Another Wicket falls: Tim's Soap

someone did mention all bad things happen in three's
well here is Tim's Soap notice on his website



THE END OF THE LINE


What a ride the last couple of years have been. What started as a tiny batch of peach-scented soap for a friend became an adventure much greater than I could have imagined, and I have enjoyed it thoroughly.

Having said that, the time has come to suspend soapmaking operations here. I have quite a bit of stock on hand, but once it’s gone, it’s gone. This has been a difficult decision for me to make, but it is the right one, for a variety of reasons.

I want to say thank you to my customers, friends, and family for the support you have given me in this little venture. I saw my soap for sale at Maggard Razors and Shave Revolution and Italian Barber and several other shave shops. I shipped soaps to Pasteur Pharmacy, a mecca of American wetshaving and the first brick-and-mortar shop I ever visited with any kind of true wetshaving supplies. I shipped soap to Israel, Australia, Greece…. Little moments of magic, each and every one.

I’m honored by the great reviews and kind words so many of you have offered up. I hope that all of the folks who have bought my soaps continue to enjoy them for many more shaves. And who knows? Perhaps eventually circumstances will allow me to pick up where I’m leaving off. Or maybe the odd batch of Ghostface Nilla or Greek Peach will find its way into the world.

For now, though, it’s the end of the line. Thanks again, all.

I can't say I'm surprised by the weeks past announcements. We have been spoiled the last couple years with some great soap makers. It's a shame that these businesses can't stay open. I've used all three soap makers that are closing and they all made a great product. 

I hope they are able to move on to bigger and better things. I will enjoy the limited stock I have of these soap makers

I know Strope Shoppe and now Tim's. Whos the 3rd?

(03-01-2016, 12:06 PM)FreddieP318ti Wrote: I know Strope Shoppe and now Tim's. Whos the 3rd?

Knockout Shave

I wonder how much the pressure to keep up with documentation contributed to the recent announcements.

I'm not familiar with soap or cosmetics, but in food we're seeing whole new jobs and departments created over the last few years just to keep up with paperwork. 

I do recall reading somewhere that there is or was proposed regulations similar to the food industry to be applied to artisan products like soap and lotions.

Fully supported by our friends in big business of course.

If you have to pay to play and spend more time and money having paperwork done to conform to rules than you do actually making and selling products, it can be daunting. The cost of entry must be enormous.

I wonder what the cost is to have one ingredient legend written correctly and verified.

I don't know at what level the paperwork and technicalities take over, but it has to be low. 

Obviously many factors at play besides that though.

Sad to hear when someone has to close their business and I hope the best of luck to them.

Sad, I never got to try their stuff. Wish him best of luck.

It's truly unfortunate that small artisan companies decide to stop their businesses, but I'm not surprised too. There are too many artisan companies that the market can't handle the oversupply. That's how things work sometimes. Only the big fishes survive usually and that's not always bad for the consumer from many perspectives. My guess is that this is only the beginning of the end of an era. The last year I've seen too many new artisan companies, almost every month I read about a new one, which produces another great product that is recommended to try. Well, how many good products can an average consumer buy? I think this is a question that all of us should ask ourselves.

(03-01-2016, 02:26 PM)nikos.a Wrote:

It's truly unfortunate that small artisan companies decide to stop their businesses, but I'm not surprised too. There are too many artisan companies that the market can't handle the oversupply. That's how things work sometimes. Only the big fishes survive usually and that's not always bad for the consumer from many perspectives. My guess is that this is only the beginning of the end of an era. The last year I've seen too many new artisan companies, almost every month I read about a new one, which produces another great product that is recommended to try. Well, how many good products can an average consumer buy? I think this is a question that all of us should ask ourselves.

I keep asking myself that question every time I look in my cabinet where I keep my soaps.  I wonder how I'm ever going to use it all as I've already sold so much and given at least 20 soaps and creams away.  Its not that I dislike them all but I actually just get overwhelmed at times.   It is unfortunate that some good soaps will fall but on the other hand....

I'm especially sad to see Tim close his doors.  I followed his early posts on another forum about his research and experiments in soapmaking and I did beta testing for him on several occasions.  He has always looked for better ways to make soap and I thought his product was especially good.

