Fragrance load — how much does it change the cost?

At 8-10% load, fragrance is the largest formula cost by a distance. Dropping two points is noticeable to a customer and very noticeable in margin.

The vessel — how much does it change the cost?

Glass, lid and box together usually exceed the wax and fragrance combined.

Pour and cure time — how much does it change the cost?

Candles occupy space while they set, so tolling reflects floor time more than machine time.

What does it cost to make a candle?

Q: What does it cost to make a candle?

A 200g glass vessel costs roughly $5.0816 per unit to make ex-works at a run of 5,000 units — $2.5466 of ingredients, $1.6500 of packaging, $0.5800 of tolling and $0.0510 of inbound freight, divided by a 95% yield. Bigger runs land materially lower.

Cost to make, ex-works $5.0816 per 200g glass vessel, at 5,000 units

Per 1,000 units$5081.63

Whole run$25408.16

This is a realistic mid-market estimate, not a quote. The same product at 5,000 units and at 50,000 units are different businesses — run size moves tolling more than any other line. Use it to sanity-check a quote, not to replace one.

Where the money goes

Ingredients $2.5466 50%Packaging $1.6500 32%Tolling $0.5800 11%Inbound freight $0.0510 1%Yield loss $0.2541 5%

The formulation

Ingredient	Qty	Price	Overage	Per unit
Soy wax	800 g/L	$1.85/lb	4%	$0.6787
Fragrance oil	180 g/L	$22.00/lb	5%	$1.8334
Wick and sustainer	8 g/L	$9.50/lb	3%	$0.0345
Ingredients per unit				$2.5466

What actually moves this number

Fragrance loadAt 8-10% load, fragrance is the largest formula cost by a distance. Dropping two points is noticeable to a customer and very noticeable in margin.
The vesselGlass, lid and box together usually exceed the wax and fragrance combined.
Pour and cure timeCandles occupy space while they set, so tolling reflects floor time more than machine time.

What is not in here

Excludes CLP labelling and safety assessment, required in UK/EU per fragrance.

Change the assumptions. Every figure above is an input, not a fact. Put your own supplier prices, your own pack size and your own run volume into the calculator and see what your product actually costs.

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Other products

Canned soft drink $0.1614 / unit Kombucha $0.5139 / unit Hot sauce $0.8867 / unit Skincare serum $2.8278 / unit Energy drink $0.1759 / unit Cold brew coffee $0.4184 / unit RTD cocktail $0.4067 / unit Flavoured sparkling water $0.1376 / unit Granola $2.3048 / unit Protein powder $11.4803 / unit Gummy supplements $2.3137 / unit Face cream $3.3752 / unit Shampoo $1.5113 / unit Laundry detergent $3.1031 / unit Pet treats $0.9522 / unit Ready meal $2.1280 / unit Chocolate bar $1.4098 / unit Liquid hand soap $1.0726 / unit Lip balm $0.5052 / unit

A cost you worked out once is already out of date.

Supplier prices move, co-packers raise rates, and runs yield worse than planned. NextBatch derives cost per unit instead of storing it, so it moves on its own.

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