How to Set Your Candle Wholesale Minimum Order (MOQ Explained)

A question we get a lot is, "What should my candle wholesale minimum order be?" Here is the short answer: when you are just getting started, a minimum of around $100 to $150, or roughly 12 to 24 candles, works for almost everyone. That is high enough that packing and invoicing the order is worth your time, and low enough that a first time buyer who is still nervous about carrying your line will say yes. My husband Chad and I set ours right in that range when we first opened Garsnett Beacon up to stores, and 170 plus wholesale accounts later, we still think it is the right place for most makers to start.

Setting a minimum is only one piece of getting into stores. If you want the full walkthrough on actually landing the account, we cover pitching, line sheets, and follow up in our wholesale pitch playbook. This post is just about the minimum order itself, because it trips up a ton of new makers and almost nobody explains how to actually land on a number.

What a minimum order actually is

Your minimum order, sometimes called your MOQ (minimum order quantity), is the smallest order a store can place with you. There are two ways to set it, and you can use either one.

The first is a dollar minimum: "$150 minimum order." The buyer can mix and match whatever scents and sizes they want, as long as the total hits your number. The second is a unit minimum: "24 candles minimum" or "6 units per scent." You are counting pieces instead of dollars.

We use a dollar minimum for our direct wholesale and let stores build their own mix. It is simpler for the buyer, it does not box them into scents they are unsure about, and it still protects your time. A unit minimum per scent makes sense once you are bigger and want to keep your production batches efficient, but for most makers starting out, a flat dollar minimum is the easiest to explain and the easiest to say yes to.

How to actually pick your number

You cannot set a smart minimum until you know two things: what one candle costs you to make, and what your wholesale price is. Those two numbers decide everything else.

Most makers price wholesale at about half of retail. So if your candle retails for $28, your wholesale price is around $14. At that wholesale price, a $150 minimum is a little under 11 candles, which is a very reasonable first order for a boutique to test. If you only knew your retail price and had no idea what the candle actually cost you, you would have no way to tell whether that $150 order was making you money or quietly losing it on wax, shipping, and your own labor.

This is exactly why Chad and I built Makers Manager with our co-founders. It tracks your real cost of goods per candle and per batch, so you can see your true wholesale margin before you ever set a minimum or send a line sheet. If you want to try it, the code CBP7DAYS at checkout gives you 7 days free. If you would rather do it by hand first, our free calculators will get you to a cost per candle, and our pricing guide walks through how to set retail and wholesale so there is real profit built into both.

Setting minimums on Faire versus direct wholesale

If you sell on Faire, it will suggest a minimum when you set up your shop, often around $100. That default is honestly fine to start, and I would not stress about it. Faire works in dollars, so you are setting a dollar minimum whether you think about it that way or not. You can always raise it later once you see the size of orders coming in.

For direct wholesale, the stores you pitch yourself over email or in person, you have full control. We keep our direct minimum and our Faire minimum close to the same number so our pricing feels consistent no matter where a buyer finds us. If you want the deeper breakdown of how we run Faire specifically, we put it all in our real world Faire guide, and the numbers themselves live on your line sheet.

Opening order versus reorder

Some makers set a higher opening order and a lower reorder minimum. The idea is that the first order needs to be big enough to actually fill a shelf and look like a real display, while a reorder can be smaller because the store is just topping up what sold. You might see something like a $200 opening order and a $100 reorder.

We keep ours simple and use the same minimum for both, because one number is easier to communicate. If you do want a higher opening order, just make sure you can explain why in one sentence: "The opening order fills your shelf, and reorders can be smaller." Buyers are fine with that logic when you say it plainly.

Common mistakes to avoid

The biggest one is setting your minimum too high out of fear. A $500 minimum feels safe because every order is big, but it scares off the small boutiques that are the easiest to land when you are new. Those small accounts are how you build a track record and get referrals to bigger stores.

The opposite mistake is setting it too low or skipping it entirely. If you let a shop order three candles, you spend the same time invoicing, packing, and shipping that a full order takes, and the math stops working once you count your own hours. Set a floor and hold it.

The last one is making your per-scent rules too rigid before you need to. "Six units per scent, minimum four scents" sounds organized, but for a first time buyer it is a wall of rules. Keep it to one clear dollar minimum until you have enough accounts that batch efficiency actually matters.

Quick answers to related questions

What is a good minimum for Faire? The default Faire suggests, usually around $100, is a fine starting point. Watch your first handful of orders, then adjust up if almost everyone is ordering well above it anyway.

Should I require a minimum per scent? Not when you are starting. A single dollar minimum with a free mix is the easiest yes. Add per-scent minimums later, once large batches are saving you real money and you want to protect that efficiency.

Can I waive the minimum for a local shop? You can, and sometimes it is worth it to get your candles in a store you really want. Just treat it as a one time exception, not your new normal, or your minimum stops meaning anything.

If wholesale is where you want to grow, start with a clear minimum, know your real numbers behind it, and raise it as your accounts get bigger. For the full path from first pitch to shelf, grab our free Wholesale 101 guide, and come hang out with us and 1,000 plus other candle makers in the free Facebook group if you want a second set of eyes on your numbers.