I teach school and my grandson also attends the school. For Valentine's Day I made cookie bouquets for his teachers. Well low and below one of my fellow teachers wants me to make a thank-you bouquet for her car dealership who came to her rescue when her car broke down. She told me she was serious, (she approached me two times) so I told her I would search for some ideas. I went ahead and made up the basket and brought it to work. She seemed surprised, but very pleased with it. I take blame for not actually contacting her ahead of time to let her know I was actually making it and giving her a price ahead of time. I just assumed she really wanted it and would be pleased to finally get it. After I gave it to her, she asked me what she owed and I told her I would let her know--really nervous about the price, I wanted to charge $35.00, but I charged $30.00. Again another look like that was too much. Well after two days she did pay. Now I feel like maybe I did charge too much. We are friends, so maybe she thought I would do it much cheaper. The basket is below and I actually added another cookie to it for a total of nine. Now to the title of my post--do people not realize how long it takes to decorate these cookies. I was actually thinking about making up some bouquets to take to the teacher's lounge and take orders. My daughter (who is a full-time student/single mom and living with us) has been helping me. I thought this would be a neat way for her to make a little money on the side. But now I worry that everyone would think my prices are to high. Sorry about the long vent--but it's frustrating. I can imagine how you professionals feel.
Your cookie bouquet is incredible and albeit, I am a complete novice and have no idea what others charge .... I think that $30 was a bargain. I just got a pamphlet from Cookies by Design at a silent auction. They charge $65.85 for a 9 cookie bouquet, and that does not even include the delivery charge! Not only do your cookies look better, but I am 100% certain that your cookies taste 1,000 times better too! Don't worry about it, you obviously are very talented and your business will build itself on that alone!
It is very hard--I am no pro either. It takes a lot of time to decorate them and yes no one realizes it. I always suggest for people to go online and check prices of cookie bouquets there. I sold a basket of 24 cookies for $75 and they knew they got a great deal--some places sell 15 cookies for $124. If you sell a good product people will pay for them. By the way the cookies are great!
Your bouquet is darling. No people do not understand the time it takes to make a cookie bouquet. When I first opened my store I spent half of my time explaining why the cookie bouquets are pricey. Now i have a display with all the different sizes and the price on each. I dont feel I should have to explain anymore. All you have to do is look at them and can see all the work involved.
Happy baking to you all!
I know how you feel. I always feel bad quoting a price because it seems so high to me. I know I wouldn't pay that price for some cookies, but I can make them myself. People don't realize what goes into cookie bouquets. I find them more time consuming and more expensive to do than a cake. You have to factor in the container (which I paint also - even more work there), the styrofoam, the fillers to cover the styrofoam, as well as the sticks, the bags to cover the cookies. . . I don't know if this helps, but when I feel bad, I usually tell them how much it cost for me to make it, so they can see I'm not making much of a profit. I usually double my cost to come up with a price.
I made a Lightning McQueen cake for my son's birthday last month. I had someone want to order it. Well, it cost me $35 in materials to make, another couple dollars for the cake box and board which I'd covered in wrapping paper and cellophane, and literally took me all day long to do. So, when she asked me how much I'd charge for one, I told her $75. She was shocked! It does seem a bit high, but it was a lot of work, and I don't want to do it for nothing!
Girlfriend... you UNDERcharged!! I have the sneaking suspicion that if you had quoted her a price in advance she would have said 'nevermind', but it's because she has NO CLUE what it takes to make these. One of my new customers wants a thank-you bouquet for her mother for dog-sitting and when I told her $35 for a five cookie bouquet she almost did a dance! She said that she was looking around before she realized I did them, and the cheapest she found was $75!! She ordered on the spot. It's hard to find people that realize your prices are low, but those who do will thank you a billion times over. Some people may be thinking "$1 PER COOKIE!?!" when they ask how much it costs for me to make them some non bouquet cookies, and all I can say is... "Just taste them... then try the equivalent at the bakery in town". Good luck!
That's a very pretty cookie bouquet.
IMO what happened here is that you understood an order where she didn't.
Unless the other person has agreed to a price, a delivery date, and a design, it's just talk.
She was a good friend to you to pay for your work that she never ordered.
First of all, your cookies are darling and very professional looking! You way undercharged if anything....and you're right, this incident is just the result of people not understanding how long it takes to make/decorate cookies! If they did a little research they would quickly learn what a great deal they got! I charge $32 for a 7-cookie bouquet and that's cheap!
Where I work people have actually sat next to me and ordered their cakes from Sam's and Walmart.
They know I do cakes, but as one girl said, It only cost me 13 dollars for a 1/4 sheet. You would have charged me too much.
To my point. I don't want her business. I state my prices. If the person wants it fine. If not fine. I would rather charge what I think my items are worth and only do one. Then have to do the same work several times that week, and make the same price for several than for that one. Am I makiing sense. I know how hard I work and the quality I put out. So I don't want cheap clientel. Does that make sense?
You undercharged. Make up the baskets. CHarge the appropriate price. You'll get the clientel you deserve and they'll get the product they deserve.
Lu
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