I was wondering if you nice kind Aber's would help me?

[merciasounds]

For a local animal charity (mainly cats and dogs,) a cafe morning has been suggested -It'll be in the church hall, I said I'd do some baking but we were wondering what price to charge. bearing in mind it is for charity, would you pay the following prices?

tea and a small scone with cream and homemade strawberry or raspberry jam £1.00
For a pot of tea for one (2 cups) or a mug of fresh coffee and a slice of fresh cream cake (about three inches wide and tapering, six inches long)
£2,00
'lunch' little triangles of cucumber, egg and cress, cheese or ham sandwiches 6 triangles in all, (1 and a 1/2 sandwiches in all per person), a slice of cake (gateau type fresh cream or rich fruit, AND a scone or cup cake £4.00

They want to raise about £150 to get some new feeding and drinking bowls, and a couple of heat pads

[jno]

by the standards of, say, a National Trust cafe, that is parsimonious - I'd pay more but of course it will depend on the audience you're aiming at.

[redman41]

mercia you are a very caring person and as it is for a good cause you could quite easily charge more than that as many people would willingly pay

[bookbinder]

My wife and I would certainly not complain about your prices. What you propose to provide sounds very tasty and reasonably priced, and, if we knew where the event was being held, we should be first in line.

[zimmer]

Good local cause...not bad prices..could charge a little more.

[rowanwitch]

Sounds a good deal to me Mercia... do they have an address for donations too it might be worth posting if they do.....If it were nearer I'd come and forget the diet I love scones jam and cream... first honeymoon was in cornwall and my ex still think it was cream teas that drew me there rather than romance....

[237SJ]

I think it`s a fair price for the sandwiches, but I would pay more for the tea with scone and the coffee with cake

[jno]

depends, JohnMac, if everyone was kind to animals there might not be any need for charities.

[joggerjayne]

Yes, you're under-selling.

Tea, scone and jam is easily worth £2. Down on the seafront, we pay about a fiver!

But ... the more you sell, the more you make.

[mazie]

Hi mercia.

I think the prices are a little low for the quality of the products. Having said that, people wont expect to pay cafe prices at a charity do. I would suggest you keep the prices as they are but make a little sign to put on the counter saying "anyone wishing to give a little extra for the local charity, please feel free to do so" or words to that effect.

Hope the day is a success and you make your £150 x

[factor-fiction]

tea and scone -£1.50
drink and cake -£2,50 (but you could make the cake a bit smaller as I think that would feed 2 people!)
£4.00 (without the scone)

[ethandron]

sorry to go against the grain here but i think you need to keep prices very reasonable. it's not a proper cafe and people who go into church halls for a cuppa, cake and/or sandwich expect prices to be VERY cheap, doesn't matter what the good cause is.
tea/coffe and scone sounds a good price, why not the same price for a slice of cake and cuppa?
i'd just make lunch one round of sandwiches (4 triangles), piece of cake or scone, cup of tea or coffee for £3.
good idea about having a sign or even a box for extra donations.
hope you raise the money you need :)

[joggerjayne]

What if you charged £5 entry, but with no charge for snacks ... exchange your entry ticket for a snack ?

[merciasounds]

My 11 nephew just had a good idea, he said why not price everything individually, and do some plain cake too then people can have what they want rather than what you're giving them! I was thinking about 'plain' cake myself too, something a madeira cake or a lemon sponge without cream.....he's just said 'make some of your big cookies too, i love them!" I'm thinking it might well just turn out for it to be cheaper for me just to give them the money!!..

[ttfn]

I am with mazie on this one mercia - the refreshments are the attraction and not a supplementary item. Presumably there are many animal lovers in the locality and you only need 19 couples worth to reach your target. I think the cost is cheap at half the price

[annie0000]

ttfn - you mean cheap at twice the price or do you think mercia is overcharging?
Considering a visitor at our new hospital who was used to going to the WRVS for a cuppa and cake, went into the new Starbucks they have (no WRVS anymore) and got stung for the best part of a tenner for 2 coffees and two miniscule cakes you could "shove in your eye", I think it sounds perfectly reasonable - i would cut down the sandwiches though, you will probably get a lot of elderly people and they might find 6 too many and be put off wasting them.

[ttfn]

mercia - my soh stands corrected. I do not think you are overcharging at all. Perhaps you should provide little doggy bags with the lunch menu?

[ethandron]

you can also go to many a pub and get a huge carvery lunch for £3.50 to £4.50. or some of these all day breakfast lunches for only a few pounds.
to my mind it really doesn't matter how nice the cakes are or if the coffee is fresh, people want value for money, even more so in a church hall.
is it better to charge top whack and have fewer people, or sell at a very reasonable price and have lots of customers?? in my experience (and i've done many a fund raising tea and cake sale) it's the latter.

[jno]

the doggy bags sounds a great idea, ttfn - might encourage people not to fret over buying more than they can consume on the spot.