Lighters, matches and ashtrays: choosing for home and for the counter
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
5 min reading time
Flint or turbo, single piece or display of 25, and why most ashtrays are too light and too shallow. A practical buying guide with unit prices listed.
Open your kitchen drawer, and chances are you'll find three lighters that no longer work, and one you can't find anywhere when the candles need lighting. For a store, the same problem applies on a larger scale: lighters are an impulse item that needs to be displayed on the counter, in the right quantity, and at a correct unit price. Below are the practical choices regarding lighters, matches, and ashtrays — for home and behind the counter.
Flint, turbo, or match: three ways to make fire
A regular gas lighter with a flint produces a yellow, soft flame. It's inexpensive, light, and perfect for an indoor candle. Disadvantage: the flame blows out in the wind, and if you hold it at an angle to light a candle deep in a glass, the metal cap quickly heats up.
A turbo or jet lighter blows gas out under pressure. This creates a short, blue, sizzling flame that is much more resistant to wind and can also be held upside down. Handy for outdoors, for the barbecue in the off-season, and for candles in a deep holder. The MAXX Turbo Lighters with devil print, 30 pieces (€ 5.00) are such lighters; the Wind Lighters, 25 pieces on display in 5 models (€ 34.95) also fall into this category.
Almost everyone dismisses matches until something goes wrong: a gas stove that won't ignite, a fireplace, a camping stove, or simply a lighter that's run out. A stash costs almost nothing. The Zwaluw Matches, 5 packs (€ 4.00) are such a reserve that you put in a kitchen cupboard and forget about until you need them.
Single item or display: calculate the unit price
Lighters are almost always sold per display: a holder with 25 or 30 pieces that you place on the counter. For home use, this may seem excessive, but the unit price differs so much that a display is often more logical even for private use than three single items at the supermarket checkout.
Display
Quantity
Price
Per piece
MAXX Turbo, devil print
30
€ 5.00
approx. € 0.17
Lighters with muscular men print
25
€ 10.00
€ 0.40
Lighters alluring ladies
25
€ 25.00
€ 1.00
Wind lighters, 5 models
25
€ 34.95
approx. € 1.40
If you sell yourself, the question is not which display is cheapest, but which suits your customers. A cheap printed lighter sells on volume; the display with muscular men print, 25 pieces (€ 10.00) and the display with 25 lighters with women's print (€ 25.00) are in the segment where people consciously choose an item instead of grabbing what's at the front. This saves on margin per item sold.
Ashtrays: where it goes wrong is almost always the size
An ashtray must do three things: catch ash, not tip over, and be easy to empty. Therefore, pay attention to:
Weight and center of gravity. Outdoors, a light ashtray will blow off the table. Heavy polyresin or ceramic will stay put.
Depth. A shallow dish will blow empty with the first gust of wind. A deep bowl keeps ash inside.
Rims. Notches in the rim hold a cigarette in place; without notches, it will roll out.
Cleaning. Smooth interiors rinse clean easily. Deep relief at the bottom is nice to look at and annoying to clean.
Our range mainly features ashtrays with a distinctive shape, more decoration than utility: the XL ashtray with breasts and buttocks (€ 49.95) is a heavy indoor item, while the Cowgirl ashtray in blue (€ 14.95), the Doggy Style ashtray in pink (€ 14.95) and the purple ashtray with figures (€ 12.00) fall into the gift and novelty categories. If you want something for daily use on a balcony, deliberately choose heavier and deeper than you think you need based on the photo.
Preventing loss: covers, tins, and a fixed spot
Lighters disappear because they don't have a place. Two simple solutions: give them a fixed spot in a tin, or make them recognizable. A lighter cover with body print in 3 colors (€ 6.00) makes a standard lighter unmistakably yours — handy if multiple people are at the table. A striking shape works just as well; the penis-shaped lighter, 2 colors (€ 9.95) is mainly a novelty gift for a bachelor party, but at least it won't get lost among the rest.
And however you store them: keep lighters and matches out of reach of children, do not leave them in the sun or behind the windshield of a car, and return empty ones to your municipality's small chemical waste instead of throwing them in with general waste.
For the counter: presentation does the work
Lighters are a classic impulse item: they sell at eye level at the checkout and nowhere else. Place the display where people are already waiting and don't leave it half-empty — a display with five remaining items looks like clearance stock and sells accordingly. If you have more small items to present, a metal display holder in black or white (€ 17.95) keeps keychains and similar items together instead of in a bin on the counter.
If you're looking for something in a similar vein as a gift rather than a utility item: a Blunt candle set of 6 pieces (€ 7.95) works as a joke at a birthday table and is immediately usable.
Summary
Choose turbo if you go outside and flint if you stick to indoor candles, keep a pack of matches handy, and buy by the display once you calculate the unit price. For ashtrays: heavier and deeper than you think, and smooth inside.
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