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CandlemakerT

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Hello, I am new to this forum and I am looking to start my own business selling candles. I've done a lot of research, but none of the sites are telling what to do first. I need to know about making your first to sell. Do I put together a list first for my customers or do I just make a few and hope that they sell? Any advice is needed and would be highly appreciated! Thanks!!
 
I do not know much about candles, have you been making them for a while or are you just starting? This can make a big difference!!
My experience is just as a consumer, and having had a floral business for a number of years.
Your question really depends on the venue in which you wish to sell. If you are at a craft fair, or similar, you can sell what you have 'on hand'. If you're intending to sell on a website, you may want to have a product line, or sell WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) and picture EACH of what you have.
 
No I'm new to it. I made one, but I'm looking forward to more practice first before opening up to others. Thanks for your advice!! :)
 
Making candles can take months to perfect. You need to test EVERYTHING before you are ready to sell. You need to figure out what you want to do first, paraffin, soy, palm, or a blend of some sort. Then you have to decide - containers or pillars. Once that is figured out, if you want to do containers you need to get them, or molds for pillars, and then start testing out your wicks. You want to test for a clean, even burn, under normal circumstances, then test for power burns, then test for in between. Once that is figured out for that wax and that container/pillar, then you start adding in your additives one at a time - color - then test, scent - then test, wax additives - then test. Testing each time, all 3 ways, all the way to the bottom of the container/pillar. It is very time consuming, but it is easier to test this way because with each new variable added, the way your candle burns will change, and once you know inside and out how a plain no color, no scent, no additive candle burns, you will be able to quickly trouble shoot what adjustments are needed when adding your variables.

Most people I know who are chandlers by trade, and have a successful candle business will tell you that it took about 1 year to 18 months to perfect their candles enough to sell.
I'm not trying to discourage you, but this business is not for the "faint of heart" so to speak, and it's not as easy as a lot of people think. There is a LOT that goes into making a safe, clean burning, consistent product.
There are shortcuts sure, but until you know how your wax will perform in the application you want to have it in, there's no way to know what those shortcuts are.

Once all that is done and you feel you have a nice reliable product, first thing you want to do is put insurance in place, and talk to your local business bureau about how to set up a business.
 
Totally agree with jcandleattic! PLEASE don't put the wagon before the horse. I think 6 months is about the absolute fastest you can get started in a business and that is if you are hard core and treat candle making as an actual job. I have so many people that come into my store and want to go into business. I take a lot of time with them to get them started on the right path. Testing is your friend. Take great notes so you can replicate your results.
 
Making candles can take months to perfect. You need to test EVERYTHING before you are ready to sell. You need to figure out what you want to do first, paraffin, soy, palm, or a blend of some sort. Then you have to decide - containers or pillars. Once that is figured out, if you want to do containers you need to get them, or molds for pillars, and then start testing out your wicks. You want to test for a clean, even burn, under normal circumstances, then test for power burns, then test for in between. Once that is figured out for that wax and that container/pillar, then you start adding in your additives one at a time - color - then test, scent - then test, wax additives - then test. Testing each time, all 3 ways, all the way to the bottom of the container/pillar. It is very time consuming, but it is easier to test this way because with each new variable added, the way your candle burns will change, and once you know inside and out how a plain no color, no scent, no additive candle burns, you will be able to quickly trouble shoot what adjustments are needed when adding your variables.

Most people I know who are chandlers by trade, and have a successful candle business will tell you that it took about 1 year to 18 months to perfect their candles enough to sell.
I'm not trying to discourage you, but this business is not for the "faint of heart" so to speak, and it's not as easy as a lot of people think. There is a LOT that goes into making a safe, clean burning, consistent product.
There are shortcuts sure, but until you know how your wax will perform in the application you want to have it in, there's no way to know what those shortcuts are.

Once all that is done and you feel you have a nice reliable product, first thing you want to do is put insurance in place, and talk to your local business bureau about how to set up a business.
Just like making soap, it takes time. I can tell you I totally suck at making candles and would never sell any I tried to make. In my opinion making candles has a huge learning curve
 
LOL, that is totally how I feel about soap. Huge learning curve. Candle making seems so much easier to me. But then I have been doing it for over 30 years. When I think back my first candles totally sucked too. Oh the things I did. Crayons for color. Botanicals right up next to the wick. I could go on. No one actually had the nerve to tell me directly how bad my candles were. Put I was just playing around. I wasn't selling. It wasn't until after collage that I decided I wanted to go pro and put my science degrees behind my candle making that I really started making awesome candles. I dug in and really learned about candle making. Can't really say how long it took me. I was doing pillars back then. There was a ton of testing. My advice to you is to enjoy the ride and enjoy the testing process.
 
Just like making soap, it takes time. I can tell you I totally suck at making candles and would never sell any I tried to make. In my opinion making candles has a huge learning curve
IMO candles were so much harder to master than soap making. Soap in relation to candle making is easy peasy. But, soap is no easy task when beginning, so you can just imagine.
I've been making candles for 20 years, and still need to test. It's never ending!
 
If you’re just starting out I would start with melts first when you master that then try candles
 
IMO candles were so much harder to master than soap making. Soap in relation to candle making is easy peasy. But, soap is no easy task when beginning, so you can just imagine.
I've been making candles for 20 years, and still need to test. It's never ending!
I can certainly believe candles are harder...Only candles I could ever make were sand candles back when....
 
I don't mean this to be snarky but as a genuine question: If you don't know how to make candles, what qualifies you to sell candles professionally? What kind of knowledge and expertise do you have? People are being very gentle in this thread, but we take safety and quality pretty seriously. We also take our craft(s) seriously, so saying, "I know nothing about candles so please tell me a simple candle I can make so I can start a business!"

Here's an interesting thread on this topic:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/i-know-but-i-would-like-a-great-base-recipe.39952/
This is soapmaking but same principle. You should first master candle making and then consider starting a business. Not just pour some stuff in a jar, stick a wick in it and go to a craft show.
 
I don't mean this to be snarky but as a genuine question: If you don't know how to make candles, what qualifies you to sell candles professionally? What kind of knowledge and expertise do you have? People are being very gentle in this thread, but we take safety and quality pretty seriously. We also take our craft(s) seriously, so saying, "I know nothing about candles so please tell me a simple candle I can make so I can start a business!"

Here's an interesting thread on this topic:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/i-know-but-i-would-like-a-great-base-recipe.39952/
This is soapmaking but same principle. You should first master candle making and then consider starting a business. Not just pour some stuff in a jar, stick a wick in it and go to a craft show.
This is what I was trying to get at with my reply in post #5. However, even being as nice as I feel we were, I don't think they liked our answers, as they haven't been back since their second post.
 
I think it is because people are scared. They are looking to make some money and SOOOO many people out there think it really is just sticking some wick in some wax and boom. And truthfully, it is that way if you don't want to sell. If they just want to mess around with leftover candles I just give them whatever wick I have laying around that I didn't label properly. They will probably get something to burn, right :) But if they want to sell, it is a whole different ball game. I have folks come in every day and ask if they really need to do all that testing. It costs so much money. Yes, it does cost a good amount of money. But, they can write it off on their taxes as research (Not a tax expert and not giving advice) :)

Do yo remember those kits that were being marketed on how to start a candle making business!!! OMG, I was doing farmer's markets about 10 years ago and there were people there that had all kinds of candles in all kinds of things. I couldn't stop myself and had to nicely "help" them. What they were doing was just dangerous. They were receptive which was good. "But the box says - simply place the wick, pour your candle and sell sell sell"......ARGGGGH!
 
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