Hi Ladies

I have a very small business making 100% organic soap, both liquid & bars.  Things are going slow at the moment because I am determined not to get into debt to get the business off the ground so it is taking time to build it up.  In the few shops that carry my stock, it is flying off the shelves which of course is great.

At the moment, I don’t have the buying power to buy my oils in massive bulk so, as you all know, the organic oils are very expensive.  I use coconut, olive, sunflower & shea in my soaps & they are the main ingredients.  The only other things that are added are essential oil fragrance & sometimes other organic oils such as calendula.  These are literally the only ingredients.  No preservatives or “naturally derived” chemicals.

Finally, I get to my problem.  Organic oils are more expensive every time I go to buy.  The standard mark up in retail for these products is 50% at least & obviously there is a ceiling price that people are willing to pay.  I’m barely covering costs at the moment & am considering switching to non-organic oils.  Just as an example, there is one particular oil that I can get for £10 a litre but it is £20 for half a litre organic so there is a huge difference with some oils.

So my question is, would you be more likely to buy a soap product that is 100% purely natural which is cheaper (say £3.99) or the same product that is 100% organic but more expensive (£5.99) (same ingredients in both, just one has organic ingredients)?

Hey mama, from my experience working in a local wholefood shop the high end body care stuff doesn’t sell as well as the more ‘affordable’ ranges. Even though in the ideal world everything would be organic without question the fact is that everything is skyrocketting in cost, nuts especially. From my limited experience my advice would be to go ‘natural’ but really highlight how good and simple all the ingredients are, perhaps what they don’t contain - SLS etc. Being handmade locally is also a big plus. But only if the price is right, well that’s what it’s been like down here lately, seems everyone is feeling skint in a relative sense, no matter how they have in their pockets.
Good luck, your business sounds gorgeous x

Thanks tribe of bear.  That really helps.

Personally dues to cost I would choose a natural product but don’t tend to go for organic products as they are so much more.  Have you looked around, even places like ebay to see if you can get good quality products cheaper?  You may be able to strike a deal with some when you bulk buy?

Could you offer organic and non-organic versions of products?
Best of luck x
sarie

That’s good idea by Sarie - to offer both organic and non-organic.  I always *try* to buy organic but am ultimately forced by finances with what I choose… However said that I am unlikely to choose an organic product if it is twice the price of a non-organic one unless for some reason I was feeling particularly frivolous that day lol!  So I have chosen natural on your poll   HTH x

Personally I find the money for organic, even if it means cutting back in other areas of my life. For example we cancelled our DVD rental which freed up £9 per month. This means I would pay extra fir your organic soap. But I think the other ladies are right and I expect I’m in the minority.

I am with Starchild.  I would rather buy organic.  I accept that this will cost more.  I tend to buy less at higher prices so I guess it balances out in the end.

I would look for the things it * doesn’t* have, like parabens and SLS, rather than whether it is organic - unless the ingredients were imported from outside the EU, in which case I would buy organic for the safety of the workers.

If I was looking at packaging, what I would like to see is: 100% natural ingredients (with a full list shown), locally hand made from local ingredients.

I’m more bothered by things being flown large distances than whether they are organic, unless the ingredients come from countries where there is little chemical protection for workers.

Angie

I’ve had no internet the last few days so sorry for not getting back sooner. You’ve given me a lot to think about ladies.  Thank you

TBH ild be more inclined to go for natural and cheaper, than organic and breaking the bank.
As a family of 7 we go through a lot of soap as we use it for - handwashing, bodywashing, some clothes washing, some nappywashing, to pretreat stains and to wash all of opur woolies. If i had to spend £6.00 a bar there is no way i could do it.
I expect there are other people like myself that want to know that a product is natural and does not contain any crap (sls, parabens etc) and will pay a premium for that but then not be able to afford organic.
I think you will be narrowing your market if you use organic.
Hope this helps monsterm.
much love
kim x