You can start your own soap business instantly, without making a single bar or buying an existing company. This is a great way to see if the soap business is right for you before you jump in full force. It can also be used to supplement a more significant venture of your own handmade soap sales.
There are two proven ways to create an instant soap sales business: The Affiliate and Private Label Reseller models.
Either one of those methods can be used as a full or supplemental business with little startup cost or time investment.
You will get detailed instructions on setting up both business types, followed by a section on general business setup and best practices.
Method 1: Start an Affiliate Soap Company
This is by far the easiest way to get into the soap business without having to spend a great deal of time or money. In fact, you can start and open this business for $0 to $15 today.
You probably already know how affiliate programs work. Still, I will give you a quick overview just as a refresher. With an affiliate program, you simply find a product that you would like to represent and help others learn about it. When someone makes a purchase of that product, that can be verified as recommended by you, you get a percentage of the sale price. In today’s world, that almost always means having a web link that leads to the seller’s web page. This page, however, is specially encoded with your identification tag so that you get credit.
Advantages of an Affiliate Soap Business
Some of the most significant advantages of this kind of business model are as follow:
- There is typically zero startup cost, or nearly so. Joining (almost) any affiliate program will be free, and at most, you might want to buy a domain name and cheap website hosting package.
- You can choose exactly which brands and even types of soap you want to recommend. This way, you can help people find the products that you really believe in.
- The selling company handles all of the transactions. This means you do not have to deal with having a merchant account or shipping products or handling any returns or even customer support issues.
- The selling company is also responsible for the proper labeling of every bar they release. Labeling soap is not overly complicated. It can however, be a bit of a pain at first. Regulations can be somewhat tricky to fully understand when just starting your business.
- You do not have to maintain an approved soap making facility. You also do not need soap making insurance. And finally, you have no concerns over inspections or ingredient tracking..
- This is not to say that you have no responsibility by recommending the product. You simply do not have anywhere near the responsibilities or accountability of those actually producing and distributing the finished soap.
Disadvantages of an Affiliate Soap Company
- You have no control over the actual product being made or how it is shipped.
- You cannot control the customer service aspect so your brand can become tarnished if the company that you choose to represent drops the ball.
- The profit margin is typically considerably less than you would earn by making and distributing your own product or by selling another maker’s product.
How an Affiliate Soap Business Works
Step One: You identify the soap company that you wish to represent and apply to be an affiliate. Some offer instant approval of members, while others have a review policy. Also, pay attention to the commission they offer, as well as if there are restrictions on how you sell. Many will not allow the use of bulk email as “spam mail” can hurt their reputations.
Here are some well-respected soap shops with affiliate programs.
| Selling Company | Starting % | Must Haves |
| The Mad Optimist | 15% | NA |
| From Nature with Love | 8% | Website |
| DR. Squatch | 8% | Website |
| Nurture Soap | 7% | Social Link |
| Apple Valley | 6% | NA |
Step Two: Once you are approved, that company will provide you with specially encoded links. Use these via approved methods for driving traffic to the sales pages.
Step Three: You place your affiliate link on your website, in email messages, or through social media, as you choose. When someone uses your link to get to the company sales page, you get credit for all sales made through that link.
Step Four: The company that you represent sends you a check or does an electronic transfer of funds to your provided account information. PayPal is among the most common and easiest to use, however, there are many other options available.
Things To Be Aware of as an Affiliate
FTC Compliance
To comply with US Federal Trade Commission regulations, you are required to place a notice on the page disclosing that you have affiliate links. It is best to have it in an easy to see area of the page, so readers are aware. This is a good thing as it offers transparency to buyers.
You do not have to choose from just one string of text; however, so make it original. Something that explains how affiliate commissions work is often helpful. Many people don’t realize that running a free information site takes a lot of time and has some costs associated. This, of course, means that your receiving an affiliate commission keeps their favorite resource open, free, and available. Here’s a good example…
“Disclosure: When I find a product that I really believe in, I often represent it as an affiliate. If you make a purchase from one of these affiliate links on this site, I get a small commission that helps pay for this website.”
Cookies
The way that your link ensures you receive credits for sales is by placing tracking cookies on the visitor’s computer when they visit the sales page after following your link. The cookie stays active for a predetermined length of time.
For example: If a person visits the site through your link but does not buy right away, the cookie will keep track for you. This means that you will still get credit for the sale if they revisit during the length of that cookie (30 days is typical).
Method 2: Becoming a Private Label Soap Reseller
Becoming a private-label reseller of soap products takes a bit longer and a healthier investment of both time and money. It can, however, be far more profitable in the long run. Just be aware that there is more work required as well as the need to handle monetary transactions, shipping, returns, and any customer support issues.
Advantages of a Private Label Soap Business
- You can handpick one or more soap makers whose products you absolutely love and sell them at a significant profit. To give you an example, I will show you where you can purchase high-quality soap for about $1 per bar and resell it for $5 to $6 per bar.
- You can order a small quantity of each type of bar you would like to experiment with and then keep track of your fan favorites. This allows you to quickly and easily figure out what your top sellers will be without having to invest in a bunch of raw ingredients and trying to master new recipes.
- Having a reseller business allows you to focus more on running the actual business than on making soap. This, however, can also be a disadvantage if making soap is the real reason you wanted to start a business in the first place.
