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How to start a candle business

Learn to make one candle that burns cleanly, test wicks and fragrance amounts until it does, then add a fire safety label and price from your real cost per jar. Supplies for a first batch cost about $141. Most of the work is testing, not pouring, so budget weeks for burn tests before you sell.

Startup cost
About $141 in first-batch supplies
Cost per candle
About $3.70 in materials
Hardest part
Getting wick size right

How to start a candle business, step by step

  1. Pick one wax and one jar

    Every change in wax, jar or fragrance changes how a candle burns, so fix two of the three while you learn. Soy wax is the common starting point for container candles. CandleScience sells its SimplySoy Artisan Wax at $28.93 for a 10 lb bag, and its 8 oz mason jar holds 7.9 oz of wax to the fill line.

    Stick with one jar size for your first line. It keeps testing simple, lets you buy jars by the case, and means every candle in the line looks consistent on your shelf and your site.

  2. Burn-test until it burns clean

    A wick that's too small tunnels down the middle and wastes wax; one that's too big smokes, soots the jar and gets the glass dangerously hot. Pour test candles with two or three wick sizes, cure them, and burn each for a few hours at a time, noting the melt pool, flame height and soot.

    Repeat the test for every scent you plan to sell. Fragrance oils change how wax burns, so a wick that works well with one scent can tunnel or smoke with another.

  3. Get fragrance amounts right

    Each fragrance oil has a safe range. CandleScience lists its Fraser Fir oil as candle safe from 3% to 10% and points to the oil's IFRA certificate for maximum levels. Weigh fragrance as a share of total wax weight and stay inside the range the supplier gives.

    Start with a handful of scents that fit one theme, such as a forest line or a kitchen line. A tight range is easier to test, stock and photograph than thirty scents.

  4. Add a fire safety label

    The candle industry's labeling standard, ASTM F2058, sets out the cautionary label that tells buyers to burn a candle within sight, away from things that can catch fire, and out of the reach of children. The standard covers the fire safety information placed on each candle you sell.

    Put the warning on the jar's bottom or back label, along with your business name, the scent and the weight. Print labels on a roll: StickerApp lists 200 roll labels for $63.

  5. Cost each candle from real prices

    Using CandleScience prices, one 8 oz mason jar candle at 8% fragrance costs about $1.31 in wax, $1.22 in Fraser Fir oil from a 16 oz bottle, 76 cents for the jar and 9 cents for a CD 2 wick. Add about 32 cents for a label, and materials come to roughly $3.70.

    Then add packaging, shipping, fees and your time. Candles are heavy and breakable, so pack one the way you'll ship it and weigh it before you set shipping prices.

  6. Cover licenses and insurance

    There's no federal candle license, but most small businesses need some state or local licenses, and you'll need to register to collect sales tax where your state requires it. Check your state and city websites.

    Candles are an open flame in a customer's home. Product liability insurance covers losses when a defective product causes injury, so ask any craft market or shop you sell through whether it requires proof of coverage.

  7. Build a store for your scent line

    Your product pages have to do what a sniff does in a shop: describe each scent with its notes, burn time, size and the mood it creates. Add a collection page for the line, a candle care page, and photos of the candle lit in a real room.

    If you sell one candle in one size, Replo checkout can take the payment. When scents or sizes are variants, run the catalog on Shopify and let Replo build the homepage, collection and product pages on top of it.

What it costs to start a candle business

What a first batch of container candles costs, using CandleScience supply prices. The cheapest way in is one wax, one jar and two scents.

Startup costs for a candle business
Soy wax, 10 lb bag$28.93Fills about 20 of the 8 oz mason jars below, before fragrance.
Fragrance oil, 16 oz$30.77Fraser Fir; candle safe from 3% to 10% of wax weight.
8 oz mason jars, 12$9.0676 cents a jar; holds 7.9 oz of wax to the fill line.
Pretabbed wicks, 100$9.19CD 2, 6 inch; buy two sizes so you can burn-test both.
Roll labels, 200$63Price at the page's default size; room for scent, weight and safety warning.
Etsy listing fee$0.20 per listingA low-cost way to sell before you open your own store.
Store plan (Shopify Basic)$29–$39 a monthOnly needed when scents or sizes become variants in your own store.
Your site with Replo$0 to startTry Replo with 1,000 free credits. Your own domain comes with Starter, $99 a month billed yearly.
About $141 for first-batch supplies, plus listing fees or a store plan.

Your first 30 days

  1. Week 1

    Order supplies and pour tests

    • Order one wax, one jar, two wick sizes and two fragrance oils.
    • Pour test candles of each wick and scent combination and label them.
    • Let the test candles cure before you light any of them.

  2. Week 2

    Burn-test and choose wicks

    • Burn each test candle in sessions and record melt pool, flame and soot.
    • Pick the wick that gives a full melt pool without smoke for each scent.
    • Write down your final recipe: wax weight, fragrance percent and wick.

  3. Week 3

    Label, price and photograph

    • Design labels with the scent, weight, your name and the safety warning.
    • Cost each candle from supply prices and set a price that pays you.
    • Photograph candles lit in a real room and unlit on a plain background.

  4. Week 4

    Pour the first batch and launch

    • Pour your first sellable batch and let it cure fully before shipping.
    • List the line on Etsy or your own store with scent notes and burn time.
    • Book a local craft market and bring a sign pointing to your store.

What brands in this category run ads to

In Replo's ad library, 35 home decor brands ran Meta ads over the last four weeks, with over 3,300 ads live between them. About 30% of those ads are video. Here is where the ads send people:

Collection page
55%
Product page
28%
Homepage
13%
Offer page
2%

Home decor brands that advertise send most of their ads to collection pages, then to single products. For candles, that means one strong scent-line collection page will do more for your ads than the homepage.

Build your candle store

Replo builds your scent collection, product pages and candle care page, with Replo checkout for one candle or Shopify for variants.

The prompt Replo starts from

Build a store for my candle business, [business name], selling hand-poured [wax type] candles in [scent theme] scents. Make a homepage with our best seller, a collection page for the scent line, product pages with scent notes, size, burn time and lit photos, a candle care and safety page, and an about page on how we make them.
Build this with Replo

Edit the words in brackets once Replo opens.

Frequently asked questions

Is a candle business profitable?
It can be. Using CandleScience prices, materials for an 8 oz soy candle come to about $3.70. Packaging, heavy shipping, fees and your time come on top, so profit depends on pricing for those costs and selling enough to buy supplies in bulk.
How much does it cost to start a candle business?
About $141 buys a first batch of supplies: a 10 lb bag of soy wax, a 16 oz fragrance oil, a case of jars, 100 wicks and 200 labels. Add listing fees or a store plan, plus a thermometer and pouring pitcher if you don't have them.
Do I need a license to sell candles?
No federal license, but most small businesses need state or local licenses, and you'll likely need to register to collect sales tax in your state. Check your state and city websites. Follow the ASTM F2058 safety labeling standard on every candle you sell.
How many candles will a 10 lb bag of wax make?
About 20 candles in an 8 oz mason jar, which takes 7.9 oz of wax to the fill line. A 10 lb bag is 160 oz. Because fragrance oil makes up part of each candle's weight, you'll get a candle or two more.
Do I need insurance to sell candles?
It's worth having even before anyone asks. Product liability insurance covers losses when a defective product injures someone, and a candle is an open flame in a customer's home. Ask each craft fair or shop you sell through whether it requires proof of coverage.

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