I’ve got some exciting news! We’re making a couple changes at Bramble Berry to help keep costs as low as possible. As commodities costs continue to rise (has anyone seen the price of milk and cereal lately? Yowzers!), we’ve been putting our thinking caps on to keep prices reasonable for everyone. One of the solutions we came up with, with the help of a select group of customers and their awesome suggestions, is to do away with the smallest size of fragrance oil (our 1 oz. bottles) and instead do a starter size of 2 ounces. This lessens the amount of labor that has to go into each unit and helps us lessen damages in transit by moving towards more standardized sizing. You’ll see this change take effect in the next month or two. But we know that people like to try before they buy, so as always, you can request which free sample you’d like to get in your order (use the NOTES section right after your order) and we’ll do our best to include it (assuming it can be shipped via the method you chose and it’s in stock). We’re also adding some new sampler kits to our line to make sure that you can try even more fragrances before you buy. And don’t forget our ever-popular sniffy program (see details here) – you can sniff before you ever buy a fragrance!
1 oz bottle on the left and new 2 oz bottle on the right.
We’ll be trying out this new size over the next year and see how it goes. As we start rolling it out, let me know if you like it, hate it, are indifferent or are someplace in between.
Our new sizes will look like this, from left to right: 2 oz, 4 oz, 8 oz and 16oz.
imo the main thing the one oz is good for is when you want to mix several together. alot of times i end up ordering the 4oz when i only want 2oz because by the time you buy 2 1oz its only a bit more for the 4oz. so this might save me some. for those that never need more than 1oz at a time, you can use the extra to make a matching lotion or use to experiment with some differnt combos. Maybe someone could start a fragrace swap so if you get somthing you dont like you could trade with someone elce?
I think the 2 oz samples is a good idea. I have made soap several years ago and not since but since I have been watching the Soap Queen and have seen how much fun it is one you know the right way to do it I am planning on starting back up. I want to start my own business with this (and mineral makeup) as I am ill and unable to work a “regular job”. I have been doing a lot of reseach on the internet as far as pricing goes and brambleberry.com has the best pices all around. Learning more about soap I can see that you will use a BUNCH more fragrance then with lip balms. Buying in bulk you will get a better price. And if you end up NOT liking a fragrance then give the batch away as gifts or sell it as a “limited edition” soap. You never know just because you don’t like a fragrance doesn’t mean that customers won’t. (I personally don’t like Clinique Happy but almost everyone else I know does) Anyway that’s my 2 cents. Have fun being creative!
Thanks Jan. Good one re: inflation and 3 cents. Ha ha.
I have seen those little smaller sample size test tube things. I’ll look into the economic and labor feasibility of adding those to the mix for a nominal fee. I’m guessing the labor might kill it but you never know =)
I agree about the soap swap forum – and soapdishforum.com is doing a really cool swapping and mercantile thing anyways so they’re doing a great job with that idea already.
Thanks for being such a positive person and having such a great take on our trial run with this change. We’re just trying to keep the cost per ounce of our fragrances as close to what they are now as possible =))
Well, I get the point of the those who feel strongly about the 1oz. So here is a suggestion. There are a couple of folks that send samples in a small test tube kinda of thingy. You can do a bar of soap or two and that usually tells me what I want. Beyond that, frankly I usually buy in 8 oz sizes (usually the Cybella) and I am never disappointed.
I am not sure about the swap forum frankly, it is so important in out litigeous society to have a chain of control so to speak. That is I get the scents from BB sealed, follow safe practices in preparing my wares and am reasonably certain that if my disclaimers on my products are followed, I wont find my arse in court.
As far as samples on E/O, for folks that are concerned about that, you could always go to a local health store to get an itty bitty bottle.
I agree with the writer above, I recycle everything I can, the 2oz is large enough for my own scent blends and/or when I mix oxides or clays in glycering for my own non-bleeding colors.
Oh and one more thing, BB FORGETTING ABOUT US LITTLE GUYS TO MAKE US BUY MORE? Are you serious? You need to do more reading to see just how much things really cost and how BB saves our butts.
