Should I Calculate the Cost of Fragrance-Related Candle Rejects When Comparing Two Suppliers?
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Which rejects count? Only fragrance-related ones: weak hot throw after cure, fragrance discolouration, oil seepage linked to the oil, and aged-smell fails. Wick or pour faults belong to your process.
Do rejects always favour the dearer oil? No. In the worked example the cheaper supplier still costs less per month on materials, even with more rejects.
What flips the answer? Rejects found late. If aged candles reach customers, refunds and reships per reject can outweigh the oil saving.
Yes — rejects belong in the comparison
When two suppliers quote different prices for a similar oil, the kilogram price is the easy part. The harder part is what each oil costs you in candles you cannot sell: weak hot throw after cure, wax discolouration you did not expect, oil seeping to the surface, or a smell that drifts during storage. Each of those candles took a jar, a wick and wax with it.
So yes, calculate reject cost. But treat it as a measurement, not an argument. Sometimes it changes the winner. Often it narrows the gap without closing it. You only know which after you do the arithmetic with real reject counts.
Count only the rejects the oil causes
Before a reject rate means anything, sort every reject by cause. If you blame the oil for a wick that was one size too small, you will switch suppliers and keep the fault.
| Reject seen | Count against the oil? | How to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Weak hot throw after full cure | Yes, if wick and load were unchanged | Burn beside a candle from the other oil, same jar and wick |
| Smell drifts after storage | Yes | Compare aged candle with a fresh reference of the same oil |
| Unexpected wax yellowing or browning | Yes, if the oil is the only change | Unscented control from the same wax stays white |
| Oil beading on the surface | Sometimes — oil, load and wax interact | Repeat at a lower load before blaming the oil |
| Sinkholes, frosting, wet spots | No — mostly pour, cooling and jar | Fix the process, not the supplier |
| Tunnelling or sooting | No, until wick is re-tested | Re-test the wick with the new oil first |
Keep a simple log for a month or a trial batch: date, oil, lot, reject reason. Fragrance-caused rejects ÷ candles poured with that oil = that supplier's fragrance reject rate.
Be strict about the middle rows. Oil beading can come from the load being too high for the wax, from storage heat, or from the oil itself, and the same oil may behave differently at 7% than at 9%. Until you have repeated the candle at a lower load, record it as "unconfirmed" rather than charging it to the supplier. A comparison built on unconfirmed rejects is a comparison of your process on two different days.
Price one candle from each supplier
Hold the recipe fixed. The example is a 200 g candle at 8%: 184 g wax plus 16 g oil, in CSI 468, in a clear 200 ml salsa jar, with an Eco C2 wick.
CSI 468 10 kg is ₹6,370.00, so ₹0.637 per g, and 184 × ₹0.637 = ₹117.21. The salsa jar is ₹29.50 each in a pack of 50. The C2 wick is ₹9.44.
Your current supplier's oil costs ₹3,900.00 per kg — your figure, used here as an example — so 16 × ₹3.90 = ₹62.40. CSI Woody Oud costs ₹4,531.20 per kg, so 16 × ₹4.5312 = ₹72.50. Woody Oud's page lists citrus and spice over oud and patchouli, on woods, amber and musk, and gives soy 6–10%. One verified buyer, Payal Patel, called it "Good quality wood fragrance oil with a warm, long-lasting scent and strong performance in candles." That is one buyer's view, not a stability test.
Current supplier candle: ₹117.21 + ₹62.40 + ₹29.50 + ₹9.44 = ₹218.55.
Woody Oud candle: ₹117.21 + ₹72.50 + ₹29.50 + ₹9.44 = ₹228.65.
The gap is ₹10.10 per candle before rejects. Both totals exclude packaging, labour, shipping and GST.
Run it for a real month
Say you need 500 good candles a month (your figure). Rejects mean you must pour more than 500. Pours needed = good candles ÷ (1 − reject rate), rounded up.
Use example reject rates of 5% for your current supplier and 2% for the alternative. These are illustrations; your own log replaces them.
Current supplier: 500 ÷ 0.95 = 526.3, so 527 pours. 527 × ₹218.55 = ₹115,175.85.
Alternative: 500 ÷ 0.98 = 510.2, so 511 pours. 511 × ₹228.65 = ₹116,840.15.
Difference: ₹116,840.15 − ₹115,175.85 = ₹1,664.30 a month in favour of the cheaper supplier, even with more than twice the reject rate.
| Measure | Current supplier | Alternative (Woody Oud) |
|---|---|---|
| Material cost per candle | ₹218.55 | ₹228.65 |
| Example reject rate | 5% | 2% |
| Pours needed | 527 | 511 |
| Rejected candles | 27 | 11 |
| Material cost for the month | ₹115,175.85 | ₹116,840.15 |
That is the honest result on materials alone. Rejects narrowed the gap but did not close it.
When rejects do flip the answer
Now add what a reject costs beyond materials. Suppose each reject also wastes ₹60.00 of packaging and labour (your figure). Current supplier: 27 × ₹60.00 = ₹1,620.00. Alternative: 11 × ₹60.00 = ₹660.00. The cheaper supplier's lead shrinks to ₹1,664.30 − ₹1,620.00 + ₹660.00 = ₹704.30.
Then ask where rejects are found. If a share of the fragrance fails surface only after the candle has been sold — a customer notices a flat smell after a month — each one costs a refund or a free replacement at your retail price, plus a reship and the reorder you lose. At a ₹599.00 retail price (your figure), just two late fails a month, 2 × ₹599.00 = ₹1,198.00, more than wipes out the remaining ₹704.30.
