"Tapper" > wrote in message
news:FmCuf.5700$tJ1.2214@trndny01...
>> D.Currie makes some good points. You might want to approach your
>> favorite restaurant or bakery and see if they would buy them from you.
>>Or, donate them to a homeless shelter, orphanage, school, or some other
>>charitable organization and take a write-off.
>
> I already donate food and other goods. I don't throw out leftover
> materials or extra items, they go to the local Boy's and Girl's Club or
> shelters etc. However, I am down about $400 on this batch. If I want to
> give a $400 donation to a local charity I'll just do it, regardless of
> having extra cakes in storage. In December I provided free pastries for 3
> charity events, and that's plenty for now. I need to recoup some dough
> and
> I don't need another write-off.
>
> I'd really like to figure out a way sell them (and if they go then I'll
> have
> system to sell them online). I am not concerned about having it arrive
> frozen. I have a good source for cheap ($2-3) insulated shippers, but I
> am
> interested in knowing if anyone has shipped iced cakes. My shipping cost
> can be around $10, but that depends on the method I have to use to protect
> them.
>
> A couple of local restaurants use our carrot cakes, but they don't buy
> them
> in this size. I have 6" and 8" rounds, not what these folks want. Also,
> one of the restaurants buys crappy cakes at BJs (wholesale club) for maybe
> $1 a slice and sells them as desserts for $5.95; they buy our cakes for
> themselves and for catered events.
>
> And, yes, they are world-class! All natural, no preservatives or fillers,
> dense and rich and heavy. But still can go Priority mail for $7.70, so
> shipping won't be bad at all. Freezing and thawing don't impact the
> quality (too much oil in there to be ruined). My only problem is mailing
> them once they're iced. Even if they're frozen there would be some thaw
> during transport, so I have to keep the walls away from the surface.
>
> Thanks for the suggestions, though.
> --Pat


If you want to start selling online, it might be worth looking into some
specialized packaging for frosted cakes, but you're starting with the hard
way as far as shipping is concerned. Unfrosted would be easier, but
unfortunately, that's not what you've got now.

If you really want to protect that frosting, the only way that's going to
happen is if the cakes stay frozen. Otherwise, the frosting is going to
stick to whatever it touches and by the time it gets to its destination,
especially with something like priority mail, it's going to look like
roadkill. Not to mention that the cake itself is going to take some bouncing
and could get destroyed in the process. Another reason why fully frozen is a
better method.

The other option is to have the whole thing wrapped in plastic and explain
to customers that they're going to have to scrape some of the frosting off
of the plastic and refrost the cake. Then you just need to package the cake
so that it will withstand being dropped and bounced and juggled while it is
being shipped. I guess you're better off with a denser cake than if it was
something fluffy or crumbly.

A third option would be to experiment a bit with different plastic wraps or
whatever, and see if you can come up with something so that the customer can
re-freeze the cake and then peel the plastic off of the frozen frosting. And
explain to them that if they peel it off while it's thawed, it's their
problem.

As far as your cakes being world-class, I wasn't suggesting that they
weren't, just that online customers who don't know your products first-hand
will have to believe that in order to be willing to pay the price for the
cake and shipping. Me, personally, I'd have to be really convinced that a
cake was unbelievable to pay for the cake plus the maybe $10 shipping on top
of it. And after paying that money, I'd expect that the cake arrive in
pristine condition. I'd be darned skeptical of the quality if I thought it
was in shipping for 3 days, in the hands of the post office. While it may be
true that multiple freezes and thaws won't ruin the cake, a customer may not
find that acceptable.

And I'd suggest you look into FedEx for shipping. From my experience,
they're much gentler with handling than either the mail service or UPS. And
consider next-day shipping. While next-day shipping may not be necessary in
your mind, a customer might think otherwise. They may be willing to pay a
little more to get the cake right away, frozen, and in good condition,
rather than pay a little less and get a cake that's been bounced around in
the mail system for three or four days.