Day in the life of our handmade soap business: First farmers market of 2023 & how much money we made

Today we are giving you a little bonus video! In today's video we are going to be showing you what it is really like having a stall at a farmer's market and how much money you could expect to earn when you are new to a market.
It is our first event of the year and we begin by showing you how we prepare for the farmers market. We begin by wrapping soaps, printing new signage and packing our crates ready for going to market. We then show you our set up at market and have a wander round the marketplace, showing you all of the wonderful, local produce that is on offer.
Once we get home from market, we show you our own purchases and we also discuss the financial aspects of our market - yes, in this video, we are telling you EXACTLY how much money and profit we made at this market! We know many people choose not to share financial information like this, but we feel that when you are new to selling, it can really help to have someone share this kind of information so you can have some idea of the kind of money you could expect to take at an event similar to this. Obviously all markets and events vary and this is only our personal experience, but hopefully it may help you a little!
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You can also follow us and find our soaps here:
www.sussexsoap.co.uk
sussexhandmadesoap
sussex_handmade_soap
If you do head over to our website, we offer our KZbin friends 20% off purchases if you enter code "youtube20" at checkout :-)

[@tassiegirl1991]

It is always helpful to those who make as a hobby with a ? To sell, or those about or just started to sell even if in different countries around the world, to see the process not only of making but preparing to and selling either at market or online. You are so kind to share your experiences Thank you.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

You are very welcome :-) Yes, we thought a few videos focusing on the actual preparation and selling side of things may be useful, as there is so much info out there on how to make the products, but a lot less on what it's actually like selling them once you have made them!

[@debbyflowers1488]

Thank you for sharing a slice of your life with us! Love this kind of video, I love the in-person market selling and it's fun to see what markets look like in your country (I'm in USA) and see the various set up arrangements.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

I love the in person selling too - apart from the odd show we have done in the past that has been poorly advertised and leads to very low footfall, I must admit to getting a little bored when there are no customers to talk to (needless to say, we don't do those shows again!) I would love to take a wander around a US market and see the differences between the countries!

[@hammerjammer1]

So nice to feel like I got to know you a little better. I’m a beginner soaper and hope to do a few markets eventually. Thank you for your videos. I enjoy watching and learning. ❤

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

I am so glad you enjoy watching and learning from our videos and good luck on your own soaping journey :-)

[@brendajackson294]

Very enjoyable video. I used to live in England and I miss it so much.

[@tanishamurray7358]

Thank you for taking us along!

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

You are very welcome! We really enjoyed making this video and taking everyone to market with us!

[@aquariusbathandbody]

Looks like you had a lovely day, thanks for sharing.

[@dawnrigby3736]

Thanks for your honesty on your takings. Its so difficult to judge how others are doing financially as at market everyone says they've done ok but , what is ok? I think people think one makes huge profits and its good to see how honest you are. I hope your events continue to grow. Thanks. x

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

I completely agree. Many people do say they have had a "great" or "good" day but it is so subjective it is hard to know what they mean by that! We find that at some shows there are people who sell as more of a hobby than a business and what they class as a "great" day can often just be mediocre to us as they aren't relying on earning such high amounts to survive off! Events at this time of year rarely yield massive returns for us, but they are definitely worth doing as they do build repeat customers and website sales.

[@triplegoddesssoapery]

I was just watching your wholesale videos and market videos before this one popped up. Keep up the great content! 💜

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

We will do our best to keep it up! I actually really enjoy filming the "day in the life" style videos. They take a little longer to edit and film than our making videos, but they are a lot of fun to do!

[@soapsoilandsunshine3241]

Thanks for sharing your day. It was nice to see your markets. They look awesome. I've only done 2 markets - ever. It was fun and I didn't realise it was such a community spirit. We only have 7 or 8 market stalls at our little local markets (very small Queensland (Australia) regional town). I'm yet to branch out to the larger markets (closest is an hours drive away), it's a bit scarey to think about just yet.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Yes, the community spirit at the smaller markets is really lovely. We were at one last Sunday and I spent ages chatting to an Albanian Lady who sells Olive Oil and Mountain Tea that her Father grows on his farm back home in Albania. It was fascinating to speak with her and I bought a bottle of her Olive Oil and some of her mountain tea to use in one of our upcoming videos on here. Bugger markets can be scarier (just the higher stall price can be off putting) but once you do a few more smaller ones I am sure you will be eager to try a larger one too :-)

[@soapsoilandsunshine3241]

@@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany wow. Would’ve been fascinating talking to the Albanian lady. Wow. Growing your own tea. That sounds like fun. Our little local markets didn’t charge a site fee last month. She said they have enough to cover expenses so didn’t need any more. It’s only $10 anyway. Thanks for the reply. It’s much appreciated.

[@whimtnrobbie5791]

Looks like much fun, thank you for sharing. Beautiful display table

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

It was a lot of fun and great to get back out at our first event of the year, thank you :-)

[@lyndawest8612]

Thanks for sharing the prep and set up. You certainly look more organized than I do when I'm wrapping anx labeling!

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Everything ran smoothly this time! You wouldn't want to see what happens when we get half way through labelling and then realise we have run out of labels!

[@micahthomas9521]

Thanks so much! Very informative and fun.😊

[@katarzynaderkacz39]

Always lovely to see you, thanks for this video.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

You are welcome, it's nice to be able to show people a little view of the events that we do :-)

[@phatwombat4241]

looking good, heres to the best year yet

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you and we hope so!

