I have been working like mad on a holiday flyer with color pictures of everything I offer. The most popular (it seems) are the cookie bouquets......and holy crap, there has been this huge fight in my family about what to charge!

I attached pictures: The Halloween bouquet cookies are all large, the web is kind of huge and has 5 cookies.

The Thanksgiving bouquet cookies are pretty big also, 5 cookies.

The Christmas bouquet is very detailed and has 6 cookies (4 big & 2 medium)

I thought I had my prices all set and then the family started in and now my head is spinning and I REALLY have to figure out how much to charge so I can submit the flyer to the printer and get these things handed out.

I don't want to taint the opinions I might get so I was hoping you might take a peek and let me know what you think the pricing should be. The base is made of heavy glass and I have a matching ribbon glued around the top of the base (the Xmas one also has a little painted wooden tree glued to the front).

My husband and I agreed on what to charge, then my Aunt (kinda snooty) claimed I was asking an outrageous amount for just sugar and flour (I'm not kidding - it was madness, like a nightmare come to life that I actually heard those words come out of someones mouth) - my Mom claimed I wasn't charging near enough..... then my pain in the butt Uncle piped in saying they don't look professional enough..... so now I am lost.

All I know is I am having anywhere from 500-1000 flyers printed and I am freaking out at the thought that I will choose the wrong price. Thanks in advance.....


(why do I listen to family at all?????)

Those are really fabulous.

Honestly, your aunt was so out of line. I would have slapped her. Hard. And your Uncle. Gah. What is it with relatives acting like @$$h¤[§$? I mean, is your uncle such a cookie pro that he does his bouquets way better (sarc.)

What are you thinking of charging for them? Whatever it is, I'm sure it is not nearly enough because they really do look great (and very professional).

Sorry for the random dead pic links....can't figure out how to get them to go away.

Ok, I was going to charge $25 for Halloween and Thanksgiving and $30 for Christmas. My Aunt & Uncle are really mean and usually have nothing (and I mean NOTHING) nice to say about anything I do, so I take it with a grain of salt, but I just wanted the opinions of people who matter, lol.

I have to charge enough to make it worth my while (might sound tacky but my husband is on WC pending back surgery so we really need the money this year) and I am ok making money more on volume.

If I charge too much, people might not order any at all, ya know? I also took indie pics of each cookie and am charging $2.50 ea (by the dozen) for the cookies wrapped with ribbon.

Thanks, btw

edited to add: the reason it turned into a major family fight was because my Grandma heard what my Uncle said and called him ignorant, which then turned into him saying he didn't see the need to come down for Christmas, which caused everyone else in the family to call him various names and then my cousin (their daughter) messaged me on Facebook to tell me what a sh*tdisturber I was.....


nice!

No, don't listen to them!!! obviously your aunt have no idea the amount of work involved in making those cookies "flour and sugar......." THE NERVE!!!! only you know the time it's going to take you to get them done, and I saw the pics and your work is excellent, my advise is add your investment to make them and charge AT LEAST double if not more, your work and time is worth it and if they think its too much...........well don't buy them!
Good luck on your business my friend and please just listen to your heart

CakeDiva73, I was doing a little calculating and you may want to re-think this:
The Christmas bouquet of 6 cookies is $30, but if they order a dozen of one cookie, it's $30. You'll be doing twice as much work for the same amount of money.

IMHO, you may want to up your price per individual cookie... those cookies look kinda big, I'm thinking at least $3.50 per individual cookie, and even that I think, with your caliber of work is a little low.

I love your idea and your cookies are really awesome.

And as for your aunt and uncle, they are just jealous nay-sayers and probably wish they had half the talent you have in your little pinky!

I absolutely HAVE to agree with Grandma! And, it seems to me that your cousin should have sent the message to her mother instead of you. I read your first post to my husband and then showed him the pics and he says your work is awesome and you are charging to low. I am inclined to agree with him. IMO $40 would be a very reasonable price for the Christmas bouquet, and $30 for the Thanksgiving and Halloween bouquets. Your Uncle must have cataracts or needs new glasses...your work is stunning.

If your aunt and uncle do come for Christmas, I would package a beautiful cookie bouquet for every family member, but they would get a package containing a bag of sugar and a bag of flour. Bah Humbug!

OMG your cookies are amazing, and those bouquets are the BEST I've ever seen!

I would be charging at least $1 per inch on that kind of detail, and that means yur Halloween cookies at least are WAY underpriced!

Sometimes it is best to not even go there asking for family opinions

I don't have the first clue as to what cookie bouquets should cost, I just want to tell you that your work is beautiful. Truly, I love it all, there's just so much detail.

And for your uncle, maybe it was best for the rest of the family if he and his wife stayed away for christmas, then at least there's a chance of it being a good one.

Don't sell yourself short.

They are awesome. Very nice looking. Close attention to detail. Write off aunt, and uncle. Give them a big BAH HUMBUG.

Mike

I think your aunt and uncle are jealous and don't want you making money. I don't know what to charge but they look great!

First, your cookies are great.
Second, never go to friends or family for pricing advice. (except hubby & those who live with you who can see how much time & money you invest)
Third, don't take what family says about your cookies not being good enough-they ARE!


Do what you know is right in your heart and mind. Either people will buy them or they won't.

