Pricing of wedding favors

[eglies]

Hi there,

 

How low can you go on calculating pricing on wedding favours. 

 

I use this method which assumes you want a 50% mark up:  Cost of item: 4 dollars (100-50)x100

 

I know its up to me to decide the mark up percentage I use but how low should can you/should you go?

 

Thanks guys

E

[pastrygirl]

It’s up to you if you want to make a profit or not ... there will always be clients who want a discount, but weddings are a time when people usually splurge. Maybe the question should be How high can you go? 

 

In your example does $4 include raw ingredients, packaging, and labor and you’re selling it for $6?

Edited August 22, 2019 by pastrygirl (log)

[curls]

Do you know what your costs are? Not just ingredient costs but packaging, labor, rent, utilities, insurance, taxes, licenses, etc.? Start by figuring out your actual cost for making wedding favors. Find out what the competition in your area is charging for wedding favors. Can you charge what they are and make a profit? Think about what makes your product better than your competitors. Find out if you can bring in enough wedding business to make it worthwhile for you. Good luck!

[eglies]

at pastry girl, yes all are included 

at curls, yes I have all that calculated and there is no product like ours in the competition so its hard to check but I definitely need to take their prices into account, and many products are more of the simple cookie or brownie which cost very low and they can sell for 3. I cant charge that and need to find more premium clients. My question was how low can you go on your profit but I guess that is up to me. lol I am answering my questions to myself

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, eglies said:

at pastry girl, yes all are included 

at curls, yes I have all that calculated and there is no product like ours in the competition so its hard to check but I definitely need to take their prices into account, and many products are more of the simple cookie or brownie which cost very low and they can sell for 3. I cant charge that and need to find more premium clients. My question was how low can you go on your profit but I guess that is up to me. lol I am answering my questions to myself

 

Sometimes actually talking it out, and seeing the words in front of you, is all it takes to bring things into focus.

[Tri2Cook]

2 hours ago, eglies said:

My question was how low can you go on your profit

All the way down to "out of business". But if you have to go too low to make a profit, you need a new customer base or a different business. There's a big difference between what people want to pay and what they can pay, your job is to find that line.

[pastrygirl]

You're only giving yourself a 33% profit margin, could be worse, but consider your other expenses.  You've covered ingredients, packaging and labor.  Now add in rent, utilities, insurance, advertising & promotion, vehicle expense, loss ... What is left out of that $2 for you to put in the bank and either re-invest in the business or keep for yourself to retire on?  If you price the favors at $7, that's an extra dollar for YOU (hopefully 🤑)

 

By the way, what exactly are the favors we're talking about?  I'm assuming a 2 -4 piece box of bonbons.  If you offer custom flavors or decorations, those consultations take time and should be considered in the cost.

[cdh]

Weddings are one of the few times people are absolutely stupid with their money.  Don't be the bargain option when you're selling to a bride. 

[chromedome]

12 hours ago, cdh said:

Weddings are one of the few times people are absolutely stupid with their money.  Don't be the bargain option when you're selling to a bride. 

 

My long-ago Vancouver barber vented to me on that subject one day. A friend's daughter had just gotten married and they'd given her the requisite lavish wedding, to the tune of some $30,000 (in 1984 or so!). The couple got back from their Hawaiian honeymoon, and sheepishly said "Mom? ...Dad?...we've made a terrible mistake. We should never have gotten married."

My barber was livid about this. "Why we got to spend this much on a wedding?" he asked aloud, animated as only an Italian with three daughters approaching marriageable age can be. "Take that money, make a down  payment on a house, now they got something. If they break up, at least you sell the house, you get something back."

 

I felt for the poor guy. He couldn't have made much from that barber shop, and the cost of his three daughters' weddings would probably represent every cent of disposable income he could scrape aside for 20 or 30 years.