Pillars or Containers ???

[Sunday]

So I just ended up with a few hundred pillar candle molds.....really don't make pillar  candles...but I guess I could....or I could just sell the molds and focus on my containers...yes I'm leaning towards selling.

Just wondering what you guys think ...what is more profitable...pillar candles or container candles...where's the bigger market?

[TallTayl]

For me, containers sell about 100 to 1 in favor of containers. People are fearful of pillar blowouts.

 

There are a few Wiccan shops that sell small pillars for a pretty penny with several weeks worth of backlog. So if you create the market you may do ok.

[Sebleo]

I think a lot of people use pillars for decoration instead of burning them. Not as much repeat business that way.

 

Unless you market them as "too ugly to save" !  Haha,  I kinda like that idea! 

[Sunday]

6 hours ago, Sebleo said:

 

Unless you market them as "too ugly to save" ! 

Hahaha Great idea... there's a good chance they would be....I haven' t made any in a very looong time !! 

[Sebleo]

You hear it all the time, right? Ooh, that''s too pretty to burn!  Well not these babies! Haha  And if you market it that way they will just think it was intentional that they look bad. They would have to smell fabulous for that gimmick to work though. 

 

I think I need more sleep!

[Jcandleattic]

For me, I make a bigger profit ratio on pillars, however I sell way more containers. 

This next season I'm going to be doing palm pillars and see how well they go over, since a friend of mine just gifted me 100 lbs of regular palm pillar was, and 100lbs of feather palm. 

[TallTayl]

That was a nice gift!

 

finding a container that fits the pillar would make them the best of both worlds. The customer could reuse the container by simply replacing the pillar when done. 

[Sarah S]

2 hours ago, Jcandleattic said:

For me, I make a bigger profit ratio on pillars, however I sell way more containers. 

This next season I'm going to be doing palm pillars and see how well they go over, since a friend of mine just gifted me 100 lbs of regular palm pillar was, and 100lbs of feather palm. 

 

Oh man, I clearly need new friends!

That's fantastic!

I just love the look of feather Palm, every time @Candybee posts pictures of her candles I get the itch to try it.

@Sunday, as a consumer I am willing to pay more for a nice looking pillar, but like everyone else said, I don't want to burn them after that. Matter of fact, I have a set of palm pillars that I got as a gift 18 years ago, and I still haven't burned them. 😆

[Candybee]

Every now and then I make a bunch of pillar candles to sell. But they sell slowly and not nearly as well as container candles.

 

Its a shame because I can do so much more with pillars; layered, tilted, marbled, chunks, embeds, rustic, grubby, glossy, feathered, crystal, tapers, ice, and on and on... Unfortunately they just don't sell really well. Plus carrying them around from one market, show, etc, to the next, very quickly they start looking beat up and always have to be repackaged from all the abuse they take. Sigh...

 

We used to have a member of this forum, Bruceloveswax, I think that was his moniker, anyway, he did carved candles that were gorgeous. But even carved candles and specialty mold candles are hard to sell.

Edited February 25, 2018 by Candybee

[Sunday]

10 hours ago, Sebleo said:

I agree I have pillars that I've had for years...never burned one...I believe my mom has put the same 6 red candles out for Christmas for the last 30 years hahahah...but to be fair if the pillar smelled really nice perhaps I would light it...I just didn't want to make a rash decision to get rid of the  molds and find I regret it....

I agree talltayl if only there was a container to put them in.....should be simple to find...hmmmmm

[Jcandleattic]

On 2/24/2018 at 1:55 PM, Candybee said:

We used to have a member of this forum, Bruceloveswax, I think that was his moniker, anyway, he did carved candles that were gorgeous. But even carved candles and specialty mold candles are hard to sell.

I remember him. Brucecarveswax, and his work was beautiful. 

 

I do find that my carved Christmas Tree's and my carved Lighthouse candles sell very fast, (I sell out of however many I make no matter what, in 1 day - can't keep them on the shelf) however, the Christmas Tree ones are very fragile, and both are a lot of work, so I don't make them as often as I should. Maybe this summer I'll make up a bunch to sell at my shows this fall. 

[Candybee]

4 hours ago, Jcandleattic said:

I remember him. Brucecarveswax, and his work was beautiful. 

 

I do find that my carved Christmas Tree's and my carved Lighthouse candles sell very fast, (I sell out of however many I make no matter what, in 1 day - can't keep them on the shelf) however, the Christmas Tree ones are very fragile, and both are a lot of work, so I don't make them as often as I should. Maybe this summer I'll make up a bunch to sell at my shows this fall. 

 

Oh you should post pics of those candles! I would love to see them.