Every thing will work out, some family members simply are not happy with out any drama in their lives. Hang in there!

Your cookies are beautiful! Your caliber of work is up there to make us all dream we can be as talented as you. You are undercharging. You aunt and uncle need to stay away from any thoughts about your pricing and your talents. Send them to WalMart! I would pay at least $40 - $50 for those bouquets. Our local Cookie Bouqet shop would not sell them for that cheap, they don't look as good, they get volume discounts. Just remember all the details you are doing, the bagging, ribbons, and all are just as much of a cost of "nothing but flour and sugar". Your time is worth $$$$$.

Your cookies rock! When my father in law was in the hospital in Lubbock Tx. I saw a delivery van delivering cookie bouquets to the pediatric units, might want to make sure some of those fliers reach a waiting room. The cookies that I saw delivered were hugh they were inserted into a colored sand pail, individually wrapped nicely decorated, my guess as far as price would have been $50.00 and up. Good Luck, hope your husband gets up and going soon, As far as family, thank goodness you don't get to pick them, sure would be a lot of folks in the" NOT PICKED LINE"

Your cookies are awesome. I haven't a clue about pricing but it sounds like you are getting the best advice.

I don't think you're overcharging either. I just found a couple of big online cookie bouquet distributers. One of them is selling 12 chocolate chip cookies (way less time consuming) for just under $40. The other one charges $52 for 7 decorated sugar cookies, then adds more for a decorated container. Your cookies look just as professional as theirs and are even more detailed.

I was feeling like such a sack after all the crud with the family, and I really didn't care for the yellow on the Thanksgiving one (couldn't locate brown tissue paper) anyway, I guess I need to remember NEVER to pay attention to people who try to bring you down.

Cripes, these are the same people who take great relish and pride in critiquing EVERYTHING I do....hated the new business cards, the cupcakes I make are too small, lol, and that chewy stuff (fondant, Satin Ice, no less...) apparently tastes like Play-doh and is for people too lazy to learn how to smooth the icing!!! AGGHGHGH!!

So thank you so much. Your kind words kind of blow me away (sorry, there are some craaaaazy talented cookie divas on this site, lol.) I'm just glad to hear they don't look juvenile. There is one cookie person, can't remember her name but sweet mother of God, her sleigh from last year should be framed!

I am re-thinking the prices..... I'm in central CA, not a ritzy area but they take SO long to do that I need to make sure I am charging enough, otherwise why am I doing it? I decided to go to $30 for Halloween, $35 for Christmas (I think still $25 for Thanksgiving since the leaves are very basic and the pumpkins aren't terribly detailed and I don't know if people will order the TX ones....)

As for the inividual I went to $35 per dozen for all (except for the spider web cookie which is $4 each - holy cow does that puppy take a long time!) I would like to charge more for the snowman since it was time consuming too but I hate to feel like a nickel and dimer and I am running out of space on the flyer.

Thanks again for all your supportive words and advice.

PS - anyone wanting to duplicate those, I got the glass base at the Dollar Store - worked perfect, no weights needed (whew!) and I copied a CC cookie genius here and don't bake the cookies on the sticks now. This was so much easier and faster for me - thx again!

I guess I am the odd ball cause I thought your first prices were good, but I am on the opposite coast of you. Only thing I would say about the individual cookies is that it would cost a little extra if they wanted them bagged. I would do just a tray for the $2.50 a piece. Great looking cookies too.

p.s. I charge per cookie then add $5.00 extra for the bouquet.

Your cookies are beautiful and I would honestly pay $50.00 for the bouquets. Those cookies are huge! Don't listen to your family, charge what you feel is right for you!!!

Ugh, sounds like you did your family a favor by starting this whole controversy. It may get you all out of having to spend Christmas with those jerks! Your cookies are lovely and $50 per bouquet is quite reasonable.

Your cookies are just gorgeous! Great job and I hope you get the price you deserve for all the hard work on them! Oh and the sleigh cookie you were talking about (which is definitely in my faves) was done by TracyLH. You both do beautiful work!

Your cookies are wonderful! The price you have in mind is more than reasonable. Don't listen to the ornery aunt and uncle.

Your cookies are beautiful, and the bouquets are great. You are seriously undercharging. Have you calculated your cost in materials; then added in your labor? Gas, electric, etc?
Here's a link to Cookies by Design. Check out their prices.

http://cookiesbydesign.com/category.aspx?categoryid=81

Agree with cuttthecake....compare your prices to Cookies by Design. They have 200 shops!

I love your bouquets--they make me feel good.

I din read the other replies yet--my comment is that this is exactly why you gotta have your feet planted firmly and your opinion is the important one. You have to know how good you are. It doesn't matter how many other people do or don't.

Dude, if you husband agrees with you? You are golden.

Give the crabby relatives the broken ones.
and if there are no broken ones, take a bite out of 'em first.

Do your relatives own your business? No.
If they all want to get into childish fights and act like spoiled brats, let them. But no cookies for them!!
Seriously, do not get sucked into the drama. Close the door behind them, and turn on some tunes. Make the cookies, and refuse to discuss any aspect of your business with anyone other than your husband.

I got to the first few replies all I gotta say is

Go Granny, Go Granny, Go Granny, GO!!!

Plus I'm sensing Menschkins could be zeroing in on some slinkie material here.