And that is my THREE cents (inflation ya know)
It wont hurt the fo for 1 oz in plastic bottles cause they wont stay in a plastic bottle for long most of us , use them u with in a week, and it does take a bit to start to break down.. Your talking about long time use.. a few weeks isn’t goign to hurt it .. I have been doing sniffies for 3 years, i send in a zip lock baggie a cotton ball with the fo on it.. you get the general idea what it smells like that way.. so that is a good idea for you too.. but i dont by 2 oz fo’s if i am testing them.. it will be a waste..I dont spend 1000’s at bb at one time..but have over 8 years.. so i am a little person and little people get lost. To many times when company’s grow they forget the little people too.. just dont forget us who love the 1 oz.. i dont want to be forced to by more when i dont know how it tests out….As for sample.. well that is good but do you give samples of everything even EO’s? well its my 2 cent worth.. glad i live in the USA where i can speak mu mind.
A lot of our customers don’t use those 1 ounce sizes right away so we will be sticking with glass, despite the additional cost.
We do have a sniffy program: https://www.brambleberry.com/Store-Policies-and-Shipping-Info-W11.aspx#Samples and we’d love to have you use it.
We aren’t forgetting the ‘little guy.’ We’re trying very hard to make sure that we don’t have to raise your prices 15-20% on the 1 ounce bottles by making this change and we’ll take stock on how it worked/didn’t work at the end of the trial run.
ok thanks AM.. just telling you my view like you wanted from us all.. so thanks for hearing all of us who want to keep the 1 oz lol..
I do tend to buy most “new to me” fragrances from BB in the 1oz size; I can’t even count how many impulse buy 1oz’ers have become staples in my line. I will probably buy less of the 2oz’ers than I did the 1oz’ers, but that’s okay. I can’t think of a single BB fragrance I’ve ever bought that I hated. So, maybe I buy fewer new fragrances, that’s probably for the best anyway- my collection has gotten a little ridiculous, and a slightly higher low price point will help deter me from buying things on impulse. Also, I’ve always thought a 2oz bottle would be a nice option to have, as the jump from 1 to 4 is a bit steep, especially for those just starting out!
I can certainly appreciate what you guys are doing, and why- costs on everything have been skyrocketing, and they have to be offset somehow. I also like the idea of more sampler kits, and look forward to seeing them added to the site 🙂
Oh and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t ever switch to plastic bottles! I’d gladly pay the extra, if it came down to that, to have my FO’s and EO’s shipping in glass. I hate plastic bottles so much, yuck.
No worries – we will never switch to plastic Becca. That is, the current plastics that are available – I never should ever say ‘never’. LOL! =)
I only usually buy the 1 oz FO since I’m new to soaping and the whole bit. I’m not necessarily opposed to the idea depending on the pricing. My question is, will the pricing of the 2 oz bottles be the same as the current price of the 1 oz bottles multiplied by 2? Or will there be a price break since it’s a larger amount & only 1 container? OR..gulp, will it be more?
Thanks!
Sarah
The goal of this was to not have to raise the price per ounce of the oil. Just this year, we’ve absorbed an average of 12% increase in fragrances with more last year and with this change, we will not be raising the fragrance price – just charging for the two ounces and most likely being more of a formula like this (1 oz price x 2) minus 20 cents (to take into account the one less bottle thing). That’s the plan … =)
Has BB thought of since most people will be paying a little more for their bigger bottles maybe saying for every $50 order you get 5 free sniffies in your order (instead of a self addressed stamped envelope)too. I too did purchase the 1oz for trying new smells. I also liked the idea of a scent forum that someone suggested above. I just ordered several 1 oz. (new to me smells) that were not my fav and I think a scent forum would be great for us trying new smells:) I am very excited to see some new sample packs too, can’t wait!
Interesting suggestion. In this case, we’ve absorbed an average of 12% increase in fragrances this year alone and with this change, we will not be raising the fragrance price – just charging for the two ounces and most likely being more of a formula like this (1 oz price x 2) minus 20 cents (to take into account the one less bottle thing). Any extra labor kills the plan to not pass along that extra cost that we’ve absorbed. We’re doing the best we can, really =)
Oh I understand, just trying to brainstorm 🙂 Thanks for adding more sample packs… I’m so excited about that! I know some sites have a “pick your own” pack and allow you to pick from a list they’ve put together. Do you think BB might have something like this when introducing the new packs? Thanks!
