Selling homemade candles for profit is a great business with very low overhead that any Tom, Dick or Harry can do. But not all of them can make enough money from their sales.
The job demands good organizational skills, coupled with keen eyes to spot low-cost candles. It could be the perfect work from home job for moms. And while selling candles is often see as one of those ways for women to make money online, anybody can actually run a candle making business from home.
If you are thinking about starting a candle making business, here is a quick step-by-step guide that will help you turn your venture into a real money making business.
Table of Contents
1. Decide on What Candles You Want to Sell
That would be your niche defining your business. The variety of candle types out there is huge, so be clear on what you want to make and sell.
Some of the more popular ones are hand dip tapered candles, and natural candles using waxes from soy and palm (these have gained great followings lately) like Mia Bella candles.
Beeswax and honeycomb candles represent yet another category of popular natural wax candles.
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Once you have decided on the material to be used for your candle production, you can go on to make gel candles, aromatherapy or container candles.
If you are so inclined, maybe you want to experiment with confectionery candles, a special genre of candles that reproduce the look and smell of popular food items. Through the molding process, there is no limit on how you can shape your candles.
Alternatively, you could decorate your candles to add visual impact; you can use anything from flowers to paint.
2. Learn How to Make Candles
Invest time to acquire the necessary skills in candle making. You can enroll in a class organized by the neighborhood craft shop or buy a book for this purpose.
Alternatively, check out the internet on free Internet video or free online tutorials on how to make homemade candles.
And don’t forget to practice.
You could spend long hours picking up skills on candle making but until you get your hands dirty, all these efforts would be in vain.
3. Legal Issues
You may need a license issued by your city before you can run your little retail business—note that there could be variations in requirements subject to your location of operation. Some requirements cover a fictitious name certificate (DBA), Employer Identification Number or sales and use tax permit.
For candle production at home, you might have to deal with a separate set of legal issues.
In general, you have to pay attention to permits, taxes, licenses and especially insurance.
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Getting insurance coverage may be tricky if you plan to produce candles at home, primarily due to the flammable nature of candles.
Of course, as with other sorts of merchandise, you need to have a proper labeling system to mark your candles, in order to conform with the local and federal standards established.
A great place to learn about the laws and regulations regarding starting a small business is the Small Business Administration’s website.
4. Buy Supplies from Wholesaler
Candles can be made from a wide variety of source materials, so naturally prices vary.
Subject to the sort of waxes and oils used in their production, it has an impact on your cost. You can of course save money on candles if you buy in bulk.
But usually, there is a healthy margin for every candle you make.
For example, soy and palm waxes are more expensive than paraffin or gel, but you will make more money when you sell these sorts of candles.
Most raw materials used in candle production are relatively low, but the extra ingredients like oils, fragrances and waxes tend to be higher in cost and there is also a huge variation in costs among them. Still, the total costs that go towards candle making are not considered substantial.
Getting your supplies from wholesalers always ensures significant savings, or you pay through your nose if you buy from a retail outlet like a craft store.
5. Packaging
Work on the packaging for your candles.
Packaging provides the differentiation between your candle brand and the competition. Ultimately packaging is the first thing that consumers can see.
My advice is to stick to a consistent marketing message. If you sell candles that mimic the look and smell of desserts, bakery boxes-like packaging could immediately strike a chord with the market.
If you want to project an eco-friendly message with your candles, use raffia to tie around your candle containers, with labeling done on recycled paper.
You can learn a lot by looking at top candle brands like Yankee Candle and how they go about branding.
6. Find Customers
Find as many outlets as possible to sell your candles.
On the internet, you could hawk them at your own e-commerce website, or promote them at an Internet artisan marketplace.
You could even sell on eBay and Etsy.com
On land, bring your presence to flea markets, bazaars, local craft fairs, brick-and-mortar storefronts, or you could strike a deal to sell your candles at bath and body boutiques, and home decor stores.
7. Marketing, Marketing and Marketing!
Whether you are selling candy or cars, marketing is one of the most important parts of the whole deal.
To start, create a website or blog dedicated to candles.
You could also send samples to magazines and other publications well patronized by your intended market so they could review your candles.
And finally, join a candle retailers group like the National Candle Association. This is an excellent place to network with suppliers and get connected with potential customers.
8. Make Money Selling Your Candles
Depending on factors like the size, ingredients, and designs of your candles, you can expect to pocket a few dollars to over $20 from every candle sale.
Obviously, the most important factor is still how much the market is willing to pay for them.
Another way to make more money is to sell directly to distributors or specialty stores.
A candle making business has a few great benefits that not many other businesses offer.
For one, it’s a business you can lunch for under 100 dollars.
It’s fun and depending on your situation, it can be turned into a fun activity for the whole family.
But perhaps the best part is that almost everyone is your customer. It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t like candles.
To wrap it up, you can make money selling candles with hardly any investment, while having fun making things that almost everyone loves.
It was interesting to go through the site though I am into the business. I did not have an idea how to sell in large, but I got an idea through the website where I can sell through Ebay and Etsy.com
I am glad it has been helpful.
Rajesh, do you currently have a Candle making/selling business, or do you sell any other product on eBay or Etsy?
hi i want to start a homemade soap and candle company but dont know how to go about it would it be best to start out trying to sell them thru facebook? HELP
Hi Amber,
You know, I actually think the best way to go about it is to start with family and friends. And yes, do use Facebook and other social media sites to get the word out. You should also create a Facebook page for your candle business.
Amazon started from a garage, and now look at it. As long as you get it going, everything else will work itself out. Good luck.
