Opinion on Cookie pricing?

Ara

Ara

Catquarium
Feb 4, 2010
425
0
16
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Soo.. I am thinking of going into a small side-business of selling my hand-iced sugar cookies (I am kinda known for my cookies among friends & family.. ).. but.. I am in a dilemna of how much to sell them for if I start a super-small-scale "business". of it. I would try starting to posting flyers at work for small orders and go from there.

So.. my dilemna is.. how much to charge? It costs me about $3-4 per dozen cookies in materials , and takes me approx. 3 - 3.5 hours to make from baking to icing.... (or it will once I get a good material base going)..

I figured I would sell them by the dozen maybe (or 15??).. but how much would you pay for some hand-iced sugar-cookies?

I posted a pix of my most recent Christmas cookies.. but I can do ANY season as I have over 200 cookie cutters.. next season is after the hoilidays is VD-day, so I will make some hearts and go from there..

Any oppinions on how much to charge? I am at a loss.. $10-12 per dozen? $15 per dozen? $20 for 15?? $ 20 per 12? Aaah!

View attachment Sugar cookies.bmp


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:perv: and :drool:


if those are as good as the cookies you made for me and Emily then i say charge the buggers a hundred bucks! lol.

i'd say start out with maybe $10 per fifteen cookies, see how much of a customer base you build up. i know that doesn't make for much profit but once you get a good number of people buying then your production cost may be lowered (buying ingredients in bulk, etc).

you could also have a tray of loose cookies (say at your desk at work if they'll let you) and sell them for a dollar each. from what you've described, it sounds like you get a number of people going by your desk every day. have a small portion of each sale this way go to charity? maybe a dime or quarter per cookie for santa's anonymous or the food bank? it'd be a good sales pitch and goes towards a great cause!



btw folks...... Ara's cookies are awesome!!!!! :)
 
deerfield bakery by my house an upscale bakery... they're charging 1.89-2.49 per decorated sugar cookies so I would say within that price range is the norm. If they're handcrafted like yours?

however I'm not sure how it goes in good 'ol Canada.... for the prices.

BY THE WAY SHIP THOSE COOKIES TO ME they look so good!
 
those look delicious, your price should depend on where you plan on selling them....
 
I'd say that BettaFishMommy has the right idea.The hardest thing about any new business is getting customers to take that first step (or bite). That first impression is going to be what determines if they will be a repeat customer and also what they tell others. If the price is too steep no matter how good the product, what is going to stick in their mind is the money not the cookie.
 
Since you are in Canada and I don't know the pricing there, I would suggest going to the mom n pop bakeries in your area and check there prices. Knowing that, you will have a better idea of what you should charge. I would say average their prices and take a certain % off of that price.They do have more expenses(rent, payroll, business licenses etc.). BFM has a great idea though with offering them at work. She is correct about buying supplies in bulk. 50lbs of sugar or flour will be alot less per lb. than buying them in 5 lb. bags. Since it will be a new business, the initial goal is to get your product recognized and in demand, not to make a profit on the first dozen. Larger batches will also cut down on your price per unit and just as important, your labor per unit. Does it take twice as long to mix and bake 2 dozen as opposed to 1 dozen. I hope not( I'm not a baker though). It will still take as much time per unit though to decorate. Try timing start to finish on 1 dozen and then do the same for say 4 dozen. You'll get a more accurate idea of your labor. When your tasty treats start selling hand over fist, you won't be making small batches anymore!! That way you will get a more accurate idea of your time and effort it will take once heart day comes around and your cookies are selling before they cool off and boxes are being shipped out to us at AC! Speaking of which, how much for shipping to 54914?? I want your cookies!!!!!
Sorry for the generalization of using "units" and such, it just makes it easier to use in figuring cost, labor, profit.
 
I'd considered something similar...Was going to sell online. Looked at comparable items online, and found a wide price range, from $10-25/dozen. I bake just because I like to, so the money wasn't a big deal.

Other potential marketing: look at local businesses, and make up a batch with their brand/logo on them as a 'sample' plate. Or hotels that hold conferences for other companies--they often serve snacks at breaks, and will happily pay the prices for a custom cookie. Check local coffee shops, lots of them well individually wrapped cookies, and might buy yours to resell.

Make sure you check the local laws. Selling food items is different (stateside, anyway) than selling other homemade items. You may need inspections and certifications before you can legally sell anything, and being bonded/insured (in case someone gets sick and sues you) is a good idea as well.
 
Depends:
You need to find out what your exact cost per cookie is based on the ingredients used
You need to find out what the exact labor per cookie is ($20/hour is the rate to use)
After you find out what it costs in time and ingredients you can start figuring out how much you want to make on them.

I would say that you can cover yourself pretty well with a 400 - 500% markup of your cost per cookie. (it sounds like a high markup, but what is 500% of .25? not a lot)

This allows you to know exactly how much you are making on your cookies.
It also allows you to figure cost effective discount pricing based on quantity.

-Chris
 
OrionGirl said:
Other potential marketing: look at local businesses, and make up a batch with their brand/logo on them as a 'sample' plate. Or hotels that hold conferences for other companies--they often serve snacks at breaks, and will happily pay the prices for a custom cookie. Check local coffee shops, lots of them well individually wrapped cookies, and might buy yours to resell.
Click to expand...

+1, leaving cardds with samples in public places (ask with the management first though) can be very rewarding.
 
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