International shipping scams, part 2

Since I published my initial blog post about international/overseas shipping scams around six months ago, the number of people who've read it and responded has been greater than anything else I've ever posted.  It hasn't made any difference in the number of scam e-mails I continue to receive, but it has helped spread awareness, and it's provided a resource for people who get e-mails just like these and wonder whether they're legitimate.

Just for the heck of it, here are a few more of them.  (You might want to read my post International Shipping Scams first for background on how these scams work, how the scammers make money on them, and what some tell-tale signs of an international shipping scam e-mail are.)

Customer #1:

Subject:   inquiry
From: "ARLIN SCHNEIDER" (scharlin8@gmail.com)
Date: Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:54 am
To: info@edgewatersoaps.com

Hello Sales
         I would like to order for a product from your store to mine  in Australia .so let me know if can ship down to Australia so that i can email you the product i am interested in.also payment will be done via credit card details if you do accept that let me know so that i can place my order and the Items will be picked Up by my shipping Company at you store , please Get back to me so that i can email you the items i am interested . Address:50/60 Norcal Road Warburton, Victoria Australia 3799 Phone (+03 ) 5967 3590 Fax (+03 ) 9873 7432

best regard,
Director
Bravo Group Company 

I didn't respond to Arlin, but I thought that including a shipping address PLUS a phone and fax number in his e-mail was a very nice touch, as was the signature "Director, Bravo Group Company."

As before, note that Arlin conveniently has a shipping company that will handle pick-up and delivery.  Also note the e-mail address: scharlin8@gmail.com.  Doesn't it seem a little odd that a "company director" doesn't have a corporate e-mail address?  Like "aschneider@bravogroup.com" or something?  Just sayin' ...

And what "product" would he like to order?  He doesn't say.  That's because the only thing he's interested in right now is finding out whether I'm going to take the bait and respond.  Nothing else matters. Yet.

Customer #2:

Subject:  INTERNATIONAL ORDER INQUIRY 
From: "Robert Jones" (ogregg1@gmail.com)
Date: Mon, May 20, 2013 5:09 pm
To: info@edgewatersoaps.com

Hello,

I want to place an international order from your company to my store in the Netherlands. I want to know if you can ship internationally and accept credit card as a form of payment? I Eagerly await to read back from you soon. Thank you and God bless you

De-Crown Store
Robert Jones

Again, note that in this case, the e-mail address ogregg1@gmail.com has absolutely no connection to either the supposed sender name, Robert Jones, or the supposed store name, De-Crown Store. (My guess is that ogregg1@gmail.com is an address for an account that's been hacked, but I won't pursue that here.)

Customer #3:

Subject:  international order
From: "theresa stores" (theresastores@gmail.com)
Date: Sat, Jun 01, 2013 7:25 am
To: info@edgewatersoaps.com

Hello,
How're you?I want to place an international order from your company to our store in Amsterdam,The Netherlands.I want to know if you can ship internationally and accept credit card as a form of payment?I'd love you to reply me back and we can proceed further Eagerly await to read back from you and we can proceed Thank you and God bless you. Yours
Theresa Gullit (Mrs).

theresastores@AnyFreeEmailAccountProvider.com is another common ploy these scammers use to convey the impression that you are being contacted by an actual store owner.  You or I or anyone else could create a free gmail or hotmail or yahoo mail account using just about anything with "stores" tacked onto it, and have what appears to be a business e-mail address.  That doesn't mean it is, of course.  Just that it appears to be.

My response

Being more than a little annoyed that I received almost identical scam e-mails from both Robert and Theresa less than two weeks apart (and being particularly annoyed that both scam e-mails said "Thank you and God bless you" -- scammers have NO shame), I e-mailed both of them back with the same message.  To Robert I started by saying:

Subject:  RE: INTERNATIONAL ORDER INQUIRY
From:  info@edgewatersoaps.com
Date:  Mon, Jun 03, 2013 9:07 am
To:  "Robert Jones"
 
Dear Robert:

It's so interesting that just a couple days ago, I received almost the exact same e-mail from someone who calls herself "Theresa Gullit" ...

