Selling and marketing
Donuts Price Tim Hortons: Set Your Own Price per Dozen
How to turn a chain donut price into a real price per dozen for your own kitchen.
On this page
What to remember
- A chain shelf price is a ceiling to test, not a cost sheet to copy.
- Cost the batch, the box, your hours, and your overhead before you add margin.
- A 35 percent margin on $11.88 a dozen lands near $18.30.
- Review the price when a supplier changes, not when a customer complains.
You searched donuts price tim hortons to get a number you can trust. Their number was built for their costs, their volume, and their stores. This page builds one for your kitchen, your boxes, and your hours.
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Why the Tim Hortons price does not transfer to your kitchen
A shelf price in a chain store covers the donut, the bag, the counter, the rent, and a return for the owner. Copy the number alone and you copy none of that structure. Your version has to carry retail flour, a small box order, and your own hours.
That is why two bakers in the same town can charge very different prices for a dozen and both be right. One works from a cost sheet and one guesses. The one with the sheet knows which orders pay and which ones quietly lose money. For the full picture on donut economics, start with what you actually make selling donuts.
Your buyers compare you to the chain because that is the price they know. They also know the chain is not made in a home kitchen the morning they order. Charge for what you actually do, and let the comparison sit where it belongs.
Build your price per dozen from four numbers
Four numbers decide your price: the batch, the packaging, your time, and your overhead. Get each one on paper before you look at anyone else’s menu.
Cost one batch of dough
Write down what goes into one batch at the price you actually paid: flour, yeast, shortening, sugar, eggs, glaze. Divide the batch cost by the number of donuts it yields.
Add the box and the bag
A dozen needs a box, a liner, and a label. Cost those per dozen, not per batch, so a half dozen order still carries its share of packaging.
Pay yourself by the hour
Time the batch from scaling to the last glaze. Multiply those hours by a rate you would accept from another boss. Treat it as a cost, not a bonus you take if there is money left.
Spread your overhead
Add the business share of your kitchen: the extra power, the market stall fee, the permit, the phone. Divide it by the dozens you sell in a normal week.
Add your margin last
Margin is what replaces the fryer and covers a slow week. Add it after the three costs above, never instead of them.
A worked example for one dozen glazed donuts
Say one batch of dough makes four dozen donuts. Ingredients for the batch come to $9.60, which is $2.40 a dozen. The box, liner, and label add $0.85 a dozen. You spend 1.5 hours on the batch at $15 an hour, so $22.50, or $5.63 a dozen. Weekly overhead of $60 spread across 20 dozen adds $3.00 a dozen. That puts your cost at $11.88 a dozen. At a 35 percent margin the menu price is about $18.30, and you keep $6.42 a dozen after ingredients, packaging, labor, and overhead.
Notice what happens if you forget labor. The same dozen looks like $6.25 in cost and a $12 price feels generous. Add the hours back and that price is under water. Labor is the line most home sellers leave out, and it is the one that decides whether the week paid.
What to check before you commit to a price
Run the price past your last three orders and your slowest week, not just your best one. A price that only works on a Saturday morning is not a price you can build on. The same per dozen math works for cookies if you want a second example to compare.
Watch your packaging line closely. A box that moves from 40 cents to 55 cents adds $1.80 to a dozen boxes. If your menu price is fixed for the season, that $1.80 comes straight out of your margin.
Decide how you take money before you set the price. Card payments through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash, all work. Whatever you accept, know what it costs you per order and fold that into overhead.
If a cafe wants a standing weekly order, price it separately and protect a thinner but real margin. Do not let a wholesale order quietly reset your retail price. When you have four or five items, put them on one page with a menu template that includes a price check.
Review the price every season, not every order
Pick a date each season and rebuild the cost sheet. Flour, butter, and boxes move. When one of them eats a dollar of margin, change the menu price then, not after six months of absorbing it.
Tell your regulars before the change, in one plain sentence. People who buy from a home baker expect honesty more than they expect a fixed price forever. A short note on your order page does the job.
Common questions
Can I just charge what Tim Hortons charges?
You can, but their price reflects their costs, not yours. Your flour comes from a retail bag and your kitchen is your own. Treat their shelf price as a ceiling to test against, then build your number from your batch cost, your hours, and your overhead. That is the number you can defend at the table.
How much should I charge for a dozen donuts?
Start from your cost per dozen, add your hourly pay and your share of overhead, then add a margin. In the example on this page, a cost of $11.88 a dozen becomes about $18.30 at a 35 percent margin. Your own numbers will differ, so run them before you print a menu.
Should I sell by the dozen or by the piece?
By the dozen is easier to cost, easier to box, and easier to add up at a market table. Single donuts work as an add on for someone who wants one with coffee. If you sell singles, price them so twelve singles earn more than one dozen, because they cost you more in bags and handling.
What if my price is higher than the shop down the road?
Say what is different in one sentence: made this morning, a flavor they do not carry, or delivered to the door. Then hold the price. Cutting to match a bigger seller leaves you working for free. If you truly cannot sell at your cost, shrink the donut or simplify the topping instead of cutting your pay.
How often should I change my donut price?
Review it on a set date each season, and sooner if a supplier raises a big line item. A box or a bag of flour that jumps by a few dollars can eat a chunk of your margin. Change the menu price at the same time you change your cost sheet.
Sources
This is general information about pricing, not legal, tax, or accounting advice. Check your own state rules for selling food from home.