Sourcing Village Candle, Wax Melts, and Scrapbooking Supplies Online: What I Learned Comparing Wholesale Quotes

In May 2024, a buyer at one of our retail accounts sent a product list that looked like three different orders smashed into one. They run a 14-store gift chain in the Midwest, and we already supplied their greeting cards and gift wrap. This time they wanted jar candles, wax melts, candle holders, and a small test order of scrapbooking supplies. Then she added a question that I now write at the top of every request: 'where to buy scrapbooking supplies online when the rest of the order is candle products?'

That question is not as strange as it sounds for a gift and craft distributor. I manage procurement for a 28-person company, and I have spent six years comparing quoted prices to the actual amounts on invoices. The projected spend was about $21,000, and most of that was for Village Candle products.

Until that call, candles were not a category I knew well. We had sourced ornaments, gift wrap, and greeting cards, but not a full fragrance program. I knew Village Candle was a name shoppers asked for, but I did not know how the wholesale side worked. This order forced me to learn.

It Started with a 14-Store Gift Chain

Fourteen stores mattered because it put us in an awkward middle zone. We were not big enough to order a full truckload directly from one factory, but we were too big to buy single cases from a retail site. The buyer wanted a fall assortment and a late-summer fill-in on the same order. That meant two fragrance names: Village Candle Spiced Tobac and Honey for the fall planogram, and Village Candle Summer Slices for stores that still had a bright warm-weather shelf into August.

I sent the same specification sheet to six wholesale distributors that carried Village Candle. Five replied. Two made it into my cost spreadsheet.

Unit Price Is Only the First Number

One distributor quoted $6.10 per jar candle. Another quoted $5.35 per jar candle. On 480 jars, the lower unit price looked like it would save $360. Then I added freight, handling, and a $340 mixed-pallet fee because the order included two fragrances. The second quote came to $3,193 delivered. The first quote, which included everything, came to $2,928. The supplier with the higher unit price was $265 cheaper in total.

To be fair, none of those extra charges were hidden. They were listed in the quote, just on page two. I had asked for unit price first, so I almost made the decision before I saw the other line items. That was my mistake. Since then, I have asked every new supplier for a total delivered cost line instead of a per-unit price.

Looking back, the lower quote was not a trap. It was a good quote for a different kind of order, one that did not require split deliveries or special handling. My job was to match the quote to the actual order, not just to the spreadsheet.

Wax Melts and Candle Holders Taught Me About Availability

The next surprise was product form. I assumed if a Village Candle scent came in a jar candle, it would also be available as a wax melt in the same delivery window. Not always.

Spiced Tobac and Honey was relatively easy to find as a jar candle and wax melt in early summer. Village Candle Summer Slices was available as a jar candle from a couple of distributors, but only one could supply it as a wax melt for an August delivery. By mid-June, I stopped assuming and started asking every distributor two questions before requesting pricing: Can you confirm availability for each SKU form? And what is the next delivery date?

The candle holder piece was smaller but still instructive. A separate craft supplier had the glass holder the customer wanted at $0.85 each, but freight for 288 units added $120. The candle distributor offered the same style holder at $0.93 as an add-on line item with no extra freight. Adding it to the candle order cost $267.84 instead of $364.80, saved $97, and meant the holders arrived on the same truck as the wax melts. I almost missed that option because it was buried in a monthly price list.

The Scrapbooking Supplies Side Quest

Now I need to be clear about my limits. I am not an expert in scrapbooking. My experience with scrapbooking supplies is based on one test order and three online wholesale suppliers in June 2024. If you are a scrapbooker buying for your own table, this is not aimed at you. If you are trying to figure out where to buy scrapbooking supplies online for a store, my honest advice is to look for a supplier that asks for your resale certificate before showing prices.

Searches for where to buy scrapbooking supplies online mostly lead to retail inventory. A retail buyer needs wholesale pricing, net terms, and products available in case quantities. One of the three suppliers never replied. One sent a retail catalog with a wholesale login tucked inside. The third quoted us at about 58% of the retail price on the same scrapbook paper and sticker SKUs. I do not know if that percentage is typical, because our sample was too small to call it a trend.

By the time we got through the test, I understood why the buyer asked us instead of searching on her own. Online suppliers do not always make it obvious which inventory is wholesale and which is retail. On one site the phrase was 'trade prices.' On another it was 'DIY wholesale.' We had to read the footer, not the product page.

The Bottom Line

In late July, we placed two purchase orders instead of one. The candle order covered the Village Candle jar candles, wax melts, and glass candle holder. The second order covered scrapbooking supplies for the test aisle. The customer got one coordinated delivery from our warehouse, and the unit costs allowed them to keep the margins they needed.

If you are hoping that one online supplier can cover Village Candle candles, wax melts, candle holders, and scrapbooking supplies, keep looking. We did not find a single source that offered competitive wholesale pricing on all four in the quantities we needed. Two suppliers was the right answer for us.

The part that surprised me the most was not the $265 pricing swing. It was that product availability nearly caused the bigger problem. A scent can be easy to find in one product form and hard to find in another. Seasonal delivery dates are real. A lower unit price can look obvious until delivery costs change the math.

I have mixed feelings about adding a craft category we had not planned to support. On one hand, it added work and a second supplier relationship. On the other, it turned a one-time candle request into a broader account conversation, and the buyer's next order included a bigger wax melt program.

None of this is universal. My experience is based on working with wholesale distributors in the U.S. for a regional gift chain. I cannot speak to buying directly from Village Candle in larger volumes, and I cannot speak to how this works in other countries. If you are a one-store retailer ordering a case or two, this process is probably overkill; a distributor with posted wholesale pricing and flat shipping may serve you better. There is no best supplier for everyone. The best process is the one that checks total cost, delivery date, and SKU availability before you fall in love with a unit price.

Quotes mentioned above were from June 2024 and reflect the quotes we received at that time. Prices and product availability change, so verify current pricing and delivery dates with your supplier before ordering.