Guide
How to price handmade candles
Add up everything one candle costs you, including your time, then multiply. A common formula is about 2× cost for wholesale and 3–4× cost for selling direct. If you sell on Etsy, check that the price still leaves a profit after fees and shipping.
Step 1: Work out the cost of one candle
Most underpriced candles come from leaving costs out. Include all of these:
- Wax. Price per ounce or gram × the wax in one candle.
- Fragrance oil. Price per ounce or gram × the oil in one candle. This is often the second biggest cost.
- Vessel. Jar or tin, plus its lid.
- Wick and wick sticker.
- Labels and packaging. Front label, warning label, box, tissue, shipping materials.
- Your time. Melting, pouring, cleanup, labeling and packing, divided across the batch.
- Overhead. A share of tools, test candles, insurance, website and utilities.
To get a per-candle cost for wax and oil, divide what you paid by how much you got. A 10 lb bag of wax for $45 is 160 oz, so $0.28 per ounce.
Step 2: Apply wholesale and retail multipliers
A traditional approach is to charge about two times your cost for wholesale orders and three to four times your cost for direct sales. Wholesale buyers, such as shops and boutiques, then double the wholesale price for their own customers, so your retail price should land close to theirs.
Wholesale price ≈ cost × 2
Retail price ≈ cost × 3 to 4
Multipliers are a starting point. Before you settle on a price, look at what similar candles sell for: same size, similar wax, similar packaging. If your price is far below the market, raise it. Customers often read a very low price as low quality.
Step 3: Check your profit after Etsy fees
On a US Etsy sale, Etsy's published seller fees as of mid-2026 are:
| Fee | Rate | Charged on |
|---|---|---|
| Listing fee | $0.20 | Each listing, and each renewal after a sale |
| Transaction fee | 6.5% | Item price plus shipping and gift wrap |
| Payment processing (US) | 3% + $0.25 | The order total |
| Offsite Ads (only if the sale came from one) | 15% or 12% | The order total, capped at $100 |
Together the standard fees take about 9.5% of the order plus $0.45. Offsite Ads are 15% for shops under $10,000 in yearly sales and 12% for larger shops. Processing rates differ outside the US, and a 2.5% currency conversion fee applies when your listing currency differs from your bank's.
A worked example
An 8 oz soy candle with 6 oz of wax and an 8% fragrance load:
| Wax: 6 oz at $45 per 10 lb | $1.69 |
| Fragrance oil: 0.48 oz at $28 per 16 oz | $0.84 |
| Jar with lid | $1.80 |
| Wick and sticker | $0.20 |
| Labels and packaging | $0.60 |
| Other (dye, warning label) | $0.10 |
| Time: 6 minutes at $20 an hour | $2.00 |
| Overhead | $0.50 |
| Total cost | $7.73 |
At 2× and 3× cost, that gives a wholesale price of $15.46 and a retail price of $23.19.
Listed on Etsy at $24 with $6.95 shipping, the buyer pays $30.95. Etsy takes $3.39: $0.20 listing, $2.01 transaction and $1.18 processing. Shipping the candle costs $6.50. That leaves $13.33 profit per sale, about 56% of the item price. The break-even price, where you only cover costs, is $9.27.
If the same sale came through an Offsite Ad at 15%, Etsy would take a further $4.64 and profit would drop to $8.69.
Common pricing mistakes
- Leaving out your time. Even if candles are a hobby now, pricing in your time keeps the price workable if you grow or sell wholesale later.
- Forgetting test candles. Every new scent and wick combination needs burn tests. Spread that cost across your sales as overhead.
- Charging less for shipping than it costs. Etsy charges its fees on shipping too, so undercharging loses money twice.
- Not repricing. Check your costs whenever wax, oil or jar prices change.
Run your own numbers. The candle pricing calculator uses your supply prices and shows cost, suggested prices and Etsy profit side by side.