While many DIY projects and crafts can come with a hefty price tag, candle making doesn’t have to be one of them. You can make candles for as much or as little as you feel comfortable with!
So, how much does it cost to make a candle? Depending on the quality of the wax, the color you use, the scents, and the container you choose to put it in, the cost to make a single candle varies widely.
The exact cost of your candle making supplies will depend on a few factors, such as where you buy them and whether or not you buy in bulk. Let’s explore how some of these things can affect your cost, as well as find out the total cost to make a candle.
Where To Get Candle Making Supplies
Your best bet for getting high quality candle making supplies is to use a candle making supplies company. These companies are devoted to selling candle making supplies, so you can bet you’re getting your money’s worth.
Not all companies are created equal. Some will offer low quality products, and some will offer great quality products. Read reviews for the website you’re considering and decide whether it’s one you can trust.
One thing you want to be sure you check on is the cost of shipping.
With candle making, you’ll be purchasing heavy supplies such as 10lb bags of wax. This can cost a lot of money to ship, but the shipping price can be cut down depending on how far away you are from the company’s warehouse.
Check the company’s website to find their location. It’s a good idea to choose a company that’s located near you to avoid paying too much in shipping.
You can always purchase candle making supplies on Amazon, but be careful in your purchases. Read reviews and ensure you’re getting the quality that’s being advertised.
Amazon is an open retailer website that allows third parties to sell products on their platform. You don’t want to end up purchasing a product only to find out it was falsely advertised.
Should You Buy Candle Making Supplies In Bulk?
When it comes to candle making, this is one craft that works better when you buy the supplies in bulk rather than individually.
For example, you wouldn’t buy a single wick, or a single jar, or a single bag of only 9 oz of wax for the candle you’re making.
Instead, you’ll purchase a pack of 1,000 wicks, a pack of 12 jars, and a 10lb bag of wax.
Not only does this help cut shipping costs, but this helps you make more than just one candle at a time. Candles can be done in batches, especially when you’re using the same fragrance oil for all of them.
Cost Per Ingredient
No matter where you buy from, it’s important to know the average cost of ingredients.
In the sections below, we’ll provide two suggested products and their prices: one from Amazon and one from an online candle supply retailer called Candle Science.
This can give you a good idea of what you can expect to pay based on whether you choose Amazon or a candle supply company.
Wax
See Suggested Product On Amazon
See Suggested Product On CandleScience
The price of wax will drastically vary based on the type of wax you buy. For example, all-natural beeswax will be much more expensive than paraffin wax.
For the purposes of this article, we’ve used soy wax. Soy wax is a nice middle ground. It’s made from soy, so it’s a natural alternative to paraffin, and it’s less expensive than beeswax.
Wax prices will also very based on how much you’re buying at once. Traditionally, bigger bags will cost more money, but that isn’t always the case. The retailer you purchase from will also affect the price.
As you can see based on the products listed above, a 5lb bag from Amazon costs around $21.00 (subject to change), while a 10lb bag from CandleScience costs around $24.00.
The bag from CandleScience is a much better deal, even though you’ll still have to pay around $10-15 in shipping for just the wax. (Expect to pay more in shipping if you’re buying all your supplies at once).
Container
See Suggested Product On Amazon
See Suggested Product On CandleScience
The type of container you choose says a lot about your candle brand. The cheapest route is to use mason jars, such as the ones listed above from CandleScience. Any simple, glass jar will do great.
You can also use a tin rather than glass, and there are plenty of options for you to browse on CandleScience.
Typically, when purchasing jars, they’ll come in a set of 12. The set of 12 from Amazon costs around $21.00 (subject to change), while the set of 12 mason jars from CandleScience costs around only $8.00.
Again, even with shipping, your product is cheaper from a candle supply company than it is on Amazon.
Wick
See Suggested Product On Amazon
See Suggested Product On CandleScience
Candle wicks are relatively cheap no matter where you buy from. You can always get a large quantity, anywhere from 100-1,000 in a single pack.
Make sure you pay attention to the length of the wick and keep this in mind for the height of your candle container. You never want to have a wick that’s too short to stick out through the wax at the top.
A pack of 100 candle wicks that are 3.5” long are around $7.00 on Amazon (subject to change), while a pack of 100 candle wicks that are 3” long on CandleScience are around $8.00.
The price is very close on Amazon to CandleScience, but where CandleScience can save you money is when you upgrade to the box of 1,000 candle wicks. The price per wick drops from around $0.09-0.06, saving you money in the long run.
Fragrance Oil
See Suggested Product On Amazon
See Suggested Product On CandleScience
The world of fragrance oils is vast with many options. Many candle makers use essential oils, as these are typically more clean and pure than artificial fragrance oils.
The nice thing about Amazon is that you can get a small sample pack just to try out a few of the fragrances. Each miniature bottle may only be enough for 1 or 2 candles depending on the size, but it’s a good way to test new scents.
If you buy your fragrance oils from a candle supply website such as CandleScience, you’re less likely to get a sample pack. Instead, you’ll have to buy scents individually.
If you want to try them out before buying in bulk, simply purchase a 1oz or 4oz bottle instead of the 16oz bottle.
The sample set of fragrance oils from Amazon that we included above has a total of 1.98 oz of oils for around $16.00 (subject to change). The comparable quantity and price on CandleScience would be to purchase two 1oz bottles of oil at around $2.00 each.
Warning Label
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See Suggested Product On CandleScience
Warning labels are a must on candles. You need to protect yourself and your company from liability, and protect your customers from danger.
You can get a simple roll of 1,000 candle warning labels on Amazon for around $6.00 (subject to change), or a roll of 1,000 candle warning labels from CandleScience for around $20.00.
Amazon is the clear price winner on this one!
Another great thing about using Amazon for warning labels is that you can find variety. They also have black labels with white writing, or rainbow holographic labels.
Brand Label
See Suggested Product On Amazon
See Suggested Product On VistaPrint
Brand labels are optional, depending on if you plan to sell or give away your candles, or just use them for yourself.
If you want to create a professional business, you’ll need some kind of label that has your brand logo, name, and any relevant information on it.
You can design the logo yourself and print it on the label sheets from Amazon, where you’ll get 300 labels for close to $6.50 (subject to change). Alternatively, you can create and have them printed by a printing company like VistaPrint and get 240 labels for $68.
Of course, it’s much cheaper to design and print them yourself, but you may not get the same quality of design or printing as you would when working with a printing company.
Total Cost
The total cost of goods we listed from Amazon, not including tax, is approximately $80.00 (subject to change).
To recap, this price includes 5lb of wax, 12 jars, 100 candle wicks, 1.98 oz of fragrance oil, 1,000 warning labels, and 300 blank labels to print your brand information.
This price does not include shipping, since you can get free shipping if you have an Amazon Prime membership.
The total cost of goods we listed from CandleScience, not including tax, is close to $68.00.
To recap, this price includes 10lb of wax, 12 jars, 100 candle wicks, 2 oz of fragrance oil, 1,000 warning labels, and a free sample fragrance.
This does not include any brand labels, since we did those on VistaPrint and not CandleScience.
Shipping with CandleScience comes to $25.00, bringing our total to around $93.00.
Although the price from CandleScience is higher, it does include twice the amount of wax, so that will get you more candles than the Amazon bundle.
You can learn how to break these totals down further to determine individual cost per candle by watching a video like the one below.
The owner of Memory Box Candle Co gives a full overview of her cost of goods, then breaks it down to the cost of one individual candle.
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Fragrance Oil Vs Essential Oil For Candles – Which Is Better?
