Etsy Candle Profit Calculator — Cost per Candle, Fees & Margin
Candle pricing tool for Etsy: turn wax, fragrance, vessels and pour time into cost per candle, then see Etsy fees, heavy-parcel postage and profit.
By Marginory teamContent reviewed
US seller using Etsy Payments. Listing fee ($0.20) treated separately. Offsite Ads fee not included — add 12% or 15% if applicable.
Revenue
Costs
Enter costs for one production batch. The model allocates materials and paid labor across usable units, then multiplies by units in an order.
Allocated product cost: $0.00 per order
Fees
Capped at $100 per attributed order. Separate from your own ad spend.
Risk
Full refunds assumed; selling fees, shipping and ads remain paid. Enter any recovered product value below.
Summary
Profit
Pricing guidance
Compare two scenarios
Save A, change your inputs, then save B. Snapshots remain here until this page reloads.
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Scenario B
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Fee data source: https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014483627-What-are-the-Fees-and-Taxes-for-Selling-on-Etsy · Last verified: 2026-10-11
What makes candle pricing different
Candle materials are cheap per unit, but candles are heavy, fragile and slow to make well. Two costs decide most candle margins on Etsy: the postage on a glass jar, and the candles you lose to test burns, sinkholes and frosting. The calculator turns a whole pour into a cost per sellable candle, then adds packaging, postage and Etsy fees per order.
Enter wax and fragrance oil together in the first material field, vessels and lids in the second, and wicks, labels and warning stickers in the third. Paid pour and finishing time goes in batch minutes.
Worked example: 24 soy candles, 8 oz each
12 lb of wax at $2.60/lb, 15.4 oz of fragrance oil at $1.90/oz, 24 jars at $2.10, wicks and labels at $0.45 each, and 150 minutes of paid work at $20/hour. One candle fails and is kept for a test burn. Costs are illustrative.
| Wax | $31.20 |
| Fragrance oil | $29.26 |
| Jars and lids | $50.40 |
| Wicks and labels | $10.80 |
| Paid labor | $50 |
| Batch cost ÷ 23 sellable candles | $7.46 each |
Now one candle sells for $26 with free shipping:
| Order revenue | $26 |
| Etsy fees (transaction, processing, listing) | −$2.92 |
| Candle cost | −$7.46 |
| Box, padding, tape | −$1.60 |
| Postage (packed weight ~1.5 lb) | −$9.40 |
| Profit per order | $4.62 (17.8%) |
Postage is 36.2% of the sale — larger than Etsy's fees and the candle itself. This is why candle sellers either charge shipping, price single candles higher, or push sets that share one box.
Candle costs that are easy to leave out
- Test burns. Every new wick, wax or fragrance combination burns real candles. Count them as rejects in the batch.
- Fragrance load. Fragrance oil is usually the most expensive material per ounce. A higher load raises cost per candle quickly; weigh it, don't estimate.
- Breakage. Jars crack in transit. Allow for replacements in the return/refund assumption.
- Seasonal demand. Many candle shops sell most in Q4. Price so that slow months still cover recurring costs like insurance and software.
Pricing the listing
Use the suggested price for your target margin, then compare a single candle with a 3-pack using the same box. If the single candle only works with buyer-paid shipping, show it as a starter option and make the set the main listing. Check shipping scenarios in the Etsy shipping profit calculator, and the Etsy pricing guide for the full method.
Fee references: Etsy fees and Etsy Payments, checked October 11, 2026.
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Review the market, fee bases and exclusions shown with this tool. Published rates and illustrative cost inputs have different certainty. Compare your breakdown with an actual order statement. Sources and methodology.