How We Calculate Candle Cost of Goods (Update: We Built Our Own Software)

Update: This post used to be about tracking our cost of goods in Inventora. That is still a perfectly good tool and we used it for a long time. But we kept running into the same wall with every maker software we tried, so we went and built our own. It is called Makers Manager, it is built specifically for people who make what they sell, and at every matching plan size it costs less than what we were paying before.

Here is the whole story, and then the actual method for calculating candle cost of goods, which matters more than whichever tool you use to do it.

Why we stopped using off the shelf inventory software

Every tool we tried could count what was sitting on the shelf. That is what inventory software does, and most of it was built for shops that buy finished products and resell them, then patched up afterwards for the rest of us.

None of them really understood that we make what we sell. None of them could tell us why two batches that looked identical never cost the same to produce. Testing lived somewhere else entirely, usually a notebook, so the cost of developing a recipe just vanished.

So Sabastian co-founded Makers Manager with Chris Cooley, who runs Clear Mountain Provisions. Worth saying plainly: this is our own product, and we make money if you use it. Worth also saying why that is the point. It exists because two working makers got tired of the same problem you are probably having right now.

What it costs

This was the other thing. Maker software gets expensive fast, usually right at the moment your catalog grows and you can least afford it.

Makers Manager starts at $9 a month. Here is how the plans line up against what we were paying before, at matching capacity, as of September 2026:

There is also a $9 tier below all of that for 100 materials and products, which is where most people should start. Billed yearly it drops to $7.50.

Enter the code CBP7DAYS at checkout for a free 7 day trial.

What it does that matters for cost of goods

• True average cost across every supply order, with shipping, discounts and free samples folded in the careful way a bookkeeper would do it. Not just whatever you happened to pay last time.
• Recipes that scale. Set a batch size and every ingredient scales with it.
• Automatic updates. When a material's cost changes, every recipe that uses it updates on its own.
• Version history you can roll back, with a note on what changed, and two versions side by side when you want to compare.
• Estimated against actual batch cost, so you find out where a batch went over instead of wondering.
• Profit and margin per product, and a tax ready export for your accountant.
• Markets and shows tracked too. Applications, deadlines, booth fees recorded as expenses, and profit per event across the season.

The part we are proudest of is The Candle Lab. It keeps burn and pour logs with wick testing scores, cure time reminders so nothing ships early, and it works out fragrance load and vessel fill math for you. Every test rolls into the real cost of developing that recipe, so the work you do before a candle ever sells finally shows up in the numbers.

Now the part that matters more than the software

You can do all of this in a spreadsheet when you are starting out. What you cannot do is skip understanding it. Here is the method.

What actually belongs in candle cost of goods

• Wax, by the weight that actually goes in the vessel
• Fragrance oil, by your real fragrance load
• Wick, including the sticker or setter
• Vessel, and the lid if it has one
• Labels, front and back, including the warning label
• Packaging, boxes, tissue, inserts, anything the customer sees
• Shipping supplies if you ship direct, so mailers, fill and tape
• Your time, which is a real cost even in the season where you are not paying yourself

That last one gets argued about. Leave it out if you want, but know that you are leaving it out. The day you want to hire someone to pour for you, a price built without labor in it will not stretch to cover them.

A real example: what one of our candles actually costs

Here is the full breakdown for our Sugar Lemon candle, straight from our own numbers:

Two things worth pointing out. Fragrance oil is the single biggest line on that list, which is exactly why the fragrance load section below matters so much. And the shipping on those supplies is a full dollar of the total, which is the line most makers leave out completely.

Your cost is a moving target, and that is the hard part

You buy wax three times a year and the price is different each time. One order had free shipping, one did not. One had a discount code. A supplier threw in a free fragrance sample. So when you pour a batch on a Tuesday in March, which price is the wax in that candle?

Most makers use whatever they paid last. That is the easy answer and it is wrong often enough to matter. What you want is the true average cost of everything in your inventory right now, with shipping and discounts included. Two batches that look identical never cost the same to produce, and if your numbers say they did, your numbers are not tracking reality.

Fragrance load moves your COGS more than anything else

Fragrance oil is usually the most expensive ingredient per ounce in the candle, so an error there moves your cost of goods more than an error anywhere else on the list.

We calculate fragrance as a percentage of the total finished candle weight, not wax weight. A 10 oz candle at 8% is 0.8 oz of fragrance and 9.2 oz of wax. Do it against wax weight instead and you are pouring 10.8 oz into a 10 oz vessel, carrying a real load of 7.4% rather than the 8% your recipe claims.

The full method is in candle math made simple, and you can check a specific candle with our free candle calculator.

The steps

1. List every material you buy, with what you actually paid including shipping and discounts. Not the list price. What left your bank account.
2. Work out a cost per unit for each. Per ounce of wax, per ounce of fragrance, per vessel, per label, per wick.
3. Build a recipe for each candle you sell. Scent and size both matter, because a premium fragrance in the same vessel is a different candle commercially.
4. Multiply and add. That is your material cost per candle.
5. Add packaging and shipping supplies if the customer receives them.
6. Decide about labor and be consistent about whatever you decide.
7. Redo it when prices change, which they will, quietly, without telling you.

Step seven is where spreadsheets fall apart. A supplier raises the price of one fragrance and you now have to remember every recipe that used it. Most people do not, and their cost of goods drifts out of date while they keep selling at last year's price.

What to do with the number once you have it

A cost of goods figure on its own does nothing. What matters is what you build on top of it.

We price our classic candle at roughly 5x cost of goods, which puts it at $26 retail and $13 wholesale on a candle that costs us around $5.50 to make. That multiple is not arbitrary. It is what leaves room for overhead, marketing, discounts, and actually paying yourself. The full reasoning, including why the common 3x rule quietly starves your business, is in our candle pricing guide.

Frequently asked questions

What is cost of goods for a candle business?

The total cost of the materials in one finished candle: wax, fragrance, wick, vessel, labels, packaging, and shipping supplies if you ship direct. Many makers include their labor as well.

Should I include my own labor?

We think so. Either way, be consistent. A price built without labor in it will not stretch to cover hiring help later, which is the moment most makers discover the gap.

Why does the same candle cost a different amount each batch?

Because you bought the materials at different prices, with different shipping and different discounts. A true average cost across all your orders smooths that out and gives you something you can price from.

Do I need software for this?

Not on day one. A spreadsheet works while you have a handful of materials and two products. It stops working when a supplier changes a price and you have to hunt down every recipe that used it by hand.

What happened to the Inventora version of this post?

This is it, updated. Inventora is still a capable tool and we have no complaints about it. We built Makers Manager because we wanted software shaped around testing, batches and true batch cost rather than shelf counting, and because we thought makers were paying too much for it.

Next steps

• Try Makers Manager free for 7 days with code CBP7DAYS
• Price your candles from that number, retail and wholesale
• Download the Ultimate Candle Supply Checklist
• Join our free Facebook community

Get this number right and everything after it gets easier.

Sabastian & Chad