Selling and marketing
Homemade Cookies Wholesale: Cost per Dozen and Margin
What a wholesale order really costs you per dozen, and the margin left after ingredients, labor, and overhead.
On this page
- What a wholesale order changes about your price
- Work out your cost per dozen first
- A worked example: five dozen at $18
- How to quote a shop without guessing
- What to check before you say yes
- How to test a weekly order without risking your week
- Mistakes that cost you money on wholesale orders
- Packaging and delivery costs in a wholesale order
- What a written order should include
- Rules and permits before your first wholesale order
What to remember
- Price from your full cost per dozen, not the flour alone.
- Your time is a cost. Put an hourly number on it.
- A shop has to mark your price up and still sell.
- Check your state cottage food rules before the first order.
Wholesale is a different job from a Saturday market table. One shop can order the same homemade cookies wholesale every week, which steadies your income, but the price per dozen sits below your retail price. The math only works if you know your true cost before you quote.
What a wholesale order changes about your price
A retail buyer pays for one cookie and takes it home. A shop buys a case, marks it up, and sells it again. Your wholesale price has to leave the shop room to make money, so it lands below what you charge at the market.
You can start from half of your retail price, but the number that matters is your cost. If half of retail falls below your cost per dozen, the order loses money no matter how big it gets. Our guide to how to price cookies for wholesale walks through that backward math.
Work out your cost per dozen first
Cost per dozen has three parts: ingredients, packaging, and your time, plus the overhead that keeps the kitchen running. Write them down for one full batch, then divide by the dozens that batch makes. That single number is what you compare every wholesale offer against.
Cost one full batch
Add up every ingredient in the batch, not a single cookie. Use what you actually paid at the store.
Add packaging
Boxes, liners, labels, and tape. A shop order usually needs sturdier packaging than a market table.
Put a number on your time
Track how long the batch takes, start to clean up. Multiply the hours by an hourly rate you would accept.
Add overhead
Oven and fridge power, delivery gas, phone, and any market or payment fees. Spread it across the batch.
Divide by the dozens
Total batch cost divided by the dozens it makes gives your cost per dozen. That is your floor.
A worked example: five dozen at $18
Ingredients for the batch come to $12, and packaging comes to $8. Labor comes to $30 when you pay yourself $12 an hour for two and a half hours. Overhead for power, delivery, and order admin adds $5 to the batch. The total batch cost is $55, which works out to $11 a dozen.
You quote the shop $18 a dozen. On a five dozen order that is $90 in, $55 out, and $35 left. That is a 39 percent margin after ingredients, labor, and overhead. If the shop asks for $15 a dozen, you are down to $20 for the whole order, and one extra hour at $12 cuts that to $8.
How to quote a shop without guessing
Start every quote from your cost per dozen, not from half of your retail price. Half of retail is only a starting point, and it can fall below your cost. If the number does not cover ingredients, packaging, labor, and overhead, the order loses money.
Give the shop one clear price per dozen and one clear price per case. State the minimum order size and the lead time you need for the order. Put the delivery terms and the payment terms in the same written message. A quote that leaves out those details invites a lower counteroffer from the shop.
What to check before you say yes
Before you commit to a weekly order, check four things. Can your oven and your week handle the volume. Does the shop want delivery, and who pays for it. How far ahead do they order. And what happens if a batch comes out wrong. Our guide to how to sell cookies wholesale covers the first shop conversation in detail.
Ask the shop how far ahead they order and who pays for delivery. Check whether your oven and your week can handle the volume. Decide what happens if a batch comes out wrong before you promise a weekly order. Those answers tell you if the order fits your kitchen.
How to test a weekly order without risking your week
Keep the first order small enough that a bad week will not sink you. Three to five dozen is enough to test your timing, your packaging, and the delivery run. Grow the order once you know the real hours it takes. A large first order can eat a whole week and leave no room for your regular customers.
