December 10, 2011
I am so psyched about this! {And now I'm so bummed it's already gone and so many of you missed out!}
For the first time ever I am offering my artisan, handmade soap for sale at FIMBY.
Holiday Spice, available for a limited time only. Perfect to give as a holiday gift to friends, family or yourself!
If you're interested in buying some I don't suggest waiting since I have a limited amount and when they're gone, they're gone. And I won't be selling any more soap till my spring offering.
Gone already friends. So sorry.
What a fabulous response (blush, blush). Thank you. Your interest in my soap makes me reconsider another winter offering, after the holidays. A woodsy, winter bar. The creative soapmaking juices are starting to flow...
To read all about the soap, what's in it and even how to make a batch for yourself, please read my Holiday Spice Soap page.
If you're too busy to click over here's what you need to know about this soap.
My Canadian friends and family will be sympathetic to my biggest dilemma in selling soap on-line. The shipping costs!
Postal service in Canada is not cheap and the cost can be downright prohibitive to selling something something weighty like soap.
To accommodate this reality and make my soap accessible to as many people as possible I got creative with sizing and cutting my bars.
These bars are little - under 20 mm or about 1/2 inch wide. I sized them this way so they could be shipped flat using non-standard size lettermail rates. All packaged up, they are only as thick as a bulky envelope. Which is how they'll come. Clever, eh?
All of that to say, I worked really hard to keep the shipping costs low and make buying these bars feasible for you.
The price for 2 bars of soap is $4.00, the total minimum weight is at least 85 gm or 3 oz (85 gm does not exactly equal 3 oz, but it's very close). To simplify the selling prices I've worked the shipping cost into the overall price.
Pricing Chart
2 Bars | 4 Bars | 6 Bars | 8 Bars | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Minimum size | 85 gm/ 3 oz | 170 gm/ 6 oz | 255 gm/ 9 oz | 340 gm/ 12 oz |
Cost with S&H to Canada | $6.75 | $11.50 | $16.00 | $20.25 |
Cost with S&H to US | $8.00 | $16.00 | $20.00 | $24.00 |
I will mail your order within 2 days after your purchase.
I can ship soap as gifts but I don't offer gift wrapping. I can attach a little holiday note for the recipient, just be sure to leave a comment when purchasing via Pay Pal.
Feel free to ask any questions about the soap or shipping in comments. I look forward to sharing this gorgeous soap with you this holiday season.
Ooh, I am so excited to order my soap! I do have a question about shipping...when I clicked through to process order in PayPal I was charged an extra $2 for shipping and handling. Not a big deal, and maybe I missed something and it's supposed to be there, but wanted you to know.
Just fixed that in the code. That shouldn't have been there. I'm such a newbie at this! Thanks for your patience. So glad I'm among friends. I will include a special little gift for you ladies (it happened to Heather also) to compensate or I can refund you in paypal. You can e-mail me privately or respond here about which you'd like.
Thank you Renee for everything. Honestly, it doesn't matter. I am so happy to support you and your family! :)
Renee---you are so cool!!!! I just had to say that :-)
Louise, are you trying to get some free soap out of me?? Stop saying those nice things about me. It makes me blush.
yeah! There was still some left for me! I've never tried homemade soap before, so I'm excited to see what its even like! Thanks so much for sharing your batch! Now to wait for spring! :)
Just ordered some, Renee. While I've never commented on your blog before, I've been following it for awhile and have so appreciated your thoughts in many areas - right now especially all your thoughts transitions. Our family is moving to a new location overseas in January, so your reflections have been so very timely for me. Happy to be able to support your family in a small way. =)
Yay! I am so excited for you! You are selling your soap!!! I have a batch curing right now so I don't need to order any, but I am super excited for you! I am curious, though (as this was my first "own" recipe batch), why do you not use palm oil?
