A refill product the maker controls
In Salt Lake County, BLS counts 38 soap and personal-care makers and 272 food makers. A brand that makes what it ships controls its own refill timing and cost, which is the input a cycle-pricing plan needs.
Salt Lake City: a maker economy and cycle pricing for refill products
Salt Lake County is a place where products get made. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 36 establishments in medicinal and botanical manufacturing there in 2025 (NAICS 325411), 130 in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing as a whole, 38 making soap, cleaning compounds and toilet preparations, and 272 in food manufacturing. Those are manufacturing counts, so they say nothing about how any of those companies sell, but a refill product is the kind of thing a maker can ship on a schedule. Salt Lake City has 218,428 residents in the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate, and the Utah Tax Commission's April 1, 2026 chart lists an 8.45 percent combined rate for it. This page puts those figures next to a subscription cycle-pricing plan for refill products.
A cycle-pricing plan for a refill subscription
- Before you price the first box
Work out the margin on a refill. Salt Lake County has a base of manufacturers, but a maker's margin is its own: take the unit cost, the packaging and the shipping, and set the first-box price from what remains.
- Set the cycle prices
Use one price for the first delivery and a different, stable price for the following ones. The Subscription cycle pricing template is described as different prices for each delivery of a subscription, with the example 20 percent off the first box, then a flat amount off.
- Before you quote the total
Say that tax is added at checkout. The Tax Commission's April 1, 2026 chart lists Salt Lake City at 8.45 percent, so a 100 dollar taxable refill box carries 8.45 dollars of tax, and the chart is replaced on a quarterly schedule, so recheck it each quarter.
Source: Utah State Tax Commission: Combined Sales and Use Tax Rates, April 1, 2026 (Internet Archive copy)
- Keep the copy factual
Describe the product, the delivery cycle and the price. Do not add claims about what the product does for the person using it, and show the cycle prices next to the offer so no one has to guess what the second box costs.
- Each quarter
Read the retention of each box, not only the first sale. Compare the second and third deliveries with the first, and raise or lower the later-cycle price from what the numbers show.
Build it with the Subscription cycle pricing template.
Requires: Pro plan or higher.
Offer ideas for Salt Lake City
Read the counts for what they are
The 2025 figures count establishments and employees by what they make: 36 in medicinal and botanical manufacturing and 130 in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing. They say nothing about how the products are sold, so use them as context for the plan and not as proof of demand.
Describe the product, not a result
A refill offer in this category is easy to word as a promise about what the product does for the customer. Keep the copy to the product, the cycle and the price, and leave any claim about effects out of the banner.
Source:
Questions merchants ask
- How many makers are there in Salt Lake County?
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2025 annual data counts 36 private establishments in medicinal and botanical manufacturing (NAICS 325411), 130 in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing, 38 in soap, cleaning compound and toilet preparation manufacturing and 272 in food manufacturing. These are counts by what is made, not by how it is sold.
- What is the sales tax rate in Salt Lake City?
- The Utah State Tax Commission's combined rate chart in effect as of April 1, 2026 lists 8.45 percent for Salt Lake City. The Commission publishes new charts each quarter, so confirm the rate for an address with the Commission; this is not tax advice.
- What is subscription cycle pricing?
- In Freebies Engine by Log Studio Lab it means different prices for each delivery of a subscription, such as a lower price on the first box and a steady price after that.
Related reading
Where Salt Lake City sits
Salt Lake County has a measurable base of manufacturers in medicinal, botanical, personal care and food categories, which makes a refill subscription a natural offer for a direct-to-consumer brand that makes the product it ships.
Facts and sources
BLS counted 36 private establishments, 291 employees and 25,814,900 dollars of total annual wages in medicinal and botanical manufacturing (NAICS 325411) in Salt Lake County in 2025, and calculated a location quotient of 4.45 for establishments against the national figure.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 annual, Salt Lake County, Utah, private ownership (accessed October 10, 2026)
In the same 2025 data, pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing (NAICS 3254) had 130 private establishments and 2,364 employees in Salt Lake County.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 annual, Salt Lake County, Utah, private ownership (accessed October 10, 2026)
Soap, cleaning compound and toilet preparation manufacturing (NAICS 3256) had 38 private establishments and 415 employees in Salt Lake County in 2025.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 annual, Salt Lake County, Utah, private ownership (accessed October 10, 2026)
Food manufacturing (NAICS 311) had 272 private establishments and 7,044 employees in Salt Lake County in 2025.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 annual, Salt Lake County, Utah, private ownership (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Utah State Tax Commission's combined sales and use tax rate chart in effect as of April 1, 2026 lists Salt Lake City (location code 18-122) at 8.45 percent, with a 4.85 percent state rate, and Salt Lake County at 7.45 percent.
Utah State Tax Commission: Combined Sales and Use Tax Rates, April 1, 2026 (Internet Archive copy) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate puts the population of Salt Lake City at 218,428, the largest of any Utah city in the same file, ahead of West Valley City at 137,491.
U.S. Census Bureau: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places (Vintage 2025, SUB-EST2025) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Census Bureau's 2025 Gazetteer lists Salt Lake City with 110.891 square miles of land and 0.449 square miles of water.
U.S. Census Bureau: 2025 Gazetteer Files, Places, Utah (accessed October 10, 2026)
Not tax advice. Confirm current rules with the state revenue department before you rely on a date or an exemption.
Run the Salt Lake City plan in Freebies Engine by Log Studio Lab.
Requires: Pro plan or higher.