Explain this to me

[Anna]

how this lady can sell her candles so cheap.She sales wholesale to a couple of women here in my town,which is very small.She sells them for five dollors,and they sell them for ten dollors.She uses the same jar I use,which holds 20 ozs of liq wax,and two wicks.The women said they would buy from me if I would sell for the same price.I can't b/c it cost me almost five dollors to make one.The lady that sells the candles does quite a few craft shows,and been selling candles for a few years.She must get her wax for a good price.

Anna

[prairieannie]

Maybe it's super cheap wax (is there such a thing? lol) Have you ever seen how her candles burn?

[Anna]

They smoke really bad I have been told.Hers is not as strong as mine,I use 1 1/2 ozs per lb,I doubt that she does.

[Scented]

Well pallet prices would probably really lower the price of wax, but she'd probably have to be buying everything in pallet size or jug size for FO (and maybe cheating on the FO too, since they may not be heavily scented.)

[MommaD]

I would say that her quality is suffering for her cheaper price. It used to piss me off so badly when people would come to me, and tell me that my prices were too high on stuff. Well, such and such is selling candles for ____ price. Ugh.

[eugenia]

The women said they would buy from me if I would sell for the same price.I can't b/c it cost me almost five dollors to make one.The lady that sells the candles does quite a few craft shows,and been selling candles for a few years.She must get her wax for a good price.

Anna

Anna, when you buy in quantity, everything is cheaper. Wax, jars, wicks, FO, all of it. If she is wholesaling for $5, it should cost her $2.50 and she is counting on the volume. I'm in the same boat, too small right now to wholesale. I can't produce the large quantities and I can't afford the middle man.

e

[topofmurrayhill]

Are your jars expensive?

[Anna]

[qu

ote=topofmurrayhill]Are your jars expensive?

Top,my jars are nine dollars a case of twelve.

[topofmurrayhill]

You may want to figure out where she's cutting corners in terms of qualilty so at least you have some selling points. FO load would be something to look at, since fragrance intesity is all the obsession these days.

My guestimates for the material cost of your candle come out to a little over $4 assuming name-brand wax, generous FO load, and not much in the way of quantity discount. I tried to factor in some shipping cost but it's real rough.

I imagine that could be reduced a fair amount. Probably 2 key things to look at would be buying FO in bulk because the price really plummets with that stuff, and finding a place within easy driving distance to buy wax and save on shipping (plus buying enough of it to get say the first-column discount).

[Anna]

I pick up most of my supplies from a local supplier,except for fo,I order them.If the gas prices keep soaring,I'm afraid it going to put the little man out.

[Carol M]

Anna, why not buy one of her candles in a scent that you produce. You could then burn the two side-by-side and be able to point out the differences in quality to your potential customer. She should be smart enough to figure out that the lifeblood of any business is repeat customers and good word-of-mouth is the best advertising. It would be to her benefit to buy the best products available for her shop.