Track the hours for the first order, including shopping, baking, cooling, packing, and delivery. Compare those hours to your quote and see if the margin still holds. If the hours are higher than you planned, raise the price or shrink the order. A weekly order should steady your income, not replace it with unpaid work.
Mistakes that cost you money on wholesale orders
The first mistake is quoting from ingredients alone. Packaging and your time are usually the bigger half of the cost. The second is agreeing to a price before you have run the numbers for a full batch. More on the selling side of a home baking business lives in our selling guides.
The third is free delivery. Gas and time are real costs, so build them into the price or charge for them. The fourth is skipping a written order. A text that says the usual is not a record of what you delivered or what you are paid. Sturdy boxes matter too, and cookies packaging box wholesale shows what a box costs per unit.
The fifth mistake is quoting before you run a full batch cost. The sixth is forgetting that a shop order needs sturdier packaging than a market table. The seventh is treating a weekly order as guaranteed income before you have tested the timing. Each one can turn a good order into a loss.
Packaging and delivery costs in a wholesale order
A shop order usually needs sturdier packaging than a market table. Boxes, liners, labels, and tape all add to the cost per dozen. If you use a cheaper box that crushes in transit, the shop may reject the order. Build the packaging cost into your quote from the start.
Delivery is a real cost, so build it into the price or charge for it. Gas, parking, and the hour it takes are part of the order. Decide the delivery radius and the delivery day before you agree to a standing order. A weekly run adds up fast and can quietly eat your margin.
What a written order should include
A text that says the usual is not a record of what you delivered or what you are paid. Write down the price per dozen, the number of dozens, and the total. Note the delivery date and the payment terms in the same place. That record protects you if the shop questions the order later.
Keep the written order simple enough to send in one message. Repeat the price per dozen and the case price every time. If the shop changes the order, update the record before you bake. A clear record also makes your costing easier when you review the month.
Rules and permits before your first wholesale order
Cottage food rules are set by your state, and they decide whether you can sell to a shop at all. In California, cookies can generally be sold under the cottage food law, and you register before you sell, according to LegalToSell. A California cottage food permit guide from FormPay says the first step is to research and decide what food you plan to sell.
Check your own state rules before you promise a shop anything. Homemade cookies to sell covers the cost, rules, and price side in one place, so you can see how the pieces fit together.
Check your own state rules before you promise a shop anything. Some states allow home bakers to sell to businesses, and some do not. Read the rules for your state, then decide what you can promise. The sources below can help you start that check.
Try the free bake pricing calculator
Free, no signup.
- Wholesale cookies for resale: cost per dozen and margin
- How to price homemade cookies: cost, labor, margin
Common questions
How much should I charge a shop for a dozen cookies?
Start from your cost per dozen and add a margin the shop can still mark up. If your full cost is $11 a dozen, a wholesale price near $18 leaves you about $7. The right number is the one that covers ingredients, packaging, your time, and overhead.
Do I need a permit to sell cookies wholesale?
Rules are set by your state, not by the shop you sell to. Some states allow home bakers to sell to businesses, and some do not. Read your state cottage food rules first, then decide what you can promise a shop.
How many cookies should a first wholesale order be?
Keep the first order small enough that a bad week will not sink you. Three to five dozen is enough to test your timing, your packaging, and the delivery run. Grow the order once you know the real hours it takes.
Should I charge for delivery to a shop?
Yes, or build it into the price. Gas, parking, and the hour it takes are real costs, and a weekly run adds up fast. Decide the delivery radius and the day before you agree to a standing order, so the trip does not quietly eat your margin.
What if the shop wants a lower price?
Shrink the cookie or simplify the recipe before you cut your own pay. A smaller cookie at the same price per dozen keeps the margin intact. If the shop still will not meet your floor, walk away. An order that loses money is worse than no order.
Sources
General information, not legal or tax advice. Cottage food rules vary by state, so check your own state rules before you sell.