While I do make cakes, my main focus at Christmas & Easter is my homemade candy. I do assorted chocolates, pretzels, marshmallows & many different kinds of hand painted chocolate novelties. I have been asked if I do wholesale for my candy. Now I am in a quandry. After 28 yrs. of handpainting, I finally feel like I am charging enough for my product! So how do I know offer it for less & still make enough money? I thought of offering a 20% discount for a minimum of 100 pieces. But I want to make the right decision. Do any of you have any hints for me? Thanks, Helen
I would get a number of inquiries for "volume discount" on my cookies. Usually they were talking about 6 or 7 dozen. I would tell them, "I have a client who uses over 20 dozen a DAY!!! Over 100 dozen a week..... over 1200 cookies each and every week .... almost 5000 cookies a month. A standing order. Consistency. THAT'S considered "volume". Now ..... how many were you talking about?"
It's not just us ... when I worked at a manufacturing company, my sales reps would tie up my time on an order for "......this could go as big as 1000 pieces!" At which point I'd have to remind them that I short-ship orders by 10,000 pieces and consider the order closed!
What may be considered "volume" or "wholesale" to the average consumer may not be "volume" to the manufacturer.
Factors to consider: Are they wanting just one design that can be easily mass produced or do they want 100 pieces of candy with 25 different designs? Will they be bulked packed, resulting in a lower packaging cost to you, or are they still wanting individually packaged? Is the order large enough that you can buy supplies in larger, bulk packaging, saving you money on ingredients (which is what happened to me with the 100 dozen cookie order and that's how I was able to give them a really low price for that kind of quantity. Plus they were bulk packaged.)
Just because they are buying "a lot" doesn't necessarily make it worth a volume discount. Especially if it's just a one-time shot. My 100-dz client was each and every week. I could confidently schedule my time around the baking schedule for this volume. Much different than a hit-or-miss order that comes in once in awhile, causing you havoc as you try to gather ingredients last minute and fit it into your already booked schedule.
Indydebi, thanks for your kind & insightful words. I am now going to stick to my prices! My time is too valuable for discounting! Helen
Candy lady..I would just charge your regular price..and let them work it out from there!
I have been asked to sell my cakes to party stores, but they want me to sell it them cheaper so they can tack on some money for themselves..
I thought about it..and decided not to do so, I don't want to flood the market with what I do, and if they can get it cheaper from the party store, they won't buy from me..lol
So...I too felt like you, my time is valuable and I'm sticking to my prices too!
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