[Then I cut and pasted in Theresa's entire e-mail message here -- and in my response to Theresa I cut and pasted in Robert's entire e-mail message here.  And in both responses, I said:]

I'm going to add both of you to my blog:
http://edgewatersoaps.blogspot.com/2012/12/international-shipping-scams.html

Edgewater Soaps

For obvious reasons, I never heard back from Theresa.  But about a week later, I did hear back from Robert:

Subject:   READ AND REPLY SOON
From:    De-Crown Store (de-crown.stores@hotmail.com) 
Date:    Tue, Jun 11, 2013 11:34 am
To:    "info@edgewatersoaps.com" (info@edgewatersoaps.com)
Hello
I am sorry for not responding your message all this days. I was busy at the workshop in New Zealand. Do let me know if you still interested in dealing with me.

Robert

Did Robert even read my response?  Not likely given that he still thinks there's a chance I might want to do business with him.  And clearly he didn't bother to click on the link to my blog.  He must have been really distracted by whatever was going on at that workshop in New Zealand!  Also note that now he's using de-crown.stores@hotmail.com as his e-mail address rather than ogregg1@gmail.

Will there be a Part 3?

Just today, before I published this follow-up post, I got a phone call from a small business owner who wanted to know whether I had ever received an e-mail from a Robert Jones in the Netherlands.  If I had, he said, he wanted to ask what my experience dealing with Mr. Jones had been.  He, the business owner, has been corresponding with Mr. Jones about an order and is starting to get suspicious.

We chatted, I told him the story above, he told me what has happened so far in his dealings with Mr. Jones, and then he said, "You know, if something comes out of this that's worth adding to your blog, would you be interested in including it?"

Didn't have to think very long about that one.  My response:

"YES!"

---

Update 06-26-2013:
There is now a Part 3, and it comes from a totally unexpected source!  Interested in knowing exactly how these scammers weave their webs to trap their victims?  See International Shipping Scams Part 3.

To read my initial post on this subject where I outlined in general terms how these shipping scams work and provided a list of my own rules and observations regarding international shipping inquiries, see International Shipping Scams.

International shipping scams

This has nothing to do with soap making, but it has everything to do with scammers targeting small businesses like mine.

I regularly receive e-mails from people who want to buy nice quantities of my products, often so that they can sell them in their retail stores.  Sounds great, right?  The most recent one, received 2 days ago, is typical:

Customer #1

From:  synthia shan
Subject line:  I WANT TO ORDER YOUR PRODUCTS
Message: 
Hello,
How're you today? I want to purchase an order from your company to our store in The Netherlands.I want to know if you can ship internationally and also accept credit card as form of payment Await your reply as soon as possible.
Thank you

A similar e-mail received about two weeks earlier:

Customer #2

From:  jordan murray
Subject line:  KOREA ORDER
Message:
Hello,
I will like to order some of your products to be shipped to SOUTH KOREA. I have a shipper that will handle the delivery aspect of the transaction. Kindly get back to me regarding my inquiry and if there is any special pricing i need to know about. i will be sending you my card details for payment. I hope to hear from you as soon as possible.
Shipping Address:
#37340 ,
CHANGCHEON-DONG ,
DAE MUN-KU
City:SEOUL
Postal Code:120180
Country:SOUTH KOREA
Regards.
MURRAY

I must say that including the shipping address was a nice touch.  Gives it an air of legitimacy.

Yet another e-mail received about three weeks before that:

Customer # 3

From:  Mel Mclauren
Subject:  Inquiry
Message:
Hello Sales Dept,
I want to place an order in your store,and I will like to know if you ship to Kowloon,Japan and my payment will be remitted via Visa/Master Card issued in US bank. So please let me know if you can assist me with the order,and please do not forget to include your website in your reply.Your quick response will be highly appreciated,I will be very glad if you treat this email with good concern.
Regards,
Mel

Note that all involve international shipping.  Note also that all involve payment by credit card. 

