Selling candles that you purchase from your own sources or manufacture yourself enables you to sell in bulk quantities to retailers at a discounted price. The retailer then resells the candles to the end-user consumer for a profit. You may opt to run a wholesale candle business as its own entity, or make wholesaling a component of a storefront or online business that sells to both wholesale and retail customers.

Develop a budget that takes into consideration your overhead and operating expenses. Factor in costs associated with establishing your business, such as leasing or buying business space and machinery, obtaining insurance, purchasing inventory, developing a marketing plan and hiring employees. After expenses, you will need to determine how much of a wholesale discount you can offer while still making a profit.

Establish a wholesale pricing list. Traditionally with wholesaling, the more a buyer purchases, the greater the discount he receives, so per-unit costs go down as order size goes up. The benefit to you as a wholesale business owner is that you are selling in volume, so even though your per-unit profit goes down, your total profit goes up.

Research your market and identify potential wholesale customers. Consider gift shops, specialty stores and retailers, boutiques, wedding and party supply stores, and card shops. Also consider larger commercial clients such as restaurants, hotels, event planners and churches.

Develop a comprehensive presentation for identified prospects that outlines your pricing structure and shows color photos of your candle selection. Identify unique features that sets your product apart from your competitors, such as special ingredients, a unique manufacturing process, or distinguishing features such as color, design, scent or long burn time.

Contact the purchasing department at the respective wholesale clients you want to approach. Set a time for an appointment to pitch your candle products. Bring along your presentation materials as well as a selection of candles to show to the purchasing manager.

Make a compelling presentation, answer questions, address objections and ask for the sale.

Tip

Take into consideration the geographic range you can reasonably serve. If you are making deliveries as part of your wholesale pricing structure, you will need to factor in that expense when determining your overall budget.

If you can't get the sale toward the end of your presentation process, consider offering prospective clients a short-term or limited order to allow them to sample your candles and determine how well the product performs with their client base.

While having a retail shop of your own increases your overall operating expenses, it also elevates the awareness of your business. In addition to making individual sales, you may attract wholesale clients via your storefront.