Seller ProfitProfit on handmade candles and home decor: a worked example
How this kind of product earns or loses money online, with example figures you can replace by your own.
How this product sells
Handmade decor sells on look and gift value. The product is light, but it is fragile or messy: wax melts in summer, glass jars crack, and a broken piece in the post is a full loss plus a customer who writes a bad review.
What to watch
Breakage and melting in transit, packing materials that cost more than the item looks, photo quality, small batches that raise the cost per unit, gifting season demand, scent or colour variants that multiply stock.
A worked example with made-up numbers
The cost, price and every fee below are made up to show the working in Indian rupee; they are not the fees of any marketplace and the GST rate is an example. Replace each with your own.
| Selling price (GST included) | ₹399 |
| Sale value without GST | ₹338.14 |
| Cost of the unit | -₹95 |
| Fees and shipping (example percentages) | -₹127.34 |
| Packaging and advertising | -₹75.00 |
| Profit per delivered unit | ₹40.80 |
| Margin | 12.1% |
| Expected profit per order placed, after 5% returns | ₹26.26 |
What changes the answer
- If returns double to 10%, the expected profit per order placed becomes ₹11.72.
- If the advertising cost per order doubles, the profit per delivered unit becomes ₹0.80.
- If you cut the price by 10 percent, the profit per delivered unit becomes ₹11.72 (margin 3.9%).
A tip for this product
Test your packing by dropping a sealed box from waist height before you ship the first order. Add the cost of the stronger box to the product cost; it is cheaper than one replacement.
Try your own figures
Common questions
Why is packaging so large a cost here?
Fragile and heat-sensitive goods need padding, boxes and sometimes a cooling pack in summer. The example uses 35 per unit; weigh and cost your own pack.
Is the return rate low because the item is a gift?
The example uses 5 percent, but a damaged item is usually a refund or a replacement, so the loss on each return is high. The returns calculator shows how a few damaged orders change the profit.
Keep going
Fee percentages, GST rates and other figures in the examples on this site are made up to show the working. They are not the fees or rates of any marketplace or country: type the numbers from your own seller account and from the tax authority. Checked 14 November 2026.