bake sale tips

The bake sale made over six hundred dollars.  Yes, you read that right.  Six hundred.  Dollars.  An amazing band of mothers converged upon the school kitchen early this morning to accept, package and price the contributions.  I will tell you one of the secrets to a successful bake sale: price accordingly.  People will pay for nice baking.  They really will.

Tip two: nice packaging is key.  The Fan ran out to the Dollarama for clear cello bags and everyone sorted, packaged and ribboned up that baking.  It was really pretty.  We didn't put the prices on stickers or chunks of tape, we wrote on the tip of the ribbon tail.  That way, we reasoned, if the item didn't sell and we found ourselves in the most unfortunate position of slashing our prices late in the day, we'd just snip off the old price and write on a new one.

Nobody wants desperate baking.

Man, those cupcakes were gone in an instant.  Priced at two dollars each!  The cherry chip Easter cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and marshmallow bunnies were a big hit.

Truth be told, the carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting went dead last.  They were supremely delicious... being Buddy Budderson's favourite I made extras to have here at the house.  Those little gummy carrots are available in the Easer aisle at Dollarama.  I just think healthy carrot cake filled with raisins and coconut can't compete with:

It's just unfair to make them compete, isn't it?  Carrot never stood a chance.

Other bake sale tips:

You should avoid using nuts or having contact with nuts in your baking area.

You might want to offer a few gluten-free or vegan options.

Things that really sell well are simple but cute items like chocolate and candy dipped Oreos and pretzels.

Use a variety of brightly coloured sprinkles and frostings. A bright table looks more eye-catching and unified.

Have bags and packages on hand to encourage your customers to buy plenty.

Start the day with an assortment of small bills and change as a "float" to make change when you get your first customers.

Make an attractive sign to advertise your table and make sure that it indicates what group or charity it will benefit. You can also put "donations accepted" on your sign an people will take the hint.

Remember to thank your customers! Ask them to tell a friend about your sale.