Most importantly, however, note that the second customer mentions he has a shipping company that will handle pick-up and delivery.  The other customers did not mention this in their initial e-mails, but after I replied, thanking them for their interest in my products and telling them that unfortunately, I do not ship internationally and only accept credit card payments through my website, here is what they wrote back:

Customer #1

From:  synthia shan
Subject:  Re: I WANT TO ORDER YOUR PRODUCTS
Message:
Davis,
I have a freight forwarder that will come for the pick-up from your exact location after i have placed the order and make the payment. So will take care of the shipping myself.
Thank you
Sincerely
Synthia

Customer #3

From:  Mel Mclauren
Subject:  Re: Inquiry
Message:
Hi,
Thanks for your prompt email,can you make the small quantities of 100 Pieces.I can arrange for shipment in your location who will handle the shipping process to my store in Hong-Kong.
Regards
Mel

(That's odd.  Mel originally wanted to know if I could ship to Kowloon, Japan, and now suddenly it's Hong Kong, China.  But whatever.  Japan, China, South Korea, the Netherlands, Argentina ... all that matters is that it's really far away.)

In a nutshell, here's what happens: the customer cons the business owner into paying the shipping company upfront, often via a Western Union wire transfer, promising that the shipping cost will be included in their payment.  And it is.  But the customer's credit card (or bank check or whatever other form of payment they propose) turns out to be fake or stolen, the shipping company doesn't really exist, and the scammer pockets whatever the business owner paid for overseas shipping.

On the surface, it might seem a no-brainer that there's something fishy* about this. Why would anyone halfway around the world want to order my soaps and pay as much or more for shipping than they're paying for the product itself?  Kind of defies common sense, don't you think?  But if my products were pricier -- let's say I made handcrafted jewelry or clothing with an average price of around $40 or $50 per item -- it might seem more plausible.

So with protecting my fellow crafters and small business owners in mind, here are my rules and observations about international shipping inquiry e-mails:

• Number one, be immediately skeptical and suspicious about any unsolicited inquiry that involves international shipping.
• Number two, do not under any circumstances allow the customer to choose or dictate the method of shipping.  
• Number three, do not ever engage in a business transaction where the buyer proposes to send you credit card information via e-mail.  At best, a buyer who proposes to do this is either naive about the risks or careless about taking them.  As a reputable businessperson, it is your responsibility to counsel the buyer out of such an unwise action, or to simply refuse such a transaction.  At worst, a buyer who proposes to do this is a scammer who doesn't care whether the credit card information is sent securely because the credit card info is stolen. 
• International shipping scam e-mails are sent from free personal e-mail accounts, not from business or corporate e-mail addresses.  Two of the above came from gmail accounts, the other from a hotmail account.  
• International shipping scam e-mails almost never mention the name of the store in which they propose to sell your products in the initial contact. And even if they do, they never include a link to it online.  
• Similarly, they almost never say exactly what they want to buy in the initial e-mail -- just "products," or even more vaguely they'll say they want to make "make a purchase" or "place an order."  The simple reason is that scammers send these e-mails to many different kinds of small businesses, and they can't be bothered with personalizing them all.  Their game is based on quantity, not quality. They will only say what they want to purchase if you respond to their inquiries.
• Like many other types of scam e-mails, international shipping scam e-mails are typically sprinkled with grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.

In short, rather than being a case of caveat emptor ("let the buyer beware"), international shipping e-mails are a case of caveat venditor: let the seller beware.

You can find a follow up to this entry with more examples of scam e-mails in my blog post International Shipping Scams Part 2.

You can find a real-life example of exactly how one of these shipping scams played out in my blog post International Shipping Scams Part 3.

---

* One intriguing study (with enough statistical mumbo-jumbo to make your head spin) suggests that online scammers may actually make their e-mails sound fishy on purpose. They're looking for folks who are naive or trusting or gullible, and they don't want to spend days e-mailing back and forth with people who are just going to become suspicious and drop out. So, by making their e-mails just fishy enough that savvier folks recognize them for what they are and simply hit the delete button, scammers effectively get their victims to self-select because the only people likely to respond are the kind of naive or trusting or gullible folks they're after in the first place.

