To the OP.......you said this was your sister's future MIL right? Well, just think of the satisfaction that you'll get when you make fantastic cookie favors for your sister's bridal shower.

This woman will most likely be there too, and won't she be disappointed that she didn't buy the same cookies for her daughter's shower?

Too bad, so sad for her the big cheap-o!

[quote="tinygoose"]

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sarah0418"]Then she precedes to tell me that her cousin's daughter "bakes" and she makes mini cakes in giant cupcake pans and decorates them to look like wedding cakes. Oh, and she even has the added bonus of putting them on small paper plates with coordinating colors. Sounds "lovely"!! AND, she is serving these INSTEAD of cake.

I don't know about all of you, but I kind of think we'll have a new photo on Cakewrecks soon! When's the wedding? I'll be keeping my eyes open for the "mini cakes in giant cupcake pans."

As for the cookies, don't sweat it. It would have cost you money to make them for her, so now you don't have to lose anything. Just be happy she's not your MIL. Just imagine the birthday gifts from the dollar store you'd receive!

I have just added cookies back on my website after a year absence.I am charging $5.00 per cookie.$1.00 of that is packaging with a cellophane bag and curly ribbon.I won't do them for any less so if I don't get any orders..that's okay with me!! They are VERY time consuming and take 3 times longer than a regular cake so if I am going to do 24..(Minimum amount) then I am going to be be paid well for them!

Can't wait to see the "mini wedding cakes" from the cousin who "bakes"! And i have to add - your cookies are amazing!!

thank you so much. I am really just starting, so I still have alot to learn. But thank you!

I started decorating cookies last Sept. People LOVED them. I would take a few here and there and was getting orders. I don't charge much, but like you all have been saying, as I am making them, I know that I should be charging a lot more. I found little trick that works. I tell people to look on the internet to see if there is something there they would like me to try to do. And when they see the prices there, they are happy with my price. And I get a tip. I have had people approach me to make some and when I tell them how much I never hear back from them. Some scream @ the price. I gave a family member 60 cookies wrapped and tied w/ribbons for just the price of ingredients. I told her that I just would like to know how much she would have paid me. She had to think. They were sorta small (doves and angels), she replied .20 each. I flipped. Then she wanted the receipe. I really would like to sit w/her one day and let her bake and decorate some (she is not a cook nor does she like to wash dishes and that is probably the worst part of the process), she will probably be throwing money at me. So needless to say it is to the point that I want to give it up.

I LOVE doing cookies - everything from sugar cookies with royal flowed in icing to shortbread with 24K gold. It's a labour of love.

I bring these in to work at Christmas and for a charity bake auction I run (you bid on a whole box of cookies, not just one) and I get the barrage of "OMG you should do this for a living instead of accounting".

At which point I ask them if they'd be willing to pay $30/doz for the simple ones, or $4 ea for the more complex ones.

They balk and then I point out that isn't even paying myself the same wage we get at our company, and we all think we're underpaid by about 10-20K per year...

LOL

i made my first sugar cookies at christmas as i was intending to offer them to customers like my cakes and cupcakes but NO WAY!! they take so long to so and my piping skills arent up to scratch and having to make up 6 or 7 different piping bags of colours and thickness is just too much for me, i definitly havent got the patience or the skill.

saying that i just love to look at them, i think they are absolutly beautiful especially Lindy Smiths and Peggy Porschens. maybe someday il go back to them..... but like you are saying i cant see how on earth to charge the right amount for them, they take such a long time but people see them as just a cookie which is away in a few bites.... i guess il leave it to the really top end companies whose customers dont care about pricing.

I find people constantly a suprise when it comes to pricing. The bakeries round me charge £25 for a hideous 10 inch plain sponge with fresh cream and that fake jam like ice cream syrup and then a name or photo is scanned on top. They are about 2 inches thick and taste crap and are ugly. Yet the people i work with (as a legal secretary) are amazed that im charging £25 for an 8 inch round 4 inch thick homebacked dense gorgeous cake with really buttercream and jam (or chocolate, etc) covered in fondant with handmade decorations, etc which even by my standards is pretty neatly done which takes me between 5-6 hours to complete. they think im really expensive and are always trying to go a size smaller (one lady wanted a 6inch cake to serve 25 people just to save £5).... i mean seriously if you want a cheap cake go to the supermarket. i am seriously cheap compared to other people because im only starting out but people still think im expensive!!!! god knows what they would say about £2 for a cookie lol !!!!!

Sounds like someone I know. She asks me to do 25 baby shower cookies all different bibs, crown, onsie etc.... decorated, wrapped & in ribbon. Well I usually don't charge $1 a cookie it's usuallly $1.75 & up depending on size so I quote her $25 just because she's family and I really like her. Well she tells me she's going to think about it and oh maybe not that's a bit much. Granted she's pretty well off. I thought to myself $25 for 25 cookies, even if cookies were ugly that's still a steal. lol