Does This Ever Happen To You (Pricing)?
Baking By CharmingChelsea Updated 15 Jun 2010 , 4:40am by elvisb
I think i would like to advertise with the prices in order to weed out those who are looking for a bargain, and to catch the ones who don't bother calling because they assume it'll be expensive.
The only thing i'm concerned about is when i would need to veer off the general price and charge more. I don't want people saying "but you are advertising this price, why are you charging me more?" I guess things have to be layed out pretty clearly without it getting confusing or being too long.
Feel free to go to my site and register with an email to be able to look at how I set up my pricing and the wordage on that page with the chart. I think it encompasses what you are describing. If you need some inspiration
btw, the price chart was adapted from a document a kind person on flickr who shared it with me
I'm one that had my pricing posted front and center, using the website as a screening tool ... if they saw my pricing and called, then I'm more than halfway there.
From my experience with brides/clients, I believe most are just looking for a price range. Even something as simple as "Starting at $xx.xx. Final price is dependent upon final design." Of course they are only going to remember the "starting at" price, but at least they can compare the $2.00/range to the $5.00/range and get an idea of how much they will be spending.
I also kinda "nipped it in the bud" when I had posted on my Dessert Cakes page a statement of "You wont' find grocery store prices on these cakes .... but then you won't find these cakes at a grocery store either!" 
There are a number of cookie sites that have their pricing:
http://davidscookies.com/?src=ypi and
http://www.sweetthoughtscookies.com/pricing.html
The only thing i'm concerned about is when i would need to veer off the general price and charge more. I don't want people saying "but you are advertising this price, why are you charging me more?"
I work at a hotel and we have a BIG sign outside that advertises rooms Starting at $79.99 I rarely book a room for $79 because it depends on the day of the week, if there are any big events going on, how booked we are and availability. I get the folks who point out, But your sign says and I subtly remind them (and subtle is not one of my strong points! 
) that the sign ALSO says starting at.
This very reaction just happened to me at work today! I made these awesome cookies with our school logo (pictured below) for Admin. Professionals day today. We made them into arrangements with cakes balls and choco chip cookies and gave one to each of our office staff.
Well one office staff was very smitten with her cookie and she told me she might want to get some cookies for her son's teachers for Teacher appreciation. She asked how much the gator cookie would be and when I told her it would be close to 5.00 ea (intricate royal icing transfer involved!).
She did the "Oh, yeah, well I'll let you know" with the look in her eyes that said "5.00 for a cookie?"
But overall the cookies were a big hit around the campus.
....and it amazes me, that while walking thru the mall, a cookie all of a sudden becomes WORTH $.85, undecorated (maybe not even completely baked), but people pay that price at a cookie shop in the mall, but GASP in shock at paying $3 for cookies specialized for their own wedding.
GeminiRJ, your story about your MIL reminded me so much of mine. The day before yesterday she was up and I had some cookies on my cake stand and she asked if she could have one. These were round cookies flooded with RI. After I had flooded them I decided I didn't like the look of them for what I was doing so I made more and used fondant as my base. So anyway, she says "so what do you charge for your cookies"?
And I said, "they start at $1.50". And she said, "no I mean ones like this". I said, "well I don't sell plain cookies like that but if I did they would be $1.50". I told her it takes the same about of time just about to do those as it does the others. She goes...oh. LOL I will be so shocked if she ever orders cookies from me.
Sounds like my family too. I usually make cookies for family birthdays or other events. My sil made a party for my nephew last year and i ended up buying a gift because i had no time to make cookies. Well, let me tell you what kind of an earful i got because i didn't make cookies; she was relying on me bringing some so she could put them on the dessert table. Um, did she call to ask? Did she offer to make it an order? Nope, it was an assumption. Needless to say, i've not made cookies for any of her parties since.......i was fuming.
Yep. I understand what you mean. My mom keeps telling me that I need to sell cakes/cookies (really not interested in selling...but that's not the point), but then she gets sticker shock when I tell her how much I would charge for something were I selling it.
It's not cookies, but I did a 2-tier topsy turvy as a (huge) favor for a friend (fondant w/ganache) and charged her $100.00. My mom nearly fell over when she found out how "expesive" it was
There were people who, for a long time, kept telling me i should start selling my cookies, and when i started doing that (slowly through word of mouth), do you think any of those people ordered even once? People just like to talk the talk........
