5 min read
Pricing for wholesale without giving margin away
Wholesale doesn't have to mean working for free. A simple framework for setting a wholesale price that still pays you.
Wholesale is seductive: bigger orders, one delivery, a real invoice. It's also the fastest way to accidentally halve your margin and not notice for six months.
Work backwards from margin, not forwards from retail
The instinct is to take your retail price and knock 30% off. That gives your customer a discount but tells you nothing about whether you're still making money. Start from your true cost per unit instead. See how to cost a recipe properly, and decide the minimum margin you'll accept.
Three prices, not one
- Retail: what an individual customer pays.
- Wholesale: what a café or shop pays, still with a workable margin for you.
- Catering: volume work, priced per head or per tray, usually somewhere between the two.
Review it when suppliers move
Your wholesale price is a promise you're making about your own costs. When a supplier price shifts, that promise needs revisiting Quietly, before the next order goes out, not after.