How to make money selling candles online (design ideas you can sell all year!)

Selling candles from home as part of the Low Hanging System is a great way to increase your business’ revenue. The more designs you create and the more products you sell, the more opportunities you give shoppers to buy from you, and that turns into more money in your pocket.

Candles are some of the best Etsy products to give as gifts. They’re also items that Etsy shoppers love to buy for themselves to use as part of their home’s décor. And many of the same designs you use with your other products, like coffee mugs and pillow cases, can be recycled and used on candles as well.

But if you’d like some additional candle design inspiration, I’ve compiled a list of evergreen candle design ideas that you can use to keep your candle sales going strong all year long.

Let’s take a look…

Candles with funny phrases 

Shoppers often gravitate toward products that show a sense of humor, and this includes candles. Humor is subjective, though. So you need to think about how widely appealing  and easy-to-understand your funny phrases are.

You might come up with a phrase that makes you laugh out loud, but to someone else, it doesn’t make sense. So you need to be mindful of that. As always, with the Low Hanging System, it’s best to keep your designs simple and straightforward.

To get a feel for the types of funny phrases that hold more universal appeal, browse the top-selling items on Amazon and Etsy for keywords like “funny candles” or “funny gifts.” Look over these designs and try to find some common themes.

Check out these examples from Etsy:

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As you can see, these designs are all pretty straightforward and easy to “get.”

Other funny phrase ideas might have something to do with people lighting candles to get rid of bad smells, incorporating play-on-words or slang phrases like “get lit,” or poking fun at candles being used to “set the mood.”

Candles as party favors

Candles make great party favors for special events, like weddings, bridal showers, bachelorette parties, baby showers, and more.

This type of candle design can be personalized as well. Shoppers can add things like people’s names (e.g. the names of the bride and groom), the event’s date and location, and special images or phrases (e.g. thanking guests for their attendance.)

Check out these examples from Etsy:

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Astrology candles

A lot of people are into astrology and they love designs featuring their zodiac sign. The twelve signs of the zodiac are…

1. Aries
2. Taurus
3. Gemini
4. Cancer
5. Leo
6. Virgo
7. Libra
8. Scorpio
9. Sagittarius
10. Capricorn
11. Aquarius
12. Pisces

Each zodiac sign is associated with a symbol and constellation, both of which make awesome designs to put on candles. You can also make designs mentioning the different personality traits associated with each zodiac sign. For example, some of the characteristics associated with Aquarius are self-reliant, clever, and optimistic.

Check out these examples from Etsy:

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Candles with inspirational messages

People often use candles to set a certain mood. Whether the candles are lit or simply used as decorations, candles help create a calm, Zen-like atmosphere in people’s homes. So another evergreen design idea is candles with inspirational messages.

You can go with simple, encouraging phrases like “Let your light shine through” or “Be joyful. Be bright. Be yourself.” Or, you can add words that conjure calming, positive vibes, such as…

• peace
• self-love
• tranquility
• joy
• love
• abundance
• happiness
• exuberance
• focus
• motivation
• balance
• beauty
• Zen

Check out these examples from Etsy:

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Candles as gifts for special events 

Candles make great gifts for special occasions, including birthdays, anniversaries, housewarmings, to say congratulations, et cetera. These candle designs can also be customized with people’s names, the date of the special event, and personal images.

Check out these examples from Etsy:

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Candles for specific people 

In the same way you can create designs for other products for specific types of people, such as moms, grandpas, co-workers, accountants, doctors, et cetera, you can make candle designs for specific types of people.

These people can be different family members (e.g. brothers, step-moms, and cousins) or specific professions (e.g. teachers, social workers, and drummers).

With this type of design, you can usually come up with one design template, such as “My _____ is my most favorite person in the world” and then insert a variety of different people — for example, “My dad is my most favorite person in the world” or “My aunt is my most favorite person in the world.”

Check out these examples from Etsy:

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Personalized candles

Almost all of the evergreen candle design ideas I’ve talked about can have personalization options. And since a lot of shoppers look for candles to give as gifts, giving shoppers the option to customize their candles’ design is a really good idea.

You can give shoppers more limited customization options, such as inserting a person’s name or a specific date. Or, you can give them free rein to add all of their own text so they can make their candle’s design completely their own.

Check out these examples from Etsy:

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I hope you found this post about how to make money selling candles with these unique design ideas useful. If you have any other design suggestions to share, please leave a comment below. And if you’d like to learn more about how you can earn sales every day selling candles from home, check out my Candle Sales Challenge.