What a Candle Costs in NZ, Per Hour

What should a candle cost in NZ? Work it out per hour

On the four New Zealand candles we found with both a published price and a published burn time, the cost works out between about 73 cents and $1.00 an hour. Nobody publishes this figure, so we did the division ourselves — and the burn times are the makers' maximums, so real-world cost per hour is higher.

Last checked 15 September 2026 against Lucy King

Updated 15 September 2026 · About 6 minutes to read · Written by NZ Candles

"Is $60 a lot for a candle?" is unanswerable as asked, because a $60 candle that burns for 80 hours is cheaper per evening than a $27 candle that burns for 20. So here is the only comparison that means anything: price divided by the burn time the maker publishes.

What does a New Zealand candle cost per burn hour?

Cost per stated burn hour, from makers' own published prices and burn times
Candle	Size	Stated burn time	Price	Per hour
Lucy King (club price)	250ml	About 55 hours	$40	$0.73
Earth Candles wine bottle candle	360g	Up to 80 hours	$68	$0.85
Nevé large	320g	Up to 65 hours	$58	$0.89
Lucy King (regular price)	250ml	About 55 hours	$50	$0.91
National Candles Seven Hour Candle	—	7 hours	From $7	$1.00

Prices and burn times read from each maker's own page on 15 September 2026; the per-hour figure is our arithmetic. None of these makers states whether the price includes GST, so treat the figures as the price you'd pay at checkout, not as an ex-GST cost.

What's wrong with this table?

Three things, and they all push the real number up rather than down.

"Up to" is a maximum, not an average. Earth Candles says "up to 80 hours" and Nevé says "up to 65 hours". A candle that tunnels because of a short first burn will not get near that, and the unburnt wax around the edge is money you paid for and never used.
Delivery isn't in it. Add $9.90 to $9.99 for a single candle under most makers' free-shipping thresholds, and a $58 candle becomes $68 — about $1.05 an hour rather than $0.89. The thresholds range from $40 (Candle Crush) to $125 (NŌLA), so buying two candles from the right maker can be cheaper per hour than buying one.
Only four of eight makers publish a burn time at all. Living Light, NŌLA, Candle Crush and Amberjack did not on the pages we read, so their candles simply can't be compared this way.

So is a $60 candle worth it?

If it burns 65 to 80 hours, you're paying under a dollar an hour for it, which is roughly the cost of the electricity-and-nothing-else evening it accompanies. If it burns 20 hours, you're paying three dollars an hour and you should ask the maker why the burn time isn't on the page. That is the question this guide is really for: if a candle's price is high and its burn time is not published, ask before you buy.

What drives the price a maker charges?

We can tell you what we know and not more. Wax cost differs by type — beeswax is described by the National Candle Association as historically expensive and still used in much smaller quantities than paraffin, and one supplier calls it hard to work with because of its high melting point. Vessel, wick, fragrance load, labour and freight all sit on top. We have not been quoted a New Zealand maker's wholesale costs, so we are not going to publish a cost breakdown that pretends we have.

Frequently asked questions

How much should I spend on a candle in NZ?

Judge it per hour rather than per candle. The NZ candles we could calculate come out between about $0.73 and $1.00 per stated burn hour. Anything much above a dollar an hour, ask what you're getting for it; anything with no published burn time, ask for one.

Why is the per-hour cost higher in real life?

Because the published burn times are maximums, delivery isn't included, and a candle that tunnels leaves wax behind that you paid for. Getting the first burn right is the single biggest thing you control.

Do these prices include GST?

None of the makers we checked said either way on the page we read. Treat them as the price at checkout. If a seller is GST-registered, GST is in the retail price by law; if they are not registered, there is no GST to add.

Is a cheaper candle worse?

Not on any evidence we have. National Candles' Seven Hour Candles are $7 and work out at about a dollar an hour — the same order of magnitude as a $68 candle. What you get for more money is size, scent and the vessel, not necessarily hours.

Why don't you show your own prices here?

Because we haven't got any candles yet. We won't list a price for something we can't ship. When our first wholesale accounts are signed, our own candles go into this table on the same terms as everyone else's, marked as ours.