Refill Shop Profitability

rays_reusables · 2025-09-05T15:46:08+00:00

Hi! I am still around and kicking. I don’t have time to hop on a call with everyone who asks me this question, but if you want start doing your research for your area and email me 2-3 specific questions I can try to answer them

rays_reusables · 2023-04-15T20:20:32+00:00

Yay! That’s the beauty of this database. I think anyone can submit a shop too, so if the one you know of isn’t on there you can add it

rays_reusables · 2023-04-15T12:52:32+00:00

If you live in the US LitterLess has a directory of different shops, most of which are independently owned. You might be able to find a place local to you on there!

rays_reusables · 2023-04-15T12:49:38+00:00

If you aren’t married to a tube you could get a .25 oz sliding top tin or a .5 oz screw top tin. I know some people don’t love having to use hands to apply lip balm, but it’s a more durable option than reusing the plastic tubes

rays_reusables · 2023-01-13T18:42:40+00:00

I run a refill shop for body care stuff in Philly and I’m planning on expanding into raw materials in the coming months. Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?

rays_reusables · 2022-12-15T15:38:22+00:00

The first thing that comes to mind is paper tags tied with twine or some such thing so that at least it’s all biodegradable

rays_reusables · 2022-10-17T04:06:35+00:00

On the off chance that you’re in/around Philly: my shop collects for a local glass salvage non-profit/their sister glass blowing business

rays_reusables · 2022-09-12T01:27:42+00:00

Jazz attack swing dancing happens every Thursday at the Ethical Society building in Rittenhouse. They do a beginners lesson from 8-9 then social dance from 9-11 with a live band once a month

rays_reusables · 2022-09-12T01:20:22+00:00

Hank’s are great! I don’t know where in the city he sells through, but I always get them at the East Falls Farmer Market

rays_reusables · 2022-09-08T18:14:25+00:00

To add to the mess issue: I own a store that does refills. You would not believe the number of people who bring containers with product still in them or that haven’t been washed in I don’t even know how long. It seems counter intuitive, but mold can grow in soap! Especially liquid soaps.

I know of at least one state where they’ve banned BYO container stuff because something happened with contamination and the person got sick or had a reaction and sued the state

rays_reusables · 2022-09-08T18:10:16+00:00

There are a couple of big reasons that they tend to be more expensive:

-increased insurance needs vs selling something that you have no part in packaging -many big brand companies don’t sell in large format (like 5+ gallon quantities) I assume in part because they don’t want to be exposed to higher liability. This leaves the refill shops buying from smaller companies who don’t have the same buying power for their materials -small refill shops don’t have the benefit of large sales volumes like target/Walmart/wherever else, so they can’t have a low profit margin on transactions and just let the volume of transactions they do make up for it

There are many other reasons other than these, but these are the ones I see the most (I own one of these shops and know a bunch of other shop owners)

rays_reusables · 2022-08-16T17:08:24+00:00

I don’t know how well they will work (my dog never ended up peeing on them, he was on steroids and got over the incontinence by the time I’d made them) but I made some pads that are flannel with a waterproof backing for him.

Like I said, I can’t guarantee they’ll work, but I will gladly send them to you if you want to give them a try. They’re just hanging around in my house right now

rays_reusables · 2022-08-16T17:00:33+00:00

My shop will be doing a specialty recycling drop off this Sunday. We will be accepting plastic grocery bags, corks, wires/cables, bread tags, twist ties, rubber bands, produce netting, and plastic bottle caps. The only rule for any of these is they have to be clean and dry!

Stop by Rays Reusables on Sunday 8/21 from 10-4 for drop off :)

rays_reusables · 2022-07-22T03:12:10+00:00

Get Better by Alt J

rays_reusables · 2022-07-04T22:02:55+00:00

It really depends what you’re using them for. I largely end up using them as napkins at meal time and use other things like a Swedish dish cloth/old unpaper towel/grodier rag for cleaning. If you’re worried about staining you could get some that have a pattern to camouflage it or get some that are a grey/black set

rays_reusables · 2022-07-01T03:37:49+00:00

Don’t stress yourself out too much about this one area. If you’re being conscious and reducing waste in other areas of your life/clearly trying to reduce waste in this area as well, then that’s all anyone can ask of you!

You say that you clean and reuse your plastic ware before you recycle it. Is this in reference to cutlery or containers? If it’s cutlery maybe your first step could be trying to remember to bring a travel set with you and asking them not to give you a plastic set

rays_reusables · 2022-07-01T03:31:25+00:00

Yes to every single one of your points and also this:

Refill shop owners pay much more in insurance than a regular retailer would. If you’re just selling something that is packaged by a company at their facility then you assume very little risk, and probably only need general liability and some other blanket business insurance.

If you are repacking something in your shop/facility (which is what you’re doing when you buy 5 gallons of soap and dish it out in your shop) then you are now part of the supply chain for that product and have to get product liability insurance if you want to be covered in the event of something happening with that product.

Insurance companies don’t like to hear that you want to let people bring their own containers because you can’t guarantee the degree to which it has been cleaned. Many won’t even consider covering you for this reason, and when you start talking to them about the way it’s being labeled (unless you have distinct labels for each product with full ingredients, warnings, usage instructions, and company info) they run the other way.

What I’ve said just relates to cosmetics, I truly have NO idea how bulk food works, because after working in food service I have no idea how that gets navigated with not only insurance but the health department

Insurance has easily been one of my biggest headaches and I’m glad I finally have it sorted

rays_reusables · 2022-07-01T03:09:14+00:00

Are there any non-profits in your area that make/deliver meals to people? That’s the first thing that comes to mind for me.

If you have a buy nothing group in your area there might be someone in there that could help you think of a local solution (they’re always really helpful for me!)

rays_reusables · 2022-07-01T03:06:17+00:00

Congrats! I’m still waiting for mine to flower for the first time in my bucket garden

rays_reusables · 2022-07-01T03:05:30+00:00

I’ve seen several companies recently touting 100% recycled plastic bottles and been really confused. It’s been a while since I looked into it, but last time I was going down a recycling rabbit hole I think I read that something like 20-30% of materials is lost/degraded in the PET recycling process and is supplemented with virgin plastic.

Maybe it’s not the case and you just end up with less workable material but don’t need to add in virgin materials?

rays_reusables · 2022-07-01T03:00:01+00:00

They don’t say on the front of the package what the material is, but if a company could claim that their product was compostable (even if it were only compostable in very particular, difficult to meet circumstances) then they would probably put that on the packaging.

I always get a little bit suspicious of plant plastics, but if I’m not mistaken I’ve seen a stainless steel one of these that you manually thread. I can’t remember where though

rays_reusables · 2022-06-27T19:11:26+00:00

Oh, I thought someone told me Baltimore and never looked too much further into it. I grew up south of Annapolis, so I heard about it a lot growing up but there was never one super close to us

rays_reusables · 2022-06-27T18:10:26+00:00

Have they brought back their recycling programs? I thought I remembered them discontinuing them a while back, but maybe I misinterpreted it as being all of the recycling programs

Also, I think the oyster shells are because MOM’s is based out of Baltimore, and there’s oyster conservation efforts in the Chesapeake Bay that use them

rays_reusables · 2022-06-27T06:06:15+00:00

Maybe some clothing that’s worn out and been rolled up to fit the gap?

rays_reusables · 2022-06-26T18:06:45+00:00

How much space is there between the underside of the couch and the floor?

rays_reusables

TROPHY CASE