I'm in the beginning stages of starting a home cupcake business but as it will be out of my home, i was wondering about options for the customer to get their products. I'm open to delivery but what about those that want to pick up their products? how would those of you feel with strangers coming to your house to pick up product? Could there be a special pickup location for customers away from where you live or would you just deliver to customers and not have pick up as an option?

Congrats! Pickup is really about personal preference and liability. If anything happens to the person while they are at your house picking up their cupcakes, you are held liable. I run my business out of my home and I do all 3. I have delivered to their homes, met them in public places, and with one person I let her come get it from my house. She was a frequent customer so I had no problem letting her come to my house. You need to decide what you are comfortable with. Make sure you factor in gas in your prices if you are going to be delivering them. Good Luck!

Thanks, I'll let people that i know like friends/family come pick them up in my home and I'll also deliver but i don't want someone i don't know coming to my home to pick them up. I haven't figured out where people could pick up their order if they don't want to pay a delivery charge.
 

I let them know up front that I charge by mileage. It is $1 a mile, both ways. I live in the middle of my area so it no one has ever paid more than $10 for delivery. If you don't feel comfortable letting people in your house then there may be times that you just have to say no to an order if they don't want to pay the delivery fee. 

wow, didn't think someone could even charge that much per mileage. I was thinking that I'd have to do a certain amount delivery charge, or a percentage of the total cost of the order. I'll live in an area thats high traffic because of all the stores and businesses around. How many miles out are you willing to go? 10 miles, 20 miles? That's another thing I'm thinking about is my delivery service area.
 

AOur business was also in a high traffic area (San Jose, CA) and we would charge $1/minute round trip based on Google Maps estimates. Our delivery area was unlimited as long as the customer was willing to pay, we had quite a few orders with $100+ delivery charges. That's not including the charge for setup, which was also $1/minute.

Don't forget that you need to pay for your time and expertise as well as fuel and depreciation on your vehicle.

AThanks for the feedback, it is appreciated

AI live in Cincinnati, OH . I guess where you live is a big factor in what you charge

Check out some of the websites of your competitors and see how much they charge for mileage. Most of the people in my area charge more or the same as I do. I go as far as they are willing to pay me to go. 

AOk thanks.