Selling handmade soap
Make soap.
Make the numbers work.
Price each bar with your time included, work out how many to make, and find the labeling guide for where you sell.
Free tools. Your costing figures stay in your browser.
An example, per bar
Where an $8.00 bar goes
| Ingredients + packaging | $1.50 |
|---|---|
| Your time | $2.00 |
| Overhead | $0.50 |
| Payment fees | $0.44 |
| Left after costsBefore tax | $3.56 |
Your wage is already included in “your time.”
What’s in this example?
Illustrative US-dollar costs for 10 bars: $1.50 each in materials and packaging, 60 minutes at $20.00/hour, and $5.00 overhead per batch. Assumed payment fee: 3% + $0.20 for each bar sold. Calculated with the soap pricing tool’s cost model.
Price & plan
Start with the batch you make.
Work out its cost, then its yield. Keep the making, cutting and wrapping time in the calculation.
Soap Cost & Pricing
Cost per bar with your time and overhead in it, profit after fees at your price, break-even, and how many bars cover a craft-fair table.
Open calculatorBar Count & Cut
How many bars a loaf yields at your cut thickness, what each weighs before and after cure, and how much oil it takes to make N bars of a label weight.
Open calculatorLabels & insurance
Find the guide for your market.
Start with where you sell. The labeling guides cover different markets; the insurance guide focuses on US sellers.
Soap labeling rules: United States
When soap is “soap” to the FDA and when it’s a cosmetic, what each label must say, and where MoCRA applies.
Read the guide 6 min readSoap and cosmetic labeling: UK and EU
There’s no soap exemption here: safety assessments, a Responsible Person, SCPN/CPNP notification, and an allergen list that more than triples for products placed on the market from July 2026.
Read the guide 6 min readInsurance and legal basics for craft sellers
What product liability costs per bar, what the policies cover, and why an LLC isn’t a substitute. Sourced, and not legal advice.
Read the guideFor the workbench
Keep a paper copy beside the batch.
These 4 sheets are already part of the guides. Open a sheet, then use its print button for a paper copy or save it as a PDF.
The batch sheet is for the guide’s classic recipe. Keep supplier lot numbers and process notes alongside your own batch records.
Classic recipe batch sheet
Fill in the classic recipe’s weights, then follow its making steps.
Open sheetCure log
Record a bar’s weight over time, with room for dates and observations.
Open sheetUS label checklist
Review the soap exemption and the information on your label.
Open sheetUK / EU label checklist
Keep the before-you-sell checks and label details beside your work.
Open sheet