Most fragrances that are made these days are Phthalate Free but if you email customer service we can email you a list of our phthalate free fragrances or check on any specific fragrances for you. We’re happy to give you any information you need.
Putting the info on the site is a great suggestion.
You can email info(at)brambleberry(dot)com
Courtney from Bramble Berry
I think the 2 ounce bottles are awesome; it just enough FO for me to make a small batch soap and other B&B prodcuts ( bath bombs, body butters, etc)to my customers limited edtions.
My only request is, if you could starting listing if the FO is Phthalate-Free(my customers demand it) and or if it has CA Prop 65 or CA listables ingredits.
Sherene
Sherene, Send us an email at info (at) brambleberry (dot) com and we’ll get you the phthalate-free list.
Putting the full list up on the site is definitely on the Programming To-Do list but we need to finish coding our mobile site for our customers with smart phones and then we’ll start tackling some of the other awesome ideas our customers and customer service team have.
I’m mainly an M&P soaper (going to try my first CP batch within the next few days) and I have been preferring to buy the 1 oz. bottles from Brambleberry because they’re more than enough for my 2.5 lb batches. One of the things that has set Brambleberry apart from other FO sellers is that they have the smaller 1 oz. trial size which is perfect for my soaping needs (I’m on limited funds). And while I do plan on taking advantage of the sniff samples, it will take some guess work to see how the FO will react in the different mediums without being forced to buy a larger size than I’m used to. I’d be afraid to buy something I ended up not liking and have a huge amount of it leftover for who knows what!
That being said, you are making valid points from your business stand-point on making the change to the larger size bottles. But one of the big reasons why I started buying from Brambleberry was because it was more tailored to the hobby soaper and was very accessible for those of us just “testing the waters” of soaping, so to speak 😀 Well, it definitely got me hooked!
Maybe there could be a compromise of sorts and you can sell the FOs in the 2 oz. bottles and sell your sampler kit FOs in the 1 oz. bottles?
Thanks for your feedback, Tamra. There have been so may great suggestions so far. I’m glad you’ll be trying out our new sniffy sample program =)
Courtney from Bramble Berry
I agree with Amy, I use 1 oz. all the time in my 4lb batches and it is defiantly strong enough. I like having a lot of variety around, and like buying small quantities of fragrances to play with. I can’t really afford to buy 2 oz. all the time. Maybe you can still offer your most popular fragrances in 1 oz bottles.
That is fantastic that you are getting 1 oz. to scent 4 ounces. Scent is a personal preference thing and I am so glad you’re getting such great value from ours =)
Would it be reasonable to create a forum for us to re-sell the fragrance oils if we find we would not need/want the whole 2 oz? Maybe a swap of some sort? I only use small amounts because I use it in small batches of lotion or liquid soap that I make as I need it.
While I totally love that idea from a legal standpoint, not so much. If we’re hosting it, we’re responsible blah blah blah and I really don’t want to be the arbitrator of disputes from adulterated fragrances or people not getting their stuff. That said, http://www.thedishforum.com/forum/index.php?& has a great swapping/buying selling portion of their site so we don’t even have to recreate the wheel =)
I like the idea; it lets me test the fragrance in a single-bar size in the 12-bar cavity mold, then make a proper batch if I like it and still have some left over to do other products, too.
(I confess I’m more than a little taken aback at people saying 1 oz wasn’t enough to make a 2 lb batch, though – I use 1 oz in 5 lb, and sometimes even that is a little on the strong side. I’d say maybe that’s just a personal quirk of mine, but my customers seem to like that fragrance strength, too, and when I buy other people’s soap I don’t get the impression that it’s FIVE TIMES more strongly scented than mine!)
I do about 1.4 oz. in a 2 pound batch but I like my fragrance sooooooo strong – then again, I work in a fragrance business so that makes sense.
Ha ha =)))
As a beginner, all of my CP soaps are 2 lb batches, so I have been ordering two 1 oz bottles of each scent. Now I only have to order one! And if it keeps costs down then even better!
Keeping the cost down for our customers is our number 1 goal!
