As business owners everyone wants the absolute best price on whatever it is they buy. When buying from a manufacturer there are a handful of things you can do to get the best price. Healthy Solutions customers are always asking about how to get the best price so we thought we’d offer some insight to this commonly asked question.
1. Maximize efficiencies: The easiest way to see a dramatic reduction in the cost per bottle is to order a larger quantity. While many people assume that because they are buying more the manufacturer is willing to give them a better price. The truth of it is that there is a number of fixed cost associated with manufacturing a batch of lotion. You of course have the cost of the ingredients, but you also have the cost of microbiological and identity testing of each ingredient, the labor cost to weigh-out each ingredient, the labor/overhead cost to clean & sanitize the blending room and equipment, the labor/overhead cost of cleaning & sanitizing the packaging room and equipment etc… There’s more than the aforementioned involved but for the sake of argument lets assume that’s it. So say for example the cost of those items totals 1,000. If you order 1,000 bottles you have $1.00 per bottle of fixed cost. If you order 2,000 bottles it’s only $.50 per bottle and so on. Using this scenario you can easily see why ordering a larger quantity reduces your cost.
2. Use less ingredients: a similar scenario plays out when dealing with a large # of ingredients. Of course each ingredient ads a certain amount of cost to a lotion. However, consider the fixed costs reduction by having 1 less raw mater microbiological test, 1 less raw material receiving and QC process, 1 less raw material to weigh-out, blend etc.. While the cost reduction isn’t as significant as #1 there is some savings here.
3. Amount of Ingredients: Some ingredients are very costly. Ask your manufacturer for data detailing what % of the total cost each ingredient accounts for. If you see an ingredient that is really driving the price ask if there is a similar, less costly ingredient that may be substituted or reduce the amount of that ingredient in the formula.
Healthy Solutions is a lotion manufacturer who understands the need to produce products within a certain budget. Our experienced formulators and chemist will work with you to achieve whatever targets you have.