Bake Sale Survey Results

Serious thanks to everyone that took my bake sale survey. Unless you signed your name I don't know who took it so general thanks to all 47 people who responded.

In case you are curious, or might be in charge of your own bake sale someday, here are the results:

1. What are you most likely to buy at a bake sale?

Questions 2 through 5 addressed how to price various items; I asked what you would expect to pay for each. Wide range of responses; very interesting. Here are the results:

Cookies (1 large, 2 medium or 4 small) - 55% responded $1

Single slice/bar/square treat - Tie at 38% between 75 cents and $1

Whole loaf of bread - Range $2.50 to $12, Average $4.86 so I'll probably go $5. Most indicated that it would depend somewhat on size and that they would pay more for something "special."

Whole cake or pie - Range $2 to $20, Average $8.46. Some said they would pay more for a cake than a pie, but as you see above only 3% said they would actually buy a whole cake; 11% said they would buy a pie. There's going to be a cake walk at the fun fair where we're having the bake sale so people wanting a cake would probably go for that instead. Someone also said they would pay more for a berry pie than another kind.

The last two questions were open-ended: What is your favorite thing to get at a bake sale and any additional comments. These answers ranged all over the board. Some detested Rice Krispy Treats; others would die for them. Some wanted baklava, others a good chocolate chip cookie. Many claimed they would buy something that's too difficult or complicated to make themselves. The Fun Fair and Bake Sale are on June 6; I will be in the middle of, or just recovering from, a move so I will not be making a lot of complicated goodies - mostly cookies and breads from me, but this was great information for me to pass on to the other parents.

Don'ts
Flat cookies, stale RK treats, poorly decorated cupcakes, oily brownies

Do's
Yeast bread, scones, almond croissant, HUGE cookies, sweet bread, ooey gooey RK treat, killer cherry pie, homemade bread, fudge, baklava, cleverly decorated cookies, brownies with nuts, pie tarts, chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks, soft pretzels, chocolate zucchini bread, anything chocolate, mint frosted brownies, chocolate-caramel-peanut concoctions, black-and-white cookies, pumpkin bread with crystallized ginger, pie, super cupcake, good chocolate chip cookies, whole wheat bread, blondies, oatmeal chocolate chip muffins, zucchini bread, pies with sugar on top, anything with cream cheese or honey butter

One of the most surprising things I found was that some people would expect higher prices at a bake sale, it being a fundraiser and people being generous, and others would expect lower prices at a bake sale - "good price for a good cause," kind of like getting good deals at a yard sale. I created this survey in the hope of neither underpricing nor overpricing our products, but in general I agree with the first sentiment. The whole point of a fundraiser is to raise money, so as a customer I would shell out a dollar or two more than at the bakery.

But I also wholeheartedly agree with the comments that addressed product quality; attractive, fresh, homemade treats should sell themselves at higher prices than re-pacakged Chips Ahoy cookies or oily brownies straight from the mix. I won't have total control over this; every family will be contributing items for the sale, but I am going to share the survey results with everyone and encourage quality over quantity. I'm also going to package and label all the items myself so they are uniform - clear cellophane tied with a ribbon and a computer-printed label and price on each. Someone also mentioned the workers should wear disposable gloves. I hadn't thought of that since all the food will be packaged but I agree it's a good idea; if nothing else it looks good!

Thank you to everyone for all your input!