The good news/the bad news

[pollyteapot]

YAY, the good news - I went live yesterday with Not on the Hugh Street wth my soaps and creams. And I will be the first to say that I don't like my photos. I had submitted some a while ago but they didn;t like them and recomended a few styles to show me what sells and I don;t have photo skills and can;t afford to pay for a photographer so I made do with some fake flowers from Matalan and a wooden box from TK Max. For some reason, they liked them and so, with one or 2 other changes, they put me on las night. Not sure I'm in the right categories but I will try again tomorrow cos i think it can take 24 hours for things to be right.

the bad news - I have a thing where I need everything to be perfect which has hindered sales. If I'm not happy with something I either don't sell it or put it in the £1 box at my fairs (for those of you who do fairs, I can thouroughly recommend a £1 basket, I usually sell out of theses at fairs, and sometimes they are the only things i actually sell ). And I've been known to be up until 2am the night before a fair sorting labels and re-wrapping soaps because they looked a bit not right.

I am happy with it all now (ecxept photos) and so i went into a gift shop yesterday. the owner wasn't in, but the other woman wasn't particulary enthusiastic. She mentioned they already had Heyland and Whittle and didn't think the owner would want any more soaps. Fair enough, but she didn;t even look! There was no nicety or taking an interest. She told me to come back on Tuesday but it such an effort - I don't drive so I took the train, carried my heavy basket all they way, whilst practially shking in my boots cos i was soooooooo nervous. and i mean really nervous. I felt sick on the train and I had no water so my mouth was all dry when I got there and I stumbled on my words a bit.

So, I ma not looking forward to going in on Tuesday - just to be told they don;t need any more. I was quite down in the dumps yesterday and even though NOTHS went live, I am not thrilled about the photos so I am worried they will affect sales.

Anyways, here is the link to the storefront if you want to have a nosy

www.notonthehighstreet.com/misspolly/product/lavender-and-patchouli-handmade-soap

[PurpleFrog]

I have had a nosy - they look very professional! Well done!

My only (very slight) criticism is that the front of the lavender and patchouli soap looks an odd colour compared to the rest of the bar. I don't know if that is just the lighting - everything else looks great!

Like you I am too much of a perfectionist and worry that things will not be good enough, but I think you have to believe in yourself and have confidence in your product. Please go back to the gift shop on Tuesday - even though they already stock soaps they may well be interested in a locally-made product.

[pollyteapot]

thanks purple frog - the difference in colour is called ash. It's a (in this case very slight) dusting that happens during the curing process. Some soaps get it, some don't, and sometimes it ends up so bloody thick that you would not ever sell it. It can look like mould but is actually perfectly normal (if very annoying).

Thank you for liking the shop. I will hopefully get new pics after Xmas when I have some more money.

HUbby thinks I should go back, locally made and all that and she might say no now but might remember at xmas (i'm not convinced at that one), but it's so hard when you're shy. It also means a dilemma finding something smart to wear cos I don;t want to wear the same outfit twice and that was pretty much the only smart thing I own (i live in Jeans).

I'll update on Tuesday how it goes

[NinjaChipmunk]

I think your packaging looks really nice. The logo looks good, clean and not too fussy and the products look nice too. Don't give up hope about flogging to shops, maybe you could phone round some gifty type places and try to make some appointments so you know someone will be there to see your stuff when you arrive? Maybe print some of your stuff from the NOTHS range to make a littl leaflet about what you make and why?
Good luck!

[pollyteapot]

Thanks Ninja I have to say I didn;t design the logo or the florals, I paid someone to do it cos my design skills are rubbish, as is my computer skills.
I do have a small leaflet (thank you Vista Print) but it is geared towards my web sales rather than for gift shops. I might just change that today.