Hello everyone!
I need some help on what I should charge for my first cookie order I received today! I am so excited and what to give a fair estimate. It is for 3 dozen "balloon" cookies for a 3 year olds birthday. I am so thrilled and excited.
If anyone might be able to give me some ideas, I would REALLY appreciate it!!
Thank you,
Dana
You'll find that the typical response you're going to get is to charge $1 per inch. So if the cookie is 3", it's $3.00 (more if you're bagging and tagging them). I doubt I would ever get that much for cookies in my area, though. It will give you a place to start.
Dana, where are you located? I ask because usually when this question comes up, I do a search to see how close a Cookies By Design is to the person asking the question. If there is one within an hour's drive, then there is a market for cookies at that price. If there are none close to you, then I say that puts you in the drivers seat as far as the "supply-n-demand" rule goes! 
I had a lady ordered a 20-cookie bouquet for a meeting. Everyone loved it ... until she told them the price. When she gave me that feedback, I told her, "Next time you get together, tell them that I'm 20% cheaper than that nat'l chain place. AND they charge you for certain containers and for delivery." 
Sometimes you just gotta put it in perspective.
Thank you both very much for your input. I am located in Rock Hill, SC and am certain the few cake shops we have do not sell "decorated" cookies. I am going to sit down and add up what my ingredients will cost and then maybe add about $ 10.00 or so extra for my time.
Thanks again!
Dana
Thank you both very much for your input. I am located in Rock Hill, SC and am certain the few cake shops we have do not sell "decorated" cookies. I am going to sit down and add up what my ingredients will cost and then maybe add about $ 10.00 or so extra for my time.
Thanks again!
Dana
Only $10 profit off 36 cookies? Definitely not enough! You're looking at multiple hours of baking and decorating time. Divide that by your $10, and your working for pennies! Please re-think this so that you make at least minimum wage!
Thank you both very much for your input. I am located in Rock Hill, SC and am certain the few cake shops we have do not sell "decorated" cookies. I am going to sit down and add up what my ingredients will cost and then maybe add about $ 10.00 or so extra for my time.
Thanks again!
Dana
So you can crank out 36 cookies in like 10 minutes?? 
Ten bucks? You ARE kidding, right? 
The "cost" of your product is NOT just the cost of ingredients and that's what I see so many people doing wrong when they try to battle the pricing game (that we all hate doing, by the way).
The dog-bone cookies ( http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1252765 ) .... I did 100 of these in about 3 hours.
The Hello Kitty Cookies ( http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1255000 ) took me 5 hours to do 50 cookies!
According to my costing charts that I keep, I can make about a dozen NFSC (depending on size and shape of course) for around $1 to $1.50. Under your logic, you would sell 12 cutout, shaped, iced cookies for $1.50 ingredient cost plus $10 labor .... $11.50 total.
If you made 36 cookies ..... Cost of $4.50 plus $10 labor = $14.50 ..... that's 40 cents a cookie.
So as I said ..... You ARE kidding, right?
Thank you both very much for your input. I am located in Rock Hill, SC and am certain the few cake shops we have do not sell "decorated" cookies. I am going to sit down and add up what my ingredients will cost and then maybe add about $ 10.00 or so extra for my time.
Thanks again!
Dana
Dana - I am in Mooresville! We should talk. Maybe we can help eachother out businesswise! I can get about $3 a cookie up here, depending on clientele, sometimes it's $2. I have a baby shower next month and am doing 3 dozen for $80.00 (that is my discount price too!)
In Rock Hill I wouldn't go less than $2 a 4" wrapped cookie. They are WAY more expensive online and in other places. People round here won't pay $5 or $6 though. They will pay $2 or $3.
Girl... this stuff takes TIME and CREATIVITY! JMO
Congratulations on your first order! PM me if I can help you out with anything!
Wow! Thanks everyone. I won't even disclose what I am charging now because I do realize it's far less than what I should charge. The reason I chose to charge her what I did was because I am not a professional decorator and (up until now) have just done a few boquets and cakes and given them away.
I now have an idea on what to charge for the future. Thanks again!
Dana
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