I Want to Make 500 Candles a Month — What Pack Sizes of Wax, Fragrance, Wicks and Jars Should I Buy Once My Formulations Are Validated?

Turn 500 candles into grams before you think about packs

Once your formulas are validated, buying for 500 candles a month stops being about experiments and becomes arithmetic. The mistake at this stage is to buy the biggest pack of everything on the assumption that bigger is always cheaper. On the CSI store that is true for some materials, untrue for others, and exactly neutral for several. The right pack size for each line depends on how its price steps, how fast you use it and how much storage and cash you want tied up.

This page uses a mixed range because most 500-a-month makers do not sell one product. The example month is 350 candles of 200 g in the matte 200 ml glass jar and 150 candles of 120 g in the shiny 120 g glass jar (6 cm diameter per its page), across five fragrances in equal share. Every candle is at 8% of total candle weight, and the wick choices are assumed to have come out of your own validation tests. Your mix will differ; swap your numbers into the same steps.

Monthly quantities, worked out

These are the net quantities. Many makers add a small allowance for spills, a test pour from each new batch and the odd rejected candle. Five percent is a suggested starting point, but measure your own losses over two or three months and use that figure instead.

How each CSI price steps with pack size

Before choosing packs, look at what you actually save per unit as packs get larger. The table compares the smallest and largest listed packs per unit for the lines in this plan.

So for 500 a month, the only line where pack size changes your cost meaningfully is fragrance oil. For wax, jars and wicks you choose packs for handling, storage and how often you want to reorder, not for a discount, because there is no discount in the listed prices. Larger wax quantities beyond 10 kg are quoted on WhatsApp (+91 7397976926); ask, but do not plan your margin around a price you have not been given.

The monthly order, line by line

The five fragrances in this example are Lavender, British Rose, Roasted Coffee, Citrus Lemon and Sandalwood. Each needs 1,408 g a month. The nearest combination of listed packs is 1 kg + 500 g = 1,500 g, which leaves 92 g over. Two 1 kg packs would leave 592 g over and cost more, so 1 kg + 500 g is the better fit for this volume.

The month comes to ₹107,070.60 in raw materials before packaging, labour, shipping and GST. Fragrance is ₹29,922.20 of that, wax ₹41,099.40, jars ₹31,860.00 and wicks ₹4,189.00. The wick assignment here (C1 for the 6 cm jar, C2 for the 200 ml jar) is only an illustration of what your tests might have approved; CSI publishes no wick sizing chart, so use whatever wick each size and fragrance actually passed with.

Order rhythm, storage and when to change packs

Fragrance: order monthly, in the packs that fit

Fragrance is the line where pack size saves money and where leftovers accumulate. At 1,408 g a month, 1 kg + 500 g fits almost exactly. If one fragrance sells faster, say 2,000 g a month, two 1 kg packs fit better. Keep oils sealed, cool and out of sunlight, and note each batch on your production log so a scent change can be traced.

Wax: buy for the space you have

CSI 464 states a 60-month shelf life in cool, dry storage, so a two-month stock of wax is not a quality risk. Because the per-kg price is flat from 1 kg upwards, the only reasons to buy more at once are fewer orders and less chance of running out. Buy what fits on a dry shelf away from heat.

Jars and wicks: buy to production, plus a margin

Jars and wicks have no pack discount, so order what the month needs plus a small buffer for breakage and rejects. Remove any cracked or chipped jar from production rather than trying to use it. The matte jar page notes that some colours go out of stock, so if your range depends on one colour, keep a modest reserve.

What to confirm before your first 500-candle month

Validated means each fragrance has passed in its own jar size with its own wick, not just one of them. Before placing the order above, confirm the five points below. If any is missing, buy that fragrance in a 100 g pack and finish testing instead of ordering 1.5 kg.

Buying sensibly at 500 a month is less about squeezing the price and more about never stopping production for one missing item. Order fragrance in the packs that fit, and the rest in the packs that fit your shelf.

Where this page fits

CSI already has guides that cover parts of this question. This page turns the product above into a raw-material list; these go deeper on the rest:

Three things to buy for this job

Frequently asked questions