Scientific soap making part III: essential oils vs.fragrance oils

As I prepare to teach a couple of soap making classes in the coming weeks, one of the topics I'll be covering is essential oils vs. fragrance oils and the pros and cons of each in cold process soap making.  My clear preference is essential oils because they're natural and have beneficial properties that fragrance oils don't have.  But first, let's clarify what the difference is between the two.

Essential oils are natural scents extracted from the leaves, bark, roots, flowers, and fruits of plants.  Fragrance oils are synthetic blends of the aromatic compounds found in essential oils and elsewhere. 

Is one preferable to the other?  Strictly in terms of cold process soap making, it's a toss-up.

Essential oils have an edge in that they have benefits beyond just scent.  Tea tree is a great example because its natural antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties are well researched and documented.  Eucalyptus essential oil's value in relieving symptoms of respiratory infections can make it a beneficial additive in skin and bath products.  Many beneficial claims are made for other essential oils, although most are poorly researched and largely unproven.  Fragrance oils, however, have no such additional benefits. 

A field of Bulgarian lavender, considered by many to yield the highest quality lavender essential oil.

It's a toss-up between essential and fragrance oils in that both can be problematic to use in soap making. 

A problem with some essential oils is that the temperature at which their scent vaporizes (i.e., the flash point) is so low it won't survive ordinary cold process methods.  Eucalyptus, unfortunately, is a prime example.  With a flash point of around 110 degrees F, it can only be used in a soap that is prevented from heating up and going through gel phase, and preventing gel results in inferior soap texture and appearance.  The Lavender Oatmilk bars pictured below are a perfect example of a soap that did not go through a proper gel.

See the rind-like appearance of the outer edge?  It's noticeably lighter than the center of the bars, and it has a somewhat chalk-like texture.  Bars like these I either use myself or give away. 

Fragrance oils, on the other hand, have high flash points so that's not an issue.  The problem with fragrance oils is that some accelerate the saponification process and cause the soap batter to become so thick so quickly that it becomes difficult or impossible to pour.  With some I've used, the window of time between when the fragrance is added and when the soap becomes so thick it glops out of the pot rather than pours is less than 60 seconds.  You gotta be ready to move fast! 

Fragrance oils have an edge in cost and lifespan.  With just a few exceptions, fragrance oils are less expensive than essential oils.  Those with which I've been happiest cost around $1.50 per ounce, and their scents hold up for years, both in the bottle and in the soap.  Many of the more popular essential oils, on the other hand, average around $3.00 per ounce, and some (jasmine or sandalwood, for example) cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars per ounce.  Essential oil scents also tend to fade faster.  Citrus oils can be especially short-lived in soap, with noticeable scent degradation in as little as six months.

One thing I personally like about fragrance oils is that I can use or experiment with scents that are either too costly to buy as essential oils -- like jasmine and sandalwood -- or that aren't available as essential oils.  I do love the fresh, crisp, clean and slightly astringent scent of cucumbers, for example, but there's no such thing as cucumber essential oil.  You can also get fragrance oils that are imitations of popular designer perfume and cologne scents, which some folks really love.

An open question is whether one is safer for skin contact than the other.  Essential oils are derived from natural sources, but some are known to trigger adverse skin reactions.  Lemon essential oil, for example, is known to be irritating or sensitizing to some people's skin, as are spice essentials oils such as cinnamon and clove.  Synthetic fragrance oils . . . well we usually don't know how safe they are because the compounds used to make them do not have to be itemized on product labels.  We do know that phthalates used in fragrance oils and many plastic products have been linked to a number of health risks, but most fragrance oil manufacturers that used them have reformulated their products to be phthalate-free.

But whether scents are natural or synthetic, their effect and power is something I find endlessly fascinating.

I recently invited a friend to smell the scent blend I used in a new soap I formulated. She sniffed and appeared to have no reaction at all, just a funny kind of blank look on her face. 

