How to Sample Candle Fragrance Oils Before Placing a Wholesale Order

The weighted scoring sheet

The difference between sampling for yourself and sampling before a wholesale order is accountability. A hobby maker can choose by feel. A business about to commit tens of thousands of rupees, and to reorder the same oils for a year, needs a method that treats every candidate the same way and can be explained afterwards. The sheet below does that with six criteria, each scored 1 to 5, each with a fixed weight that reflects how much it matters to a commercial candle.

Hot throw carries the most weight because it is what a customer experiences at home and what brings them back. Burn quality is next because a candle that tunnels or soots generates complaints regardless of scent. Cold throw matters for shelf and gifting sales, where the candle is judged unlit. Customer response is your panel's preference, the only criterion that is not your own nose. Cost fit scores how comfortably the oil's material cost per candle sits within your selling price, so a brilliant oil you cannot afford does not win by default. Shelf stability covers colour change and frosting on a retained pot.

The bands are our working thresholds, and the ₹799 price is only an example; use your own price. At that price, British Rose at the 1 kg rate gives a material cost of ₹236.00 (score 4), Sandalwood ₹267.34 (score 3). Material cost here excludes labour, packaging, freight and GST, which is why the thresholds are lower than a full cost ratio would be. The price hub has per-candle costs for any oil and size.

Recording cold and hot throw

Throw scores are only as good as the conditions they were taken in. Two oils scored on different days, in different rooms, at different points in the burn, cannot be compared. The record below fixes when and where every observation is made, so the score column means the same thing on every row.

A worked scoring round

Six candidates, labelled A to F, scored on the sheet. The weighted score is each criterion's score multiplied by its weight, summed and divided by 100, which puts the result back on the 1–5 scale. Notice how the weights change the order: C has the best hot throw of the six, but its burn quality and cost fit hold it back.

In this example the top three are A (4.15), B (3.85) and E (3.80). C and D sit close behind; the cut between third and fourth is small enough that a business might send the fourth to a trial batch before deciding. F is clearly out. A useful rule of thumb, and it is only a working one: do not take anything below about 3.5 to a wholesale order, however much you like it.

From scores to quantities

Now attach real oils. Suppose the three winners are British Rose, Jasmine and Sandalwood, and the order is 250 candles of each, 200 g at 8%. Each scent needs 250 × 16 g = 4,000 g, plus a 5% working allowance for pour loss and test burns, so 4,200 g. Before asking for a quote, price that at listed rates. That gives you a baseline to compare the quote against.

Two things in this table matter for the quote. First, the listed packs top out at 1 kg, so 4.2 kg is four kilos and two 100 g bottles per oil. Second, the per-gram saving from 100 g to 1 kg differs by oil: British Rose saves 10.3% and Jasmine 8.8%, while Sandalwood is priced flat. Across the catalogue, only 24 of 91 oils show a 1 kg saving of 5% or more, so do not assume a large order is automatically cheaper per gram. The listed baseline is your reference. Whatever you are quoted, compare it with ₹50,620.96. Wholesale pricing and where to buy at wholesale prices explain the quote route in more detail.

The quote request

Suppliers quote fastest and most precisely when the request is complete. Vague requests ("best price for bulk rose?") get vague answers or a round of questions. The table lists what to include and why; the button below opens WhatsApp with the worked request already written, for you to edit.

Eighteen pots (three per oil at 8%) use 828 g of the kilo of wax; twenty wicks leave two spare. Test pots are not priced. Excludes freight and GST. If you do not own a scale and thermometer, the testing kit guide prices them. For recurring orders after the first, buying in bulk every month and negotiating vs buying larger packs take it from here.

Frequently asked questions