Selling candles from home

Do you love candles?

Have you ever thought that you can sell candles from the comfort of your home and can make money in your free time?

Well yes, it’s very much possible.

The candle industry is big and the retail sales of candles are estimated to be $3.14 billion in a year.

With such a great demand for candles, there is huge potential that you can make full-time income selling candles from home easily.

In this post, you’ll learn about:

Various types of candles you can sell from home
How to make candles at home to sell
Hoe to start a home-based candle business
Tips to sell candles successfully from home
Everything else you need to know to set up a successful sell from how candle business

Best types of candles to sell from home

There are many types of candles available in the market but when it comes to selling candles from home- soy candles and paraffin wax candles are the most popular ones.

Let’s learn about these two types of candles and briefly about other types of candles that you can also think about selling from home.

Soy candles

Soy candles have been gaining popularity recently and for some good reasons.

They are produced naturally so are great for attracting people who want to buy eco-friendly and organic products.

Also, they have better quality than other candles and fall under the luxury category. Hence, can be sold for a better price.

The pros of soy candle are:

They last longer
Produce less soot
It’s made of natural products i.e. soybeans

Here are few cons of soy candle are:

They are expensive
They have a lesser scent

Paraffin candles

Paraffin candles are the most widely used candles because of their affordability, low cost and strong scent. Also, they are available in many types of scents.

The pros of paraffin candle are:

The raw material to make these candles is cheap
They have a strong fragrance

The cons of this candle are:

They produce more soot since they’re not natural
Won’t last too long due to the smaller burning time

Decorative candles:

If you’re more of an artistic kind of person and can make some pretty candles, then decorative candles can be a good option to sell from home.

There is a huge demand for decorative candles, especially during the holidays. Instead of focusing on the scents, you need to focus on the exterior of the candle to give it a unique look.

Also, you can recycle and use the old containers to attract eco-friendly customers.

Aromatherapy candles

Demand for aromatherapy is booming right now. People are looking for more natural and holistic approaches to heal their health problems.

So, if you understand aromatherapy, then you can use your knowledge to make aromatherapy candles for selling them from home.

You will need to use certain essential oils to provide holistic healing benefits people are looking for. You can get started with lavender, eucalyptus and chamomile to start with and then slowly add other scents.

Other candles

Apart from soya and paraffin wax candles, there are many other types of candles that you can make using beeswax and various other wax blends.

You can choose the right wax blend depending on the demand and choices of your target audience.

Material required to make candles to sell from home

You don’t require any expensive tools or raw material and can start making candles easily at home with just a $100 initial investment.

Let’s look at the required material and the process to make candles at home.

Materials required to make candles at home

Candles Containers or Jars
Wicks and Wick Stickers
Double boiler
Thermometer
Kitchen scale
Wax
Oil Fragrance
Dye
Caution Labels

If you don’t want to collect each individual material, you can buy a kit like this for less than $25 to get started.

How to make candles at home to sell

You might think that it’s difficult to make candles at home but it’s quite simple and straightforward.

Here is the step by step process to make candles at home to sell:

1. Measure your wax

First, you will have to measure the wax to ensure that it fits into the container in which you are planning to sell the candle without overflowing.

You need to keep in mind that you’ll be adding fragrance oil to the wax later. So, you need the amount of wax lesser than the container size.

For instance, if you’re planning to use a 16 oz container then you should keep the amount of wax around 13 to 14 oz so that after adding the fragrance oil, it fits right in a container without overflowing.

2. Melt wax

You cannot place the wax directly on the heat to melt. You will now need to use a double boiler to melt the wax correctly.

You need to heat the paraffin wax to 185° F before adding fragrance and might need to heat longer for soy wax.

Each wax comes with instructions explaining the right temperature to melt the wax.

3. Add fragrance

Add the fragrance, once the wax is at the right melting point. Stir continuously to ensure it gets dissolved completely.

4. Add dye

If you want to add color to your candle, then add the dye at this point. Mix it well so that it gets dissolved appropriately.

5. Attach wick

Attach the wick to the container properly before pouring the melted wax into it.

6. Let wax cool

Let the wax cool and come to the right pouring temperature (i.e. typically 135° F.

