A candle at the big box discount store runs, I don't know, ten to fifteen dollars maybe? Just guessing honestly. Mine cost more. People sometimes notice and sometimes comment, and it's a fair thing to wonder about what makes mine different.
I don't actually know the exact ingredients that go into each big box candle, but I can make an educated guess. I can't see their wax sourcing or their wick testing, so this is speculation, but speculation with some background and knowledge behind it. Some of it is probably just scale. Buying wax, jars, and fragrance oil in massive quantities brings the cost per unit down in a way a small batch never can and making them by machine instead of hand pouring, that alone accounts for a lot of the gap. I've also heard that some cheaper candles only add fragrance oil to the top layer instead of mixing it through the whole pour, which would cut cost without anyone seeing it from the outside.
What I can tell you is what I do, and why. I use one jar, and every new fragrance gets wick-tested in it before it's sold, because too small and it tunnels down the middle, too big and it burns too hot and eats through the wax fast.
I use a paraffin-soy blend, and I'll be straight with you about why. Paraffin carries scent better, that's just true, it's why the throw is stronger. Soy gets marketed as the clean, virtuous choice, and that's mostly a story people tell themselves rather than a chemistry fact. What actually matters is the grade. Mine is refined, food-safe paraffin and refined, food-safe soy, not the cheapest version of either one.
Some of it is the process. Every batch I pour is a two day job, by hand, in small runs. Day one is pouring. Day two, once it's fully solid, I go through and poke holes down through the wax and fill them again, so there are no air bubbles inside and the tops set cleanly.
I've had people tell me cheaper candles give them headaches or something close to an allergic reaction, and mine don't. I can't tell you exactly why, some people obviously have genuine allergies. My fragrance oils are IFRA compliant for candle use and phthalate-free, so often times they won't cause the same reactions as more inexpensive brands.
None of this means the cheaper candle is a scam. It just means it was made differently, at a different scale, for a different price point.
I love this work, and I also have to buy the ketchup as they say, lol, which means the math has to work. Neither way is the right way or the wrong way. There's room for both, and for whichever one you actually reach for.
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