How to run a fair two-supplier trial
Run the arithmetic with your own rates. If the cheaper supplier still wins after late-reject costs, stay with it and say so. If not, move on evidence.
One last check before you change: a supplier comparison is only as good as the lot you tested. Ask whether the bulk you would order will come from the same lot as the trial sample, keep a retained sample of each oil, and smell every delivery against it before pouring production.
Where this page fits
CSI already has guides that cover parts of this question. This page answers one fragrance-ageing decision; these cover the neighbouring questions:
Three things to buy for this decision
| Option | Price | Status on the October 2026 pull |
|---|---|---|
| 15 g | ₹93.22 | In stock |
| 50 g | ₹271.40 | In stock |
| 100 g | ₹453.12 | In stock |
| 500 g | ₹2,265.60 | In stock |
| 1 kg | ₹4,531.20 | In stock |
| Option | Price | Status on the October 2026 pull |
|---|---|---|
| 500 g | ₹325.00 | In stock |
| 1 kg | ₹650.00 | In stock |
| 5 kg | ₹3,185.00 | In stock |
| 10 kg | ₹6,370.00 | In stock |
| Option | Price | Status on the October 2026 pull |
|---|---|---|
| 5 pcs | ₹200.60 | In stock |
| 50 pcs | ₹1,475.00 | In stock |
| 100 pcs | ₹2,950.00 | In stock |
CANDLEMAKINGSUPPLIESINDIA supplies raw materials and production equipment, not finished candles. This guide separates general fragrance-ageing practice from what CSI's own product pages state, says plainly that CSI's oil pages publish no shelf life, storage temperature or ageing data, treats the 60-month shelf life on the CSI 464 and 468 pages as a wax statement only, and labels every test day, cabinet temperature, candle count, reject rate or lead time as a starting point or the reader's own figure.
Prices are live CSI prices from October 2026; product pages are authoritative. No fragrance-oil pack above 1 kg is listed, so larger quantities are shown as multiples of the 1 kg price; ask for a quote rather than assuming a discount.
For bulk quotes, GST invoicing, IFRA and MSDS documents, message us on WhatsApp at +91 7397976926.
Frequently asked questions
- A New Supplier Is 15% Cheaper Than My Existing Supplier — How Do I Calculate Whether the Savings Justify Qualification Testing and Potential Production Variation?
- A More Expensive Fragrance Oil Maintains Its Scent Better During Storage — Could It Be More Economical for a Business Holding Three Months of Inventory?
- How Do I Compare Two Vanilla Fragrance Oils Using Fresh Smell, Aged Smell, Cold Throw, Hot Throw and Wax Compatibility?
- My Current Citrus Fragrance Loses Its Freshness During Storage — Should I Test an Alternative CSI Citrus Fragrance Before Changing Wax?
- How Do I Determine Whether Changing Fragrance Oil Will Solve an Ageing Problem Without Introducing New Wick or Wax Compatibility Issues?
- Should a Fragrance Supplier Change Trigger New Stability Testing Even If the New Oil Smells Almost Identical?
- My Fragrance Supplier Changed a Formula Without Informing Me — What Documentation and Testing Should I Request Before Using the New Batch?
- Should I Keep an Approved Reference Sample of Each Fragrance Oil Lot to Compare Incoming Wholesale Deliveries?
- How Do I Create an Incoming Fragrance Oil QC Procedure for Appearance, Odour, Batch Identity and Supplier Documentation?
- My Citrus Fragrance Seems to Fade Faster During Long-Term Storage Than My Woody Fragrances — Should Storage Stability Be Part of Supplier Testing?
- A Customer Complaint Appeared Three Months After Production — How Can Retained Raw-Material Samples Help Determine Whether the Supplier Batch Contributed?
Customer reviews: The reviews at the top are genuine, published Judge.me reviews — Suvarna P (5★, verified); Jinal Patel (5★, verified); Tina Raha (4★, verified); Radhaa S (5★, verified); Sooraj R (5★, verified); Akansha (4★, verified). Names, ratings, dates and products as recorded by Judge.me.
Product facts (October 2026, CSI live store): Woody Oud Fragrance Oil: 15 g ₹93.22, 50 g ₹271.40, 100 g ₹453.12, 500 g ₹2,265.60, 1 kg ₹4,531.20 — top citrus and spice, middle oud and patchouli, base woods, amber and musk · soy 6–10% (cure 48–72 h), paraffin 6–8% · flashpoint and vanillin not published. Premium Coconut Soy Wax CSI 468 (flakes): 500 g ₹325.00, 1 kg ₹650.00, 5 kg ₹3,185.00, 10 kg ₹6,370.00 — coconut-soy blend · stated melt point 50–53°C, pour 58–60°C · stated fragrance load up to 13% · stated shelf life 60 months. 200 ml Salsa Glass Jar with 63 mm Lug Cap (Clear): 5 pcs ₹200.60, 50 pcs ₹1,475.00, 100 pcs ₹2,950.00 — golden lug cap; coloured versions ₹310.00 / ₹3,100.00 / ₹6,200.00.
Assumptions: Fragrance load is a percentage of total candle weight (200 g = 184 g wax + 16 g oil at 8%). CSI fragrance-oil pages publish no shelf life, storage temperature or ageing data; the 60-month shelf life on the CSI 464 and 468 pages refers to the wax. Accelerated heat or cycling tests compare options and do not predict an exact shelf life. Every test day, temperature, candle count, reject rate, lead time and cost of money is a suggested starting point or the reader's own figure. No fragrance-oil pack above 1 kg is listed; larger quantities are shown at the 1 kg price and quoted on WhatsApp. Fragrance-oil prices re-checked 8 October 2026, wax prices 7 October 2026; product pages are authoritative.