Thumbs down - Catie's Bubbles new price point

[Taborden]

Everyone has differing opinions on shave soaps, but for me, Catie's Bubbles is a great performer and the scents are great. The price point I first bought it at was $2.50 an ounce, which to me was perfect. I am getting my son into de shaving and went to buy him CB and frankly was shocked by the price change. He used to package at 8oz for $20. Now he is at 4oz for $14. Is it expensive? No, but now at $3.50 per ounce, the 40% price hike is a bit much.

Just my opinion but a big thumbs down.

 

[RobsForge]

Thats not right. They make great soap, but when it comes down to it there is no need to pay that much for a great shaving soap. In a perfect scenario, the price should be going down with all the competition out there.

 

[ShavinElectricity]

Totally agree here. The original price of there "old soaps" was what made me want to try them, but with the new price increase I have a hard time justifying them over many other artisan brands out on the market for the same, if not lower, prices.

 

[brucered]

Wait until Ver 1.245798756126789846241 comes out in an LE scent and a glass jar.

 

[gwsmallwood]

It's not just CB. PAA did the same thing when they moved away from their larger tins. It's a developing trend across all products. Anyone else notice a couple of years ago when the large dog food bags went from 40 lbs to 34 lbs. Price didn't change, but the volume did.

I've found a few really good soaps that do fit well into my price range, and offer excellent performance, so they'll continue to get my business.

 

[Earl_Grey]

Well to be honest I always wondered how many artisans made any profit. Artisan Soaps are dirt cheap considering how much mileage you get out of them.
Cheaper prices also make me question the quality of the ingredients as well as their origin.

 

[Quadricwan]

I don't think this criticism is fair. The new price point is much more in line with the price point offered by other Artisans, and by all accounts, the new Luxury cream formula is a marked improvement over the previous (already good) formula. Assuming the new formula requires different ingredients (it does), it only makes sense for it to be sold at a different price point. If it weren't for the fact that the old formula CB soap was such a value price point per ounce, nobody would have remarked at the price of the new soap.

 

[brucered]

Cheaper prices also make me question the quality of the ingredients as well as their origin.

Really? Many of them are priced more than quality, commercial soaps. Not to mention, many of the artisan soaps use more per use.

 

[dkeester]

The price point of CB is in line with many of the other artisan producers.
Dr. Jon's - $14.95 for 4oz.
Mickey Lee Soap Works - $14 to $16 for 4oz.
Mike's Natural - $13 to $15 for 5oz.
Captain's Choice - $14.95 for 5oz.
Dapper Dragon - $12.50 to $14 for 4oz.
Soap Commander - $15 for 6oz.

However, there are a few out there that are a bit more of a bargain.
Bain Amour - $8 for 3.5oz.
Mystic Water - $9.91 for 4oz.

Most producers seem to be in the $2.00 to $4.00 per ounce range.

The bottom line for me is that if CB is more profitable at $3.50 per ounce than they were at $2.50 per ounce, I will happily pay the extra. I want to see companies that produce good products stay in business so that I can continue to buy their products. At $2.50 per ounce CB might have soon been the next Strop Shoppe. I have no way to know for sure, but I doubt they changed their pricing structure on a whim.

There are still plenty of soaps out there that are much more expensive than CB. MdC, Valobra, PannaCrema, Truefit & Hill, etc. are all quite pricey. $14 is not an outrageous price for 4 ounces of shaving soap and the increase in price is modest. It could have been worse. They could have changed from $20 for 8oz. to $20 for 4oz.

Also, in case you didn't know, CB did reformulate this year. Maybe that price change reflects the cost of the different ingredients in the soap. I suspect this could be a major reason for the increase.

Whether it was to improve their bottom line, because of the reformulation, both, or something else entirely, it doesn't matter. The price change is minor and in line with what the market will bear. Artisan soaps will never be cheap.

 

[ShavinElectricity]

I'm not debating that their reformulated soap may require a higher price. And I'm all for a company making money. I guess the point of this thread, to me at least, is that they are now somewhat less desirable than before because now they aren't as good of a bargain. Does this stop me from wanting to purchase their soaps, no. However, it is just an observation that one of our fellow B&Bers noticed and some agree with his opinion. In the grand scheme of things this is still an excellent soap and worth the price IMO, and yes I have used and love the new CB formula. I would gladly buy it again right along with Dr. Jon's and the like. Just merely an observation of price per ounce.

 

[dfoulk]

I'd rather have 4 oz for $14 than 8 oz for $20 myself. It takes forever to get through an 8 oz jar of soap, then when you add multiple scents, that's a hell of a lot of soap. This isn't Costco you know.

I'd rather not pay $20 for one scent when I could pay a little more and get two different ones instead.

Would it be nicer if it were $12 for 4 oz, sure it would, but it's not far off per oz from the price other vendors are charging.

 

[jesseix]

I'd rather have 4 oz for $14 than 8 oz for $20 myself. It takes forever to get through an 8 oz jar of soap, then when you add multiple scents, that's a hell of a lot of soap. This isn't Costco you know.

I'd rather not pay $20 for one scent when I could pay a little more and get two different ones instead.

Would it be nicer if it were $12 for 4 oz, sure it would, but it's not far off per oz from the price other vendors are charging.

Was just about to say the same thing, as I don't know how I could ever get through an 8oz jar. Also larger sizes seem to most always be cheaper per ounce (for example Cella by the kilo, the larger Razorock pots, blocks of Kabinett when it was available), so I definitely understand that we'd all love for prices to stay the same but smaller versions seem like they're most often a little more per oz.

 

[poppi]

Get Williams SS. It's cheap, works great and it iconic. What a deal!

