Pricing Handmade Soap: Why You Shouldn’t Undersell Your Products

If you make handmade soap, chances are you’ve asked yourself this question more than once:

“Am I charging too much… or not enough?”

Pricing is one of the biggest struggles for soap makers — especially when you’re passionate about your craft and want your products to be affordable. But here’s the truth:

👉 Underselling your soap hurts your business, your customers, and the handmade industry as a whole.

Let’s break down how to price your handmade soap confidently and sustainably.

Why Handmade Soap Should Cost More

Handmade soap is not mass-produced. It’s carefully formulated, mixed, poured, cut, cured, and packaged — often by one person wearing many hats.

When you price your soap, you’re not just selling a bar. You’re selling:

High-quality oils and butters
Time spent formulating and testing
Weeks of curing time
Skill, knowledge, and creativity
Small-batch craftsmanship

Comparing handmade soap to supermarket soap isn’t fair — and it shouldn’t be priced that way either.

The Real Cost of Making Handmade Soap

Many soap makers only calculate the cost of ingredients. That’s a mistake.

Here’s what must be included in your pricing:

1. Ingredients

Oils and butters
Lye
Fragrance or essential oils
Colourants and additives

2. Packaging

Boxes, labels, shrink wrap, or paper
Ink and printing costs

3. Overheads

Electricity and water
Equipment wear and tear
Cleaning supplies
Website fees, payment gateways, and market stall fees

4. Your Time (Yes, This Matters!)

Your time is valuable.

Mixing, pouring, cutting, curing, labeling, marketing — it all counts. If you don’t pay yourself, your business isn’t sustainable.

A Simple Pricing Formula for Handmade Soap

A basic and effective formula is:

(Total cost to make the soap batch ÷ number of bars) × 2.5 to 3

Why the multiplier?

It covers profit
It allows room for wholesale or discounts
It protects you from rising ingredient costs

💡 Example:
If one bar costs you R20 to make, selling it for R50–R60 is reasonable — not greedy.

The Danger of Underselling Your Soap

When you price too low:

You burn out faster
You can’t grow or reinvest
Customers may assume low quality
You struggle to restock ingredients

Low prices don’t attract loyal customers — value does.

People who appreciate handmade soap are willing to pay for quality, ethics, and care.

“But Other Soap Makers Sell Cheaper…”

This is one of the hardest mental blocks to overcome.

Remember:

You don’t know their costs
They may be underpricing too
They may not be paying themselves

Instead of competing on price, compete on:

Quality
Ingredients
Story
Education
Customer experience

Your ideal customer is not looking for the cheapest bar — they’re looking for the right one.

Pricing with Confidence Builds Trust

Customers can sense confidence.

When you price fairly and explain why your soap costs what it does, you:

Educate your customer
Build trust
Elevate your brand
Position yourself as a professional

Handmade doesn’t mean cheap.
Handmade means intentional, ethical, and valuable.

Final Thoughts: Your Soap Is Worth It

If you’re making soap with care, quality ingredients, and love — you deserve to be paid fairly.

Don’t shrink your prices to make others comfortable. Build a business that supports you as much as it supports your customers.

✨ Price with pride. Your soap — and your time — are worth it.