Plan the line before the first scent
A candle line is a set of decisions that have to agree with each other: how many scents, which vessel, what price, where it sells. Settle those first and every later choice — wax, wick, packaging, quantity — gets easier.
Most strong launches start with one vessel and two to four scents. One vessel means one wick pairing to prove, one carton size to print and one shelf footprint to sell.
Price it backwards from the shelf
Start with the retail price your customer will pay. If you plan to sell wholesale, many retailers expect to buy at roughly half of retail, so your own costs have to leave room for their margin as well as yours.
Your target landed cost is everything it takes to get one finished candle to your door: the candle itself, labels and cartons, freight and any fulfillment fees. Share that number with your manufacturer early — it decides which vessel, wax and packaging options are realistic.
Choose your path: library or custom
The fastest launch uses a proven scent from a manufacturer's tested library in a stock vessel, finished with your label and packaging. Nothing has to be developed or tooled, so the schedule is mostly production.
Custom fragrance, custom vessels and custom wax blends make the product unmistakably yours, and each one adds development rounds, testing and usually cost. Plenty of brands launch on library scents and move their best seller to a custom version once it is proven.
Sample, burn test, then approve
Judge samples in the real vessel, burned in a room of realistic size — not sniffed on a blotter. Check the cold throw on the unlit candle, the hot throw after an hour of burning, and how the melt pool looks after a few cycles.
Decide up front who on your side signs off on scent, color and artwork. Every day a sample waits for a decision moves the production date by a day.
Get the label right the first time
Label copy is where launches most often get caught by a reprint. Confirm what your label needs before artwork is final, and if you are selling into retail, ask the buyer for their requirements in writing.
- Identity
- Brand name, scent name and the product type.
- Net weight
- The fill weight of the candle, stated clearly on the product.
- Safety warning
- Candle fire safety cautionary labeling and burn instructions. ASTM F2058 is the industry standard most US retailers expect.
- Business details
- The name and location of the company responsible for the product.
- Barcode
- A UPC if you are selling through retailers or marketplaces that require one.
Order packaging before you schedule the pour
Printed cartons, labels and decoration usually carry the longest lead time of any component — longer than formulation and longer than production. Start artwork and print approvals as soon as the vessel is chosen.
Lock the spec and set your first run
Once scent, vessel, wick, wax and packaging are approved, the spec is locked so every reorder matches the first run. At Unique Candles the minimum is typically 250 units per SKU, and custom components can move that number.
Buy enough to cover your launch and the lead time of a reorder, not a year of stock. A locked spec makes reordering simple.
Plan the reorder before launch day
Decide in advance what sell-through will trigger a reorder, and work backwards from your manufacturer's lead time so you never run out in the middle of momentum. Holiday programs need the earliest start of all, because the whole supply chain gets busy at once.
The checklist, in order
- 1. Line plan
- Audience, sales channel, number of scents, one vessel.
- 2. Pricing
- Retail price, wholesale price if any, target landed cost.
- 3. Path
- Library scent and stock vessel, or custom components.
- 4. Samples
- Burned in the real vessel and approved by one decision-maker.
- 5. Labeling
- Identity, net weight, safety warning, business details, barcode.
- 6. Packaging
- Artwork and print ordered early.
- 7. Production
- Spec locked, first run sized to launch plus reorder lead time.
- 8. Reorder plan
- Sell-through trigger and lead time agreed before launch.