Free Candle Cost & Etsy Profit Calculator

How to calculate the cost of a candle

The cost of one candle isn’t the price of your supplies. It’s the share of each supply that ends up in that one candle. Working it out takes five small steps.

1. Write down what you buy. For each supply, note how much you bought and what you paid: wax by weight, fragrance oil by weight or by volume, and wicks, jars and labels by the piece.
2. Write down what goes into one candle. Most recipes give the wax by weight and the fragrance oil as a share of the wax weight, called the fragrance load. Wicks, jars and labels are usually one of each.
3. Turn each supply into a cost per candle. If a candle uses part of a bag of wax, it costs only that part of the bag’s price. Do the same for every supply, in the same units.
4. Add your waste. Wax left in the pouring pitcher, a test candle that didn’t make it, a spill: it was all paid for. A waste percentage spreads that loss over the candles you do sell.
5. Decide whether to count your time. Your time is a real cost, but many makers like to see it separately. The calculator shows profit both before and after paying yourself.

The calculator above does these steps for you.

What fees does Etsy charge on a candle sale?

For a US-based seller paid in US dollars, a normal candle sale on Etsy carries these fees (fee table checked on 2026-11-08):

• Listing fee: $0.20 to list an item, charged again each time a multi-quantity listing sells and renews. Either way, each candle you sell carries one listing fee, so the calculator counts $0.20 per candle.
• Transaction fee: 6.5% of the item price, any personalization, the shipping you charge and gift wrap. It isn’t charged on sales tax.
• Payment processing: 3% of the order total plus $0.25 per order. In states where Etsy collects sales tax, the tax is part of that total.
• Offsite Ads fee: only when a sale comes from an ad Etsy shows on another website. It’s 15% of the order total (item, shipping and gift wrap), or 12% for shops over Etsy’s yearly sales threshold. Shops over the threshold can’t opt out; smaller shops can. The fee never goes above $100.00 per order.

Etsy Ads, the ads you pay for per click inside Etsy, are a separate cost and aren’t included. Etsy can change its fees at any time; the calculator shows the date of the fee table it uses.

Why your fragrance oil needs a density

Fragrance oil is often sold by volume, in fluid ounces or milliliters, while candle recipes measure the fragrance load by weight. A fluid ounce measures space; an ounce of weight measures heaviness. They’re not the same thing.

To convert one into the other you need the oil’s density in grams per milliliter. Suppliers list it as “specific gravity” on the safety data sheet (SDS). A guessed density goes straight into your cost per candle, so replace the example value in the calculator with your own. If you buy your fragrance oil by weight, you don’t need the density at all.

How much should I charge for a candle?

There’s no single right price, but a good price passes a few checks:

• It covers your full cost: materials, the shipping label you pay for and every Etsy fee.
• It still makes money when the sale comes from Offsite Ads. If that column turns negative, those sales lose money even when a normal sale doesn’t.
• It pays you for your time. Fill in your minutes and hourly rate to see what’s left after paying yourself.
• It fits your market. Look at what similar candles sell for. Free shipping still costs you the label; the cost just moves into your price.

Try a few prices in the calculator and watch the profit and margin change before you update your listing.