Our Approach to Pricing

Pricing is one of the most important - and most sensitive - topics for any business. For us, it sits at the intersection of fairness, sustainability, and partnership. This page explains how and why we price the way we do, and how that approach supports our customers over the long term.

Our philosophy

At Candle Shack, we exist to fuel the art of craft. We are not a passive wholesaler, nor a short‑term, price‑led distributor. We are an active partner to thousands of makers and businesses across Europe, supporting them from first pour through to scale. That philosophy shapes our pricing.

Our goal is not to be the cheapest supplier on the market. Our goal is to be the most trusted, most reliable, and most supportive supplier - offering consistently high‑quality materials, best‑in‑class technical support, and the stability that growing businesses need. Sustainable pricing is essential to that mission.

Why prices sometimes need to change

We have not made a meaningful, portfolio‑wide price correction for around two years. Over that time, our cost base has continued to move - often invisibly, and rarely all at once. The main drivers are outlined below.

1. Foreign exchange (FX): We buy in GBP, EUR, and USD, which means we are continually exposed to currency movements. Exchange rates can move quickly and materially, and those changes feed directly into our landed costs.
2. Raw materials and global supply chains: Many of the products we supply are linked to global commodity markets and industrial inputs, including: - Natural wax feedstocks such as soybean and rapeseed - Metals and specialist components used in containers, lids, and accessories
   Price increases from suppliers do not arrive neatly once per year - they occur at different times, at different rates, and often with limited notice.
3. Labour and taxation: We are a voluntary Real Living Wage employer, because we believe fair pay matters. We have also absorbed recent UK changes to Employer National Insurance. These decisions reflect our values, but they do increase our operating costs.
4. Continued investment in our community: Unlike many suppliers, we continue to invest heavily in areas that are not directly visible in a product price:

• Extensive recipes and formulation guidance
• World‑class technical and customer support
• Education, training, and safety expertise
• Tools and infrastructure designed to help businesses scale safely and confidently

This investment is part of our role as fuel - not just supplying materials, but powering progress.

How customers can save with us

One of the simplest ways to manage your costs with Candle Shack is through bulk pricing. Many of our products have clear price breaks at higher quantities. As volumes increase, unit costs come down. This reflects real efficiencies in how products are sourced, handled and shipped.

For growing businesses, buying in larger quantities can make a meaningful difference to margins over time. It also allows us to reward commitment and scale in a straightforward, transparent way.

If you’re not sure where the best breakpoints are for the products you use most, our team is always happy to help you sense check quantities and timing.

Our January 2026 price adjustment

To correct the pricing drift that has built up over the past two years, we will be implementing targeted price increases at the end of January 2026. Typical increases are expected to be inline with UK CPI, in the region of 3.5%, although some wax products will increase by more due to volatile commodity pricing on plant wax feedstocks.

We recognise that January is often a quieter trading period, and that inflationary increases at that time are not ideal - even if they are common across many industries. This timing reflects the need to address accumulated cost pressure responsibly, rather than continuing to defer it.

A more dynamic approach going forward

Longer term, we are moving to a more dynamic pricing model, where prices are reviewed and adjusted quarterly. The intent is simple:

• Smaller, more regular adjustments
• Fewer sharp corrections after long gaps
• Prices that better reflect real underlying costs

With over 30,000 annual customers and thousands of SKUs, it is not practical - or particularly meaningful - to email every customer about every individual product price change. Many customers are also not subscribed to email, so would never receive such messages.  Instead, we will focus on:

• Transparency about our approach
• Consistency in how prices are managed
• Clear communication where changes are material or structural

Why we don’t offer “free shipping”

We’re often asked why we don’t offer free shipping. The short answer is that shipping is never free. Someone always pays for it.

As a B2B supplier, our margins on many products are relatively modest. On some lines, margins can be as low as 10–15%. That’s very different to many sellers of finished goods, where margins of 50% or more are not unusual. When a business offers free shipping, the cost has to sit somewhere. It’s usually either:

• Built into the product price, or
• Absorbed by the business through lower margins

For us, neither approach is sustainable at our scale. Building shipping into products would mean higher prices for everyone, including customers who collect their orders. Absorbing it would steadily erode the margin needed to maintain quality, service and availability.
We choose to separate product cost from shipping cost, so it’s clear, fair and honest. You pay for the products you buy, and for delivery only if you need it. That transparency matters to us.

Our view on promotions and bundles

We don’t run our entire range on deep discounts, buy-one-get-one-free (BOGOF) deals, or constant promotions. Again, this comes back to how our business works. With product margins that can be 10–15% on some lines, widespread BOGOF or multi-buy deals simply aren’t viable without pushing prices up elsewhere or compromising on quality and support.

That doesn’t mean we never use promotions. We do them selectively and with purpose.
For example:

• 50% off seasonal fragrances in 50g bottles.
• End of season discounts to reduce excess inventory.

These offers aren’t designed to make money. They’re a sampling tool, helping customers explore fragrances with low risk, or a short term reduction to turn excess stock back into cash, which we can then reinvest. If we priced our whole portfolio this way, we wouldn’t have a sustainable business. And without a sustainable business, we couldn’t support yours.

Pricing as partnership

As Europe’s largest home‑fragrance supplies business, supporting thousands of makers and brands, we understand how critical cost control is. We work hard to balance:

• Quality
• Reliability
• Support
• Fair and sustainable pricing

We are not a “stack them high and sell them cheap” operation. We are a committed partner - investing in the fuel that helps your business grow: materials, knowledge, support, and stability.  That is what our pricing is designed to protect.

In summary

Our approach to pricing is built on a few simple principles:

• Transparency over gimmicks
• Sustainability over short‑term wins
• Partnership over transactions

By managing prices responsibly, we can continue to fuel the art of craft - today, and for the long term. If you have questions about pricing, this page explains our position and intent. As always, our team is here to support you in building a successful, sustainable business.