Best Bake Sale Items

Lamb

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When you go to a bake sale, what do you like to purchase?

My ladies group at church will be having a bake sale and I'm wondering what I should make?
 
Josiah

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True Story ....


I learned early on that my church USED to put on a big community Rummage Sale. Big deal. A LOT of work for a whole week by a LOT of members. With AAL matching, they earned about $2,000.00 from this every year. But it was a LOT of work.

Then.... one year.... the lady who had coordinated all this for some years said it wasn't worth it. She proposed that instead of X number of hours to do this (she estimated what that was) people volunteer the SAME hours doing MINISTRY.... and people make a special donation to make up for the $2,000. Well, I don't think they reached the hourly volunteer goal, but they topped $3,000.00 in special offerings. They still have that annual special appeal (now done at Christmas) and always get a LOT more than $3K but have not done the rummage sale again.

I wonder how many church fundraisers really gain much.... and if it's good stewardship of time/ministry? I recall in my Catholic Church, there ALWAYS were big fundraisers. For many, the entirely of their ministry was doing these. Gotta admit the Fish Fries were wonderful but I wonder about the stewardship of it all.... and wonder about the mentality that you gotta get something (piece of pie.... some fried fish..... a slice of pizza) in return for giving to God. Didn't God ALREADY give you Jesus? Isn't THAT the reason to give?


Sorry for the diversion...



.
 
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Josiah

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Just an aside.... in the People's Republic of California (and I don't think it's unique), Bake Sales are illegal. True - it's a law that's not enforced as long as it's done on a TINY scale and by a not-for-profit, but actually illegal.

When I'm at a bake sale, I look for something unusual. I skip the things I know I like and look for something new and different. Also (how to be nice about this), I've already learned who are the great bakers in our church and who.... well..... BUT truth be told, usually I just make the donation and skip the baked good.... or buy something for a child (there's always a few looking over the goodies... always careful to ask Mom first. I do the same at Girl Scout Cookie things. I either buy a box for the military folks or just give them a donation. I'm not too into sweets and nor is my wife.
 
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Well, we're also including a "Bakeless Sale" for those who don't have time to bake and want to donate what they would have spent on ingredients as well as for those who don't want to buy but want to donate. Our money is going toward helping out a student at a seminary.
 
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What I like you cant find anymore, pies! Dont know if it is because of the cost or the work but you hardly ever see a pie at a bake sale anymore
 
tango

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Lämmchen said:
When you go to a bake sale, what do you like to purchase?

My ladies group at church will be having a bake sale and I'm wondering what I should make?
Click to expand...

I buy things that catch my eye and that look tasty. If the products look plain chances are I won't buy them. If they look good but don't taste of anything chances are I won't buy next time I visit. If they look good and taste good it could be just about anything.

The trouble with bake sales, as Josiah mentioned, is the question of whether the time and effort are worth the return. I remember some years ago a family member made some cakes for a function similar to a bake sale. When she saw the price they had put on the cakes she wished she hadn't bothered - she said if she'd known how cheaply they were going to be sold she'd have just given them the money and not bothered with making the cake at all.

I think there can easily be a tendency to value the time of a volunteer at nothing, and the time and materials of the people who contribute at nothing, and regard every penny raised during the sale as "profit", when if the numbers drop below a certain level people would rather just give money and not bother with the sale at all.
 
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tango said:
I buy things that catch my eye and that look tasty. If the products look plain chances are I won't buy them. If they look good but don't taste of anything chances are I won't buy next time I visit. If they look good and taste good it could be just about anything.

The trouble with bake sales, as Josiah mentioned, is the question of whether the time and effort are worth the return. I remember some years ago a family member made some cakes for a function similar to a bake sale. When she saw the price they had put on the cakes she wished she hadn't bothered - she said if she'd known how cheaply they were going to be sold she'd have just given them the money and not bothered with making the cake at all.

I think there can easily be a tendency to value the time of a volunteer at nothing, and the time and materials of the people who contribute at nothing, and regard every penny raised during the sale as "profit", when if the numbers drop below a certain level people would rather just give money and not bother with the sale at all.
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Most baked goods don't cost very much to those who keep staples on hand anyway. I would think a cake from scratch might cost $5 or $6. Cookies are only a few dollars too. I don't make pies so I can't tell you how much they cost to make but the Amish sell them for $4 to $6 for a nice size one.
 