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Great idea. I see how it can be unattractive to some, but it’s pretty good in terms of being less wasteful. Plus you get more bang out of your buck. Several people above mentioned using plastic, however, fragrance oils/essential oils and plastic do not go well together. Often times these oils can be corrosive (not sure if its the right word) towards plastic and can actually leech chemicals out of the plastic packaging and potentially damage it if its sitting out a long time. Glass vials are actually the best way to package oils.
Thank you for the info. I just knew that if Anne-Marie stuck with glass it was for good reason. =)
My two cents! I think this is a good way to go! Costs are going up everywhere and this is a customer “careing” choice you have made. Thank you BB!
One ouncers are really not of much use and myself I can’t make a batch of soap with them. Two ounces are perfect for a batch of HP/CP soap batch! I did not know I could request my sample bottle with my order! 🙂 I am gonna remember that next time!
Carole
Love it! For me…one ounce isn’t enough to do much with so 2 ounces is perfect!
Thanks!
Good to know! Lots of people are saying that actually. Very cool =)
I think it’s a great idea! I usually make 2#s of soap at a time and sometimes an ounce isn’t strong enough. I would rather have extra than not enough. The extra can always be layered/combined with other scents.
I would also like to request that people be able to add comments/reviews about your products, like on the WSP website. I’ve ordered several FOs from them that I probably wouldn’t have ordered, but because the reviews were so favorable, I wanted to try them. So far, I haven’t been disappointed. I think this would be a great addition to the BB site as well. 🙂
Thanks for the positive feedback, Linda. I’m glad the sizing will work for your testing batches!
Great suggestion on the customer feedback. I’m not sure if we can add something like that to the site but I’ll talk to the team about it.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
It took the HEART away from my previous post above. Well, I’ll say it again. I HEART THIS NEW IDEA! 😉
I’ve found that I’ve come to know which F.O I like and which I want and usually I order 4oz bottles of them now. I did get one ounce when I thought I’d only use the fragrance oil once…but if we can still request what sample we’d like them that makes it easy to try out new ones. The sample sizes are perfect for 1lb batches of soap so if we don’t like them not a huge lose if I do like them then I know order the bigger size! Overall I think 2oz bottles will be better in the long run.
I this new idea! I’ve been waiting for y’all to add the 2 ounce sizes for a while now. It’s the perfect size for my extra small batch that I use specifically to test out new scents. THANK YOU Bramble Berry!
Love this!! I’ve always thought 1 oz samples are kind of useless.
TY!
Nancy
I’m not happy about the 1 oz sizes being discontinued either, but I do understand having to raise prices due to rising costs.
My problem is that I’m so sensitive to certain smells that I can’t even make soap to sell if I can’t tolerate the fragrance. Chipotle Caramel was the most recent offender. I didn’t feel bad about ordering (and subsequently discarding) a 1 oz bottle that gave me an instant migraine. I’d feel differently about even ordering a 2 oz bottle to find out if the fragrance was tolerable for me to work with.
And thanks for posting the information about both the sample and sniffy programs. That sure was buried on your website. With my sensitivity to scents, I will definitely take advantage of this from now on.
Thanks for understanding our point of view. We’re doing everything we can to avoid raising our prices and genuinely have our customer’s best interest at heart!
I’m glad you’ll be taking advantage of the free sniffy samples. You can always smell before you buy!
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Actually I feel bitter sweet about this 2 oz idea. Sometimes I buy FO out of the product description and then find out it’s not what I expect but because it’s only 1 oz so I don’t mind that much. But now changing to 2 oz definitely will make me think twice about trying out FO based on verbal description. If it’s not what I like I don’t even want to CP it anyway. Then it’ll be an other 2 oz bottle sitting in my cabinet.
Thanks for chiming in, Emily. Don’t forget about the free sniffy sample program we offer. You can always smell before you buy.
And don’t hesitate to call customer service. We love giving our opinions on fragrances if you want some input. The girls in customer service have pretty much sniffed every fragrance in the warehouse.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
I like the idea of the 2 oz bottles, personally. If I want to try a scent, I’ll just drop you a note. I don’t feel forced to pay more–and I have many more uses for a 2 oz recycled bottle. I have a pile of 1 oz bottles that are simply too small for me to make and store custom blends. I love it!
