Selling your homemade candles

[Stressedoutgirl45]

Just interested in finding out do you sell your candles online or craft fairs (obviously not many on at the mo, or through local shops?
And do you sell enough regularly? I’m guessing you make to order.

I’ve been making candles mostly my myself/family and friends. Was thinking to set up something online to sell them but I’m aware there’s so many candle making online shops.
Hoping to fit this around the children (one at school and the youngest home.

Any tips for starting up?
Thank you 😊

Insurance
I would keep a stock if you want to be able to post items out quickly

Thank you @mayblossominapril,

I don't make candles but I often buy from a few people who make them. You need to have a nice website, nice instagram/facebook, make sure that the candles are good quality and they burn properly. Also, I'm very interested in scent (the actual scent, and how much it lasts). Of course, I look at the packaging too, how the recipient looks, etc.

Best of luck, OP!

Check out the legal requirements. You will need CLP labels on every product you sell. And definitely insurance! There will also be tax implications.

My son works for a company who make candles, the price of beeswax has increased so much recently, plus the cost of transport, they are hardly making a profit.

Customers like to smell candles so a good place to start would be craft fairs and they can buy again from you on your website or Facebook page. You will need insurance for craft fairs.

Thank you @readingismycardio, I hope my candles are good quality. Friends comment on they do smell very nice. Yes, I’ve been thinking a lot about packaging. Haven’t quite decided yet though.
@BitsAndBaubles well hopefully there will be a few craft fairs coming up depending on how things go Covid related. There’s a market near to where I live, was thinking to rent a stall one weekend (think you can do so) But think there’s a bit of waiting list but I’ll give it a go. It would be good to test the waters.

Hopefully I will get things going over the next few weeks.

Thank you 😊

The thing with doing craft shows is that you can end up spending more than you think.
On the day of shows, I am up and busy early, and on the road so eat take out. Yes, I could pack meals, but when I am already busy loading tables, stock, marketing supplies, packaging, and such, I don't want to be dealing with making meals and snacks to bring too.
There is the fuel costs, stall fees, insurance, usually vendors buy something or other from other vendors, and by the time we are back home at the end of the day, and everything has been unloaded, cleaning and re stored, I'm too tired to cook supper

What ever the profit margin from that days sales was, it has to cover all of those expenses, and still leave something after to pay for my time.

@Seafog that is a lot to think about with the cost, I will keep it in mind.

I don’t drive so thee see t might be a problem, that’s why the local market was easy for me.
Obviously selling online would be much simpler something like Esty.

Speak to your local trading standards person at the council. They'll advise on legalities and compliance.

@Stressedoutgirl45

Thank you *@readingismycardio*, I hope my candles are good quality. Friends comment on they do smell very nice. Yes, I’ve been thinking a lot about packaging. Haven’t quite decided yet though. *@BitsAndBaubles* well hopefully there will be a few craft fairs coming up depending on how things go Covid related. There’s a market near to where I live, was thinking to rent a stall one weekend (think you can do so) But think there’s a bit of waiting list but I’ll give it a go. It would be good to test the waters.

Hopefully I will get things going over the next few weeks.

Thank you 😊

As someone else pointed out. Each fragrance will need its own CLP label listing the allergens, hazards and warnings contained in that fragrance. Some fragrance oil suppliers will give you a template for each oil for use @10%. If your oil supplier doesn't, you'd be looking at around £30 per fragrance to have a label template created from the sds. For a blend of 2 or more fragrances, its around £60. You would need product and public liability insurance at a cost of around £100 per year You would have to comply with The Food Imitation Act You would have to follow best practice. See British candle makers federation for details. You would have to keep comprehensive testing records and be able to produce them for trading standards and your insurance company if asked.

And, your candles don't have to smell nice, they have to be safe.

That should have said "don't have to JUST smell nice"

@Sugarplumfairy65 Thank you for all the advice, I really need to get on top on things before I set anything up I think. Honestly I didn’t realise so much was involved, obviously I knew the candles need to be safe, of course. I’ve been looking at a lot of online tutorials, maybe I should enrol on a course which covers all I need to know.
I’m guessing you make & sell candles, how is it going? Can I ask are you able to make a small income from this?
Thanks again!

Hi OP.
I can't help you from a business point of view, but I go to a lot of craft fairs (and buy a lot of candles there!)