 

"It reminds me of playing with Barbies," she finally said, completely unable to say why, or even whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.  The most she could add was that she didn't mean the soap smelled like a Barbie doll, just that it reminded her of playing with Barbies. 

Science can help to explain how we perceive and process scents, but it can't account for the uniquely personal associations we make with them or the emotions they trigger.  That is beyond both the art and the science of scent development.  And that is the reason I so enjoy experimenting with new scents and scent blends, using both natural and synthetic fragrances. 

One customer told me she absolutely loved a soap she bought that smelled like leaves burning in the fall.  I personally can't imagine wanting to use a soap that smells like anything that's burning, but I totally understand that she has her own special connection to that scent, and that's all that matters. 

I'm a user, I'll improvise

Just saw "Tron: Legacy" this weekend.  Loved it and loved the line "I'm a user, I'll improvise."  Users are customers, and if they want to use my soaps as sachets, who am I to tell them otherwise!  Great movie.

Eczema and soap

Since my TV debut on the Channel 7 news, there's been a lot of interest in Edgewater Soaps.  It's kind of amusing that, having seen and heard me on TV, many of my new customers seem to feel they know me.  And I'm sure that feeling is reinforced by the fact that they also know something personal about me.  They know I've had problems with eczema.  And knowing that enables them to talk freely to me about their eczema and other skin issues, or to seek my advice on behalf of a friend or family member with skin problems. 

What I hear from so many of them is frustration.  I share it.  It's frustrating to deal with a chronic condition that may not be life-threatening, but definitely interferes with quality of life.  It's frustrating to research the condition you have and find, as with eczema, that the causes aren't very well understood and the remedies are limited.  And it's frustrating to have to use prescription products -- especially when, as I know from my experience and many others', they're often not very effective -- for something that ought to be treatable or controllable another way. 

I didn't start making soap because I knew it would help with my eczema.  I had no idea that it would.  But I know that ever since I started making and using natural soap products, I've never had a problem with eczema like I used to. You'll find the reasons why on my FAQs page.

Others have also found it helpful.  One of the people who saw the Channel 7 feature bought a Sensitive Skin Formula and a Lavender Oatnilk bar online a day or two after it aired.  She called me earlier this week and left one of the most remarkable voicemail messages I've ever received.  She had been using my soap for the past ten days, she said, and already her skin was starting to clear up.  She was thrilled.

It turns out she's had an eczema-like skin rash that she thinks was brought on by some medication she was taking.  She's seen five or six skin doctors about it and gotten a number of different prescriptions, and so far nothing has really helped.  But since she's been using my soap, it's starting to improve. 

"The places where it already existed are still there," she said, "but it's stopped spreading!  I'm not developing any new patches, and the old ones aren't getting worse." 

"Even my husband has noticed I'm doing better," she said.  "The other night when we went to bed, he said, 'Debbie, you're not itching!'  And I said, 'I know!'"  I could just picture her with her fingers crossed, hoping the improvement continues.

I know that a lot of my new customers are like Debbie, and I'll be following up with all of them to get their feedback and comments.  I'll share them with you here in future posts.

Living Green with ABC 7

"Hello, this is Sylvia Jones from ABC Channel 7, and we're interested in filiming you making soap for ______ . . . " 

Wow!  How cool!  And completely out of the blue.  The top-rated TV station in Chicago wants to feature me on something!  I didn't hear a thing she said from that point on, except that she wanted to schedule it in two days' time and I knew that wasn't going to happen.  Fortunately she was willing to schedule it a couple weeks later.

And when I say fortunately, I mean it!  TV cameras in my house?  Bright hot lights exposing every bit of dust, random scrap of paper, and smudged fingerprint?  Let's just say major housekeeping ensued.  Including washing windows and walls, and repainting woodwork. 

When the big day came, however, I was ready.  And everything went smoothly. 

We started with the interview, and then the cameraman filmed me making soap.  The producer had been very specific about wanting to film the entire process,from start to finish, and that's exactly what happened.  The cameraman frequently asked me to stop what I was doing for a moment -- measuring oils into the pot, for example -- so he could change positions and film it from a different angle.  Sometimes three or four different angles.  Fascinating. 