 

[rockviper]

I've never used Catie's Bubbles, but for any soap (or other products for that matter), all I can say is to vote with your wallet. Vendors determine their prices, and it is up to each of us to determine whether we are okay with paying them or if we need to move on to another soap.

 

[Demidog]

The free market will correct itself. If too many people find the new soap too expensive, then supply will probably exceed demand and they can start charging less.

As dkeester said, the new price sounds on par with other soap artisans. I have been paying roughly $3.75/oz for artisan soaps since I started shaving with them. Considering how long it takes to get through even an ounce of soap, it's still not a bad deal. I also don't understand how any of them make a decent income from this business because even if they are substantially more expensive than supermarket soaps, this is still a relatively niche community and given how long it takes to finish a 4 oz puck of soap, it's not like any of these artisans are pushing a ton of product. There is also a tremendous amount of competition now from so many different artisans.

 

[CPTdeLos]

I haven't used CB, but I can see why they are adjusting their prices to market average. I have only heard good things about CB. When you really think about it, how long does it take to go through 4oz of soap? 3-4 months of daily use. That's maybe an extra-dollar a month and worth it for a quality product.

 

[explodyii]

From an economics point of view, the price change makes completely perfect sense in all manner of ways.

Firstly, obligatory demand and supply curves and whatnot. People like the soap, it's popular, and are willing to pay what they are willing to pay.

Secondly, "accessibility" of the product is a big deal here. Think about it in terms of somebody wanting to try the soap - spend $20 on something you might like from a performance standpoint. Even if you do like the performance, what if the scent isn't your thing? CB doesn't offer samples directly, so for the consumer who doesn't already have "their product" dialed in, this is an improvement. Not many folks are willing to spend $20 on something they don't know well. Something about <$15 is much easier psychologically.

Thirdly, price per oz with shaving soaps is one of the most useless metrics without more information. Yes, it now costs more per oz. Assuming you're talking about the "soap", rather than the "luxury cream soap" (that one is special since it undergoes a rot process similar to a cream), it is also a much harder and thirstier soap now. Cost per shave should be pretty significantly less compared to the original French style. Have you done the math? The French style took a ton of product per shave, the new one barely takes a dent even after weeks of use. Again, price per oz isn't helpful at all when determining even something like thrift and value.

Fourthly, economies of scale is a very real thing. There are fixed costs in things, which is why buying in bulk creates lower prices. For example, the container CB is using is a "fixed cost." It's an expense that doesn't change, no matter how much soap is in it. Labels are another one. Labor costs of applying labels, filling the containers and shipping are all also fixed costs. Packing materials are a fixed cost. Let's use some algebra to figure out how this might work!

20 (cost of old French formula) = f (our fixed cost of unknown value f) + 8s (8 oz of soap at unknown value s)

14 (cost of new formula) = f (our fixed cost of unknown value f) + 4s (4 oz of soap at unknown value s)

So subtracting the two equations from one another and plugging away we find that s = 1.5. Use that new value on the original formula and holy smokes we come to a fixed cost (f) of $8. So basically, between all of the fixed costs of stuff outside of the soap itself, such as labor (so like, Chris not working for free[what a jerk]), labels, containers, shipping supplies, printing and such, $8 of each tub of CB soap is not actually paying for the soap itself. After that fixed cost, you get $1.50 per oz of whatever is getting filled into the tub. And even then as I mentioned it is a much more efficient soap than the old French formula, so I'm not sure the value there.

Summary - Gah, this price per oz thing really bugs me, it's such a useless number since it's not apples to apples. If Chris changes the price of the same formula, with the same amount of actual soap, you have something. As is... not as much.

 

[bberg100]

...

Summary - Gah, this price per oz thing really bugs me, it's such a useless number since it's not apples to apples. If Chris changes the price of the same formula, with the same amount of actual soap, you have something. As is... not as much.

+1

Don't forget we are in a niche market, not a mass produced available at your nearest big box store market. It amazes me Catie's, Stirling, Soap Commander, etc., can deliver the quality product at the prices they do. I wonder how many of these folks are making soap as a sideline and holding down a 40 hour job elsewhere during the week. Mama Bear had a bit a few weeks ago about not making ends meet.

 

[sgemmett]

I've never used Catie's Bubbles, but for any soap (or other products for that matter), all I can say is to vote with your wallet. Vendors determine their prices, and it is up to each of us to determine whether we are okay with paying them or if we need to move on to another soap.

Well put. If you look at what green coffee costs you realized what a complete rip Starbucks is, but they have people lined up out the door so I don't see them lowering their prices any time soon.

 

[Demidog]

+1

Don't forget we are in a niche market, not a mass produced available at your nearest big box store market. It amazes me Catie's, Stirling, Soap Commander, etc., can deliver the quality product at the prices they do. I wonder how many of these folks are making soap as a sideline and holding down a 40 hour job elsewhere during the week. Mama Bear had a bit a few weeks ago about not making ends meet.

Some soap artisans blogged about their experiences. I watched a few Tiki Bar Soap videos and the artisan said that she was actually a teacher or a chemist, but she started moving more towards making soap full time as her business took off. I think Dr. Jon also has a blog post saying that he was moving towards running the soap business full time, which means that he was still sticking to his regular job for a while.

Given that shaving soap lasts such a long time and that it is such a niche market, it's hard to imagine that any of them are making a ton of profit. I don't mind paying a luxury tax for these amazing soaps as long as I can afford them, because I love doing highly personalized business with these small vendors. I fear the day when there is some corporate takeover of this tiny market and they start pulling some marketing tricks in order to get users comfortable with paying an unreasonable amount for soap. Hopefully that never happens. For now, I'm okay with the prices and I'm very happy to support vendors. I don't want to see nice people and seasoned soap makers like Mama Bear close up shop. It will take all the fun out of wet shaving for me.