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Keep Promoting Soap Shoes
May 16, 2006 by broox

Alright yall. Soap just saw a recent increase in sales. Keep up the promo. The plans are currently to just keep producing the few styles they are producing... but if it starts to get bigger maybe we can start pushing for more models again.

Here's an email I just got from Soap, "I wanted to inform you all that we are in fact receiving more business now in SOAP. While we do not plan on bringing on any new styles we do plan on continuing to make more due to the demand. We expect them to be in stores by late August, early September. This is great news! Thanks for all that you do, keep up the great work!"
Comments

May 17, 2006 Wesker

It's good to know that all these years of promoting is going somewhere, I am so happy.

May 17, 2006 SapAuthor

Woot! See? It's not impossible, we are making a difference. And everyone do their part, meaning spread the word, show off a bit and tell people how much fun they are and HELP THEM GET A PAIR!!! A fan of mine wanted ones and I found him a pair, take some time to invest in everyone. I'll talk with SOAP About the advertising page on my site, get it coordinated for the big announcement to my fans about being able to get them, plus i'll start making some vids once my pair comes in. Do the same if possible, tell people about it! This is an opening most of the people here have been waiting for for a while, let's not waste it!

May 17, 2006 Surfaced

I'm surprised we're getting a reaction. This is great.

May 17, 2006 Curtinator

Yes I wonder if anyone from my city bought soap shoes cause I did a lot about spreading the word.

May 17, 2006 AnthoFlex

YEa! we're keeping the name alive! Soaps are the sickest shit ever

May 17, 2006 Sugarfree

How are they recieving more business if they don't have any shoes in stores? The only place you can find em is ebay.

May 17, 2006 Surfaced

Online retailers. EBay is not the only way.

May 17, 2006 SapAuthor

They really need to go online themselves, they would make so much more money if only they sold them from their own store. Don't need to pay for shipping or all that stuff, plus if there's only a couple soapers in an area to begin with, the retail store may not want to carry them and then those couple are up a creek. Going online would allow them to reach EVERYONE with low cost and a larger marginal profit.

May 17, 2006 AnthoFlex

YEa sapauthor, i agree, well put... When i first tried looking for soaps, i was disapointed when they werent selling ONLINE DIRECTLY from THEIR site....that was disappointing...

May 22, 2006 broox

I actually tried to become a retailer to sell them right here on solidgrind once. they said that all retailers must have a physical store. they don't just sell to online retailers...

and since i don't want to turn my house into a storefront... i cannot sell them here.

just fyi.

May 22, 2006 Mart

How come they don't want to supply online retailers? Surely that removes a huge sales potential seeing as the word on Soap Shoes is pretty much exclusively web-based?

May 22, 2006 broox

they like online retailers for sure. but for some reason they want a physical store front as well. if i had some kind of office that i could "sell" soap's out of, i'm sure it would be cool.

i don't know why they go that route, but i'm sure there's a logical reason. if it were me, i would let anyone sell my prod.

May 22, 2006 Mart

That doesn't make a great deal of sense to me... surely with Soap's popularity not so great at the moment, and the very obvious online community, generating sales online would boost sales and retailer interest? No one wants to stock a product that won't sell, but if hesitant retailers see sales picking up through online stores then they may see that it'd be worth stocking the product themselves.

If you want to sell a product, you'll sell it wherever the market is for that product; if you want to sell t-shirts for a rock band, you'll sell them at their concerts. If you want to sell ice-cream, you'll sell it in the hot sun where there's alot of people. No sensible business waits for their customers to come to them, they set up shop in a position where their product will generate the greatest number of sales, and for Soap, that position is not in stores, it's online.

If Soap's sales and marketing executives took a look at eBay, they'd see that pretty much every pair of Soap Shoes on there sells. Independant sellers are making a killing from selling off old stock. Shoes are going for more than $100 a pair; if the online market isn't there then why are people paying through the nose for a product that, allegedly, doesn't justify a web-based sales approach? The answer is simple. The presence of the Soap Shoe brand over the internet is massive and Soap are simply not exploiting this enormous potential; people are driven to eBay because they cannot find the product elsewhere.

The growth of the Soap brand, and any brand for that matter, is in the hands of the market force. If HSL and Soap want their product to grow then the online potential absolutely must be embraced.

May 22, 2006 SapAuthor

I totally agree with Mart. I think the reason that they need a physical store should not hold back markets like selling on here, nor just soap selling them themselves. Heck they could just have them on ebay as buy it nows only, some stores do that. Set hte buy it now price at what they want, and wait for them to sell.

May 22, 2006 Mart

eBay is a terrible place to sell your product if you're a large company like HSL/Soap. These companies already have sales and marketing departments for a reason; they forge contacts with real retail companies and sell their products through them. eBay is a good place for a small business to sell their products, but the costs incurred are ridiculous when compared to the margins that professional, 'real' businesses work to

May 22, 2006 broox

thanks mart. and to everyone else, any constructive comments you can make here are definitely welcomed.

folks from HSL may be checking them out.