The result is pretty impressive, I think.  You can see it here: "Edgewater Soaps uses natural ingredients" on Living Green With ABC 7.  Enjoy!

Scientific soap making part II: curing soap and water discounting

First, let's be clear that we're not talking about "curing" in the sense of helping to get over an illness or disease.  We're talking about curing in the sense of aging and mellowing: storing or keeping something under controlled conditions for a period of time long enough for it to develop certain desirable or unique qualities -- like complexity of flavor in an aged cheese or fine scotch.

With cold process soap making, the time spent actually making the soap is minimal.  What takes time is curing the soap once it's made, and that's four to six weeks depending on the soap.  Or is it?

Curing soap does two things.  It ensures that the soap is fully saponified, and it allows moisture to evaporate so the bars become firmer.  If the soap goes through a full gel stage, saponification will be nearly complete within 48 hours.  If it doesn't, it may take longer.  But in no case should full saponification take longer than two weeks, so after that it's just about letting it dry out and become nice and firm. 

With that in mind, it stands to reason that if you use less water to make it, there's less moisture to evaporate.  And that should shorten the drying time, right?

To test this, I tracked the weight loss of three different soaps over a six-week period, and found that the soaps made with a lower percentage of water (a solution of about 60 percent water, 40 percent lye) reached a stable weight in about 3 weeks.  Those made with a higher percentage of water (about 66 percent water, 33 percent lye) took about 4 weeks to reach a stable weight.  Clearly, using less water shortens the drying time.

Some soapmakers maintain that drying time is bascially immaterial, and that curing soap for six weeks or longer somehow makes it even milder and better.  One even suggested that a soap that has cured for a year is about as close to the ultimate as you can get. 

But what happens to soap in a year that doesn't happen within 3-4 weeks of having made it?  Soap isn't cheese, and the chemcial and biological processes that are key in aging cheese or wine are irrelevant when it comes to soap.  The only thing that really happens over an extended period of time is that the soap's scent tends to fade, and the bars themselves become extra hard.  That's about it.

My conclusion is that reducing the amount of water in the recipe shortens curing time and results in soap that is ready to use sooner rather than later.  To learn more about water discounting here's a link to a detailed description of the process.

Blame it on the soap fairies

A customer who's interested in learning how to make soap recently asked how I dealt with the frustration of soap batches that didn't turn out right. 

That’s a great question because I’ve never been able to overcome the disappointment of having wasted valuable ingredients. Soaps that failed frustrate and disappoint me just as much today as when I actually made them, no matter how long ago that was. But that’s just how it goes. Some experiments work, others don’t. Usually when a soap fails it’s due to an error in the formulation. Something was left out, something was mismeasured, or something was calculated incorrectly.

I rarely have failures now, I'm happy to say. But I do have experiments that don't come out as well as I had hoped.  A new fragrance blend doesn't smell quite the way I wanted it to, for example.  Or something I tried to enhance the appearance of the finished soap didn't quite result in the look I had in mind.  Or one of the fussier soaps I make decides to be extra fussy and not gel properly, resulting in a soap that's just not up to par in terms of appearance or texture.  Most of these soaps I either use myself, sell at a discount, or give away.  

But I'm convinced that sometimes the real explanation is that it’s the work of the soap fairies.  They’re quiet and benign most of the time, lurking in the background, watching but not interfering.  When they decide to act up, however, there's no telling what will happen.  The result can be an unaccountable failure or a magnificent success. Both have happened to me. All I can do is scratch my head and wonder.

DIY bath bomb making video

I made my very first video and posted it on YouTube!  It's me demonstrating how to make bath bombs with recipe details and step-by-step instructions.  The recipe is the same as that on the DIY page of my website.  It's just tripled for making a larger size batch.

I love it spite of its total amateurishness.  It was filmed with the video camera that's built into my cheap little laptop, and edited it with the "Movie Maker" software that was on the laptop when I bought it.  Neither can be described as high tech . . .   But I had great fun doing it.  Enjoy!

