One of the biggest differences between hand poured candles and those you can buy from mass chains, aside from quality is price. People often question why a hand poured candle is so much more expensive. Is it worth it to buy a candle from a local vendor? We think so!!
First and foremost, when you buy a local candle or from a small business, you are directly supporting somebody in your local community, not mass retail stores like Walmart, Target, or Ross, etc. Those stores often import candles made overseas from countries like China. Small businesses will NEVER be able to compete with China pricing. Large retailers will make their entire candle in China or they will purchase items like wax, jars, fragrance in massive bulk for a much lower price than any small business could afford. For example, they can afford entire shipping containers of candle making supplies such as jars, allowing them to get them at a fraction of the costs we have to pay. Whereas, we purchase our candles in small bulk orders from local jaring or candle companies in the USA. But that local support from us equals higher jaring costs for us which equals increasing costs just to make the candle.
You may also notice a difference in the quality of your candle when you support a small business. Our repeat customers will often remark about the clean burn that they get all the way down to the bottom of the jar with the same smell throughout. Many large retail candle suppliers have a bottom line to meet, so to cut costs they are known to pour two times. On the first pour, which is the bottom and middle part of the candle they will pour wax with less fragrance. Then they will do a second pour which is the top layer of the candle and they will mix more fragrance in the very top of the candle. So when a customer smells it in the store, it smells wonderfully fragrant, and when they first light it will smell strong. But as the candle burns they will notice the scent quickly declines as they continue to burn it. As you know, essential oils and fragrance oils are VERY expensive, especially high quality ones, so if you are a mass producer of candles, you can save a lot of money by doing the double pours with less fragrance on the bottom and middle layers of the candle. This is why you will notice that inferior quality in large retail chains.
Another consideration for the higher pricing when supporting local businesses is the high costs that they have to endure as a small business. Aside from daily operating costs like their LLC, monthly website fees, monthly credit card fees (we pay a monthly fee just to accept credit card payments, in addition to the percentage they take one very transaction), business insurance, etc. One of our favorite places to sell our candles is at local farmers markets, but keep in mind it is not free to sell there. We have to pay daily vendor fees, and consider the supplies it takes just to participate in a market. A tent, rain protection sides, tables, table cloths, signage, shelving or decoration, in addition to the actual product we are selling. There is a lot of money that comes up front in owning your small business. As we price our products, aside from vending fees and additional expenses, we also have to consider things like gas to and from these events, our time making the product, and our time at our shows. Pricing our products is a very difficult process, we want to make everything affordable to our customer but at the same time, we have to ensure we are able to profit as well after considering our daily operating costs as well as costs to make the actual products. As you can see, it is very expensive to own a small business, so you are supporting that dream when you shop local or support a small business.
While supporting that dream, you can enjoy the personal customer service that we can offer that a retail store cannot. We are available to change or customize any order by color, scent or personal customizations like birthdays, anniversaries, and baby and wedding showers. We are always happy to work with every person to make their gift or event perfect.
Lastly, at Loxahatchee candles, we pride ourselves in using high quality products and not cutting corners with practices such as double pours which result in an inferior quality of a product. As with most anything in life, you tend to get what you pay for. We strive to offer a product that you are willing to pay a little extra on while supporting a local family business. We are eternally grateful for the support we have received as a small business and we appreciate every single customer, we truly could not survive without you.
If you're ever in South Florida on a weekend we may be at a farmer/green market near by! Look for us in Loxahatchee, The Acreage, West Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach or Palm Beach Gardens. You can always shop online, we greatly appreciate your support and patronage.