How to buy candle wax in bulk from a wholesaler?

Your candle making business has grown, volumes got bigger and bigger.
So far you bought your materials just from a couple of candle supplies stockists and resellers that were able to provide you with everything you needed.
But now you want to increase your margins by buying candle wax in bulk, from a candle wax wholesaler.
Or, maybe, your current supplier just can’t fulfill your large orders of wax.

If the above sounds familiar, this article is for you.

Typically, a B2B / trade wax wholesaler, regardless being a specialist or even a manufacturer of wax for candles, would offer better pricing than a retailer.
Yet, a wholesaler of wax is unlikely to sell you a small bag of wax.
Our minimum order, for example, is typically a box between 22.68 and 25kg. But in reality our customers buy many boxes per order.

The implication of the above is that, before ordering, you might need to organize your facilities, operations and trading volumes to manage larger stock. And you always need to let your supplier know if a lorry can access your facility and you can move pallets around. Please let your wholesaler know if you operate from a residential address… you need to be able to handle parcels and maybe even pallets.
If you have this ability, purchasing by a wholesaler/manufacturer like British Wax will help you saving money.

Which documents do you need to open a trade account?

Each wholesaler has its own policy, but in general you might be asked to provide:

• A customer registration form.
  A wholesale supplier might ask you to indicate:
  – Business or incorporation address;
  – VAT or company registration number;
  – Corporate website.
  This might not always be necessary, but please don’t we surprised if you are asked to fill in a registration form;
• A VAT and an EORI number, especially if you are based in the EU and you want to purchase from us (we are based in the UK);
• The volumes you are planning to order, in the medium term.
  Long established clients are the favorites of wholesale distributors. You need to keep this in mind especially when candle wax supply is restricted. It takes time to build a relationship between a distributor and a trade client, so you are more likely to get better availability or pricing if you can show your purchasing volumes;
• Packaging requirements. Where possible, suppliers will try to accommodate for your requirements. Are you working with a special size of pallets? Maybe you want half pallets? (be careful, wax pallets are not stack-able)
• Shipping requirements. At cost of being repetitive, this is important… Is your shipping address different from your billing address?
  Do organize your own collection?
  Do you need a lorry with an unloading ramp (in the case you have a pump pallet truck)?
  Do you operate from residential premises?
• Customs operations. If your supplier of choice is based in a different country, you will probably have to pay customs duties. The logistic partner chosen by your supplier might be able to take care only of some part of the process, as there might be operations that you only can do. So please investigate how things would work with your customs authority / customs agent. Your supplier will be able to provide you with HS (Harmonised System) commodity codes but it is very important that you verify the correctness of those codes with your local customs authority.

Buying your candle wax in bulk is easier than it seems, and once you have broken the ice it’s pretty easy to just keep going. By buying from a wholesaler like us you will enjoy better availability and prices for larger candle wax orders.

Advantages of ordering from a candle wax distributor

When you buy in bulk from a candle wax wholesaler, you take advantage of:

• Price: once you start manufacturing on larger scale, every little help;
• Availability: have you ever had issues sourcing your candle making materials? Wholesalers are the next chain link in the supply line to manufacturers. In fact, wholesalers like British Wax are manufacturers themselves. Whenever possible, wholesalers will try to plan to make products available to all of their customers, at least in some quantity. This is why they might ask you forecasts of your demand;
• Traceability: have you ever had to source a document specific for a wax batch? Wholesalers and bulk distributors usually deal directly with manufacturers. They are therefore in a better position to provide batch information (for example Certificate of Analysis, or COA), or pass on a question or special request up to the manufacturer;
• Quality and Genuineness: another benefit of buying closer to the origin of products, is that there are less chances to buy something sold for something else. Products will be fresh out of a container rather than having passed along many hands (and got marked up in the process).

Implications of ordering bulk quantities of candle wax

As much as you are quite likely to end up buying form the same wholesalers that serve your current suppliers, your wholesaler might have some conditions you will have to meet:

• Minimum order volume. These are usually quite reasonable, especially if you are already ordering a few boxes say of 25kg each.
  Yet, better pricing is possible with economies of scale so don’t be surprised if volume and bulk discounts become significant with larger quantities;
• Payment terms. Wholesalers’ standard terms of payment are “proforma”, i.e. they will send you a document with all the agreed details (the proforma invoice, or PI) for you to pay before shipping your order.
• Once trust is established, orders might be shipped upon receiving a deposit. Please be aware: Credit / delayed terms of payment are rarely offered to new clients;
• Customer service. The relationship between you and your trade supplier is not a regular retail relationship. The terms and conditions regulating the trade between you and them are defined in a contract. For example, you might not be able to return a product just because you changed your mind like you would with a normal retail order. Local laws and regulations still apply, just keep them in mind.

The bottom line

If you buy wax regularly and your volumes are increasing, it’s definitely worth to buy from a wax wholesaler. Opening an account is quite simple and the repetitive nature of the process means that after a couple of orders you’ll be able to buy in a breeze.

Contact us today!

Picture by Jacques Dillies – Unsplash