Everyday & industry
Candle Pricing Calculator
Estimate batch and unit production costs, retail and wholesale prices, profit and margins using your own materials, labor, packaging, overhead and optional selling fees.
Use this calculator to estimate the full cost of making a candle and model retail or wholesale pricing using your own material, labor and overhead assumptions.
Your actual costs may vary by supplier, batch size, wax type, fragrance load, packaging and sales channel. Use your own current cost inputs.
All amounts use your own current assumptions. The dollar sign is generic: use one currency throughout. Blank optional material costs and selling fees count as zero. Price targets use production cost; optional selling fees are deducted separately to show net profit and margin.
Calculations run locally in your browser. Your inputs are not saved.
Enter your batch costs and choose a pricing mode.
Example: Small Candle Batch
Example only: 12 candles with $36 wax, $18 fragrance, $6 wicks, $24 containers and $12 packaging have $96 in materials. Two labor hours at $25 add $50. Materials plus labor are $146; 10% overhead adds $14.60 for a $160.60 batch cost. Unit cost is approximately $13.38. Using the unrounded unit cost, a 50% target margin gives a retail price of approximately $26.77, before optional selling fees.
About this calculator
How candle pricing works
Handmade product pricing should account for more than raw materials. Labor, packaging, overhead and selling fees can materially change true unit cost.
- Markup and margin are different measures. A 100% markup on cost does not equal a 100% profit margin.
- This calculator provides planning estimates and does not determine what customers or retailers in your market will accept.
Production costs and selling fees
Retail and wholesale price targets are calculated from production cost before selling fees. Optional fees use the entered rate and fixed amount for each modeled candle sale. Net profit and net margin are shown separately. Wholesale comparisons apply the same entered fee assumptions to both prices.
Planning estimates only, not universally correct prices, supplier recommendations, candle chemistry or safety guidance. This Tool does not estimate burn time, calculate taxes, connect to sales platforms or save your inputs.