I'm a beekeeper, and occasionally sell candles. I don't scent or color. To me, beeswax is perfect the way it is! Generally, I find it helpful to pick your market in advance. You may change later, but I chose purists, so to speak, who like classic tapers or spiraled tapers with no scent to mess up the taste of dinner. I have a few fun molds, too, and kids sometimes buy those. But beeswax candles are priced at about a dollar an ounce, so they aren't cheap. A pair of beeswax tapers can be $10-$15US, whereas a pair of tapers at the dollar store go for a buck. Sure, beeswax burns much longer and cleaner, and doesn't contain petroleum products--all really good sales points--but you need to educate people and hope they care about those things.
I found the market pretty limited around here, though my prices are in line with other beekeepers selling beeswax candles. My candles sold, but not at the same rate as lotion bars, balms, and honey. So I stopped making them in favor of the better sellers. Now that I have my items in a few retail outlets, though, I'm considering returning to candles, since I have an expanded audience. Maybe the demand is there!
_________________ *************** Lesli Sagan Avital's Apiaries Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries
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