Without being rude, there are usually a LOT of candle makers at these sorts of things (and you'll be one of about sixty bajillion on Etsy) so I'd respectfully suggest considering some sort of USP.

I've seen ones at fairs which use teacups or vintage bowls to hold their candles, rather than putting them in metal or glass jars.
I appreciate this brings with it postage considerations, but I'm just throwing it out there.

Also consider using soy wax as opposed to beeswax. This will ensure that vegans can enjoy your product too.

Best of luck!

Hi OP. Hows it going? I'm from a beekeeping family and have been making beeswax candles for decades. I used to rent a stall every weekend at my local market. At the time (around 2005) I was the only candle seller, and my stall used to be £30 for the day. I tried a (beautiful) Christmas market too, but at over £200 for the weekend, I was left with only around £150 profit. It took me around 2 weeks to make that stock, and I stood in the freezing cold for 16 hours over that weekend to sell it. The hourly rate, therefore wasn't worth it so I haven't done it since.

Ebay and Etsy are absolutely saturated - often with cheaper alternatives I couldn't and wouldn't compete with.

However... some alternatives..

A few people remembered me from my early stall days, and kept in touch. They used to buy regularly. It's handy if you do a stall to have business cards ready for this purpose. The guy who ran the local Gastro pub put in large orders as he liked the idea of lighting the candles each night and them being locally made. Also, a lady with a gift shop in a very posh part of town used to buy lots and sell them for double in her store.

I then sought out other business owners who I asked to stock them for me. I usually offer a sale or return, and call each couple of weeks to replenish stocks / collect my 'takings'

It possibly helps that I'm in a pretty seaside town with lots of visitors year round and so have lots of gift shops, cafés and similar types of business. I made bespoke versions for those who wanted the candles to tie in with what they did (eg: Sandalwood and Cinnamon fragranced ones for a local Indian restaurant)

I couldn't go back to the cold hard days of manning a stall all day, but I still have quite a following via use of Nextdoor app, Insta, and I advertise on my street group chat. And also my DD's school year parents Facebook page. It's amazing how word gets round and you gain some regulars pretty quickly. Last Christmas was my best ever money wise, and most people came to collect from my home which was a bonus. One of the very few silver linings of lockdown!

As a candle buyer, I want ones that smell nice, burn well, last a long time and don't leave me with a useless, waxy receptical I can neither use nor recycle. So, the teacup idea is a no from me.

The glass jars are annoying enough but at least they go in the recycling. I find it tricky with very nice glass jars because I want to keep them but can't ever get them properly clean, and ceramic is more annoying. It's just irritating that I'm paying more for nice things I can't utilise.

I have sold candles I’ve made, in the past - at local craft fairs.

Something that I found was popular was candles in teacups - I bought sets pr part sets of coffee and tea cups on eBay, and put candles in them.

Thanks for all the replies.
@RainbowZebraWarrior, I don’t think I could rent a stall, I did consider this as there is a local market literally down the end of my road on Saturdays. However the waiting list is very long.

I am looking to approach a couple of gift shops nearby and see what they say. One shop I regularly shop in and often have chats with the owners but I don’t want to put them on the spot if you know what I mean.

Online shops might be easier but there are so many people doing exactly that.

There are a few local craft fairs fairs coming up, I may try one out and see how it goes.
I really do enjoy making candles and would love to take it further and make into a little business.

@VanGoghsDog, I’ve been looking for different ideas as a holder. And yes, want something that can be reused again.

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius, when you did your local fairs were you the only person selling candles? I only ask as I wonder nowadays this is something lots of people take up and probably doing the same craft fairs. Oh well, I’ll see what happens.

I've been making candles for months. I read a few guides on this website mycandleplanet.com/ about how to make candles, and I really love this job. At first, I only sold candles to my friends, but when I tried a little harder on the Instagram page, people started ordering more and more. My advice is to have the best possible pictures on social networks, because that is very important in this business.

Thanks for your reply @Albertt111, that’s great your are busy with your candles. I’ve made quite a few over the last couple months but haven’t really set up to sell them. I will take a look at the website you mentioned. I absolutely love making candles, I do find it very therapeutic, but should really get my act together in terms of selling otherwise I’ll have loads of candles all over the house

All the best with making & selling!