There are many that are willing to pay $4 a bar for soap. But it also depends on the area where you are.
I know people in the DC area that buy it constantly at $4 to $5 a bar and believe it to be a real deal for them to get 5 for $15. much the same in other areas. The Grand Rapids area also brings $4 pretty easily.
In the Atlanta burbs, I have somewhat of a tougher tine getting it. I have on occasion, but can get $3 easily. And I know plenty of folks that love the soap and like you say are not willing to pay the price when they can buy (detergent bars) at Wally World for .80 cents a bar.
I am putting somewhere from $1.30 to $1.60 into my bars. Depending on what I'm making. Doubling my money in the sale makes me perfectly happy. But then I come from the school of value based pricing, not todays all the market will bare pricing. Sorry, I don't agree.
Just the same, the folks that are going to buy your soaps are going to be the folks that care about what they put on there skin. They are likely to be the same folks that care about what goes into their bodies too. They are willing to pay more for what they feel to be better for their health than the garbage in many cases, you find on the shelves or from a hidden origin. Usually hidden for a reason.
I don't pinch pennies when I'm making my soaps. I use better than good materials. I don't do organic ingredients, but you certainly can. They are very expensive, but if you have the base for selling them......
I don't use any kind of synthetic ingredients. Most people that are allergic to soaps, are because of those ingredients. No fragrances here. Only essential oils for scent. They can be more challenging, but far better in many ways. Some folks even prefer no scents.
Friday a man ask me for a dozen bars of soap. It doesn't bother him in the least that they are $3 a bar. And I didn't have any problem telling him what was in them and what they cost me to make. I make a product that I feel god about and using. And what I feel is a fair price. Anyone that would expect me to give them away. Needs a brain overhaul! But there are plenty of them too!
Back off on the wax Scads. It makes a bar harder which makes the bar last longer, but to much kills the foam. Slime is the result.
I kinda don't see the point of honey in cold process soap?? Maybe in milled soap, which I haven't played with much. (basically melt and pour, only a thousand times better)