Okay I need to get back to this gal this afternoon...so thanks so much for helping!!!

Their budget is $80-$85. I will be DELIVERING cake balls, cookies, and brownies. How much of each thing would you make?

The cake balls will be 3 different flavors, covered in chocolate and rolled in nuts, coconut, sugar. Cookies will be standard chocolate chip, maybe chocolate chip macadamia, and brownies will be a mix of regular, and chocolate with peanut butter swirl.

For that budget price, and delivery, how many dozen of each item would you say?

Thanks so much!!!
joni

What do you normally charge per dozen? What is your delivery fee?

If you know that, then you should be able to figure out how many of each thing she can get within her budget and still be able to pay for delivery.

That's my problem, this is the first time I've done anything like this. I've only done cakes before. Never anything by the dozen. The place I'm delivering to is within 20-30 minutes driving time. I guess that's my question, what is a good per dozen charge for these types of items??

thx

You should figure out the cost of ingredients for a batch of each of these items and break it down to a per-item cost. Start with the $85 budget minus your delivery fee, then you'll know what's left for product. Don't forget to add in your time, not just the ingredient cost/equipment cost/packaging cost/energy cost.

i.e - 2 cups flour = $________
1 1/2 cups sugar = $_______
etc. etc.
5 hours of my time x $____ per hour (whatever you're wanting to pay yourself per hour)

It's impossible for any of us to give you a number as we don't know which products you're buying and how much you're spending on each ingredient and how much you want to pay yourself per hour. Do the cost breakdown for your ingredients and materials and be sure to write it down - then you can use those same numbers next time you're pricing a different baked good using similar ingredients.

i do my deliver fee based on miles. I chare $25 set up plus $1 per mile (one way). If you are not setting up you can omit that and just charge per mile. I use mapquest to figure out the miles.

I dont think you will be able to make many of the items, maybe only a dozen each. You have some expensive nuts in there and lots of extras. You can make more if you omit those more expensive ingredents.

$85 isnt a lot of money for all that food AND your delivery time!

It is good you know ahead of time what they are willing to spend, but you don't base your prices off that alone.

How many of each item do they need? How many guests are invited? Are they just figuring one item per guest, two items per guest or what not?

I went back to search IndyDebi's past post because she did cookies and brownies and such. In a post from June of last year she said "$6/dozen for cookies and $1.75 each for brownies."

This thread has a post where she talks about how much to make per person... http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-497683-cookies.html+brownies

That's true, TexasSugar, but the OP needs to figure out her costs, too....Debi was probably buying in bulk and paying less per ingredient since she was running a catering business.

I completely agree with you on "How many of each item do they need? How many guests are invited? Are they just figuring one item per guest, two items per guest or what not?" You really have to work with the client on what numbers they need, not just their budget...sometimes they think they'll get WAY more than they'll actually get - they're thinking Sam's Club prices and end up with not enough for all of their guests. It's part of our job to educate the client on what they get for their dollar.

MJoyCake, Oh I didn't mean for her to charge just what Debi does just cause Debi does. I fully think she needs to figure out what it is going to cost her, especially for those nuts.

She needs to figure out how much she needs to charge, with out considering what their budget is. I would tell them how many cookies/cake balls I could do for that amount, but I wouldn't base my prices around their budget.

Joni, I would go back to them and ask how many doz of each they want or need. You really need to know what they are planning as far as invites. Just the amount they are willing to spend isn't enough information. Because as was said above, what they are expecting for $80 may not be what you are planning. It will save on problems in the end if you have all the information to work with.

Translate it to cake. If someone came to you and said they had an $80 budget for a cake, and your prices are $2 per serving, then that means for that amount you would make them an cake to serve 40 people. What if when probing deeper you found out they had a $80 budget AND a guest list of 120 people? That means if you just did the cake size to fit their budge off your prices, 80 people are going to be with out cake.

Get all the information then give them your prices. If they want 10doz cookies and you decide your cookies are worth $10 a doz then you can not give them what they want for the price they are willing to pay. They will either need to budget in more money or get less cookies.

We're in complete agreement, TexasSugar! I didn't think you meant for her to charge what Debi does, but didn't want her to see that thread and think those were prices to go by if she's not aware of how to to a price breakdown...know what I mean? Your advice is very sound

I know what ya mean!

Do you usually deliver for such a small $$ order?

Let us know how many people this person is trying to serve and then we'll be able to help you with how many of each.

As far as price goes, I don't deliver anything other then tiered wedding/party cakes, so I can't help you on delivery charge, but for the cake balls, brownies and cookies you'll need to figure out your costs same as you do when you sell your cakes.

I would probably allow 1 of each item per person, so 3 pieces per person.

Oh dear. I charge $75 for delivery alone in the city.

Mensch, that is soooo funny. She's not going to get much food!!!!!