7 Reasons Why Cheap Candles Cost More Than You Think

Scented candle collection at the Willis Candle Shop.

1. Cheap Candles Burn Too Fast

At first glance, cheap candles seem like a steal. But once you light them, they disappear fast. Low-grade waxes and fillers don’t hold heat or wick stability — meaning you’ll often get 15 to 20 hours of burn time at most.

Compare that to long burning candles that easily push 70+ hours, and you’ll see why one great candle saves you from buying three bad ones.

And those “value packs”? Most don’t even burn evenly, making them cheap good candles in price alone — not in performance.

2. Paraffin and Fillers Pollute the Air

Most budget candles rely on paraffin wax — a petroleum byproduct. Add synthetic colorants and stabilizers, and you’ve got a soot-making machine. These candles don’t just burn out fast — they leave walls dirty, jars smoky, and your air questionable.

Even the best cheap candles in chain stores rarely disclose what goes into their formulas. What you save at checkout, you might end up paying in air quality and health over time.

Our coconut soy candles are paraffin free candles made for clean, even burns. Better for your home. Safer for your air.

3. Bad Wick Design Wastes Wax

You ever burn a candle and end up with wax crusted all around the sides? That’s a wick issue.

Cheap candles often use unstable or poorly centered wicks, which tunnel down the middle or drown. You’re left with an ugly shell of wasted product — and zero scent.

At Willis Candle Shop, we match cotton wick candles and wood wick candles to vessel size and wax type. That means even pools, steady burns, and candles that last.

Candle care matters — and that starts with the right wick and wax blend.

4. Weak Scent = Wasted Experience

A big reason people buy candles is scent. But weak fragrance candle performance means you’re paying for wax, not aroma. That $6 candle might smell okay cold — but when lit, it vanishes.

Our Coastal Wharf 3-wick candle is engineered for full-room scent throw, powered by a proper fragrance load and wide vessel diameter.

🔗 Shop Coastal Wharf Candle

Pool side Coastal Wharf scented candle in 3 wick candle option.

We use high quality candles with optimal hot and cold throw — so you actually get what you paid for: a room-filling, consistent experience from start to finish.

5. No Ingredients = No Accountability

Most cheap candle brands won’t even tell you what’s in their product. There’s no mention of wax blend, fragrance source, or wick material.

At Willis Candle Shop, our mantra is simple:
“Our label tells you what’s in the candle — and what’s not.”

We use waxes from American Soy Organics, and our fragrance oils come from Wholesale Supplies Plus. Everything is phthalate-free, paraben-free, and designed with safety in mind — even the dyes in our colored candles are non-toxic and made in Mexico.

That level of transparency doesn’t exist in discount bins.

6. You’ll Spend More Replacing Them

Let’s say you spend $5 on a cheap good candle that barely lasts 20 hours. You go buy another. And another. Now you’ve spent $20 on candles that don’t compare to one high quality candle that would’ve lasted longer and smelled better.

It’s not just about what you spend — it’s about how many times you have to keep spending it. In that sense, cheap candles are the definition of “buy cheap, buy twice.”

7. Good Candles Make Better Gifts

When you’re gifting — for a birthday, housewarming, or event — a generic discount candle feels thoughtless. The label peels. The scent fades. The vessel looks like it came off a shelf in aisle nine.

Great candles, like ours, are handmade candles poured into premium glass, labeled with intention, and built to impress.

We don’t mass-produce. We craft with purpose — blending luxury candles, clean fragrance, and design into every jar.

🔗 Read More at Our Candle Benefits Blog