Cupcake Sticker Shock!!!!!!

Baking By JGMB Updated 17 Sep 2010 , 5:33pm by imagenthatnj

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JGMB Posted 18 Aug 2010 , 10:58pm
post #1 of 13

Today, I had lunch in a restaurant in a Chicago suburb. Besides serving a full menu, they have a bakery case in the front for takeaway treats. I couldn't believe that a basic cupcake, no filling, a chocolate frosting 1M swirl and some sparkling sugar was $5.50!!!!! icon_eek.gif That's the most I've ever seen charged for a cupcake in this area. I'm just wondering how many they manage to sell.

12 replies
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sambugjoebear Posted 23 Aug 2010 , 1:57pm
post #2 of 13

Please tell me that was for a Jumbo sized cupcake and not a standard...I think I might go into sticker shock if its the standard! Kudos to them though if they can sell them for that price.

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JGMB Posted 23 Aug 2010 , 2:40pm
post #3 of 13

They were a little bigger than the standard one that people make at home, but I don't think they'd qualify as "jumbo." I just hope they tasted heavenly, at that price!

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partycupcake Posted 31 Aug 2010 , 6:42pm
post #4 of 13

The most expensive I've seen in SF Bay area is $4.50 I did buy a very cute mini cupcake skewer while out shopping for $6.50. It looked adorable and the entire family could share it. The skewer had chocolate covered marshmallows, mini smores cupcakes, and chocolate covered strawberries.

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Shannon1129 Posted 2 Sep 2010 , 12:49pm
post #5 of 13

I am moving there. The most I can get for my cupcakes are $25 a dozen for my "gourmet" type of flavors.

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bonjoni Posted 10 Sep 2010 , 3:13pm
post #6 of 13

Can anyone help me on the pricing of cupcakes. Do you have a minimum order?

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scp1127 Posted 10 Sep 2010 , 4:03pm
post #7 of 13

My minimum order is 24 because that is one recipe. I charge 1.50 for basic "bakery style" cupcakes. The gourmet ones are 2.50, but it is easy for the customer to tell the difference. There are two things you need to know about your business in order to price. If you know these two things, you will have no problem finding a price. One, know your competition. This doesn't mean be the lowest. That means go to the bakeries and buy the cupcakes. I taste every one and keep detailed notes on ones that are better than mine and ones that are worse. Don't count grocery stores... you do not have the same product. You can charge more if you are better and less if you are not. Two, "cost of goods sold". This is your true cost. Be realistic. You can call your electric company and find out how much it costs to run your oven for an hour. Count liners, boxes, you know. Cut it down to cost by the batch. Now look at the two numbers. That is your income. If you don't like that number, lower your"COGS" or up your spot in the competition. Taste isn't everything. You may have more variety, be more flexible, etc. My degree is accounting and economics and I owned a small marketing firm so this is sound financial advice for any business.

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kareninflorida Posted 16 Sep 2010 , 9:47pm
post #8 of 13

WOW! Were they decorated with edible gold?? As you said, they'd better be REEALLY good. I've been meaning to make a trip to Orlando to try Miss Holly's cupcakes (she's a Cupcake Wars winner) so I can see exactly what sets a "premium" cupcake apart from your typical standard bakery cupcake.

Meanwhile, if taste isn't everything, what is? Obviously, scp1127 is right, given the number of bakers who seem to regularly use box cake mixes for their products and have no problems selling them. But my feeling as a consumer is that if I wanted a cake (or cupcakes or cookies) made from a box mix, I could do it myself.

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glow0369 Posted 16 Sep 2010 , 10:09pm
post #9 of 13

Taste is everything along with what it looks like, how much work has gone into decorating. I make cupcakes all the time with edible gold and silever with offers of 3.75. The most I have been offered is 4.75 for the black and white and red fondant cuppie in my photos.. it tasted great and it was a lot of work decorating these cupacakes..

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kareninflorida Posted 17 Sep 2010 , 1:38am
post #10 of 13

Yes, great point. I never meant to imply that the decoration was nothing, by the way; it's certainly right up there with taste. I think we're probably all in agreement that for $5.50, a basic cupcake, no filling, a chocolate frosting 1M swirl and some sparkling sugar had better taste incredible. icon_smile.gif

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KJ62798 Posted 17 Sep 2010 , 2:03am
post #11 of 13

I was at the LA County (Cali) Fair yesterday. The cupcake carts were charging $4 each for regular and $2 for Mini cupcakes. icon_eek.gif No way are they fresh made there.

Kristy

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glow0369 Posted 17 Sep 2010 , 5:07pm
post #12 of 13

Some people are willing to pay the price... icon_biggrin.gif

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imagenthatnj Posted 17 Sep 2010 , 5:33pm
post #13 of 13

At the office yesterday, I went around and saw a pizza box. Looked into it and saw 200 tiny teeny cupcakes in there. The bottom of the cupcakes is exactly the size of a quarter. And they're a little bit taller than half an inch. Smaller than all the minis you would get anywhere else. No paper cups on them because how would you peel it. You need to just pop them into your mouth.

I went to the website (bakedbymelissa) and it seems that this woman is selling a mininum of 100 of them for $70. That's 70 cents a piece. I had to pop two at a time into my mouth to feel that I was eating something. lol.

I was finished with a dozen in no time. The only good thing about them, besides the fact that they tasted good, was that you could try all the flavors and after a dozen you feel that you ate just one cupcake, not a lot of guilt.

But if you think about it, a dozen of those would be 8.40. If you pretend that you're placing an order, you get the crazy prices on that website.

Oh, they had a frosting and a filling. And they're only a bit bigger than what you see on the website. They even put a picture of a quarter next to them for comparison.

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