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How to Start Selling Candles From Home: 6 Steps to Follow

Do you want to start a candle-making business but don’t know how? We hear you!

Starting a business from scratch can be hectic. You need to master your craft, create a brand, market your products, and study your competitors.

Considering that the global candle market reached a value of 12.88 billion dollars last year, you should expect at least a few similar businesses in your city. Luckily, we’re here to help!

In this article, we’ll tell you how to start selling candles from home, including the problems that might come your way and the platforms you can sell on.

Why You Should Consider Selling Candles From Home

Among the endless items you can sell from home, why should you choose candles? Here’s a list of reasons!

  • Growing Industry: According to IBISWorld, the size of the candle manufacturing industry grows an average of 2.3% per year in the United States, as shown by statistics from years 2017 to 2022.
  • Low Startup Costs: Candles require only a few materials to be made and don’t need to be stored in special conditions. Accordingly, manufacturing them doesn’t cost a lot.
  • Flexible: Starting your own candle business means you’re in control of your working time, the quality of the products, the packaging, and more.
  • Easy Craft: Making candles from scratch is an easy process, and you can learn it completely online. The only challenge you’ll face is choosing scents that’ll set you apart from your competitors.

Problems With Selling Candles From Home

Selling candles from home isn’t all pink, and you might meet unexpected challenges along the way. Here’s a brief list of the most common ones.

  • High Competition: Because of how fast the candle-making industry is growing and how easy the business is, the number of people who sell homemade candles is constantly on the rise.
  • No Job Benefits: Owning a business comes with a great deal of flexibility, but it also means you won’t have any job benefits like paid leave, health insurance, and retirement benefits.
  • Hard to Build Customer Trust: You’ll have limited face-to-face interactions with customers, which makes it hard to build trust and loyalty.
  • No Safety Net: It’s expected that you’ll say goodbye to a fixed salary. Instead, you’ll only gain money by selling homemade candles. If your sales plummet for a month, you’ll have no safety net to fall back on.

What You’ll Need to Sell Candles From Home

Here’s a quick list of what you’ll need to make money selling candles from home:

  • Raw Materials: To make candles, you’ll need wax, wicks, containers, essential oils and fragrances, and coloring dyes.
  • Manufacturing Equipment: The equipment you’ll need is a double boiler, thermometer, stirring spatula, stick tapes, and wick bars.
  • Inventory System: Having an inventory system will help you track your sales, expenses, stock, and more.
  • Social Media Accounts: To market your scented candles, you’ll need to create accounts on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.
  • Shipping Solutions: Because you’re selling candles from home, you’ll need to make deals with shipping companies to deliver your products to the customers. Ideally, you should compare the prices of different companies and settle on the best one.

Where to Sell Your Homemade Candles

To succeed in your candle-making business and establish a customer base, you might need to start by selling on popular platforms. This way, you’ll reach customers faster than if you start by creating a website from scratch.

Here’s our roundup of the best platforms to sell your candles.

1. Etsy

screenshot of esty homepage

Etsy is one of the most famous online marketplaces globally, and it has more than 96 million active buyers, as per Statista. You can sell any item you can think of on it, including homemade scented candles.

What Makes This Option Great

The astounding number of active buyers on Etsy guarantees that your products will reach potential customers. Also, the platform doesn’t charge excessive fees for its services, so you’ll still make a considerable profit.

  • Fees/Commissions: Etsy charges a listing fee of $0.20 on each item you sell on the website and a transaction fee of 6.5% on each listing.
  • Payment Method: You’ll be paid through PayPal, your Etsy payment account, or through snail mail.

2. Shopify

screenshot of the shopify homepage

Shopify is a global commerce platform that allows you to build an online store under its umbrella. It provides you with a business name generator and logo maker to help you build your brand from scratch, making it the perfect platform for candle makers.

What Makes This Option Great

Shopify makes it a breeze to build your online store with its free tools and drag-and-drop features. It’s one of our favorite platforms because it gives you access to multiple marketing tools that’ll help you advertise your business, making it easier to reach customers.

  • Fees/Commissions: Shopify has three plans. The basic plan costs $32 per month, the Shopify plan costs $92 per month, and the advanced plan costs $399 per month.
  • Payment Method: Shopify can pay you through your bank account, PayPal, or a wire transfer.

3. Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace gets more than 2 billion customers on a monthly basis, which gives you access to a wide customer base for your candles. Best of all, if you already have a Facebook account, you can start selling right away without any preparation steps.

What Makes This Option Great

Listing items on Facebook Marketplace is insanely easy, as you only have to provide a picture and description of your candles. The platform also doesn’t impose any listing fees on you. You only have to pay a fee if your product gets sold.

  • Fees/Commissions: Starting from July 2023, Facebook Marketplace will only charge you processing fees, which differ according to the transaction type. You can learn more here.
  • Payment Method: You’ll be paid through your bank account, which you’ll need to provide while setting up the shipping details for your product.

Related: Best Selling Items on Facebook Marketplace

How to Sell Candles From Home: Step-by-Step Instructions

If you want to start a candle business right away, check out the steps we provided below.

Step 1 – Master Your Craft

Before you can make money selling candles, you should perfect your method of making them.

