Candle pricing FAQ
Last updated: 10 September 2026
Common questions from candle makers, answered with the same arithmetic the calculator on the home page uses. Every example below is worked out, not guessed. You do not need an account to read this.
What does one candle cost me?
Add up everything you spend on a batch, then divide by the number of finished candles. Wax, wick, fragrance, jar, lid, label, and packaging all count, including the part of a bag of wax you did not use up.
Say a batch of 12 candles costs 184.00 in materials and packaging:
- Batch spend
- 184.00
- Candles finished
- 12
- Materials per candle
- 15.33
That is your materials cost. It is not your full cost yet, because your own time is missing.
How do I set a price from a margin?
Divide your cost by one minus the margin you want. At a 40% margin and a full cost of 23.67 per candle:
- Cost per candle
- 23.67
- Target margin
- 40%
- Price
- 39.44
- Profit per candle
- 15.78
Do not add the margin on top of the cost. Adding 40% to 23.67 gives 33.13, which leaves you a 28.6% margin, not 40%.
You can try your own figures in the calculator on the home page.
Margin or markup: what's the difference?
Margin is profit measured against your price. Markup is the same profit measured against your cost. The same candle produces two very different-looking percentages:
- Cost
- 23.67
- Price
- 39.44
- Margin
- 40.0%
- Markup
- 66.7%
Pick one and stay with it. Margin is the more useful of the two, because it tells you what share of every sale is left to cover rent, fees, and your own pay.
How do I pay myself for my time?
Put your time in as a cost before you set the price, at the rate you would pay someone else. Pouring, curing, labeling, and packing a candle in 25 minutes at 20 an hour:
- Minutes per candle
- 25
- Hourly rate
- 20.00
- Labor per candle
- 8.33
- Full cost per candle
- 23.67
If a price only works when your time is free, it is not a working price. Leaving labor out is the most common reason a busy candle business makes no money.
How many candles must I sell to break even?
Divide your fixed monthly costs by the profit you make on one candle. With 450.00 a month in studio rent, insurance, and subscriptions:
- Fixed costs each month
- 450.00
- Profit per candle
- 15.78
- Candles to break even
- 29 / month
Below that number you are paying to trade. Above it, every candle adds 15.78 to what you keep.
What about wholesale and market fees?
Wholesale is usually half your retail price, so check the margin that is left before you agree to it:
- Retail price
- 39.44
- Wholesale price (50%)
- 19.72
- Cost per candle
- 23.67
- Margin at wholesale
- -20.0%
Market stall fees, online listing fees, and payment charges work the same way: treat them as a cost of that channel and price each channel separately. A candle that works at a fair can lose money in a shop.
When should I raise my prices?
When your costs move, when your margin drops below the level your fixed costs need, or when you are selling out steadily. Re-check your cost per candle every few months. Wax and jar prices change more often than most makers reprice.
A small, regular increase is easier to hold than a large, late one. Baseline keeps the cost sheet for every product so you can see the moment a price stops working.
Create an account to keep your own numbers, or read the privacy notice first.