Charity, Sorry it took me so long to respond to this. I just kept forgetting. Here is my response to why I don't use palm oil. I'm quoting myself from this post. I started with a very simple recipe - vegetable shortening, coconut and olive oil. That was a great place to start, the ingredients were easy to find and cheap. But I found the bars to be softer than I liked. And vegetable shortening is primarily soybean oil and I don't like how that is conventionally grown (all that gmo nonsense). So I switched to a combination of coconut, olive, and palm oil. Then I started to become aware of the deforestation issues surrounding palm growing. I didn't want to be a part of that but didn't really know what to use instead. I used my last bit of palm oil this summer and am now switching to shea butter. Way more expensive and I have no idea what kind of bar it will produce. Basically, I'm not comfortable using palm because of the ethics around the growing practices. It feels strange to make this stand against palm while still driving a car (filled with gas) and making a whole bunch of other choices in my life that are inconsistent with my values. But removing palm is a low hanging fruit in making changes. Stop driving - not possible. Find an alternative to palm oil in my soapmaking - I can do that. Having said that though, palm oil has excellent properties for soapmaking.
Just placed my order! Can't wait.
Saving two bars just for me and two bars for Gary and Jane's stocking. (They are soap connoisseurs like their mama.) Thanks for sharing your soap love with us.
So sad I missed this!! I was thinking about it yesterday..."Hey...Didn't Renee say she was going to sell soap this year?" but I could not get online. Oh well! I will have to be on it for next time so I do no miss out again. Congrats on selling them so quickly! Maybe in the spring you will make the lavender lemonade one I was also interested in...
Be well!
You actuall read my mind...I'm trial testing the lavender lemonade right now and it is SO good. The first time I used it I thought "I have sell this soap, people are going to love it". So, stay tuned. Next there will be more bars and I'll give more advance warning. This first offering was a trial run of the whole process. Seeing the interest I'll give more of a heads up next time.
yes, please keep putting it out there. (but you know how i feel about that).
I'm so happy for all your soap customers/friends. They'll love it.
Yes--please do another one this winter!!! I am sooo bummed I missed it. :( Love your blog, Renea.
Congratulations on your success, Renee!
I'm so excited I got to order some of your soap=) Though I've never comented before I often forward yours & your mom's posts on to my mother-in -law I just find you both to be such inspiring women=) Thank you!!
congratulations Renee, I've followed your soap making with envy (in a good way) for some time now :)Looking forward to a "woodsy" scent after Christmas, hope I can get in on that offering! Merry Christmas! p.s. please tell Laurent I think of him every time I knit with the needles he made that I won on your blog ♥
Congratulations, Renee! I love your labels. I feel your shipping pain. I shipped a package to BC earlier today and I think I actually flinched when she told me the cost. great idea about cutting the soaps thinner.
would you post to UK ? please xx
Renee--
I forgot to ask, how long does it take to get mail from Canada to Iowa? I have no background to know how long it might take!
Thanks again! Kris
I don't know for sure Kris, I'm hoping no more than 10 days. But I can't promise, especially this time of year. And because I'm in Quebec vs. the prairie provinces (which are closer to Iowa) it takes a little longer. Crossing my fingers you get your soap in time for Christmas (if it's Christmas gifts).
No problem. No, i was selfish, the soap is just for me! :) I will let you know when it arrives. Thanks!
Do let me know. I'm curious. I know Michelle got her's already, but she's a "fellow" Canadian.
Have you any idea when my soap should arrive in Nebraska? Thanks, jennifer
Oh gracious! It hasn't arrived! I have no idea. I didn't do tracking numbers to keep shipping costs low, perhaps I should have done them. I do know that during the Christmas week in Canada the post is really slow because of 3 holiday days - Christmas, Boxing Day & New Years but I thought it would be there by now. Please keep me informed because if it's lost to the mail, well that's no good and I'll have to refund your money. We can discuss this privately via e-mail.
I just got it today! It smells absolutely wonderful and I can't wait to use it. It took three weeks to get to me here in Omaha, NE.
Oh, and the sample piece? LOVE the smell of that one too!
Thanks and happy new year.
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heather on Dec. 10, 2011, 12:18 p.m.
looks wonderful renee! i stocked up (but hope i didn't claim too much). beautiful work, easy checkout... you're selling soap!! by the way - you're shipping prices seemed totally fine. actually, really good! thank you!