Candles are meant to bring relaxation and serenity to your customers — so why not make the process of packaging and shipping them as stress-free as possible for you, too?
Essential oil diffusers may be in vogue, but nothing can replace the soothing warmth of a beautiful, fragrant candle. If you regularly pack and ship candles as part of your e-commerce business, however, you know that there’s more to the process than meets the eye. Regularly encased in glass or tin and made from brittle wax, candles require extra care to make sure that they’re delivered to your customers in mint condition.
Even if you’re a seasoned e-commerce pro, there’s always something new to learn: check out our pro tips for packaging and shipping these highly giftable items.
1) Cushion Your Candles
Most candles come in containers made of glass and tin. These materials provide natural protection to the candle, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t add some extra cushioning. Use bubble wrap in an appropriately sized box to prevent the candle from shifting too much during transit — too much movement could crack the wax, break the glass, or dent the tin.
If you’re shipping loose candles, additional precautions are necessary. Wrap each candle individually with tissue paper to prevent candles from melting into one another, and consider wrapping all of the candles together with extra cushioning so they don’t jostle against each other on their way to their final destination.
2) Choose Durable Boxes
It’s essential to choose the right box when shipping your products, no matter what they are — but this holds especially true for candles. If your candles are encased in glass, a heavy-duty, corrugated box is ideal. The USPS recommends at least two inches of cushioning between the item and the walls of the box, so make sure that there’s enough space to include a cushion of bubble wrap or tissue paper around your products. For smaller candles — votives or loose tapers, for example — use a sturdy bubble mailer.
No matter what type of packaging you use, be sure to employ dependable shipping supplies, including “Fragile” labels. For boxes, consider writing “Do Not Stack” on the outer packaging, too.
3) Guard Against Melting
When shipping candles, extreme temperatures are not your friend. High temperatures can cause your pillars and votives to warp or melt entirely. On the other hand, some e-commerce businesses may freeze candles ahead of shipment, but they’re unwittingly doing additional damage in the process — freezing can cause the wax to crack. Instead, consider shipping candles with frozen gel packs. This will keep them cool, prevent melting, and make freezing them unnecessary.
4) Compare Shipping Options
If you’re worried about the risk of your candles melting during transit, use express shipping. These services offer quick delivery, which means your candles are less likely to be sitting in the back of a hot truck or a poorly air-conditioned sorting facility for a prolonged period. You should also offer delivery tracking to keep your customers updated on the expected time of arrival — that way, their candles won’t be sitting in the sun for hours before being unboxed.
5) Don’t Forget Aesthetics
As with any business, presentation is everything. Why pack candles in a plain box when you can incorporate a customized touch? Use decorative tissue paper in your packaging, and wrap candles with twine or ribbon to add a branded, enjoyable experience for your customers.
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Choosing the right box which maintains durability and protects the product from getting destroyed with the use of a bubble mailer is also the right way to protect as bubbles will prevent it from destroying the product.
Thanks for presenting such an amazing designs with us.
My uncle has been thinking about shipping some candles to his family during the holidays so that their home can smell nicer while they stay there all the time. He really wants to make sure that he can get it shipped by a professional so that it will arrive there on time and unbroken. I liked what you said about how shipping them with frozen gel packs can prevent the candles from melting and it shouldn’t be frozen so that it can have the right temperature.
Great job! Your article is so informative. I really like it.
Thanks for sharing this amazing info. Keep doing the amazing work.
Thankyou for this wondrous post 5 Tips to Package & Ship Candles, I am happy I watched this site on hurray.
Is there away I could ship my candles without shrink wrap and use tissue paper as a replacement for shrink wrap? Are there other alternatives? Thanks
Hi Tiereny,
Yes, you can use tissue paper or bubble wrap in place of shrink wrap. Anything that will keep the candles from getting dented. Hopefully this helps and we wish you happy packaging :). Thank you!
I like your tip about wrapping each candle with tissue paper in order to preserve their structural integrity. Using different forms of custom packaging is important to make sure your items arrive at their destinations in good condition. If I were to need custom packaging, I would make sure to find a reputable supplier in my area in order to keep my items safe and sound.
Choosing the right box which maintains the durability and protects the product from getting destroyed with use of bubble mailer is also the right way to protect as bubbles will prevent it from destroying the product.
I’m shipping out 7000 candles today and pray they arrive okay.
They’re in boxes of 150(4oz tins) and the boxes are wrapped in foam, cold packs, cellophane, insulated bubble wrap, and then more cellophane.
This calms my nerves some knowing I’ve taken all the extra procausions. They’re going to Arizona though.
Were the candles able to make it safely without any melting?
Yeah now you’re a real packing magician lmfao
I am going to be moving soon so I was looking how I should pack everything. I didn’t know how to pack some of the things so the tip about using bubble wrap or tissues as padding for some of my glassware was extremely helpful. I think I a am now prepared to start packing my things.