That said, there has been a groundswell of artisan soapmakers producing great soaps and I still think the future of traditional wetshaving may rest upon their efforts.  At the same time, I agree that we have more artisan soapmakers that we can reasonably support.

   - Murray

Sad to hear. Tim is one of the good guys. I'll especially miss his Edwardian Lime. Class act, through and through.

Only one I have is Blue Suit, but the scent is awesome.

I know most of us came to wetshaving for a better regimen and the idea of saving money. We all achieved the first and the second-well.....
There is a thriving aftermarket of PIFs, samples, buying and selling or trading  product for several reasons. My collection is nothing compared
to many. Yet the few people who've intruded on my  inner sanctum all comment  'how much stuff do you need to shave'? The answer could
be none and I can easily justify MORE. Dragging a disposable like a weed harrow and nurturing a Bonsai are both horticulture.
But I disagree on 'market saturation' or the political mantra of interfering government regulations  leading to some whimper following the Big Bang
of vendors. TSN just reached 6000 members and we have new introductions daily. People once dismissed the artisan beer making industry. In case
anyone noticed. Budweiser hasn't shown their Clydesdales at the Rose Parade for 2 years and my recycling center's automatic scanners reject some  new, crazy labeled ale with Rasputin or fornicating buffalos on the label every week.
I know all of us reach a point of saturation for our circumstances. Things like food do intrude; although arctic explorers were known to eat tallow candles and soap to survive. I don't think we are at the point of exchanging MWF soup recipes. But when we do buy, buy wisely. Support the folks
who support this community.

Thing is for artisan beers, it's something you can consume once a week or fortnightly.

For a soap it can last anywhere 2-3 months.

Edit: you can always sell a used shave soap at a loss. I don't believe there's a used market for beers though. 

So churning is much higher for beer rather than soap

R.I.P. Tim's soap 

Being a big fan of Tim's Soaps this comes as sad news.  I agree that the artisan market may be a bit overcrowded, and the business model for a product that comes at a relatively low cost and lasts a relatively long time does not leave a great deal of room for profit or short range sustainability.

There is one additional aspect of the small artisan that hasn't been touched on yet.  And that is one of TIME.  Having owned several small business's as full time operations the time it takes to run a profitable business when that is your only career is daunting.  What we see with the small artisans is that their soap business is a side business.  They work all day at their chosen profession and then have their nights and weekends filled with making soap, marketing, shipping, and administrating their artisan business.  The time left for family and other activities is minimal.

Starting a business is an incredibly exciting time, however with the start up business's I have had the opportunity to work with they almost always underestimate the amount of time required, sacrifices they will have to make, and amount of money it will take for low or non existing return on investment for a very long time.

One day they wake up, look at the sacrifices they have to make to be in business, add up the profits (or lack thereof), and make the determination that time and effort required for minimal reward just isn't worth it.

I have no idea if this is the scenario for Tim's Soap and the others that have fallen.  This is just my opinion from the outside looking in, and an additional viewpoint.

I wish Tim all the best.

kav is on point re: beer industry. This has to be a good "mantra" for artisans everywhere. I am sorry to hear about Tim's. It is time to play Blind Faith's "Had to Cry Today"

(03-01-2016, 04:29 PM)Devilanche Wrote: Thing is for artisan beers, it's something you can consume once a week or fortnightly.

For a soap it can last anywhere 2-3 months.

Edit: you can always sell a used shave soap at a loss. I don't believe there's a used market for beers though. 

So churning is much higher for beer rather than soap

I've thought about that before when it takes so long to consume a soap.  It's been a real eye-opening experience for me solely using Tabac every day since October 1st.  Today will mark my 150th shave on this triple-milled soap and I estimate I have about five weeks left at my current consumption rate.

Given how slowly I am using soap, it is going to take me a long time to get around to trying some other artisans.

One mistake many artisans make (in my opinion) is they have too many scents and play around with their formula and packaging too much. In my experience, this does not sell more soap but does create an inventory problem. MWF and Tabac do just fine with just one scent. There is no need to offer 25 different scents.

One of the TED talks is about this topic of too many offerings. The speaker went into a supermarket and saw 400 mustards.