7. Pour wax

Now, it’s time to pour the wax. Be careful at this point as you don’t want to burn yourself with the hot wax.

8. Let it cool

Make sure that you let the wax rest and cool for enough hours to avoid any deformities.

It can take a couple of hours or overnight for the wax to set properly based on the size and shape of the candle.

9. Trim wick

After the candle is cooled, trim the wick to ensure only 0.25 inches of the wick is above the wax. You can use the wax trimmer to do it.

And your candle is ready. You might want to light up the initial few candles to test out how they smell and what improvements can be made before start selling them

You might also want to check out this video to learn the process to make candles correctly.

How much money can you make selling candles?

We have already discussed earlier that demand for candles is huge which makes it easier to set up a profitable candle business from home.

You can start slowly by selling in your local market and then take your business online to explore endless possibilities to sell your candles anywhere in the world.

Since the material required for making the candles is cheap, it’s not difficult to make a couple of hundred dollars by selling candles in your free time.

Let’s look at some numbers to understand the earning potential with a home-based candle business

You will need to spend anywhere between $2 to $5 to make a complete candle based on the kind of wax you’re using and other factors. This cost will even come down gradually when you start buying material in bulk as you expand.

If you plan on selling your candle at $15 each, you will make a profit of $10 to $13 per candle easily.

So, if you sell 100 candles in a month, you will make at least $1,300 from your candle business.

Also, when your candle business starts becoming popular, you can start increasing your prices which will, in turn, increase your profit margin.

How to start your candle making business from home

Now that you’ve learned how making candles at home is easy and there is good earning potential with selling candles from home, let’s look at the steps to start your candle making business:

Define your target audience

There are 10,000 varieties of candles available in the US market. People have different preferences when it comes down to candles.

Some people are looking for eco-friendly candles and some for decorative. Many like their candles with strong scents and some don’t want to spend too much on candles and looking for cheaper options.

So, it’s important to define your target audience before you start with anything. This will help you in understanding what are the needs of your customers and then you can create a product line based on those needs of your customers.

Decide your candle company name

Now, it’s time to choose a name for your business.

There are no specific rules to choose a business name, but you might want to choose something that is easily rememberable and unique.

You may also want to include the word “candle” in your business name so that people know that you specialize in candles.

Determine initial product line

Once you have defined your target audience, you can now determine the product line.

You will be answering the questions like:

What kind of candles will I be selling?
What scents will I include?
What will the packaging look like?
Will there be any signature scent?
How many products will I be selling?

It’s a good idea, to begin with just 5 to 8 fragrances when you’re just starting your business. This will help you understand the preference of your target audience and then you can add more scents based on the feedback.

Also, you might want to consider the season when you’re launching your business to determine the scents. If it’s summer, you might want to go with scents like cotton, citrus or floral. But if it’s the fall season having scents like pumpkin, apple or cinnamon will be a better idea.

Decide on the packaging and labeling

Packaging and labeling are important aspects to take care of. If you have artistic skills, you can design them yourself or you can hire a graphic designer to help you with it.

If you’re looking for cheaper options, you can hire a designer on Fiverr and get a label designed for $10 to $50 based on your budget.

Also, don’t forget to add the caution label to your candles.

Sourcing raw materials and equipment

Now once you have completed the initial steps, it’s time to find a supplier for raw materials of candles and candle-making equipment that you need.

It may take some time initially to research and find the right supplier but once this is sorted it would be a breeze.

You may want to find the suppliers online as well locally and then compare pricing to see what suits your needs the best.

Determine the price

Candle prices range between $1.99 to $200 based on their size, quality, decoration and scents.

Hence, you need to determine the price of your candle depending on your target audience and the cost of raw material that you used.

If you’re planning on selling eco-friendly candles, then you can charge anything between $15 to $30 for each candle.

If your target audience likes luxury candles, you can easily charge $40 or more per candle.

If you want to sell more affordable candles, any price below $15 per candle would be good.

Where and how to sell your candle?

After determining the pricing, you need to decide on how to sell your candles. You need to analyze where your target audience is hanging around and then determine your distribution strategy accordingly.

If you’re selling luxury candles, you might want to sell them online or at high-end retail stores and the affordable candles sell better at online retail stores like Amazon or eBay.