While making candles is an easy craft that doesn’t require many materials, you have to experiment with multiple scents before settling on a few that you’ve mastered.

Also, keep in mind that decorative candles aren’t only about scents; customers also care about aesthetics. Accordingly, you’ll need to try different shapes like roses, shells, bubbles, pine cones, and more.

To learn the candle craft, you can either take courses or refer to online recipes.

Step 2 – Identify Your Target Audience

To build a brand that appeals to a specific group of customers, you’ll need to identify your target market and study it.

You have three options to choose from: low-market, mid-market, and high-market.

The low-market audience is more about practical products than luxurious ones, so naturally, you’ll choose cost-efficient materials and sell your homemade candles at reasonable prices.

For example, you’ll make paraffin wax candles instead of soy candles because the former is more affordable. Also, you’ll choose convenient packaging without caring much for aesthetics.

As for mid-market customers, they often look for a perfect balance between cost-efficiency and convenience with a dash of luxury. In other words, they want candles with attractive shapes and smells without breaking the bank.

This means that, for example, instead of using rose absolute essential oil, which is on the pricey side of the market, you’ll use lavender, which is much more affordable. Your mid-market candles will still smell good, only a little less luxurious.

Finally, the high-market audience is all about luxury and flair. You can use whatever candle wax and essential oil you want without caring much for the price.

However, you’ll have to pay great attention to the candles’ aesthetic, packaging, and scent.

Step 3 – Build a Brand

After you’ve settled on a target audience, it’s finally time to build a brand. The components of a brand are a personality, story, creative name, and logo.

Personality

Your brand personality depends entirely on your target audience.

Are you targeting older people who want decorative luxury candles for their houses? Then, your brand’s personality should be more sophisticated than bubbly.

On the other hand, if you’re targeting a younger audience, you should build a lively personality that keeps up with social media trends.

Story

While not all brands have a story, it’s still an essential part of any successful business. It helps customers connect with you on a personal level and thus enhances brand loyalty and trust.

The story can be real or a figment of your imagination. Write what inspired you to start the business, and keep it short and sweet so that you can write it on your product’s packaging.

Name

Now, you should choose a name for your brand. You can either make up a word, combine two words, or choose a word from a different language.

That said, choose a name that’s easily readable so that it’ll stick with people.

Logo

Your brand’s logo should be inspired by its personality, name, and the candle industry as a whole.

First, you should settle on a color palette that matches the brand’s personality, be it sophisticated or bubbly. Then, you should design an easily interpreted logo that connects the whole picture together.

If you don’t have experience designing logos, we recommend hiring a professional to do it. They know what colors and shapes attract customers’ eyes, saving you time and effort.

Step 4 – Price Your Products

The selling price of your products should be the cost price plus your profit margin.

The cost price equals the price of raw materials, the price of running the equipment you used, the price of direct labor if you have someone helping you, and any overhead costs, all added together.

The profit margin depends entirely on you, but the average margin in the candle industry is 25-50%.

Step 5 – Find a Platform

Now that you have readymade priced products, you need to find a platform to sell them. As mentioned above, you can use any global commerce platform like Etsy and eBay or create your own website.

Step 6 – Market Your Candles

Marketing is an essential component of any business plan. You can either market your candles online or offline, but considering that you’re selling from home, online is the way to go.

To market online, you can create accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Also, you can pay for ads every now and then to increase your traffic.

To attract customers at the beginning of your journey, you can share discount coupons, run competitions with attractive prizes, and give away some free samples.

Things to Consider When Selling Candles From Home

Here’s a list of things you should consider when starting your candle business.

  • Stay Motivated: To keep your business afloat, you’ll need to stay motivated to scale up and expand it. Don’t work too hard that you burn out quickly or too lightly that you lose interest.
  • Create Unique Products: The only thing that’ll set you apart from your competitors is the uniqueness of your products. Look for new scents, shapes, and packaging ideas.
  • State Regulations: If you expand your business and start selling in a store, you’ll need to ask about state regulations and whether you’ll have to pay taxes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do You Need Insurance to Sell Candles From Home?

You aren’t obligated to get insurance to sell candles from home.

However, it’d be a wise choice because candles are a flammable product that can cause many accidents, and insurance will save you from paying compensation.

Are Homemade Candles Businesses Profitable?

Yes, any homemade candle business can be highly profitable because candles aren’t expensive to manufacture, and you won’t have many overhead costs.

Similar Tutorials to Check Out

If you’re still indecisive about what to sell, here’s a list of similar tutorials you can check out.

  • How to Sell Magic Cards: If you have a collection of magic cards and want to make some money selling them, learn how in this tutorial.
  • How to Sell Laptops: Whether you’re selling an old laptop or want to start a new business, you’ll benefit from checking out this guide.
  • Sell Short Stories for Money: Learn how to use your writing creativity to earn some money in this comprehensive guide.
  • Sell Essential Oils Online: If you make the essential oils used in your candles yourself, you can gain some extra money by selling them.

Wrapping Up

Being organized is key to success when starting a new business. By following the steps mentioned above, you can kickstart your candle-making business without forgetting any detail amidst all the chaos and excitement.

If you liked reading this article, leave your feedback in the comments and share it with your friends!

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