Hi,
It was really an interesting article. Thank u for this. Very soon i will start my own candle business and my focus will be natural candles. But as per my study in india right now the market for natural candles are not that tempting(though few organizations are doing preety good). I want to tap our indian market and some international market as well. Can you help me out on how should i plan to sell my candles outside indian market. I am lost here.
Best regards
Thanks, Anindya.
Ia think the b est ways to start is to first target the Indian market. Once you got that covered, I think a good website and some advertising can be the easiest and quickest way to tap into the international market. You could even try sites like Etsy and even eBay.
It was interesting to go through the site though I am into the business. I did not have an idea how to sell in large, but I got an idea through the website where I can sell through Ebay and Etsy.com
I am glad it was helpful.
I am interesting in candle business, but I don’t know exactly about candle types and Which type of candle suitable for easy manufacturering and profitable in indian market.
Well, that’s actually the most important part of starting any business, research. I would do some research to find out what kind of candle the Indian market prefers and take it from there. You could even survey friends, family, coworker, neighbors and so on. Start small and grow your company as you go on. Good luck Yogananda.
hi
i want to make scent candles , but candle fragrances are not avalabi in my area, so any one tell me how can i make fragrance for candles at my home.
Saba, there are a lot of websites and blogs dedicated to that. A quick search on Google will yield a lot of results. Just visit some of those sites and I am sure you can get step by step direction on how to make your own scented candles with natural stuff around you. Good luck.
will you tell me about any site?
Saba, I am not sure if I understand your question. What kind of sites do you want to know about?
You can also open your own free candle store at http://candles.space
Thanks for the heads up, Allen.
Do you have a candle storefront on CandlesSpace?
Yes I do! My candles are featured at the site :)
And how has your experience been so far, if you don’t mind me asking?
It’s a new site, so there’s that :) but I’m already seeing traffic increases and Google hasn’t quite found us yet. Grassroots advertising :) When more candle makers open their stores (soon), it will probably explode :)
I see.
Thanks, Allen.
Hi I started making scented candles at home and now I’m ready to put it out there, but I still need little help on how to get my website going.i am making pillar and container candles with different shapes and sizes
Congratulations on getting started, Patrice. That’s the hardest part, getting things going.
What do you need help with specifically? If you are trying to build a website, you can hire someone on a freelancing site to build a WordPress site for you for fairly cheap.
Hello, I am wanting to make candles and wax melts in my hone for resale occasionally, and maybe for a yardsale now and then. I will only be making a few batches per yr and was wanting to know if I needed a licesne/permit for doing so?
Joni, where do you live?
I ask this, because each state (county, city,…) has their own rules and regulations. The best thing to do is to contact your local officials to see if a license is required or not.
i would like to start candle making business, can you tell about, how
may i start the business, and what type of candle are easy to make and sale,
Is the candlemaking4you website legit? It really feels like a scam website. This seems to be the only place that is a third party that mentions it. All of the reviews of it seem to be from the company itself.
Sam, it is a legit site, but keep in mind that they just sell you the information, what you do with that info is up to you. You still have to do the work yourself.
Now, I am sure you can probably find all the info they packed into their ebook/system by searching online, but you’d have to spend a lot of time sifting through stuff to find the real useful information that can help you start your own candle making business from home.
i would like to know bout sell my bulk sell candle i have produced candle but i don’t know how to sell i bulk can you help me my name shihabudheen from kerala India
I don’t know about bulk, but I know people how use Facebook to sell their homemade candles. It’s fine line of course, you don’t want to be selling 24/7 and alienating all your Facebook friends.
Thank you for all the information on this site I did learn a lot I had a business in GA( when my husband and I lived there) selling to co workers and farmers marker. Now I am in MT it is very hard to sell here. I will try again also I make jewelry those I have not been able to sell either my presentation needs work or I have lost my touch, not sure how to do it yet but I am working on it. I know I can sell them in GA I went to a yard sale and I sold them candles I did not purchase anything I made money here in Montana it is another story.
Again thank you .
Anna
You are welcome Anna. Thank you for the kind words.
Hi
I decorate the flower vast and candels . I want to sell thoes craft and earn from home which store to contact in pheonix. Please suggest
Thanks
Bhumi
I think you did a superb job summing up how people can sell candles for a fundraiser as well. Wish we had written much of this article for our site.
Thanks, Howard.
How much of the candle making business has been exploited already across the country, and is the business growing, declining, or staying flat?
I don’t have any exact numbers. But I’d say, even with high competition, it is still possible to make it successful. After all there are hundreds of thousands of businesses that compete in the exact same space and they all somehow manage to work it out.
It’s all about developing and working your own unique angle. Offer/do something that nobody else is doing/offering. For example, create a unique and interesting candle shape.
I am interesting in candle making business and also is being done .production is in process.please suggest how or whom to sell candles .
Pl waiting for your reply
Honestly, learning to make candles is the easy part. Learning to sell and market yourself is what sets you apart from hobbyist. If you want to succeed, you should be a business and/or a brand first, that just happens to make good candles. I have met many amazing candle makers and other artisans that made great products, but had trouble actually selling them.
On the positive side, people are not born salesmen. Anyone can learn to sell. My wife is an introvert. During our first craft show she stuttered and shook. Fast forward 4 years and she is now a competent sales woman. Granted still an introvert in her day to day life, but a competent sales woman just the same. We both have wildly different approaches to selling, yet both of us can sell our product. Think of learning to sell as practicing a disaster drill. Having a plan and rehearsing it leads to confidence and allows you to sell naturally without tripping up on the words.
If you are new to business many community colleges offer classes on business and marketing. Many online resources also exist.
I hope this helps.