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Lämmchen said:
Most baked goods don't cost very much to those who keep staples on hand anyway. I would think a cake from scratch might cost $5 or $6. Cookies are only a few dollars too. I don't make pies so I can't tell you how much they cost to make but the Amish sell them for $4 to $6 for a nice size one.
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It might only cost $5 in supplies to make a cake from scratch, but if that cake is then sold for $7 what it essentially means is that the time you took to make the cake is valued at $2. If you could turn a cake around in 15 minutes, it values your time at $8/hour. If you take more than 15 minutes to make the cake you have to consider whether putting $7 in the box is a better option than using $5 worth of supplies and an hour of time to achieve the same result.

I've seen the Amish selling large pies for $5 and if you know where they are based you can sometimes get them cheaper still, if you don't mind picking over the ones they couldn't sell at whatever sale they went to. But there's a difference between a bakery that is turning out dozens and dozens of pies, and a lady from the church who can maybe bake two pies at a time in a domestic oven.
 
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tango said:
It might only cost $5 in supplies to make a cake from scratch, but if that cake is then sold for $7 what it essentially means is that the time you took to make the cake is valued at $2. If you could turn a cake around in 15 minutes, it values your time at $8/hour. If you take more than 15 minutes to make the cake you have to consider whether putting $7 in the box is a better option than using $5 worth of supplies and an hour of time to achieve the same result.

I've seen the Amish selling large pies for $5 and if you know where they are based you can sometimes get them cheaper still, if you don't mind picking over the ones they couldn't sell at whatever sale they went to. But there's a difference between a bakery that is turning out dozens and dozens of pies, and a lady from the church who can maybe bake two pies at a time in a domestic oven.
Click to expand...

When you volunteer at a food bank you don't worry about the time so why would anyone get so caught up in how long it took them to bake something if they enjoy doing it?
 
tango

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Lämmchen said:
When you volunteer at a food bank you don't worry about the time so why would anyone get so caught up in how long it took them to bake something if they enjoy doing it?
Click to expand...

If you volunteer at a food bank or similar you're giving your time to the cause. If you spend $5 on materials and 45 minutes to make something that is sold at a bake sale for $7 it probably makes just as much sense to give the $7 in cash. If you really enjoy baking and just want an outlet then by all means bake a cake and someone will enjoy it.

The key thing is the concept of adding value. If you spend an hour of time helping people at a charity you can see the value you add, even if you don't receive anything tangible for yourself. If you spend 45 minutes turning $5 worth of materials into a $7 cake then your 45 minutes has only created $2 worth of value, so unless you particularly enjoy the process of creating a cake it makes more sense to give cash than to give a cake.

Of course you could make a cake, share it with family and friends, and put $7 in cash in the box anyway. That way you get to enjoy making the cake, you get to enjoy eating the cake, and the church still gets the $7 :)
 
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since just about anything at a bake sale would dramatically raise my blood sugar I don't think I would even want to go.
 
Lamb

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tango said:
If you volunteer at a food bank or similar you're giving your time to the cause. If you spend $5 on materials and 45 minutes to make something that is sold at a bake sale for $7 it probably makes just as much sense to give the $7 in cash. If you really enjoy baking and just want an outlet then by all means bake a cake and someone will enjoy it.

The key thing is the concept of adding value. If you spend an hour of time helping people at a charity you can see the value you add, even if you don't receive anything tangible for yourself. If you spend 45 minutes turning $5 worth of materials into a $7 cake then your 45 minutes has only created $2 worth of value, so unless you particularly enjoy the process of creating a cake it makes more sense to give cash than to give a cake.

Of course you could make a cake, share it with family and friends, and put $7 in cash in the box anyway. That way you get to enjoy making the cake, you get to enjoy eating the cake, and the church still gets the $7 :)
Click to expand...

If someone is too worried about their time spend in giving to Christ then that person needs to reevaluate his or herself.
 
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jsimms435 said:
since just about anything at a bake sale would dramatically raise my blood sugar I don't think I would even want to go.
Click to expand...

That's why the "Bakeless sale" is also available to those who cannot buy sweets.

What did you used to like to buy?
 
tango

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Lämmchen said:
If someone is too worried about their time spend in giving to Christ then that person needs to reevaluate his or herself.
Click to expand...

Good job completely missing the point.
 
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Not totally sure what the point was, I thought the question what do I buy when I go to the bake sales. I usually just buy for others, I love pastries and pies and cakes, but I really can't eat that stuff. The comments of the ingredients and baking and all that costing the sale price and there is no margin for profit. I've personally never put a price on charity work (I know the gov. does) but not me personally, it's like putting a cost on love. If the charity sells it for the cost of my baking it and making it, it doesn't matter to me. I did it out of charity.
 
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