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Cost of Containers Question


sarahmarah

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Business question. I know everyone has a different market and business model so I’m sure the answer varies widely but—is there a general guideline for how much is ideal to pay for your candle containers? How much is too much? I know you factor it into your retail price but is there a general rule for what an individuals price cap for a vessel should be? Based on percentages etc?

I’m racking my brain and I’m not finding useful info when I search...

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This is a very difficult question to answer, as you noted because of all the variables. It's not a direct line calculation.

 

So much depends on your target market.  A $1 libbey jar candle can sell for $5 for one person and $50+ for another.  Think Tom Ford and Jo Malone... the simple tumbler candles start at about $100. PF Candles retails a 9 oz straight sided jar soy candle for around $20, while I see those one Etsy ranging from $4-20+. Same jar. Same lid. the only difference is branding.

 

For you, decide what you need to retail your candles for and see if the jar cost makes sense as a part of the whole.

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Hi there!

 

In order to be profitable candle business and keep grow, your total material cost should not exceed 25% of your retail price.  Ideal range would be to keep material cost at about 20%, but this is very hard to do when you are just starting out and not buying in bulk.  When I say material cost, that should not include any labor, rent, electricity, gas, business license fee, insurance, etc.  You will need to set your retail price at minimum of 4 times (or 5 times is better) of your material cost as a small tiny operation.  For people with physical store front, they will have to charge 6 to 8 times of their material cost.  When you calculate the material costs, you will need to figure out at at least minimum of 1 box of containers, 1 lb of fragrance oil, 100 pack wick, 50 lb box of wax, shipping charge, etc.  *Big guys operate at 12 to 18 times of their material costs.

 

First thing you would need to do is marketing research and come up with your own marketing plan which will give you idea of your retail price.  Then, you will have idea about how much you could spend on materials and start shopping for best price & quality suppliers.

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On 11/7/2019 at 2:32 PM, sarahmarah said:

Business question. I know everyone has a different market and business model so I’m sure the answer varies widely but—is there a general guideline for how much is ideal to pay for your candle containers? How much is too much? I know you factor it into your retail price but is there a general rule for what an individuals price cap for a vessel should be? Based on percentages etc?

I’m racking my brain and I’m not finding useful info when I search...

Thank you for asking the question I've been meaning to ask.

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I want to sell candles to the person who has to wait until pay day to buy them.  I remember back in the day when all I could afford to buy at a Home Interiors party was one Baked Apple candle.  In other words, I try to find the best deals on jars and even most of my fragrance oils in order to keep my candle prices reasonable.

 

So my jars are mostly under $1.00.  69 to 95 cents each for 8 oz jars or 6 1/2 oz jelly jars.  (weight of wax).

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I'm with Gail.  My buyers aren't luxury candle buyers so I try to keep my costs as reasonable as possible.  For small candles....9oz or less....I keep my container cost under $1.  Larger candles have a bit more leeway, but not much.  I don't buy expensive containers because my market won't go for the higher product cost.  I've tried.

That said, there are awesome deals to be found on containers if you really get out there and look.  I'm currently working with a 33+ oz. container with a wood lid that only cost $1.50/ ea.  My profit margin will be really good on these. 

 

 

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Many nice containers can be bought at Dollar Tree Stores. If this chain has stores in the area where you live, I'd check it out. However, the supply that their stores have on-hand is sporadic. You can go to their website, order in quantity, and have them shipped to the nearest store with no freight charges for store pickup. Dollar Tree has it's share of quirks. They sell the "typical" status jar (3 inch diameter) . I can tell no difference between theirs and the ones I've bought online, and there is no freight since you're buying it at a retail store. The quirk is that they don't sell the lid! I buy my status jar from them, and order the lid I like from online sellers. My overall cost is lower because I'm only paying freight on the lids. :yay:

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31 minutes ago, bfroberts said:

I'm with Gail.  My buyers aren't luxury candle buyers so I try to keep my costs as reasonable as possible.  For small candles....9oz or less....I keep my container cost under $1.  Larger candles have a bit more leeway, but not much.  I don't buy expensive containers because my market won't go for the higher product cost.  I've tried.

That said, there are awesome deals to be found on containers if you really get out there and look.  I'm currently working with a 33+ oz. container with a wood lid that only cost $1.50/ ea.  My profit margin will be really good on these. 

 

 

 

1.50 for a 33 oz container is awesome.  One of my best jar deals was getting 10 oz (wax weight) jars with rustic lids for $1.00 each from The Candlemaker's Store.  First I bought 3 or 4 dozen and had them shipped.  Then drove 2 1/2 hours almost and got about 10 dozen more.  Customers love them.  Wish I had gotten more at the time. Later looked online for some more, but the lid itself cost more than the jar with lid deal I got.  

pumpkin chai 10 oz.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Late to the thread, but I save a ton on container costs by buying in bulk. Pallet pricing is where it’s at... cut costs by over $.50 per unit. It took a leap of faith to get to that point (storage costs and larger initial outlay of cash), but totally worth it in the end. Ultimately passed the savings on to my wholesale customers that meet MOQ requirements. Retail pricing stays the same, and everyone wins!

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