How to Price a Candle So You Actually Make Money

Most candle makers price the same way: add up the supplies, double it, done. And the moment a store asks for wholesale, that math falls apart - and they're losing money on every order without realizing it. In this episode of the Noble Crown Podcast, founder Burnett King takes a single hand-blown candle apart cost by cost, then prices it two completely different ways to find the number that actually works. You'll watch a full line-by-line cost breakdown - including a live walkthrough on a real supplier site for wax, fragrance oil, wicks, and stickers - then see the candle priced bottom-up (cost plus markup) and top-down (what the market says it's worth), and learn why both methods have to account for wholesale before you set a single price. ✅ What You'll Learn: • Every cost that goes into one finished candle - jar, wax, oil, wick, stickers, labels, box - built up live, line by line • The costs almost everyone forgets: additives, labels, boxes, AND your labor and shipping • How to actually cost your time (hourly rate ÷ candles per hour) and why "free" founder labor is the most expensive mistake in pricing • Markup vs. margin - and why "just double your costs" is a hobby price that quietly kills brands • A smarter way to apply markup: 4x your cost of goods, then charge labor and shipping 1:1 • Top-down pricing - how to figure out what a candle like yours is actually worth in the market • The wholesale math behind the 1/4 rule, and why your cost has to sit at or under 25% of retail • What to do when your two prices DON'T agree - and why that's a business-model problem, not a discount problem. 📌 Your Homework: Pick ONE product this week. Build its real, fully-loaded cost - materials, labor, AND shipping, including your own time. Then price it both ways, bottom-up and top-down, and see if they agree. If they don't, you've found the most important number in your business. Drop in the comments whether your two numbers lined up or fought each other. 🕯️ Explore Noble Crown Fragrances - elevated, minimalist scents for your space and body: 👉 www.noblecrown.shop 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on building and scaling a product-based brand.