I am planning to do a few bake/Christmas craft sales this year and the one thing I found which may be a problem is my pricing.I don't think people planning to buy cupcakes/cookies/squares etc will pay $2.50 each..$15.00 a dozen for cupcakes I charge $2.50 each for my cupcakes on my website but there is no way they will pay that at a bakesale so what do I do? Lower my price and state it is a one day sale only?Same with my decorated cookies which I normally charge $5.00 each because they are a tremendous amount of work but I can't make money on them to sell for $2.00 or less.I want to keep it simple...cookies/cupcakes maybe cakeballs but I don't want to be baking to lose money either..

Any suggestions!!! Other cheaper alternatives? What is cheaper to make but gives a higher return?


Laurel

Sprinkles, in various places in the US, charges $3.25 per cupcake or $36.00 dozen, (not very decorated, just spinkles) Kara's Cupcakes in San Francisco and San Jose charges $3.50 per cupcake, Sibby's Cupcakery in San Mateo charges $39.00 per dozen with a dozen minimum order. Sweet Passions Bakery in the mall in Santa Clara charges $3.50 per cupcake, they all seem to charge $2.00 for a mini. I think $2.50 per cupcake sounds like a deal.

Bars may be cheaper to make because you can bake a pan and cut them up and not have to handle individual pieces. Since time is the biggest cost, this should save you time and be more profitable.

I hear you itsacake.....there is a popular cupcakery here called Crave and they sell their cupcakes for $2.95 each....$36.00 a dozen...and they are literally eaten up and sold out every day and have line ups..I've tried their cupcakes and mine are better by far!! But it is hard to get the average person snooping around at a bake/craft sale to buy into the fact that it is homemade so it is more expensive...

I may have to do bars but I am not that good at baking bars and squares...

To me, a bake sale is a food version of a garage sale. I don't expect to pay Macy's prices at a garage sale for a Macy's item. Nor would I expect to pay internet website pricing at a bake sale.

Unfair? Maybe. Just the way it is? Definitely.

.........a bake sale is a food version of a garage sale.........

OOooohhhhh how true this statement is!!
I just finished a craft/bake sale a couple of hours ago. There were 3 others selling cookies & other baked goods. The prices were give away!
I had my cookies # $8 a dz (pumpkin w/pecans, coconuts, choco chips, and raisins!) and didn't sell a one despite giving out free samples (just a bite; cut cookies into about 6 pieces). The Amish people & one other were selling them for $2.50 a 1/2 dz; one gal had good sized sugar cookies decorated for $2.50 a 1/2!

Overall everyone was complaining about the low turnout and almost non-existent sales. I made a total of $11 - just enough to cover the table price and a hot dog!

What if you made mini-cupcakes instead? That way you would be able to sell them at lower prices and still allow potential future customers to sample your product.

As for the cookies, could you also make them smaller and with simple designs?

Really interesting! Where I am, even the high school craft fair is expensive. My husband bought me a fabulous hand-blown glass vase one year, but it was a small fortune. The ever popular art and wine festivals, which are really just craft fairs, are not at all for people looking for bargains--it is pretty much all very expensive stuff. The food is never bargain priced--it is always at a premium. But then again, the farmer's market prices here are also usually more than even the high-end supermarkets. I guess it must be another thing that is dependent on where you live.

I assume you want to do this to grow your business and make money right?

If so I'm afraid you may be wasting your time! The people who are there are probably looking for a bargain, and if you happen to get a future client from it they wILL expect similar prices, even if you tell them this is a one day sale.

I would really weigh what your goals are with this and if you will really atain them, and also if it will be worth the head ache.

Have you been to this sale before? Do they have a good turn out and what is normally charged. You might be able to get more for your product if it looks fancier, but people can't tell if the snickerdoodles you make really taste 5-8 dollars better than the other lady's who also bakes from home but as a hobby or fund raiser for he daughters 4-h club

Sorry

Laurel, I do these sometimes, and don't really make much money. I'm doing one at the end of November, simply because it's a fair that's always really well attended, local to me, fun to do, and I'll get to give out LOTS of business cards. I put a fancy dummy cake on the table too, which attracts lots of interest and starts conversations.

My standard cupcakes are $2.25, but at these kinds of things, I sell them in a plastic box 3 for $5. I figure that covers my costs and view it almost as a sampling that pays for itself! I don't do bars or squares, as I agree that people won't pay for them, I focus on 'fancy' stuff that people wouldn't make themselves. Everything will be christmas themed, and I'll give out a little slip with freezing instructions to those who ask.

I know you do caramel apples - I did those one time and they were really popular. I sold them for $5 each and they went quickly. Not TOO time-consuming, although can be a bit pricy to make...

If asked about the price difference between your 'fair' prices and your 'website' prices, I would just say these are a special, and your custom cakes are priced differently since they are special custom order only.

I have always donated either cakes or cupcakes for my son's bake sales at school fundraisers. It's amazing how the same mothers who will order & purchase a cake for $30 for a party will look at the same cake as they order and say, "well, if we put $5 on it, hopefully we'll get that much". They do the same with decorated cupcakes, pricing them at 25 to 50 cents each. This is bake sale/craft sale mentality, like Debi said, it's yard sale prices.