Candle Making – Selling Your Candles – Fundraising

While many candle makers learn and perfect the craft as a hobby, there are others with goals to make money from the craft. Of the many ways to sell your candles, setting up fundraising programs is one option that you may wish to consider.

Establishing a fundraising program featuring your candles is a great way to multiply your sales force in an economical manner. While hiring and managing a sales force may not be possible, fundraising can be a great way to have many people selling on your behalf. It also allows you to leverage your ability to sell without you doing most of the work.

Here’s how a typical fundraiser works. You find organizations that need to raise money and make an arrangement with them to sell your candles for you for a portion of the profit. You agree to supply each candle to them for a discounted price, and when they sell each candle at a pre-determined retail price that is higher, the organization keeps the difference for their cause.

The percentage of the discount can vary, but is usually somewhere between 20-50% below the pre-determined retail price. The greater the percentage the organization gets to keep, the more they will get excited and promote your product, so be as generous as possible when establishing the profit-sharing arrangement.

Typically, no money exchanges hands between you and the organization until they have collected all of the candle orders. This way, the organization does not need to come up with money out of pocket to give to you. They simply take orders, collect money for the products ordered, and turn one combined order in to you. You then collect your negotiated price for each candle, and they keep the difference. Fundraising is a win-win situation for both parties, and is a great way to get your product out into circulation.

The types of organizations looking to conduct a fundraiser are seemingly limitless. Churches, schools, sports groups, charitable organizations, awareness programs and more are all excellent candidates. All you need to do is seek them out and be willing to work with them.

Not only do you have the opportunity to make good profit yourself, but you are helping an organization in need as well. And while there are many fundraising programs out there for them to choose from, many organizations are tired of the traditional candy and cookie dough sales, and are looking to do something more unique. Candles are an attractive option.

While it is true that fundraising can be a huge help in growing your business, it is not without work on your end. You need to be sure that you have the production capacity to fill the organization’s order in a timely manner (3-4 weeks at most).

You also need to be sure that you can offer them a simple process with easy-to-follow instructions, and fundraising materials to help them collect orders. Be prepared to provide the organizations with samples of your candles as they will want to be able to test your product before agreeing to sell it. Assuming that you make a quality product, this is usually a great thing because the more they love your candles, the more excited they will be to sell them.

There are many ways to create a successful candle business, and fundraising is only one of the many ways it may be possible. Explore your options and decide what the best fit is for you and your ultimate goals.

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Candle Making – Selling Your Candles – Consignment

While some candle makers learn and perfect the craft for personal enjoyment, chances are that most of them have thought about selling their candles to generate some supplemental income. Some even choose to replace their income entirely at one point or another. And with so many ways to sell your candles, where is the best place to focus your attention? While no one can answer that question for you, there are benefits to each way that may affect your decision.

Here we present an overview of consignment, showing you some of the benefits of consigning your candles and providing you with information to make a decision about whether or not this method may work for you.

The basic concept of consignment is placing your candles for sale in an already established business where the business owner agrees to sell your candles for you in return for a percentage of the selling price. Some business owners will charge you a fee for shelf or booth space as well.

An example of a consignment situation would be a Store Owner charging the Candle Maker $50.00 a month for a certain amount of consignment space in the Store Owner’s store. In addition, for each candle that is sold in the store that month, the Store Owner keeps 15% of the retail price as a consignment fee and pays the remaining money to the Candle Maker.

If the store is selling a large number of candles, this arrangement can be lucrative. If not, you can end up owing the Store Owner more money each month than money you have earned.

Another situation may have the Store Owner charging the Candle Maker a higher percentage of the sale as their consignment fee (likely 25 – 40%), but with no fee charged for consignment space within the store. Each consignment situation is different, so you will need to be fully aware of your obligations, as well as the costs involved.

When considering consignment there are several things you must consider. First, how much will the Store Owner take in fees each month? How many candles would have to sell each month in order to break even? How much traffic does the store get? Is it likely that the store has enough patrons that would be interested in hand poured candles? What other products does the store offer? All of these questions are important to consider prior to making a commitment.

One option that offers a great possibility is to sell your candles through ‘craft malls’. A craft mall is a retail store that sells the vast majority of its merchandise using a consignment situation. Craft malls are mainly comprised of many small, independent sellers all looking to sell their wares.

Many craft malls are willing to limit the number of crafters selling a particular type of item. For example, one craft mall may allow only one or two candle makers to rent space. Again, you have to do your homework to see if a craft mall situation makes sense for you. Keep in mind that most craft malls will require you to sign a contract for renting space for a specified period of time, so be sure to research thoroughly before making a commitment.

If there are no craft malls available in your area and you are still interested in consignment, consider asking a complementary local business if they would be willing to consign your candles. Home decor and furnishing stores and gift shops are excellent possibilities. You might be surprised who will be willing to work with you, and you may be able to negotiate a great deal.

There are many ways to create a successful candle business, and consignment is only one of the many ways it may be possible. Explore your options and decide what the best fit is for you and your ultimate goals.

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