Selling and marketing
Wholesale Cookies for Resale: Cost per Dozen and Margin
What a shop pays per dozen, what it costs you, and the margin left after labor and overhead.
On this page
- What a shop expects to pay per dozen
- Work out your true cost per dozen
- A worked example: 48 cookies to a coffee shop
- Wholesale or your own table
- Mistakes that cost you money
- What to agree before the first delivery
- Getting paid and keeping records
- How to set a wholesale price from the shop’s counter price
- How to test a wholesale account before you scale
- How to handle unsold boxes and returns
- How to review a wholesale account after three months
What to remember
- Wholesale pays less per dozen than a market table, so the math has to be tight.
- Price from cost per dozen: ingredients, packaging, your time, and overhead.
- Agree on a minimum order and a delivery day before you bake.
- Know your margin per dozen before you say yes to a price.
Selling wholesale cookies for resale is a different job from selling at a market table. The shop buys from you to sell again, so it needs a price it can mark up and still move. Your number has to hold up at a lower price per dozen than you are used to.
What a shop expects to pay per dozen
A cafe or corner store buys cookies to resell, so it needs room to make its own money. If a shop sells a single cookie for $3, it cannot pay you $2.50 for it. Work backward from the shop’s counter price, not forward from your market price.
Ask the owner what they sell a cookie for today. Then offer a wholesale price that leaves them room. The full method is in how to price cookies for wholesale. If the numbers do not work at their counter price, say no before you bake a test batch.
Work out your true cost per dozen
Start with one batch and count everything that goes into it. Ingredients, the box, the label, the power in the oven, and the hours you stand at the counter. Divide the total by the number of cookies, then multiply by twelve. The cost per cookie guide walks through the same math.
Cost the batch
Add up every ingredient in one batch at the price you actually paid, not the price on a sale sticker.
Add packaging
Box, liner, label, and tape for the whole batch. Packaging is often a bigger line than the flour.
Pay yourself
Pick an hourly rate and multiply it by the hours the batch takes, including cooling and packing.
Add overhead
Power, delivery miles, and a share of the pans and trays you replace.
Divide by the dozen
Total batch cost divided by the number of cookies, then times twelve. That is your floor.
A worked example: 48 cookies to a coffee shop
Say a batch makes 48 cookies. Ingredients come to $14 and packaging to $6, so materials are $20. Two hours of work at $15 an hour is $30, and overhead for power and a delivery run is $4. Total cost is $54, which is $13.50 a dozen.
If the coffee shop pays $18 a dozen, you take in $72 on four dozen. Subtract the $54 total cost, which already includes ingredients, labor, and overhead. You keep $18, or $4.50 a dozen. That is a 25 percent margin. At $15 a dozen you would take in $60 and keep $6 for the whole batch. The profit math is the same whether you sell four dozen or forty.
Wholesale or your own table
Wholesale trades price for volume and certainty. A shop order is planned, it repeats, and you bake once for a known number. A market table pays more per cookie, but you carry the unsold boxes home.
You can do both. Wholesale can cover your fixed costs while the market pays the profit. If you only have room for one, compare what each leaves in your pocket after a full day. The same guide covers both routes.
Mistakes that cost you money
The first mistake is quoting a price before you have costed the batch. The second is leaving out your own hours, which turns a paying order into unpaid work.
The third mistake is agreeing to a standing order you cannot fit around your week. A shop that wants 20 dozen every Friday is a job, not a side order. Check your calendar before you promise the volume, and read the same guide before your first meeting.
What to agree before the first delivery
Put the important things in a short written note, even if it is a text you both keep. Price per dozen, minimum order, delivery day, and how and when you get paid.
Ask what happens if a box does not sell. Some shops want to return unsold stock, and that cost lands on you. Settle it before the first delivery, not after.
Getting paid and keeping records
Wholesale means invoices, and invoices mean waiting. Agree on payment on delivery or within a set number of days, and write it down.
Keep a simple record of every order: what you baked, what it cost, what you charged, and what you were paid. After three months that record tells you whether the account is worth keeping.
How to set a wholesale price from the shop’s counter price
Start with the shop’s counter price, because that sets the ceiling for what they can pay you. If they sell a cookie for $3, they need to buy it for well under that. Your wholesale price has to leave them room to mark up and still move the cookie. Work backward from their price, then check it against your cost per dozen.
If your floor is higher than the shop can pay, the account does not work. Say no before you bake a test batch. The same guide on pricing wholesale walks through the backward math.
How to test a wholesale account before you scale
A first order is a test for both sides. Bake a small batch, deliver on time, and see how the shop sells through it. Ask the owner what sold and what did not. That tells you whether to offer a standing order.
Check your calendar before you promise volume. A shop that wants 20 dozen every Friday is a job, not a side order. If you cannot fit the bake and the delivery into your week, keep the order small or say no.
How to handle unsold boxes and returns
Ask what happens if a box does not sell. Some shops want to return unsold stock, and that cost lands on you. Settle it before the first delivery, not after. Write the answer into your short note.
If you agree to take returns, count that risk in your price. A returned box is a box you cannot sell again at full price. If the shop will not take returns, your margin is safer.
How to review a wholesale account after three months
Keep a simple record of every order: what you baked, what it cost, what you charged, and what you were paid. After three months that record tells you whether the account is worth keeping. Look at the margin per dozen and the hours the account takes.
If the account pays late or the volume eats your week, raise the price or cut the order. A wholesale account should pay you for the work, not just keep you busy. Use the same record to set your next price.
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Common questions
How much should I charge a shop for cookies wholesale?
Start from your cost per dozen and add a margin you can live with. Then check the shop's counter price. If they sell a cookie for $3, they need to buy it for well under that, so your floor has to be low enough to fit.
Do I need a license to sell cookies wholesale?
Rules vary by state, so check your own before you take a wholesale order. Your state's cottage food office or your local health department can tell you what applies to selling to a shop that resells. Ask the shop what paperwork they want too.
What is a minimum order for wholesale cookies?
Set one that makes the delivery worth your time. If a shop orders two dozen, the drive and the packing can eat the whole margin. Pick a floor that covers your trip, and hold it even when a shop asks for less.
How do I get paid for wholesale orders?
Agree on the terms before the first delivery. Payment on delivery is simplest, and a short invoice with a due date works for shops that need terms. Brevl takes card payments through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash.
Can I sell wholesale cookies for resale if I bake at home?
That depends on your state and on what the shop needs. Ask the shop what they require from a supplier, then check your state's rules for home kitchens before you promise a delivery date. Getting both answers first saves you from baking for an order you cannot fill.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Check your state's rules before you sell to a shop that resells.