Thank you for bringing up the idea of the Sniffy samples! I hadn’t read about that before, but I will definitely be taking advantage of that offer in the future. I’ve got a list of scents I’m dying to sample. 🙂
This makes me really excited. In my case 1 oz is too small for me to test in cp and all my other product mediums and 4 oz becomes a waste if I don’t like it or it fails in one of my mediums (new company policy). 2 oz is perfect and economical.
Hooray! 2oz is the perfect size for the small batch CP soaper IMO. I can make a loaf with a 1oz size but honestly I prefer stronger scented soap so I usually needed in between 1 and 2 oz to make my small 2-3lb batches. So I am very pleased to hear this!
Fantastic – we’ve really been agonizing what to do about price increases and how to keep things fair and as affordable as we can for our customers and this seems like a good middle ground. Thanks for keeping it positive =))
I only buy 1 oz sizes to try out a fragrance. I make a 1.75lb loaf of soap and a 1 oz is perfect!! DON’T GET RID OF THEM ALLTOGETHER!!!! OR it would be SUPER cool if you offered 1 oz sample packs where we pick which fragrances we want!!!
I love the idea of picking the fragrances we would like to try in the sampler kits ^_^
That’s a great suggestion guys. I’m not sure how that would work on the website but it’s an idea we can definitely talk about with the team.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
You could make a list of available scents for the selected sampler and have us write which scents we would like in the notes section when we check out ^_^
Really like the plastic bags the large Fragrances are in – plstic is so much cheaper to ship and not as fragile. Just sayin’….
The 5 pound bags are definitely a good bang for your buck with the price break and shipping! Those will stick around for a while =)
Courtney from Bramble Berry
This makes sense to me, especially if you will be adding sampler kits to your line. I would love the opportunity to purchase many small samples to see which ones I would like to buy more of.
I love sample packs too but 1/2 oz sizes are too small for me…:(
We are so excited about the new sampler kits. We’re dreaming them up as we speak!
Courtney from Bramble Berry!
I love the idea of the 1oz bottles but rarely use them. I think the 2oz size will, in the long run, be more cost effective for me because they will go into product and not sit on my scent shelf. LOL
(I’m sure you have exhaustively researched this) Just wondering – did you consider plastic bottles? What are the pros and cons of plastic? I imagine the shipping would be less, but could see where they may have their own peccadilloes. =)
Yes, we have done our research on this! Fragrance oils don’t do very well in plastic, in fact, they can actually break down some plastics. This can cause leaks as well as making the fragrance smell funny from the plastic mixing in. Yuck.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Wonderful!
Ounce per ounce, 2 is better than one, and usually cheaper than the 1 oz. anyway.
At least you can make a small loaf with the 2 oz size!
Gotta look on the bright side, right?
Thanks for letting us know!
Exactly – and the bright side is where I like to be! =)
I feel the same way. I feel like you are trying to make more money and now are forgetting the little people who made you what you are today.Forcing us to buy bigger bottle aka more cost.
It’s actually the opposite =) We don’t want to have to raise our pricing on our fabulous customers even though the prices are going up in the industry. We’ve thought long and hard about what to do and this is what we came up with. Remember that it’s a trial run!
We also thought it was a good idea to let our customer’s know about it early instead of just springing it on you guys last minute.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
I buy a 1 oz to see if i like it, i like the 1 oz bottles. I think that we when shopping will add a few 1 oz-ers to try cause they are cheap and it isn’t a waste if we dont like them, but now with 2 oz bottles you will charge more and that added bottle here and there for giggles will end.. I know i wont be buying just to see anymore with 2 oz bottles. My 2 cents worth is bad idea and bad for us people who grab a few extra with each order just to see what its like.. I feel like your forcing us to pay more.
Thank you for your feedback. We really do appreciate it. Fragrance Oil pricing is increasing dramatically in the industry and I wish there was something we could do about it. In an effort to save our customers money in the long run, and not be forced to raise our pricing, we’ve come up with the 2 oz bottle idea. It will save us on labor and packaging, saving you money in the long run too. And remember about the free sample and sniffy samples. Those are always available too!
Courtney from Bramble Berry
I think thats a great idea. Whenever I ordered I always got two of each 1oz I chose. This makes me very happy!
Which makes me very happy too. YAY! =)