EBay Candle Making

If you enjoy creating scented candles, you may find yourself wondering if an eBay candle making business is the right choice for you.

Selling candles online can be fun and profitable.

While eBay is often thought of as "the world's largest garage sale," this popular Web site is also home to a number of entrepreneurs selling handmade candles. Products available include:

• Pillar candles
• Votive candles
• Tea light candles
• Jar candles
• Taper candles with handmade candle holders
• Candle centerpieces

Soy or beeswax aromatherapy candles seem to be especially popular on eBay, but there are plenty of opportunities available for those who wish to sell traditional paraffin candles as well.

Making high quality candles is only part of what it takes to run a successful eBay candle making business.

Everyone knows what a candle looks like, right? That may be true, but this doesn't mean you have an excuse to use poor quality photos for your listings. Help ensure crisp photos by keeping in mind the following tips:

• To take close up pictures, use your camera's macro mode.
• Investing in a small tripod will help minimize blurry images caused by shaking hands.
• Use a plain backdrop to photograph your merchandise. An old sheet, blanket, or a few yards of velvet fabric from the craft store will work well.
• Try to take your pictures outside or near a brightly lit window so you don't need to use the flash. The glare from your flash, especially if you have a simple point-and-shoot camera, can easily overpower your photos.

You can find additional information on how to take high quality pictures by reviewing the How to Take Digital Macro Photos article on the LoveToKnow Photography site.

For most people, candle scent is an important part of the purchasing decision. Unfortunately, the trouble with selling candles online is that people can't physically touch your merchandise in order to know what the candle smells like. This means it's absolutely essential to have good descriptions of your product for your auction listings. If you're not much of writer yourself, consider hiring a freelance Web content writer to prepare copy for you. This small investment will help you stand out from the competition in a big way.

Even if you're just hoping to make some extra cash and not worried about turning candle making into a full-time career, you need to be professional when dealing with customers. Answer e-mails promptly, always be polite, and fulfill order requests in a timely fashion. Transactions on sites like eBay rely heavily on buyer feedback. If you earn a poor rating for customer service, your business will suffer.

When you're making candles as a hobby, you probably don't take the time to track how long each project takes you or how much money you're spending on supplies. When you're trying to earn money through eBay candle making, however, accurate record keeping is essential.

When selling candles online, you need to know:

• Cost of supplies to make candles, such as wax, fragrance oil, and containers
• Cost of other services or products related to selling candles, such as hiring a writer to prepare copy descriptions or buying a new camera to take better auction listing photos
• Cost of shipping supplies and postage

You should also keep track of the length of time it takes you to make your candles and how much time you're spending posting and fulfilling auction listings in order to determine an appropriate hourly wage for yourself.

While eBay candle making businesses are certainly popular, this isn't the only site around for people who wish to sell handmade candles online. Etsy is similar to eBay, but devoted entirely to handmade items. Many crafters have found it easier to sell their goods on Etsy, since people visiting this site are already searching for handmade items and are much more likely to understand why a handmade candle probably costs more than a similarly sized candle purchased from the local discount store.

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