[@Hilary_ClarbySoaps]

Thank you for sharing your market day with us. And thank you for being so transparent with how much you make at a smaller market. I tend to only do small markets as I’m quite a small scale soapmaker, in Pembrokeshire and £160 for a half day would be a decent takings day for me…so I’m encouraged by those figures 😊. Oh and thanks for mentioning charging up the sum up…I’m getting ready for an event this afternoon and needed that reminder to charge my phone and my square reader 🤣🙏🏻

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Oh yes, never forget to charge the card reader and phone! We had a phone run out of battery unexpectedly at one show (it was an older phone with a dodgy charge and did used to randomly run out of power!) It caused a bit of a panic and we now always take a powerbank with us to charge phones and card readers in emergencies! Yes, people often don't realise that smaller markets often don't yield massive takings and after deducting all the costs the profit left over can often be on the small side.

[@Hilary_ClarbySoaps]

@@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany oh…and the event I did this weekend I took a massive £47 🤣 although it was just a 3 hour one in a new venue as a trial. But I did get to speak to a few lovely customers and nearly everyone who came to my table bought something…so I take the positives 😀

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

@@Hilary_ClarbySoaps We have had events like that too! You definitely have to think of the positives! We had one similar where the days takings were low (we made a loss) but then the organisers decided that they liked our soap so much they wanted to order wholesale for their other business which is selling craft/gift products, so that was an unexpected bonus! 🙂

[@helenhelen5346]

Thanks

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you so much Helen :-)

[@paulalynrider4009]

Here in the U.S.A. and hoping to get accepted to a regular market for the first time in my soapy career. So this was a helpful and also fun video! Mostly i hope you get good revenge on the scare tactics though!!!

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Good luck in getting accepted to the regular market, I will cross my fingers for you! Karma actually visited Wayne that evening - he hardly ever jumps, but he had forgotten my Son was in the house. We were sorting things in the garage and my Son came bounding through the door - it's been a long time since I have seen him jump so much! It may not have been me causing the jump, but it was great to watch and see him get his payback!

[@niyyahhandcrafted]

I don’t subscribe to that 10x fee either - I take into consideration where I’ll be and what the event is - I recently did a market that was huge and in a major US metro area so that was a goal of mine (didn’t quite make it but it was still worth it!!). But I’ve also done small bakery pop ups that i knew I was just going to make 100 USD at best but be part of a fun group and solidify some relationships. When I’m the new kid on the block it is harder but some of the ones I go to that are free I do better than the big name ones and you never know who you’ll meet!

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Exactly! When I look back at all the shows we would have missed and all the publicity our brand wouldn't have had if we had only done the super profitable shows with 10 x pitch fee, it's crazy! We did a very large, well known show in the London area just before Christmas where the pitch fee was just over £1000, this would have meant taking £10,000 if we wanted 10 x pitch fee! We took nowhere near this figure but still walked away from it with just under £2000 in profit, which for a three day show was absolutely worth it!

[@Absintheskiss]

❤

[@natyc81]

Congratulations 🤓☕🥰🥰🥰❤

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you :-)

[@jobo8819]

LMBO.....I love Wayne...I'm with him, cant stand my local council.🤣🤣🤣

[@firdowskruger9896]

Thank you for all that you share, Anne. I am loving your channel. Do you and Wayne cut up the brown paper for your soaps, or do they come ready cut? With love from your soaping peer in Pretoria,.South Africa 🇿🇦💖

[@Soul.7]

Thank you so much for sharing your work and your days with us. I love the relationship that you share with Wayne too, he’s very funny, and clearly makes you laugh a lot. Very important and a very valued quality between people I think. Keeps you young, and your inner child happy. Can I ask you what percentage of your sales at the market were soaps, and what percentage were bath bombs? Are bath bombs as sort after as Soapers say. I’ve never made one, but am thinking about making six in a simple deep silicon muffin tray to try it out in my beloved bath tub where I like to spend a lot of time watching soap videos, and coming up with new ideas for my newbie soaping passion. I usually put a hand mix of salt, bicarbonate of soda, magnesium flakes, and essential oil anyway, so I could take that a few steps further, and learn the most natural way to make a few myself. Thank you so much both of you, I LOVE your channel, your personalities, your ideas, and getting to know you more. Bless you.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you for your lovely comment :-) Yes, Wayne certainly does make me laugh and there is never a dull moment when he is around! At this specific show the soaps outsold the bath bombs by about 3 to 1 and taking into account everything that was sold, they made up just under 20% of our total sales. However, this does vary depending on what kind of show we are doing, bath bombs tend to sell better at the shows that are marketed as family days out, rather than farmers markets. Before Christmas at the gift shows our bath bombs were making up roughly 40 - 50% of total sales as people were buying as stocking fillers and Christmas gifts. They are definitely worth offering if you have the time to dedicate to making them :-)

[@Mary20002]

Where do you buy your wrapping paper for your soaps? Thank you for sharing 👍

[@shanewink3258]

Wayne gets my vote for the council!!

[@aeon-2]

🌹💗

[@barebeautyessentials3323]

I would like to have heard the convo with the council 😆👌🏼

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Haha, it was certainly a interesting one! The reminder form did eventually make it out of the recycling bin, after much more moaning! :-D

[@Skinsensations_Edith]

What kind of paper do you use to wrap your soap? Does it come cut to that size?

[@stellababu352]

Can i get fragrance used in the soap