We have been working on several activities this year to ensure we keep our product prices as low as possible.
We have conciously focused on purchasing supplies in as much bulk as possible, truly short of needing a fork-lift. By buying in bulk, we keep the bottom-line cost of base butters and oils, fragrance and essential oils, and even caps and bottles, to a minimum.
The cost of shipping fees, ingredients, utilities, and even fuel costs have increased rapidly over the past 2 – 3 years. We shielded our customers from the increased costs by running bulk promotions such as The Brown Bag Special, The 5-Bar Special, and Soap Logs. We did not increase the retail price of most of our products.
There comes a time when a company needs to increase product prices to stay afloat. With that in mind, Annie’s Goat Hill Handrafted Soaps plans to head back off of the slippery slope by scrutinizing the manufacturing cost of each of our products.
Our pricing will no longer be based on an average cost of ingredients, instead, each product price will be based on what it costs to produce the actual item.
So, to bundle this up, some of our prices will decrease, such as the 4 oz goat milk lotions, and some of the unscented goat milk soaps. Some of our prices will increase, such as our pure Patchouli Goat Milk soap. If the cost of patchouli essential oil suddenly drops in the future, so will our pricing.
Our promise to our customers is to continue providing quality, good-for-your-skin products. Our quality will not, and has not, changed. A bar of our soap weighs just as much, if not more, than it did in past years. You can count on it!
Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps 
Thanks for the update. It’s smart to cut where you can, and increase where you must. You are a wise business woman — and your soap is fabulous too. Must try the lotion soon …
Owning a small business comes with its own set of challenges, such as the price changes. I embrace those challenges as they continue to allow us to grow (both as individuals and as a business).
Thank you Donna Maria! You are much appreciated.
You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. 🙂
Wishes of success heading your way!!
(And my soap stash is dwindling… this does not make me very happy. It’s lasted a while though, huh?)
I think you put your soap under a hair dryer each time you used it. That’s my theory and I am sticking with it! Seriously, though, there is more Vanilla soap where your bars came from. I don’t know who you got them from though, do you?
Yes, I have to do what I have to do. That theory really does stick in this case.
You know… I think that hairdryer thing would work!!! LOL Nope, no clue where I would have picked up those bars of vanillie. 🙂 I didn’t give nearly as many as gifts, as originally planned… so I had quite a stash built up. 🙂
I like the scent myself. Yes, I do.
Vanilliiee…perhaps I should call it that, just for fun.
Big business should follow your lead.
Instead, the prices go up and never come back down!
Big business’s also take the liberty of making their products smaller, while continuing to charge the same prices. I personally would much rather open up a box of cereal that contains the same weight as it did a year ago and pay a slightly higher price for it. Determining the value of what we are paying for isn’t easy these days!