May 22, 2006 SapAuthor

I guess ur right, Mart. But still, setting up a click and brick store isn't the hardest thing, like i said my friend does programming for all that, and knows how to link the physical inventory systems to the site and all that jargon. Doing this though would definitelly strenghten Soaps ability to hit the target market all around, it's basically gaurenteeing them a larger margin and more sales directly.

May 22, 2006 Mart

You're missing the point Trevor; it's not about how easy it would be to do, it's about whether Soap regard it as worth the initial investment.

I think the key here is for Soap to realise that the current market for their product is online. If they conduct some web-based market research I think it'd help them to see that, if they made their products available through more online retailers sales would pick up, which would allow the brand to sustain itself for a while longer and hopefully help generate some money towards developing new models

May 22, 2006 Wesker

You figure they'd get the hint since Soap shoes haven't been sold through stores in a long time.

May 24, 2006 SapAuthor

^ I agree with him. Plus, retailers can get kind of anal about things, if they dont' sell a bunch they complain and all that jive. Going online means no worry about over stocking or understocking, plus, for online retailers they can simply say "Hey Soap, located at ordered a pair of . Then soap can sell the online place that shoe and ship it or whatever they want.

May 24, 2006 soapman

Hey SapAuthor go to the forum called chat room so we can talk! I have to ask you for your opinoin.

May 24, 2006 Mart

Uuuh, online retailers still have to deal with stock levels and sales figures like any other retailer. An online retailer isn't going to buy in a load of stock of Soaps if they don't think they'll sell, and will be just as 'anal' about the situation, as you put it

'Hey Soap, located at ordered a pair of . Then soap can sell the online place that shoe and ship it or whatever they want' - Are you suggesting that retailers could e-mail Soap with every order they take, and get Soap to ship each pair individually to the retailer? That would be an horrifically expensive way of conducting business

May 24, 2006 Louis

they'd be losing money if they did that, unless they increased the price by a huge margin

May 25, 2006 SapAuthor

that's true, but what i should have said is they can order a smaller amount, and reorder faster when they run out.

Jul 16, 2006 Tatacker

Main thing I am questioning about...

Is the upcoming production of the same styles going to be from Heely's SOAP line, or from SOAP itself? *really wants to get his first pair*

But I'm glad these will come back in a nice stock. That way, it won't be as hard to obtain one online in my shoe size.

Jul 16, 2006 AnthoFlex

There is no "Heely's Soap" line....what do you mean?

Jul 16, 2006 Tatacker

http://www.solidgrind.com/shoes/heelys/

SOAP's from Heely's, I guess? I don't know the exact term for it, really.

I really want to try them, as I found out about them recently. *was around 7 years old and not very athletic at the time*

Gah. Hopefully, I don't get burned with flame messages now. >_

Jul 16, 2006 broox

Heelys makes shoes with grindplates, they're not called a Soap line though - just heelys with grindplates.

Just FYI, the same company that owns Heelys (HSL) also owns Soap.

Jul 16, 2006 Tatacker

^ Ah, thanks. I'm still confused whether what will be released, though.
Either Heely's with grindplates, or Soap's like Scorcher etc etc.

Man, I feel like an idiot now. ._.!

Jul 16, 2006 Rick

The Soaps that are being put back into production are the models with the cemented on grind plate that HSL put out after they purchased the company from In-Stride (as far as I know). None of the old models with the removable plates are being produced.

Jul 16, 2006 Tatacker

^ Ah, okay. I really do not want a wheel on these new coming ones. >_<

But, I'm excited either way.

Jul 16, 2006 Rick

There won't be a wheel. The only things that the Soaps and Heelys will have in common is the grind plate and the parent company. No wheels on the "new" Soaps.

Jul 16, 2006 Mart

HSL, the company that makes Heelys, also owns Soap Shoes. The Soap Shoes that Heely make are the ones that they are putting out again this September; Heelys are already widely available, and no old Soap Shoe models will be made because HSL do not manufacture these shoes, and never have done

Jul 28, 2006 Tatacker

Hm. Anyone know for sure which models are to be released?

Jul 28, 2006 AnthoFlex

HSL told me the Express......but i think the Nitros as well

Jul 29, 2006 Tatacker

Hm... Replaceable, or not?

Well, I'll be happy either way. :D

Jul 29, 2006 AnthoFlex

HSL has only been making non-removable plate grind shoes....as well as Heelys....They have their ups and downs though:

UPs:

Light
Fast
Very Durable
Very Good lock-on
Pretty Damn Stylish

DOWNS:

They arent replaceable! lol
The side usually cracks after awhile (hey it happened to me and a few other people said it)

If anyone wants to add to this, be my guest
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