four pounds of soap would equal about 16 bars. The startup costs

of making these favors would be at least $28.50 (and that's without labor

or packaging) to pay for the mold that they choose and the glycerin, colorant,

and scent. But how would I charge them after that?

If anyone has any experience with this,

I would greatly appreciate it ... I'm driving myself nuts right now! I got

a C in math in high school! LOL

Thanks,

nne :-)

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[Guest guest]

nne

I'd like to add a few things to this, too. If I were you, I'd buy at least (2) molds.

It's going to take you quite a while to do (3) soaps at a time. Terri's right as far

as ordering your soap. You're going to get a much cheaper price/lb. the more

you buy. And always figure on a little extra soap besides. Also, make sure you

get a "down payment" from the customer. I would get at least enough to buy

the soap & f/o's and coloring, if not more. AND get enough "lead time" from

them so you aren't trying to make these all at the last minute. Keep ALL receipts

of everything you buy!! Is this somebody locally near you that you're doing this

for or is it all going to be done over the phone or internet?

M

Re: Wedding favors -- NEED HELP

Cost of the mold is up to you to eat as a business tool... you buy once and use over and over so that can't really go into the final cost to the customer unless they want to take the mold when your done.3.50 for 1/2 oz of FO! Yikes-O-Rama!... better get a better price for several oz's of it. $112.00 a pound is what that works out to! for 150 favors your going to need close to 40lbs soap base so you have to figure scenting by the pound. That much base you'll be able to get it cheaper too. Things like colorants are just guesses for me.... I don't usually figure them into the cost of a batch.... I know my sample packs of colorants have lasted more than a year and they only cost $19.00... so I add a base of .20 cents to the cost.of a batch.... this evens out as some batches require a LOT of colorant and others just need a pinch or 2.so once you figure your cost.... soap base+FO (per oz) +any shipping that it takes to get all your supplies.. divide it up by the 4 1/4 oz bar of soap. Kick in a few cents for colorant and this will give you the cost of one bar of soap just the cost for materials. Hope some of this helps...Off to watch my showTerrinne Jensen wrote:

Hey guys!

I might have a "commission" job making wedding favors for a friend of a friend who is getting married in February 2002. The details of this job are quite sketchy at the moment, and I don't even know if she will want soap or what she will want me to make, but just to give her something to look at, I'm drawing up some ideas and a price list for her. They will have 150 people maximum at their wedding (they're not really sure about the final guest count at this point). The problem is, it's a very hard task trying to figure out how much it costs to make a typical bar of soap!!! How in the world did you guys figure it out? I know I must seem stupid for asking this question, but I am very much a newbie! hehe :-) Here is what I know so far:

cost of mold = $4.50 (one mold makes three bars that are 4 1/4 ounces each)

cost of glycerin = four pounds is $11.75 (I usually buy this from Wholesale Supplies Plus)

cost of colorant = if I use an ivory-colored pearly mica, it's four ounces for $8.50 (their colors are ivory and burgandy)

cost of scent = if they want me to use my wedding cake scent, I got that for free as a sample, but normally it's about $3.50 for 1/2 oz.

cost of labor = ???

There is also the consideration of whether they want the soaps wrapped in tulle and tied with a ribbon or if they want the soaps in a white gift box tied with ribbon (or whatever). Anyway, any help that you guys could give me would be greatly appreciated ... it's hard to calculate in part because you only have to buy the mold once, and then after that, the cost goes down with the more soaps that you make. And how would I break down the cost of the colorant? I would only maybe use 1/8 of a teaspoon in one bar of soap! According to the information above, four pounds of soap would equal about 16 bars. The startup costs of making these favors would be at least $28.50 (and that's without labor or packaging) to pay for the mold that they choose and the glycerin, colorant, and scent. But how would I charge them after that?

If anyone has any experience with this, I would greatly appreciate it ... I'm driving myself nuts right now! I got a C in math in high school! LOL

Thanks,nne :-)Our members maphttp://.homestead.com/locations.html Our Message Boardhttp://www.voy.com/21568/ Check out these great Molds!!http://soapwerks.com/martinworld.htm All posts to this list are copyrighted by post author. They may NOT be forwarded, copied, or used in anyway without the permission of the post author with the exception of answering posts to this list. Posts are personal opinions only.

[Guest guest]

Hi nne-

Thought I would jump in on this one. I just did wedding shower favors

for a friend. Not 150, but 30 was enough for me! Actually, I ended up

using 150 soaps, but small soaps, not big bars. I don't know if my

input will be helpful, but I will tell you what I did. I used the

Milky Way Guest Sized molds and also a candy mold that I found at a

party supply store. Since I live in New England I used seashells as

the theme - amazingly enough, that is also the theme of their

wedding!! The milky way soaps weigh approx. 1.5 oz each and the candy

mold seashell soaps weigh approx .5 oz ea. I made some drawstring

bags out of muslin and affixed a label to the back with a best wishes

message to the to-be bride and groom, and each bag had 1 of the 1.5

oz soaps, and 2 of the smaller seashell soaps. Total weight of the

soaps was approx. 2.5 oz and I pretty much charge a standard $1/ounce

of soap, so I charged her $2.75 for each favor (for other than a

friend I would have charged a bit more than 25 cents each for bag I

made). I would think that for a wedding and since the number of

favors needed is quite high, I would ask what they want to spend for

150 favors.....they may not want to spend alot, but be able to give

everyone a nice momemto. The milky way guest sized soaps look very

pretty wrapped in tulle with a ribbon on them. I did mine with CP

soap, so each bag had 3 different kinds of soap in them. Feedback was

great, and I may have picked up some future business! I ended up

doing 150 soaps like you are proposing to do, just not big bars,

because she was working on a budget. Hope I have helped and not

confused you!

Becky in CT