Would like to start my own small internest business selling handmade soaps....

[Grimbo Green]

Hi

I am currently on maternity and due to return to work in 2 weeks time. I will return part time and my partner works full time.
We need extra cash and I have been thinking for some time of making handmade soaps and perfumes from home and selling on ebay and if all goes well setting up a website eventually.

I dont really want to get a second job to up our income as it wouldnt be worth it after the extra childcare costs come out, plus I want to spend as much time at home with our baby as possible.

Has anyone done this before and have any tips they can give me? can anyone recommend any good websites to order the bottles, tubs and ingrediants from?

I will of course be doing all my own research into this, but there may be things I hadn't thought of that someone with esperience could advise me about.

Many Thanks

Grimbo:p

[Mutter]

Hi Grimbo and congratulations on the birth of your baby.

An important thing to cost, is the postage and packing. Soap is fairly heavy and p+p could easily equal the retail price of your soap.

In my experience Ebayers do not want to pay any postage at all, and even those offering free p+p, still get low ratings for p+p. Nonsensical I know.
Don't forget to cost in Ebay listing and selling fees too, they are fairly high now.
If you want to see how others are doing see here;
http://www.goofbay.com/ebay_seller_history_tool.html

Good luck with your venture.

[beautyscientist]

Go for it if that is what you really want to do. Do bear in mind that soap is a particularly tricky thing to make at home, even if you are a chemist. If that is your passion you will overcome the problems, but at the very least you need to leave it for several months to set before it becomes saleable. You will also have to make sure that the strong alkali you need to use is kept well away from small children. It is also a relatively low value material.

Natural perfumes sounds a much better bet to me, and I would imagine that you will find it easier to charge a high price for a perfume than for a soap. You will also be able to get hold of raw materials in lower quantities which is a big consideration when you get started.

Best of luck and I'd love to hear how you get on.

[punkypickle]

Hi

I looked into soap making, but with anything that it to be used on the skin, you have to have it chemically tested so you have a certificate to prove that it isn't toxic.
Some soap making companies sell the soap already certified...but I was never sure what would happen if you added things to it (ie dried flowers) and also the scents were always pretty boring ones...

Good luck though!

[beautyscientist]

Hi

I looked into soap making, but with anything that it to be used on the skin, you have to have it chemically tested so you have a certificate to prove that it isn't toxic.
Some soap making companies sell the soap already certified...but I was never sure what would happen if you added things to it (ie dried flowers) and also the scents were always pretty boring ones...

Good luck though!

It isn't quite as complicated as that.

EU regulations require all cosmetic products to be assessed for safety by a suitably qualified person prior to be marketed. A number of companies will do this for you as a service and it will cost a couple of hundred pounds. They won't have any problem approving a soap containing wild flowers. If you a doctor, pharmacist or chartered chemist or biologist you can certify your own products. I would advise doing this in writing and dating it, along with all the references you have used etc, and if you are really worried putting it in the public domain somewhere so you can prove you did it before marketing the product.

If you have a reasonably good idea what you are doing you should be able to get started - and if you are clueless then you can find someone who can help you.

All big companies start off as small ones and although you need to be aware of legislation and some basic science, there isn't anything stopping you starting your own range of soaps.