What should I charge for pies?
I finally learned how to make pie crust and now I'm cranking out savory pies faster than I can eat them. I really want to try selling some, but how much is fair to charge?
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17 Comments:
$16.00.
Kerosena at 10:35AM on 03/17/08
@Kerosena......LOL and fall off my chair.
No need to ask location, ingredients, what each costs to make, clientele or how he/she would find them . Just $16.00 Love it!
PerkyMac at 10:42AM on 03/17/08
Thanks for getting my little joke, Perky!
Kerosena at 10:44AM on 03/17/08
Thanks for the laugh Kerosena. I'm still laughing! Great way to start the day, eh? Hey, I'm a poet!!!!! (and yes, my feet are Longfellows)
PerkyMac at 10:48AM on 03/17/08
@Kerosena - Screaming Funny!! I laughed so loudly, I startled my dogs!
crazyspice at 10:51AM on 03/17/08
Figure out the cost of your raw materials and double it. If that ends up being more than a reasonable person would pay for a pie, you might need to buy your materials in bulk so that you'll be able to make a worthwhile profit. People are willing to pay a premium for quality home-made products, though, so you could see what a similar pie costs in the supermarket and figure a third to 50% more would be fair.
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 10:53AM on 03/17/08
"Figure out the cost of your raw materials and double it."
That's perfect. It's hard to compare to the supermarket because they don't sell savory pies there really.
schwartz at 11:13AM on 03/17/08
@schwartz.......apologies for going off topic, but it was funny. I'm really glad Dominic was able to help you.
PerkyMac at 11:19AM on 03/17/08
Doubling, really? The markup might be even higher than that, 3x or 4x.
And if you're comparing to a supermarket, you should pick the very best one in your area and still expect to be slightly higher. My local supermarket pies are terrible, and I wouldn't expect a good handmade pie made with real ingredients to cost the same. (And you shouldn't either, because you'd never recoup your costs).
For price comparisons, I would check bakeries and cafes that sell whole pies (and at least partially stake their reputation on them), not the supermarket.
Plus if your pies are savory, that may mean they contain meat: more expensive, more perishable, more storage requirements.
$16 is actually a good starting number, especially if you live in an urban area.
renzata at 12:01PM on 03/17/08
How big a pie? Vegetarian? Chicken? Beef? I think for a pie that serves, oh, say, 4 and is made with chicken, you ought to be charging at least $20. That doubling business is not allowing enough credit for labor. I think it should be tripled.
lemons at 12:16PM on 03/17/08
I'm sorry if I'm off topic here, but I'm wondering who you're thinking of selling to. Is it just friends, family and acquaintances? If so, I'd charge just enough of a mark-up to cover your actual expense and time (don't forget hidden costs, such as gas, water, electric and the like).
If not, how and from where are you thinking of selling/marketing them? Do you already have a catering or restaurant-type food business? There are a lot of health codes and laws to consider here...
LoCo at 12:27PM on 03/17/08
So much goes into figuring out the potential price of goods/services...you'd probably need a course in economics to divine the perfect price point where you maximized your profit with a minimum amount of effort. If you're doing this as a hobby and just selling to people you are acquainted with, you probably aren't scrimping on your ingredients -- in which case, your costs are probably pretty high and you couldn't get away with tripling. If you are planning on starting a business, you are probably planning to buy ingredients wholesale and that would keep costs lower, allowing you to earn more per pie.
If you live in an area that supports home-made goods, you probably have more of a demand and can potentially charge more. If you live in America, however, you have to fight against most people's desire to buy things as cheaply as possible, irrespective of quality.
The answer depends, essentially, on what you want to get out of it.
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 1:11PM on 03/17/08
And I have to add that even I -- who usually has no problem paying a premium for quality food -- would balk a little at a $20 pie (even one with meat). I'm not saying I wouldn't, but it would take a bit of convincing and would have to be transcendent :-)
You have to balance the value of your time/labor with what your target audience is willing to pay.
dvchurch at 1:15PM on 03/17/08
I'm going to second LoCo's comments. If you're making these pies for the fun of it, then you can sell them near cost to friends and family, just to recoup your costs.
If you're thinking about selling to strangers and vague aquiantances, and you want to make a profit, you need to consider the legalities. Health codes, insurance, business license, taxes...it can get complicated.
dbcurrie at 8:59PM on 03/17/08
Google "home bakery code + your state" to get a start on what is required. Lots of people are able to run legal home bakery businesses, but there are requirements, especially for your kitchen, and they will vary by state.
In Texas (and probably most other states), for example, the kitchen must be fully closed off from living areas and never have any kind of animals (eg, pets) in it.
Does every home-based wedding cake baker, etc. conform to the code? Probably not. One of those nanny shows featured a home cookie business the other day that I would guess wouldn't pass code in many states. The risk--and potential liability--is yours.
renzata at 9:17PM on 03/17/08
renzata wrote:
The risk--and potential liability--is yours.
Which brings to mind another concern. Your homeowners' insurance. Even if there are no code issues (and I can almost guarantee there are), you still need to know what your policy permits and excludes. God forbid you have a kitchen-based fire and they say no way to reimbursement because, oh, by the way, there's a home-based business exclusion clause...
Blah, blah, blah.
Not trying to be discouraging in any way shape or form... I'm just a worrier (aka Mom), with experience in the legal field and the healthcare industry, among many other tangential fields (Jill of All Trades). Please be careful!
LoCo at 9:23PM on 03/17/08
I am actually in the middle of forming a baking business. I agree, it is complicated. Do you live in New York or New Jersey? I would love to compare notes.
Mich23 at 9:02AM on 03/18/08