If you follow Soapendipity on Facebook you know that I was
featured on the front page of the Ellensburg Daily Record on Wednesday. It was great exposure for my fledgling business and I have already had several people come into the shop because of seeing the article. Every week I am seeing more and more people, either to make soap or to buy soap, lotion or scrubs. It's all very exciting!
In starting Soapendipity, I have been very conscious of every penny I spend and often that means I spend hours on the internet trying to save a dime on each lotion bottle, a dollar on an ounce of fragrance oil, or a few bucks on shipping. Lucky for me I found the
Bramble Berry website very early in my soaping career. I love the fact that it is a "local" business (in Bellingham, WA), not only because I can support a local business, but also because when I place my order it usually only takes a day to get to my doorstep.
The mainstay of Soapendipity is the make-it-yourself soap bar and the soap making parties. I could not do this without the Bramble Berry
soap base. I think I have used nearly 200 lbs. of this soap since opening in June! Last month was the Soapendipity grand opening party. Knowing that I could get my order in a day or so, I did not stress because I needed to get more soap for the party. About a week before the party I went to place the order only to realize the soap was on backorder. The party was Thursday and I knew that as long as it shipped Wednesday I would be okay.
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| Soap made with Bramble Berry soap base. |
In the meantime, I searched the internet looking for a comparable base as a back up. I came to realize two things: 1) nobody beats the Bramble Berry price on soap base and 2) there was no way that it would get to me in time anyway unless I paid exorbitant shipping charges for overnight shipping. I decided to take my chances on Bramble Berry. Making a call to customer service on Monday I was told that it probably would not be in by Wednesday. Mild panic...maybe I should have invested in those overnight shipping charges.
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| The Soap Bar |
By Thursday, I had resigned to being without 25 lbs of soap base for my grand opening. About two hours before the party I went home to get the rest of the supplies from my order that had been delivered that afternoon. As I got closer to the front door...could it be? Were my eyes deceiving me? An extra box had been delivered...the backordered soap base was sitting on my doorstep!
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| More soap! |
The party was a success and I am sure it would have been just as great without the soap, but I am glad it was there! The funny thing is, the following Monday I got an email from customer service telling me that the backordered base was finally in and that I could now place my order for it. To this day I still have no idea how I ended up with 25 lbs of soap that was not even in stock. It was all very "soapendipitous"!
P.S. I not only get my soap base from Bramble Berry, but most of my other soaping supplies as well. When you come into the Soap Bar to make your soap, you will be able to pick out a fragrance. Our collection contains over 80 scents and there is something there for every soaper. If you don't see one you like, let me know and I am sure I can find it at Bramble Berry!
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| A few of the many Bramble Berry fragrances you can choose from. |
P.P.S. It is now time for Bramble Berry to be selecting new fragrances for 2011 and they are asking a few select customers to test the many they are considering. I think I would be a great participant on this panel. Not only would I be able to sample the fragrances in my cold process soaps, lotions and scrubs, but I would be able to get instant customer feedback from the soap bar on the scents in melt and pour soap.