Disadvantages of a Private Label Soap Business
- Because you are rebranding the product as your own, you are responsible for all aspects of that product. You will still need to carefully check batches just in case the manufacturer sent you some faulty bars.
- Insurance can get costly and complicated as a reseller. In short, this is not like a corner store carrying someone else’s brand. This is YOUR brand of someone else’s soap. That is important to keep in mind. From an insurance company’s perspective, this basically means that you have no control over the ingredients selected or soap making process itself. This is basically a worst-case scenario for the underwriter, which means it will cost more.
- You are still responsible for the proper labeling and any associated marketing for the product. This means it is up to you to ensure the soap is being sold under the appropriate legal designation. For us that means as a cleaning product only. If you start spouting its medicinal properties or ANY purpose other than cleaning – you have ventured into the Food and Drug administration’s territory. At that point, you are selling cosmetics and/or pharmaceuticals.
- It is important to note that even the suggestion of medical properties in your soap changes the distinction from a pure soap to pharmaceutical. This happens a lot when people start talking about anti-bacterial properties. If you say your soap deodorizes, it is governed as a cosmetic. I think you get the idea.
How a Private Label Soap Business Works
Step One: Ensure your insurance covers you for this type of business. It typically takes a particular kind. See Things to Be Aware Of below.
Step Two: You select the manufacturer you wish to work with and review their products. Following are three excellent options…
The Soap Guy: The link at left leads to one of their mixed bar bulk buying pages. Your best bet is to call them at 312-320-5862. They are super nice and easy to work with. Just tell them what you want. They typically offer free shipping on orders over $75, and their soap is very good.
Insider Tip: Ask about them labeling your soap for you. It can be free. This is the lowest cost I have found. They offer 4oz-5oz bars as low as $1.17 per pre-cut bar for large orders. They are also one of the only suppliers I have found that lets you mix and match by the soap type – and they have hundreds of choices.
Bulk Apothecary: The previous link takes you to the soap bar and loaf private label page. It shows pricing starting at $3.50 per bar. When you buy by the loaf (pre-cut) the prices drop as low as $1.25 per bar.
Botanie Soap: These are 4 0z organic bars at a very affordable rate (as low as $1.64 per organic bar).
Step Three: Determine if they will print and apply your labels, or if you must do this yourself.
Step Four: Order your initial batch then label and photograph as needed to post on your website or other sales medium.
The Money Step…
Step Five: Sell. Ship. Get paid!
Things To Be Aware of as a Private Label Soap Company
Insurance: Private label soap insurance opportunities are unique. Make sure your policy covers it (i.e./ insuring products NOT made by you). The Indie Business Network offers a policy for “Non-Handmade” items that should cover you. Check it out at this link: Indie Business Network Insurance.
Also check out this video from one of the leading soap insurers in the United States. The below video is co-branded with the Soap Guild. However they also underwrite for the Indie Business Network.
Labeling: Whether you label the soap or the manufacturer does it for you – you are still ultimately responsible for the accuracy of the label.
Taxes: Just like any shop selling goods, you are responsible for collecting and reporting taxes. A lot of people forget this when it comes to reselling soap under a private label.
General Advice on Starting Your Business
We have another post on this site that gets into in-depth detail about starting a soap business. You can see it at the following link: Starting A Soap Business. However, I have summarized some critical steps for you below that should be enough for the Affiliate or Private Label business models described throughout this article.
Business Name: The first thing you should do is decide on a business name. I know this sounds obvious, but please bear with me because there is more to it. When selecting your business name you should try to find a name that meets the following criteria:
- Easy to spell
- Descriptive and easy to remember
- Has the .com domain name available (not necessary but helpful to have)
- Does not infringe on another trademark – You can search the US Patent and Trademark TESS Database here
Business Entity Type: It is essential to have a business entity type that will protect you and your personal assets. I am NOT a lawyer. I have, however, learned about what kind of protection is needed and how to get it.
Your best bet is to speak to an attorney or corporate filing professional. Check with any of the following to get some good free advice and low costs to set up your legal business entity. Or just run a Google search for “incorporate my business.”
Incidentally, I nearly always use the LLC model because it offers the protection I want without the additional tax costs and complex filing needs.
Insurance: Again, for the private label business model, I suggest working with your own broker or reaching out to The Indie Business Network. They offer a policy specifically made for “Non-Handmade” soap at this link: Indie Business Network Insurance.
Sales Platforms:
Website: At the time of this writing…
- Godaddy is offering a free single page website with the purchase of a domain name. Many websites are now single page setups, as this works well for mobile. Best of all, Godaddy has an extremely easy to use website builder drag and drop builder.
- Bluehost is also offering low-cost solutions. I just signed up for WordPress hosting at $1 per month. Their site setup and control panel are both super easy to use.
- You can also use a free website builders like Wix.com, but you probably want a domain tied to your site.
Social: Facebook is one of the most popular gathering places on the web, and allows the placement of affiliate links (at the time of this writing). It is worth checking out.
>>> Get the Inside Edge
There is a post, on this site, completely dedicated to Where and How to Sell Your Soap. Be sure to check out the section on wholesaling. That’s how my business first made real money.
In Closing
This information can help you start a soap business instantly and for minimal startup costs. Once established, you can keep it as-is or use it as a launching pad for your own handmade soap enterprise in the future.
Happy business founding!