Scientific soapmaking: sulfated castor oil

On a liquid soapmaking group list I subscribe to, someone recently asked whether other soapmakers consider sulfated castor oil a "must have" ingredient for liquid soap. 

Is it a "must have?"  No.  Is it an ingredient worth adding?  Yes.  Sulfated castor oil (also known as sulfonated castor oil or Turkey Red oil) is a water soluble form of castor oil that soapmakers often add to make liquid soaps especially mild and gentle to the skin.

The soap I make that uses sulfated castor to greatest effect is my liquid dog shampoo.  Dogs, much more than people, need oil for their skin and coat to be healthy, and the sulfated castor seems to be especially helpful in preserving the right balance.  The customer feedback has been 100 percent positive.  Glowing even! 

Castor bean seeds



When I decided to develop a bar version of the dog shampoo, however, I ran into a roadblock.  Sulfated castor can be added to liquid soaps without being figured into the lye calculation because it's water soluble.  Its saponification (SAP) value -- or the question of whether it has one -- doesn't seem to matter.  But it does matter with a bar soap because it will potentially ruin the batch if it's not included in the lye calculation. 

The simple question Does sulfated castor oil have a SAP value? was difficult to answer.  I searched for the information every way I could think of.  I checked a number of very reputable websites.  Some assigned it the same SAP value as regular castor oil.  Others gave it a SAP value of 0.  But I couldn't find a third party source to susbstantiate either one.  I left it out of the recipe.

Several weeks ago, I remade the dog shampoo bars, and before I did I searched once again and came up empty-handed once again.  So I took a chance and added it to the recipe without figuring it into the lye calculation.  I used a slightly lower lye discount just to be safe.  The soap came to trace nicely, went into a good gel, and the next morning I had what appeared to be perfectly good -- albeit a little soft -- dog shampoo bars.  (They are hardening nicely as they cure, I'm pleased to add.)

But I still didn't have an answer to my question and it was bugging the heck out of me.  Then it hit me.  There's one person I know who might actually have the answer. 

I know someone who's writing the most in-depth book on the science of soapmaking that's ever been attempted.  I'm on the list of soapmakers and others who've had the oppportunity to review drafts of the book, offer comments, look for typos, and generally be amazed (and, in my case, intimidated!) by the level of scientific scrutiny he brings to the process of soapmaking.  When it's published, I guarantee that no serious soapmaker will be without it.  An invaluable resource.

I met and talked to the author very briefly at a soapmakers convention a couple years ago, and on the basis of that very tenuous connection I e-mailed him my question.  I hoped it was something he knew off the top of his head and that it would only take 5 seconds of his time to reply.  What I received was considerably more detailed.

It turns out that he didn't have a definitive answer because he had hadn't yet had the opportunity to actually measure the SAP value of sulfated castor oil himself.  And he also hadn't come across anything in his reading or studies that substantiated it one way or the other.  But he had done a quick experiment, he said, that "led me to believe that sulfated castor oil is already saponified and therefore has a SAP close to 0."  In the following paragraphs he lead me through the entire process, starting with the premise for the experiment, the proven facts that formed the basis for it, the hypothesis he was working with, and the experiement itself.

Long story short, he found that the sulfated castor reacted the way saponfied oil would react in the test he performed, not the way unsaponified oil would react.  As he said, this is not a definitive answer, but it does suggest one. 

Shortly after that I found some tantalizing information to support his idea.  I came across several websites stating that once castor oil is treated with sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide is used to neutralize the acid.  This quote, for example, is lifted from an online patent application: 

Turkey Red Oil is prepared by adding concentrated sulfuric acid (93%) to castor oil at 25°-30°C.  From about 15 to 30% sulfuric acid is added to the castor oil.  After all of the acid has been added and reaction is complete, the reaction product is washed with water and then neutralized with sodium hydroxide solution.

Isn't that interesting!  My author acquaintance may be right on the money.  Note that he said "a SAP value close to 0," not a SAP value of 0.  For my purposes, though, close to 0 is close enough.