A small candle business makes what's left after materials, selling fees, overhead, marketing and the candles that don't sell, divided by the hours it takes, and the answer depends far more on how many candles you sell, and where, than on what they cost to make. In the example below, a 9 oz soy candle costs $3.99 in materials and sells for $26 direct or $13 wholesale. A side business selling 150 candles a month earns about $1,620 before tax, for about 42 hours of work, about $38 an hour; a busier one selling 400 a month earns about $4,160 for about 93 hours. The margin per candle is generous. Selling 150 candles every month is the hard part. Below is the profit per candle by channel, the two example months, and what moves the number most.
The short version
- Materials are a small share of a candle's price; your time and selling costs are the rest.
- A candle sold direct earns more than twice what a wholesale one does, but takes more selling.
- Count every cost: fees, market booths, overhead, marketing, breakage and unsold scents.
- Divide what's left by every hour, including markets, packing and posting, not only pouring.
- Volume decides the income; check you can sell it before you pour it.
- Unsold seasonal scents are the quiet profit killer.
- TaroStack shows what each candle costs now and which products and customers earn. More below.
Profit per candle, by channel
The costs come from how to price homemade candles: a 9 oz jar is $3.99 in materials, a 4 oz tin $2.05.
| Candle and channel | Price | Materials | Card fee, 3% | Left before your time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 oz jar, sold direct | $26.00 | $3.99 | $0.78 | $21.23 |
| 9 oz jar, wholesale | $13.00 | $3.99 | $9.01 | |
| 4 oz tin, sold direct | $15.00 | $2.05 | $0.45 | $12.50 |
| 4 oz tin, wholesale | $7.50 | $2.05 | $5.45 |
A jar sold at a market or online leaves more than twice what a jar sold to a shop does. But each direct sale takes selling time, a market day, a post, a packed parcel, while a shop takes 24 at once. How to set the wholesale price is in how to price handmade items for wholesale.
Two example months
| A month | Side business | Busier |
|---|---|---|
| Jars sold direct | 50 × $26 = $1,300 | 120 × $26 = $3,120 |
| Jars wholesale | 50 × $13 = $650 | 160 × $13 = $2,080 |
| Tins sold direct | 50 × $15 = $750 | 80 × $15 = $1,200 |
| Tins wholesale | 40 × $7.50 = $300 | |
| Sales | $2,700.00 | $6,700.00 |
| Materials | −$501.50 | −$1,363.20 |
| Card and online fees, 3% of direct sales | −$61.50 | −$129.60 |
| Market booths, $40 a day | −$80.00 | −$160.00 |
| Overhead: insurance, website, test candles, packing | −$200.00 | −$300.00 |
| Marketing and photos | −$100.00 | −$250.00 |
| Discounts, breakage and unsold scents, 5% | −$135.00 | −$335.00 |
| Left, before tax | $1,622.00 | $4,162.20 |
Then the hours:
| Hours a month | Side business | Busier |
|---|---|---|
| Pouring, trimming, labeling | 10.4 | 28.3 |
| Market days, 7 hours each | 14 | 28 |
| Online orders and packing | 6 | 15 |
| Wholesale orders and deliveries | 4 | 10 |
| Photos, posts, admin | 8 | 12 |
| Total | 42.4 | 93.3 |
| Earned an hour | About $38 | About $45 |
That's before income tax, self-employment tax, and replacing equipment. The busier month earns more per hour mostly because pouring in larger runs and selling to shops take less time per candle. What to take to a market, so you sell out of the right things, is in how much inventory for a craft fair.
What moves the number most
| Lever | Effect in the side business |
|---|---|
| Sell 50 more jars a month to shops | About $450 more, for a few more hours |
| Raise the jar price $2 direct | About $100 more, no more hours |
| Cut unsold scents from 5% to 2% | About $80 more |
| Pour 48 at a time instead of 24 | Fewer pouring hours per candle |
| A market that sells 10 jars | About $170 after the booth, for a 7-hour day |
Seasonal scents are the trap: a fall scent poured in October and still on the shelf in January is cash you've already spent. Pour seasonal scents in smaller runs, and know what's on hand before you pour more.
Where this stops working
The sums above are a spreadsheet you fill in once, from guesses. Then wax goes up, a fragrance supplier changes their price, the Plumeria jars sell out while the Coconut Lime sits, and two shops pay late. Without real numbers per candle, per scent and per customer, you can't tell which scents and which shops are paying for the others, so the slow ones keep getting poured.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps the numbers a candle business runs on, scent by scent and shop by shop.
What each candle costs. Each candle is a recipe, per scent and size, with units converted: buy wax by the 50 lb case and pour it by the ounce. A pour is a batch, taking wax, fragrance, wicks, jars and labels off stock at what you paid, so the cost per candle follows the price of wax as it moves, and a price-creep report per supplier shows who's moving it.
Which products and customers earn. Margins are reported by product and by customer, on what the candles actually cost when they shipped, over the last 30, 90 or 365 days, so you see which scents and which shops earn their keep. Connect your Shopify store, and we set it up with you.
And nothing sits unseen. Stock that isn't moving shows how long since it last went out, so January's fall scents are visible before you pour another run. The reorder list shows wax, wicks and jars in days of cover at the rate you really use them, with a red line where an order placed today would arrive too late, and the suggested order rounds to the supplier's case size.
| The question | Spreadsheet | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| What does a jar cost now? | Worked out once | Every pour, at what you paid |
| Which scents sell? | A guess | Margins by product |
| Which shops are worth it? | Unknown | Margins by customer |
| What's sitting unsold? | Found in January | Stock not moving, days since it last went out |
Stock, counts, the reorder list and margins by product and customer are on every plan, from $49 a month; recipes and pours with their cost are on Standard at $99. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.