[Jcandleattic]

It's been a long time, but I have. I can again... The Christmas Tree was inspired by one of Bruces inspirations, and the lighthouse, I think I saw something similar in a magazine... 

 

 

[smellywax]

12 minutes ago, Jcandleattic said:

It's been a long time, but I have. I can again... The Christmas Tree was inspired by one of Bruces inspirations, and the lighthouse, I think I saw something similar in a magazine... 

 

 

Those are pretty! I remember Bruce too and his candles were beautiful!

[Candybee]

JC-- I'm in awe! Those are beautiful! You are so talented. Now those I can see selling out.

[birdcharm]

Those lighthouses are extremely cute!!

 

[Jcandleattic]

Thank you everyone. 

1 hour ago, Candybee said:

JC-- I'm in awe! Those are beautiful! You are so talented. Now those I can see selling out.

 

The last couple times I made the lighthouse ones I thought I made enough. The one time, I sold out before the show ever started because the vendors saw them as I was unpacking and they were gone. The time after that I waited until after the show started to put them out on the table, but they still sold out before halfway through the first day. 

[Candybee]

If you don't mind my asking how much do you sell something like that for? How tall were the lighthouse/christmas tree candles?

[Jcandleattic]

Christmas trees are from a 6" mold, but because of the dipping they are a little taller than that - anywhere from 7"-8" and when I make them I sell them for $30 but they do not ship well because the "branches" are so fragile and snap off pretty easily. The lighthouses range anywhere from 4-5" or 7-8" once finished, and I sell them for $25 for the small ones, or $35 for the bigger ones. 

I haven't made them in probably 8 years though. 

 

[Sarah S]

@Jcandleattic they are beautiful!!

I would never, ever burn something like that. 😄

With the gloss on them, is one supposed to burn them? That's how little I know about carved candles! I would absolutely buy one just for decoration! 

[Jcandleattic]

4 hours ago, Sarah S said:

@Jcandleattic they are beautiful!!

I would never, ever burn something like that. 😄

With the gloss on them, is one supposed to burn them? That's how little I know about carved candles! I would absolutely buy one just for decoration! 

When making the core candle, I create a well big enough to hold tealights, then just replace the tealight when it's extinguished, creating a "forever" candle. I used to make mine with liquid paraffin, that you would pour down into a well made by an insert in the core candle (hard to describe) that would also create a "forever" candle. However, with the liquid paraffin, even though they burned fine, and never had a problem with it, I prefer the tealight method. 

 

Most carved candles that I'm aware of, are made with pigments, which will clog the wick and not burn, which is why so many people who do try to burn these types of candles, that don't have the "forever" aspect of them, are disappointed with the results. 

[Crafty1_AJ]

Very pretty carved candles.  Love them.

 

I also don't sell very many pillars, though I adore palm pillars.  They're so beautiful.  But when I did sell pillars, I always warned customers to burn them on a candle plate in case of blowouts.  I don't get blowouts myself on solid pillars because I watch the burn and hug, but when I did chunk candles, those were a bit more dicey on blowouts.  If the melting overpour hits a chunk just right, there ya go...leak.

 

I always burn pillars on a candle plate, though.  Maybe offer those for sale too, if you plan to sell pillars?

[Crafty1_AJ]

On 2/24/2018 at 9:51 AM, Jcandleattic said:

For me, I make a bigger profit ratio on pillars, however I sell way more containers. 

This next season I'm going to be doing palm pillars and see how well they go over, since a friend of mine just gifted me 100 lbs of regular palm pillar was, and 100lbs of feather palm. 

 

Oh how nice.  Great gift.  Have fun creating. 

 

I had a 50 lb. bag (unopened) of palm pillar wax pellets on the floor of my workshop and we had a flood.    Sucks.  Bottom layer of wax got watered.  I had my container waxes up on blocks, but that darn bag was directly in contact with the floor.  Lesson learned.

[Candybee]

31 minutes ago, Crafty1_AJ said:

 

Oh how nice.  Great gift.  Have fun creating. 

 

I had a 50 lb. bag (unopened) of palm pillar wax pellets on the floor of my workshop and we had a flood.    Sucks.  Bottom layer of wax got watered.  I had my container waxes up on blocks, but that darn bag was directly in contact with the floor.  Lesson learned.

 

I would have cried like a baby! I hate losing money on product like that. Bet it was one messy cleanup!

[runner14jc]

For me, I definitely prefer container candles. They tend to be more popular with my customer base and honestly, pillars just frustrate me  Every once in a while I give them a try again, but my go-to is container candles. I love looking at carved candles though! That is a talent for sure!