Pricing Your Holiday Menu Without Burning Out: What to Charge for Custom Orders
- Dani Annala
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
I want to be honest with you about something most bakers figure out the expensive way: your regular pricing does not automatically work for the holidays, and using it anyway is one of the fastest paths to a resentful December. I've been there — sold out, exhausted, and somehow still not making what the season should have earned me.
Why holiday orders cost more than you think
Holiday orders aren't just "your usual cookies, but more of them." They come with rush timelines, custom requests, gift packaging, and a calendar so packed that every order competes for the same limited hours. All of that has a cost, and if your price doesn't reflect it, you're the one absorbing the difference — usually in sleep.
That's the number one thing that trips people up during the holidays. Not the baking. The pricing math for a season that doesn't behave like the rest of the year.
Building a holiday rate, not just a holiday menu
Start by separating three things that often get priced the same but shouldn't be: your standard turnaround orders, rush orders inside your normal season, and true holiday-week rush orders. Each one deserves its own rate, because each one costs you differently in time and stress.
Custom requests — a specific color palette, a last-minute theme change, a design pulled from a photo — are also worth a flat add-on fee rather than folding them into your base price. It protects your time and makes "yes, for an extra fee" a much easier sentence to say than "no."
A Christmas Cookie Set Production baking during the holidays A holiday tray
Packaging and presentation aren't free
Gift-ready packaging, ribbon, boxes built for stacking or shipping — these add real cost and real time, and holiday customers expect them. Price them as their own line item so you're not quietly donating your margin to make things look pretty.
A few honest questions to ask yourself
Am I charging the same price in December that I charge in June?
Does my price account for the extra packaging and presentation holiday orders need?
Do I have a clear rush fee, or am I absorbing rush timelines for free?
If I priced this season by the math instead of by what feels comfortable to ask, would the number be different?
If any of those made you pause, that's a good sign — it means there's real money on the table you haven't claimed yet.
I built Price It Right for this exact moment, walking through real numbers so you can set a holiday rate you won't regret in January.
Want to see the full financial picture before the season starts? My free Business Recipe webinar walks through the real numbers behind a profitable bakery, holiday season included.
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