Ok, so I agree with those of you who believe that a cake is a cake no matter the occasion. I like the idea of charging a flat fee to avoid confusion and make things simple. My question is, when u figure out prices for party cakes, do you use the Wedding Chart? Since they are normally cut bigger, do you determine how much cake they need to order using the Party Chart? What serving size do you tell the customer for cutting the cake?

TIA,

Ruthie

I use the serving chart to determine pricing, not necessarily to determine the number of servings .... although these numbers coincidentally are usually close or the same.

A 10" round cake serves 38 by the chart ..... so I tell the client, "This cake will serve 25-35, depending on how you cut it. The price is $xx.xx".

I don't go into "the price per serving is $xx.xx and this cake serves 35 based on a serving this size, so your price is $xx.xx..." THe client doesn't care. How many will it serve and how much is the cake? I have a pre-printed price list on my counter with number of servings and price next to each one.

My Famous KFC Analogy: A 12-pc KFC bucket is designed to serve 6 people, based on 2 pcs per person. If you choose to serve 4 pcs per person, and only serve 3 people, you're not going to get it at half price since it serves half the people. KFC has set a pre-determined serving size .... but you can eat as many pieces as you want.

Cake is the same way. The industry standard is a pre-determined serving size..... but the client can cut it any size they want.

If you allow the client to dictate the size of the serving, then you are allowing the client to set your pricing. I dont' know about you, but I set my pricing in my shop.

I'm with Debi.. one chart for pricing. IF you were to price it different, the "party slice" is 50% bigger than the wedding slice.. so logically a bigger slice would cost more per slice than a wedding slice, but it'd all work out to the same price per cake. I tell people this cake is designed to serve 35 people and it costs $xxx.xx. You can cut it into as few pieces as you'd like... heck, you could eat it all by yourself... but it still costs $xxx.xx. I also include a cutting guide and instructions on how to get the appropriate amount of servings from their cake complete with pictures.

I charge a flat rate of $5/serving for all cakes and this includes fondant. Gumpaste work and 3-D cakes are priced separately. If the cake is intricately detailed there's an extra fee per tier.. I'm talking covered in scrolls like a mendhi print or something to that effect.

If you price your cakes at $4.serving.. and then you have a wedding cake and a party cake serving size and you charge the same price.. you aren't really charging the same price for all of your cakes. You would have to charge more for the party servings than the wedding servings to make it even.

Thank you both for your reply. I don't have a shop, but am strongly considering a home business in the near future. So far only friends and family have been interested in buying my cakes, so I'm trying to get organized for when I'm ready to do so. Especially since many of them are a bunch of whiners and I want to know how to handle them.
I was thinking on telling customers "I charge a flat fee of xx.xx per servings and using it as a u.s.p. I didn't know if the party guide was used at all to give customers an idea on how much cake to order for birthdays, etc. Obviously, if that confused me, it will confuse them. I see it will be easier to give the servings and price by pan and since both party and wedding cakes are price the same way, disregard the party guide completely. If they need more cake, I'll just tell them to order more.

Indydeby- I guess I need to dust my customer service skills and keep in mind key phrases like "industry standards" I'll tell you, I'm about to record all your replies on how to handle customers, and make me a Cake Decorator's Customer Service Manual. I can picture myself telling customers to hold while I shuffle through pages looking for a suitable answer. Thanks again.

Ruthie

Ruthie, here's a true story on cake servings: An attorney's office called and ordered 2 cakes from me. While discussing cake #1, she said they have about 30 people in the office. I said, "Well .... based on a servings size about the size of a folded over peanut butter sandwich, the 10" cake serves 25-35 depending on how you cut it ....." She interrupted me with "Oh then we need to get a bigger cake!"

What I also do is give them 2 options. Let's say they want cake for 20. I tell them, "An 8" round serves 18-24 or a 10" cake serves 25-35. Which one will work best for you?"

Had one lady who wanted a sheet cake. The smallest I do is the 11x15 and I told her, "It serves 35 and the price is $xx.xx". She came back with, "Can you make it to just serve 30?" (oh right lady! Let me just hack 2" off of one end and trash it ... and NOBODY pay for that!). I told her "The next smaller pan only serves about 24, so that would leave you short. If you only need 30 pieces, you can cut them a little bigger."

If anyone knows where I can buy that Adjustable Pan to turn a 35 serving pan into a 30 serving pan, just PM me, please!

Oh come on now Debi it's easy.. you just pick up the pan and bash it over the head of stupid customers.. the resulting dent takes about 3-5 servings off the cake. If you still have too many servings just continue to bash.