Question 1

How do I price homemade candles?

Accepted Answer

Add up every material that goes into one candle (wax, fragrance, wick, vessel, label, dust cover, warning sticker), then multiply by 3 for a beginner retail price, 4 for a sustainable retail price, and use 2x total cost as your wholesale floor. The price tier column above does this for you and subtracts marketplace fees so the number you see is what actually lands in your account.

Question 2

How much should I charge for homemade candles?

Accepted Answer

An 240 ml handmade soy candle typically retails in the £14–£24 band once converted to your local currency. Anything below £11 usually means packaging, shipping or your own time was left out. The Recommended tier above lands inside that band by default.

Question 3

How do I price candles for wholesale?

Accepted Answer

Wholesale buyers re-markup by 2x, so your wholesale price is roughly half your retail. Use 2x total cost (materials plus packaging plus overhead) as your floor. On Faire, factor in their 25 percent commission on first orders plus the free-shipping pressure, otherwise you ship at a loss. The Wholesale line sheet button generates a printable quote at the right tier.

Question 4

How do I price soy candles specifically?

Accepted Answer

Soy carries a lower fragrance load than paraffin (usually 8 to 10 percent versus 10 to 12 percent), so per-candle materials cost is slightly lower, but soy buyers expect a natural, premium price tier. Most successful makers price an 240 ml soy candle in the £16–£22 band and call it out on the label. The calculator switches wax density automatically when you pick a soy from the dropdown.

Question 5

How much does it cost to make a candle?

Accepted Answer

An 240 ml soy candle costs roughly £2–£5 in raw materials and £4–£7 once packaging, a share of the shipping label, and a little labour are included. By weight that is about 200 g of wax, 18 g of fragrance, one wick, one vessel, and a label. The breakdown above itemises every line.

Question 6

What is a good profit margin for candles?

Accepted Answer

Aim for 50 to 65 percent gross margin at retail after marketplace fees, and 25 to 40 percent at wholesale. Below 40 percent retail you cannot absorb a single returned order or supplier price rise without losing money on the next batch. The What you keep waterfall on each tier shows exactly where the money goes.

Question 7

How do I calculate the price of a candle including my time?

Accepted Answer

Turn on the Add my time toggle, enter your hourly rate, and the minutes you actually spend per candle (pouring, labelling, packing, replying to the buyer). The formula is hourly rate divided by 60, multiplied by minutes per candle. Hobbyists skip this and end up paying themselves below minimum wage; full-time makers must include it or the business cannot fund its own growth.

Question 8

How do I work out the cost of fragrance per pound of wax?

Accepted Answer

Multiply the fragrance load (e.g. 8 percent) by the wax weight to get fragrance grams, then multiply by your fragrance cost per gram. Worked example: one pound (454 g) of soy at 8 percent load uses 36 g of fragrance, so cost = 36 × your price per gram. At a typical mid-range price of £40/kg (about £0.04/g) that works out to £1.45 of fragrance per pound of wax. The Recipe Builder hand-off above does this live for every blend in whatever currency you have selected at the top of the page.

Question 9

How much does Etsy take from each candle sale?

Accepted Answer

Etsy takes 6.5 percent transaction plus 3 percent and £0.20 payment processing, plus a £0.16 listing fee on every sale. Offsite Ads adds another 12 to 15 percent on orders that originated off-platform. Total bite on a £19 candle is usually £2–£4. The Channel dropdown applies these so the price you see is take-home, not retail.

Question 10

Should I offer free shipping on my candles?

Accepted Answer

Etsy ranks listings with free shipping higher, but you must build the label cost into the retail price or every sale loses money. A 12 oz candle ships for around £4–£8 domestically. Turn on the Free shipping uplift toggle to see what your retail needs to be so the buyer-paid price covers the carrier.

Question 11

Are handmade candles worth the price?

Accepted Answer

Yes when the maker uses tested wicks, clean wax, IFRA-compliant fragrance, and a vessel rated for the heat. A £19 handmade soy candle reflects £4–£7 of materials and packaging, real labour, fire-safety testing, and small batch sizes. Mass-market £6 candles cut wax purity, fragrance load, and wick quality to hit a price point.

Question 12

Why am I not making any profit on my candles?

Accepted Answer

Five common causes, in order of frequency. One, your retail is under 3x materials. Two, you offer free shipping without raising the price to absorb the label. Three, you have not turned on the labour toggle. Four, Etsy or Faire fees are not modelled into the tier you quote. Five, startup and compliance costs (insurance, CLP, label printer, testers) are not amortised across the units you actually sell. Fix these in order and the margin almost always returns.

Question 13

How does the calculator work out electricity cost?

Accepted Answer

Energy per candle = (wax grams / 1000) × kWh per kg × your rate per kWh. The default kWh per kg is 0.18, which sits between a pouring pitcher on a hob (0.12) and a large jacketed melter (0.25). The default rate per kWh is a residential snapshot for your active currency: Ofgem in GBP, Eurostat in EUR, EIA in USD, Hydro-Québec in CAD and the AER default offer in AUD. Switch the currency picker in the header and the rate reconverts to that region's typical price. You can override the rate, the kWh per kg, or turn the line off entirely from the Electricity block above.

Question 14

Does electricity follow my unit and currency settings?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The rate per kWh is always denominated in your active display currency. Wax mass is converted automatically: kWh per kg is internal, so whether you typed wax in grams or ounces the engine normalises to kg before the energy line is calculated. The result lines up with the rest of the breakdown so you can compare to materials, packaging and overhead without unit gymnastics.

Candle Cost & Pricing Calculator

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