handmade soap/cosmetics on Ebay

sugar_pie

Hi, I make my own soap/bath bombs/bath melts etc.. and have been looking into the possibility of selling them to raise a bit of extra money, assuming I can get all the relevant legal certificates.
I just wondered if anyone else has tried selling this type of item via Ebay? Do they make money? From the sellers I have looked at on Goofbay they don't seem to be making a huge amount of profit, yet some of them have been selling over a fairly long period of time.
I also assume I would have to get a business account. Does anyone know how they work? Do you have to pay Ebay a set monthly amount?
And something else I have noticed is that not many sellers mention if they have the certificates/labelling to sell these things legally. Do Ebay not require you to display this info in some way or another?
Sorry that's long, but any advice would be appreciated. x

soolin

Yes you would need a business account and also declare yourself to HMRC and pay tax and nI as appropriate.

However I would seriously consider doing your figures before you go ahead, the listing fees, FVFs and paypal fees will make your products quite expensive and add your postage costs to that (which go up in 2 weeks time) you may find you are several times more expensive than shops like Lush who sell online.

sugar_pie

Hi, thanks soolin. Is there anywhere I can find out what the listing fees etc.. would be on a business account? To be honest I wasn't really thinking of going down the Ebay route anyway, but I thought it wouldn't do any harm to look into it.

sugar_pie

Actually ignore that last post I've managed to find it

tippytop

OP you mentioned in your post certificates/labeling to sell these types of things legally. What sort of certificate do you have?I only ask because i have been looking into making soaps..

Kay_Peel

I am a buyer of handmade soaps, bath bombs, salts, cosmetics and the likes. I'm prepared to pay a premium on these products if they fit the bill. I spend quite a bit (actually, a lot) of money on handmade soaps and cosmetics not only on myself but for family, for my clubs, and as gifts for birthdays, Christmas etc. It's got to the stage where I re-order directly with favourite sellers and they even send me samples to test. I recently completed a questionnaire from the Times making recommendations for this year's Style Beauty Awards and I nominated my favourite Ebay sellers rather than the global giants. That's how passionate I am about the good stuff they are manufacturing. :money:

I thought you might be interested in why I buy from certain sellers and not others - feel free to ignore me if it's not relevant to your immediate business concerns.

1. I'm looking for items that use pure ingredients - for instance essential (not synthetic) oils, raw (not powdered) goats milk, and plant (not mineral) oils. I want to see the seller list ALL the ingredients and so that I can satisfy myself that there are no parabens, SLS, alcohol, petrochemicals and other gunk.

2. I want to see that the seller knows their stuff. I expect to see a commentary on how they've researched and sourced their ingredients. I expect to see that the recipes have been tried and tested on people with sensitive skin, ideally over many years. I'm impressed by sellers who offer small try-it samples which can be bought for a couple of quid, including postage and packing.

3. I'm put off by new-agey mumbo-jumbo. You know the kind of thing - where the soap cures everything from PMT to age-spots. Invariably the seller will put so much information about the benefits that they don't have any room to tell me about how they make it and what's in it. Complete waste of space.

4. When it arrives, I don't want glass bottles but recyclable PET containers, nicely wrapped, with a full list of ingredients and a 'best before' date. (Very important if it's something like whipped raw shea butter, or African black soap).

5. I appreciate incentives to buy more - a small sample of a new product or a money off coupon.

6. Finally, the product has to be totally gorgeous and it must work. :j

I can't begin to tell you of the wonderful products that I've come across and introduced other people to. We would never go back to buying supermarket soap or premium brands of lip balms, body lotion, hair products and the like. The craftspeople and manufacturers of these products are doing some great things, I think. That's why I support them.

I hope you are inspired to join them and manufacture something equally good, if not better. Good luck and all the best.

Strapped

sugar_pie wrote: »

Hi, I make my own soap/bath bombs/bath melts etc.. and have been looking into the possibility of selling them to raise a bit of extra money, assuming I can get all the relevant legal certificates.
I just wondered if anyone else has tried selling this type of item via Ebay? Do they make money? From the sellers I have looked at on Goofbay they don't seem to be making a huge amount of profit, yet some of them have been selling over a fairly long period of time.
I also assume I would have to get a business account. Does anyone know how they work? Do you have to pay Ebay a set monthly amount?
And something else I have noticed is that not many sellers mention if they have the certificates/labelling to sell these things legally. Do Ebay not require you to display this info in some way or another?
Sorry that's long, but any advice would be appreciated. x

This sort of stuff sells well at places like school/village fairs, farmer's markets, car boot sales (ones which allow traders) and so on. Have you thought about trying these first?

sugar_pie

Hi, thanks Kay. I actually used to buy stuff from Ebay myself, but started making my own as that way I could know exactly what was in things and make recipes to fit my own needs. I absolutely agree with your comments about SLS and paraben free (which all my stuff is), I think that's the sort of thing more and more people will be wanting to buy.

tippytop wrote: »

OP you mentioned in your post certificates/labeling to sell these types of things legally. What sort of certificate do you have?I only ask because i have been looking into making soaps..

You need to have each recipe you want to sell certified by a chemist to say that it's safe. I also think you need to have liability insurance - I'm finding it very difficult to find out all the relevant info

Strapped wrote: »

This sort of stuff sells well at places like school/village fairs, farmer's markets, car boot sales (ones which allow traders) and so on. Have you thought about trying these first?

These were the sorts of places I was thinking of to be honest, Ebay was just something someone suggested but I'm not sure it's viable. My old manager used to have 'card parties' sort of along the same line as a tuppaware party and they were really succesful so was thinking about doing something like that as I've had a lot of enquiries from friends of friends etc... who have seen my products in friends and families bathrooms.

dobyt

Hiya
I manufacture these products for sale to the public and there are strict saftey rules you must abide by before you can sell them. For instance, you must have each of the products saftey assessed by a cosmetic scientist and under EU regulations, you must hold data safety sheets on each ingredient you include within your recipes. These must be logged with batch numbers for each group of products you make so that in the event of any recall/reaction, you are able to prove the recipe. Finally, you must have public/product liability insurance!!! Sorry to go on, but Ive spent the last 2 years researching this particular business and its a minefield! Oh also, you must declare each ingredient name on the product using INCI, which is basically the names by which the ingredients can be recognised internationally here you will find more on wikipedia about this, sorry as a newbie I cant post links. You must also include any allergens that may be present within the ingredients themselves......phew! Hope that helps.

Maysie

There is a lady who started on small on ebay, has her own website and she has opened her first real shop this year. So from small acorns its possible i guess. I added her shop page on facebook for a competition this year. Then bought a few bath bombs and some gorgeous shower stuff with shea in it and lemon its better than lush!. I was given a sample as well which is always nice to get. facebook link is http://www.facebook.com/?sk=ru#!/pages/The-Soapy-Cauldron/129473675791?ref=ts

macfly

Unscented soap and a rough flannel. The west is doomed.