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Hi, everyone - I've searched a bit on the site but haven't quite found what I'm looking for, so I hope it's ok I'm creating a new post.

I started doing cookies about a year ago and it's going well. I was surprised how many people were willing to pay what I charge in my area, which is very rural. 

However, I still get a few people here and there who want to negotiate on price. My system 8 times out of 10 is that I charge $45 per dozen for a mixture of designs. They pick the theme, I design the cookies, done and done. Less work for me, more bang for their buck.

Some people when I quote them this, ask questions like, "Oh... that's a little more than I was hoping to spend. If we do more simple designs, would it be cheaper?"

And then I'm left pricing out individual cookies for them (which I also do, but usually for things like weddings or situations where they just want one design, not a mixture), which is a pain in the butt, and usually doesn't come out to much less anyway, especially when we really come down to what they REALLY want, and aren't willing to part with. And then after an hour and a half of me pricing it out, they often still decline. Complete waste of my time.

How do I get people to understand that "hey, this is just the price of custom decorated cookies", without sounding harsh? Do I just start having a minimum dollar amount for orders? Best ways to discourage this?

Thank you for your help!

Last edited by Julia M. Usher
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Great question, and glad you posted it. Agree with @Econlady - don't negotiate on price. If any order is unprofitable, I wouldn't do it. (At $48 per dozen, I think you're already pricing on the low end of the spectrum. Just think how long it takes you to make and decorate those 12 cookies and what you're earning per hour doing that . . .)

Julia M. Usher posted:

Great question, and glad you posted it. Agree with @Econlady - don't negotiate on price. If any order is unprofitable, I wouldn't do it. (At $48 per dozen, I think you're already pricing on the low end of the spectrum. Just think how long it takes you to make and decorate those 12 cookies and what you're earning per hour doing that . . .)

Plus ingredients!

Econlady posted:
Julia M. Usher posted:

Great question, and glad you posted it. Agree with @Econlady - don't negotiate on price. If any order is unprofitable, I wouldn't do it. (At $48 per dozen, I think you're already pricing on the low end of the spectrum. Just think how long it takes you to make and decorate those 12 cookies and what you're earning per hour doing that . . .)

Plus ingredients!

Well, not just that - price is typically set to cover direct labor (her hourly or other wage), direct materials (food ingredients, packaging, and often other costs), allocated indirect costs (overhead), and then all marked up beyond that so that one has money left over at the end of the day to invest in and grow the business. The $48 pricing probably doesn't even cover reasonable labor costs . . .

Last edited by Julia M. Usher

I have a minimum order amount and then work to people’s budget. If their budget is low, I tell them they’ll get simple and fewer. I don’t mind the number of cookies. If they want one amazing cookie for £40 I’ll do it! 

Ronald Hokanson posted:

Why don’t people ever try to re-negotiate the price of gasoline at the pump? Or the price of a movie ticket? Walk away.

Well said! Agree!

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