Here are few most common distributions channels that you may want to explore for your candle business:

Your company website
E-commerce websites (Amazon, Etsy, eBay)
Flea markets & local trade shows
Farmer markets
Local retail stores
Facebook Marketplace
Local Facebook buy/sell groups

Registering your business and setting up the business website

You need to register your business based on the country and state you’re setting up your business in. It is important to complete all the legal formalities before you start selling anything.

You can use this guide to learn about the process of registering your business in the US.

You can also start setting up your business website to create an online presence for your business.

You can do it yourself or hire someone to do it professionally for you.

Start making the candles

Now on to the part, you have been waiting to start making your candles.

It’s time for you to utilize your candle-making skills and make some beautiful pieces to sell to your target audience.

Promoting your candle business

You need to promote your candle business well to sell your candles.

You need to identify what makes you set apart from other competitors and use it as a selling point to attract your target audience.

Also, you need to test out various marketing strategies like various social media channels, local advertising, etc. to see with what strategy you can connect with your target audience the most.

It may take a while to spread the word initially but once people start recognizing your candle brand it will get easier to sell to them.

Tips on how to make money selling candles from home

Here are some tips to set up a successful sell from home candle business:

Understand your customers

Customers are king.

If you can recognize your customers needs and make candles the way they want, you will be able to build a long-term relationship with them.

Once, you can build that connection with your customer, they keep coming back to you and recommend your products to other people as well.

Offer quality products

As a small business owner, your products must stand out in front of big brands. It’s only possible only if you offer quality products consistently.

Make sure you use the same quality raw material and consistent process to make your candles every time. This will ensure that you are producing the same quality candles again and again.

Market your business

Marketing your business needs consistent efforts and most business owners fails at this. They don’t take out time regularly to promote their business.

You need to create an effective marketing strategy for your business and make sure you are making regular efforts to get your candles in front of your customers.

Learn the sales strategies

You need to sell your products for your business to be successful.

You need to learn how to build a relationship with your customers and how to communicate what makes your candles better than others.

Build an online presence for your website

Having an online presence for your candle business is essential in 2021 to sell your products all over the country or world.

You can start by having a website for your business. You can integrate and set up a Shopify or WooCommerce store to sell your products through your website.

Also, you need to create social media pages for your business on various social media platforms where your target audience is present.

Then, you can use those pages to promote your products actively and build a following to boost sales.

Partner with online retailers and e-commerce websites

If you don’t want to sell products directly on your website, you can collaborate with e-retailers like Amazon, eBay and Etsy.

You will have to pay a small fee as a commission if you sell through these platforms, but the biggest benefit is you get access to a larger audience.

List of companies that let you sell candles from home

If you don’t want to make your own candles, many companies let you become their representative to sell candles from home for them.

Here is the list of a few of them:

Mia Bella Candles

Mia Bella candles also know by the name of Scent-Sations is a direct sale candle company.

They sell high-quality candles made of soy-based wax. They are very popular because they offer a large variety of assorted scents.

PartyLite

As the name suggests, PartyLite offers a wide range of decorative candles along with other products. They also offer unscented candles if that’s what your customers are looking for.

Pink Zebra

Pink Zebra is the newer player in the candle market but already has a strong customer base. They have a unique product line with fun scents and scented wax sprinkles.

Scentsy

Scentsy offers a very different kind of candles and that’s what makes them popular.

All their candles are wickless and require a warmer to melt them. So, it lets you fill your home with scents without burning anything.

Celebrating Home Direct

While they offer much more but candles are one of their popular products. Celebrating Home Direct offers 45% commissions to their reps and that’s what sets them apart from other companies.

Final thoughts on selling candles from home

Making and selling candles from home is a great side hustle that can be easily converted into a full-time business if you are good at it.

This post will serve you as a comprehensive guide on how to start a candle-making business at home and make good money out of it.

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selling candles from home

Anika Jindal

Anika is a CPA and founder of What Anika Says. She shares simple and actionable frugal living, money management and money-saving tips to live a debt-free financially independent life. She has been featured on popular websites like Bankrate, Forbes, Mint ,and Authority Magazine. Byline: MSN