That's because they want you to "sell" your cookies to everyone but THEM. They're the ones that GAVE you the idea to "sell" your cookies, so they should always get them for free!!!
Didn't you know?????????/
There were people who, for a long time, kept telling me i should start selling my cookies, and when i started doing that (slowly through word of mouth), do you think any of those people ordered even once? People just like to talk the talk........
That's because they want you to "sell" your cookies to everyone but THEM. They're the ones that GAVE you the idea to "sell" your cookies, so they should always get them for free!!!
Didn't you know?????????/
I know what you mean on that note. But I will say that on my first grade teaching team, they have been great about supporting my efforts, and really understanding about my pricing after I had to change it at first. They get many, many, free cookies that are practice or extras from orders. That being said, three out of 4 of them have ordered from me at my normal prices, all of them more than once. And there is a Kinder teacher who is also a friend and she has been one of my biggest fans and customers from the get go. She has bought several dozen cookies from me on different occasions and always asks me if I'm being fair to myself on the pricing. She gets lots of extras too
[quote="KHalstead"]
There were people who, for a long time, kept telling me i should start selling my cookies, and when i started doing that (slowly through word of mouth), do you think any of those people ordered even once? People just like to talk the talk........
That's because they want you to "sell" your cookies to everyone but THEM. They're the ones that GAVE you the idea to "sell" your cookies, so they should always get them for free!!!
Didn't you know?????????/ [/quote
Right on the money, Tina!!! (no pun intended)
I am guilty of lowering my prices in the past in order to get the customers; especially the ones who swore that i was going to get tons of orders through them. I can tell you that i've not gotten one repeat order or from these people, nor have i ever gotten a referrel from them. I've even done freebies for different venues and, again, never got orders through them.
I know that another cookie decorator in my area charges the same price as i do per cookie. BUT, her designs are very very simplistic, and she charges more to personalize and to bag individually. I include personalizations (name, logo, etc) in the price as well as bagging. So i am now more comfortable with my prices.
I've had that same experience with people--lowering prices and giving freebies to people b/c of promises of repeat biz and tons of referrals. This has never materialized for me, either. It's hard when you are first starting out because you want customers badly, but you have to be fair to yourself. No sense in working for pennies!
Chelsea - I wanted to pop on and congratulate you on what you are doing. Texas is a tough state for bakers and I am so happy to hear that you have found commercial kitchen space. Stick to your guns on your pricing! When you take into account supply costs, kitchen rental space fee, insurance and taxes, you cannot settle for less.
Oh, and those school logo cookies were fabulous!!!
Chelsea - I wanted to pop on and congratulate you on what you are doing. Texas is a tough state for bakers and I am so happy to hear that you have found commercial kitchen space. Stick to your guns on your pricing! When you take into account supply costs, kitchen rental space fee, insurance and taxes, you cannot settle for less.
Oh, and those school logo cookies were fabulous!!!
Getting into weddings is the only thing that is possibly making all the hassle worth it. That and the potential to do the Farmer's Market. I'm hoping by Christmas time I will have a good customer base and make some decent $ on Christmas cookies.
Keep up the great work!
Here is a story that will illustrate that people spend money on what matters to them. I was at my real job-where everyone knows I do cake decorating. A co-worker comes up, just bubbling about her daughters 11th birthday party-showing all the pictures. The theme was cheer leading. The cake looked very sloppy and amateur-ish. She spent a lot of time telling me how much the pom-poms cost because she didn't want the "fake" ones, she wanted the "real" ones. She said "and I got them for $90" -about 8 girls at the party!
So she dumped WAY more $$ than I would EVER consider on a single use item-BECAUSE SHE WANTED IT! So....remember, they will pay if they want it
I didn't read all the replies, so hopefully I'm not doubling up here. On my website, I have lingo like "cupcakes start at $xx and go up with complexity of design". I do list the base price of my birthday cakes and their sizes and number of servings, but no other cake prices are listed. Then people know if you're in their ballpark of what they're willing to pay, but I never disclose what an event like a wedding will cost because of all little things that could drive the price up. You'll always get someone who is a cheapskate, but don't lower your price! You'll end up feeling resentful for practically giving away your hard work. Your regular customers will have no problem paying you what you're worth--because they know you're worth it! And deep down, you know it too!
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