CANDLES Are One of the BEST GIFT IDEAS I’ve Ever Come Across!

Candles make Great Gifts!  They also qualify as one of the most Inexpensive Gifts to make.  Christmas is right around the corner, and everyone is starting to think about all the gifts they need to buy for family and friends.

Hand-Made Candles that you can make at home, are a Great Alternative to the crazed shopping mall dilemma!

For most people, gone are the old days of shopping retail for gifts.  Wandering shopping malls for hours looking for the perfect gift for someone requires “time”, and most people don’t have a lot of that precious commodity anymore.  Plus, it is a hassle driving, parking, walking, shopping and price comparing, waiting in line, and then…paying retail for something the person you are shopping for may not even like!  What a pain.

One of the BEST GIFT IDEAS I’ve ever come across are CANDLES.  Candles that YOU can make at home!  It is something you can do with friends, a spouse, or with your children.  Put on some Holiday Music, and let your creativity flow!

Why do I love making candles?!  Let me count the ways:

Appreciation -- Everybody loves a hand-crafted gift.

Time Investment -- You can make a batch of personalized candles in about an hour and a half.

Relative cost -- Your cost is well under $5 per candle. (Once you have your initial candle making supplies). 

Real & Perceived Value – If you were to buy a finished candle in a store it would cost you between $15 and $30 dollars for a nice one.

Personalization -- Your hand-made gift says, “I care enough about you to take the time to make you something original and special!”  Personalize your candles by choosing colors, scents, and designs your family and friends would love.  Your hand-made gift will be much appreciated.

What does it cost to make a candle?

You can make a batch of personalized candles in about an hour and a half

(BOOM!  Gifts for everyone in a fraction of the time it would take to go shopping.  They’ll cost you about 10% of what you’d spend for a retail gift).  Look Below:

• Typical cost for 1 aluminum mold -- $10.00  {Most molds will hold up if taken care of, and allow you to make hundreds of candles from each mold}

• Wax -- $1.50 per pound

• Scent -- $.10-.25 depending on how much you use.

• Wick, Sealing Putty, Mold Release Spray, Wick Rod, Coloring, Wick Screw, Wax Additives, Etc. – Maybe $.25

• Electricity, miscellaneous costs, like packaging, burning instructions labels -- $.25.  You can spend a lot on fancy packaging, but that will be your choice.

• Your Time (labor) – Obviously, this varies with each individual person.

>  Once you buy your initial candle supplies, you will be reusing the molds, wick rods, wick screws, etc.  Your hard costs for these items should be averaged or amortized over the “life span” of the items.  For example:  If I make 100 candles ( a conservative estimate ) from one mold which initially cost me $10.00, then my cost per candle is just a dime ($.10).

A Small Cost and a High Value -- The ingredients and expenses that go into making just one single candle weighing about 1 pound are – $2.25  (I took the high figures from the rough estimates above).

at a wholesale price of $14.00.  My profit would then be $14.00 minus $2.25 = $11.75 profit.

The retail store would “double” their cost, and sell the candle at a retail price of $28.00. 

Value Added --  Looked at another way – for $2.25 of tools and ingredients + your time, you can create a candle as a GIFT that someone would have to pay $28.00 + tax for in a retail store! 

Many times, I would pour 30-40 candles at a time (yes, I had that many molds), and take them through the steps I teach you in our Instructional Videos available on our website at www.moonvalleycandles.com .  I would also buy my supplies in bulk, so my cost per candle is even less. 

Consider, that basically you are taking some wax and string, adding a little scent and some color, and that is a candle!  But note – it is in HOW you put things together that establishes its worth.  A painting is just a piece of canvass with some oil paint on it.  Its value is established by the artistry and thought that goes into combining the basic elements.  So it is with candles.

I really want to impress your mind with the understanding of the profit margins and value that are available with hand-made candles that are unique and well-crafted.  Whether you make them for gifts or for sale, they are hand-made works of art, prized by those who own them.  A very high value is attached to them, even though the cost to make them is relatively small. 

*** You should note that we are selling our Instructional Videos on our website at www.moonvalleycandles.com, for the retail price of just 1 candle.  A fantastic bargain by any standards!  Order your video today, and you will learn the “secrets” to making high-value candles.  Candle-making is a Blast!