Crafting and selling candles online can be a great way to make an extra income on the side. One primary step of vending candles online is shipping your candles properly. Disaster could occur if you don’t know how to correctly ship your candles. Let your mind rest; I am here to teach you all you need to know and more about shipping candles.
Why Is How You Ship Candles Vital?
How you go about the process of shipping candles is vital for many reasons. In fact, it is the most crucial part of selling candles online! Knowing what you’re doing when shipping candles can significantly impact your product. Shipping candles the right way guarantees your candles are protected from bumps, drops, and jerks during transit.
Unfit packaging could harm your candles. Proper packing makes sure your candles reach the buyer in mint condition. It also helps protect your candles from melting or freezing, which could cause some candles, like votives or pillars, to stick together.
On the other hand, proper shipping guards your glass container candles from breaking and tin from denting.
1. Use the Right Packing Supplies
The first thing you should know about correctly shipping your candles is the packing supplies. Proper supplies, such as corrugated cardboard boxes, help make sure no damage is done to your candle during delivery.
The correct shipping supplies should be your first priority when selling candles online. Glass containers can break or shatter, and your wax could crack due to freezing. Unsturdy boxes could result in your candle being dropped, resulting in a busted candle.
A bit of padding will go a long way. USPS suggests you leave at least two inches of padding between the item and the box’s walls. They go on to state that too tight of packaging can cause harm to your products.
Support and Secure Your Candles
Packing and shipping your candle with some cushion, such as bubble wrap, tissue paper, or packing peanuts, can protect your candle from breaking.
As stated above, a little cushioning can go a long way. Since the padding will hold your candle in place, it prevents it from shifting during shipping. This can impact whether your candle arrives to the customer safely or not.
Pack your Candles with Frozen Gel Packs
A common question about shipping candles is: how do you prevent them from melting in the hot summer months? That is a great question!
You can avoid this in numerous ways. One way in particular that works best is packing your candles with frozen gel packs. This helps keep your candle nice and cool when sitting in the truck or warehouse.
Frozen gel packs can stay frozen anywhere from 24 to 26 hours, perfect timing for your candle to arrive to your customer undamaged.
Always Use Sturdy Boxes
Sturdy boxes can quite literally make or break your candle. An unstable box could fail and break, which could result in a dropped and damaged candle. Your customers may be upset to receive a damaged candle that could’ve been prevented by simply using a more sturdy box.
Use snug-fitting fluted cardboard boxes to make sure your candle doesn’t shift. I also urge you to stick a “FRAGILE” or “DO NOT STACK” label to your packages to make sure you and the other handlers of the box take every precaution.
Double Box Your Packages
Double boxing your packaging can ensure your candles will not move or get shattered during transit. Place your candle in a snug-fitting box with some padding, such as tissue paper or packing peanuts, inside another package with roughly two inches of space between the two boxes; add some cushioning between the boxes’ layers as well.
2. Figure Your Shipping Fees
Another critical detail you want to factor in when shipping your candles is the shipping fees. It’s not free to ship out candles. Although, different mail carriers offer various pricing depending on the weight and dimension of your parcel. Check around and compare carriers and their diverse pricing. It’s the most cost-effective to go with the lowest shipping price.
Additionally, you could use express shipping, which can be more costly but in your best interest. Customers love when their candle arrives quickly! Express shipping usually takes around one day to arrive or may even reach the buyer on the same day. In contrast, standard shipping takes roughly two to eight days.
Costs of Different Carriers:
| Shipping Provider: | Standard | 3-Day Express | Express (Overnight) |
| FedEx | Starts at $8.76 | Starts at $17.82 | Starts at $29.05 |
| UPS | Starting at $8.76 | Starting at $12.35 | Starting at $32.09 |
| USPS | Starting at $7.01 | Starting at $3.01 | Starts at $22.75 |
3. Limit Your Shipping Days to Early in the Week
Doing everything possible, like limiting your shipping days to the early days of the week, like Monday or Tuesday, helps ensure your candles arrive unharmed to your customer, resulting in satisfied customers! Limiting your shipping days to the early days of the week can prevent your candles from melting in those hot summer months.
Suppose you ship your candle on Friday, standard shipping. Most carriers do not work Sundays or weekends at all. Your package may sit in a hot warehouse or on a truck the whole weekend. This introduces the problem of your candles melting at that time. To prevent this, ship on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays for the best results.
4. Think About Shipping Insurance
An estimated 5% to 15% of packages get harmed, stolen, or misplaced in the mail. Though it may be a low percentage, it can happen to you. In this case, consider shipping insurance. Shipping insurance protects you from lost, stolen, or damaged packages.
Although most carriers are reliable, there is always a chance your candle can suffer these issues. Shipping insurance pricing varies from carrier to carrier; check out all the carriers for the best pricing. Some companies will only provide insurance to parcels holding over $100 value of items.
The average shipping insurance cost is around $2 per $100 of the package’s value, depending on size and weight. Though, some places may include insurance with the shipping cost.
5. Form a “Summer Shipping Policy” for your Clients
One primary concern when shipping candles in the hot summer is their melting. No one wants to receive a melted, ruined candle in the mail. As a candle seller, you may want to form a “Summer Shipping Policy.” With this policy, you can protect yourself and your potential business.
A “Summer Shipping Policy” may look something like this:
“Please be aware of our Summer Shipping Policy. During the hot summer months, we take extra caution when shipping your candles to make sure it reaches you safely and intact. In these hot months, we use express shipping to ensure your candle arrives as fast as possible. We only ship out candles Mondays through Wednesdays to ensure it will not sit on a hot truck. Please bear with us during these hot months.”
6. Inform Your Shoppers to Watch Tracking
As you may know, you can watch where your package is from when it leaves the facility to when it reaches your home. Having your customers pay attention to the shipment tracking can go a long way when shipping candles.
You can inform your buyers to watch the shipment tracking to help ensure the candle will not sit out in the hot sun.
Encourage your customers to go out and grab their packages immediately to avoid any problems with your candles melting. Additionally, you could place labels on the box stating, “Do not place in direct sunlight;” this may help the mail carrier to know where to put the package during delivery.
Final Thoughts
We hope you enjoyed learning how to ship candles and prevent any issues. Thank you for taking time from your day to read and learn how to ship candles correctly. We love to share all this knowledge with everyone! Feel free to share these tips and tricks with your friends and family.