I live in Ca, and I know the prices are higher here, but I almost fell over when I saw these rates.

http://www.elegantcheesecakes.com/ECC_BirthdaysandFun_Specialty_2.asp

Now, she does beautfiul work, but I just couldn't see paying or charging this much!

I think she does beautfiul work, but I'm just wondering what you all thought...

ON the one hand, it kinda gives me hope for a future in this business, on the other hand, I feel like I could never get enough experience to charge that much! Sigh....

Sarah

All I can say about those prices is WOOOOOW!!! The cakes don't even look like the serve very many people!
Jacqui

If I had the means (which I don't) and I wanted something truly special, then yes I would pay those prices.

It actually gives me hope for the industry to see what she's doing.

I'm guessing that all of her cakes are cheesecakes? that might be why the prices are high. I think her work is beautiful. I guess there are always people that have that kind of money to spend.

art is not cheap. i use to think this was rediculous until i began spending countless hours and lots of money on my own cakes...now, i may not be able to afford these prices, but they are probably worth it. think about it, if they look that good on the outside, you think they would be any less attractive or tasty on the inside? doubt it.

Yow! I can certainly see charging $11 per serving on some of those wedding cakes as they were gorgeous...but the little celebration cakes seem overly priced. To each his/her own though. More power to her for a successful biz!

Those cakes look so familiar...have I seen some of them on cc or is it just me?

The house cake shocked me with the $4500 sticker price, although it was super amazing. But the other prices didn't seem out of line. The lady is clearly super talented. I have my math degree so for my talents anything less than $30 an hour is really not worth my time. So, this lady has talents that clearly deserve a high dollar per hour, more power to her!

Her stuff is incredibly beautiful.. and I don't think she overcharges at all, really. Her designs are quite inspired.. if I had the money to spend I'd certainly not hesitate at looking into getting one of those cakes.

With gourmet food (and yes I consider all of you CC bakers to be Gourmet bakers!) you really get what you pay for. If you pay for a 20 dollar cake, don't be mad at a twenty dollar cake. If you pay for a 1000 dollar cake, you're getting a 1000 dollar cake.

Nobody in my area charges prices like that.

Pretty cakes though.

They are beautiful cakes. I'm wondering if the house cake was a typo in the price, maybe $450.00, comparing it to the other prices.
I looked at the wedding cakes too. she did a dogwood cake and used the pearl things between the tiers. i noticed that the top tier was a bit tilted. now, i'm not being critical, as my work doesn't even come close, but i used those pearl things once, and i couldn't get my tiers straight to save my life! so at least i know i may not have just been novice me messing up.
but her cakes are gorgeous and the prices are probably right around what they should be for Cali's rich and famous that have the money to spend!

I wish I could charge that much! These are made from cheesecake so I can see charging that much and they are decorated awesome!

I did fall out when I saw the prices, I wasn't expecting that.

I guess if you have the money you would pay. They are a work of art.

I wonder if she's higher than our friend Duff?

A guy taking classes when I did sold his first wedding cake for $4,000.
He was a true artist in his work.

If I won the lottery tomorrow I would still fill guilty spending that much on a cake. But, if you have money and you always have I'm sure you wouldn't give a second thought.

Yes, I would. First of all- they are cheesecakes- very expensive to make. And second of all, her work is really good.

People pay for cakes of the same or less quality at the same or higher prices at other place- and those aren't cheesecakes, they're just regular cakes (although I'm not saying that they are less quality or less expensive to make, just that she's making a SPECIALTY item).

I wouldn't pay that much for cake in a million years, but I'm stingy, so yeah.

If you have money to just flash around anywhere- be my guest and buy one of her cakes for your wedding!

I am happy to see someone talented getting paid for their experience.

mpc

While looking at their site I noticed they were featured on "Oprah" which explains their pricing. If you get featured on Oprah you can charge whatever you want to.

In my opinion......after looking at hundreds and hundreds of cake photos right here on CC, we have many members that are equally as talented as the decorators at the Cheesecake place in Ca.!!!!![/b]

Lea

WOW! Maybe I should practice making cheesecakes more often! LOL!

I wouldn't personally pay anywhere close to that much but I wish I could charge what she does.

Those cakes are fantastic! The wedding cakes especially. I say more power to her if she's getting those prices. If she's in a posh part of Ca (and I didn't see where she is) there're plenty of rich people out there to spend money like that on cakes, I'm sure. I want to do the best I can and get the best price for my work, so why begrudge her doing the same. She's got quite a talent. There's a lot of talent on this site too. I've seen cakes posted by some of the members here (including your websites) that are right up there with with that decorator.

Lea[/quote]
You are so right, so much talent.
And so many great decorators without enough confidence to charge for their talent and expertise.
mpc[/quote]

I wouldn't go as far as to say the great decorators on here don't have the confidence to charge that much. We can have all the confidence in the world but if we don't have the market in our area then we charge accordingly.

Personally, I don't think I could handle being able to afford cakes like that. I worry about spending too much for a head of lettuce!!!! If I was flush with money I would rather help those in need than to pay thousands of dollars for cakes.

I respect anyone talented enough to command those prices. I'll never be that good!!!

Diane

I just noticed that she has other types of cakes too -- so they're not all cheesecakes. But they all sure look great!

Sarah

I believe that anyone can have a successful business and charge and feel good about their prices in whatever area they live in. There will always be critics that say they wouldn't "pay that" for a cake. Then there are those that absolutely plan everything around a cake. There is a lot of talent from so many all over. I love looking at the galleries on this site. It inspires me to try and learn more and more. Thanks to all for input!

I'm a newbie, but a passionate one for CAKE!

heh

I would never pay it, but I'd sure charge it. I'm around $5/sv and up for some of my cake flavors already, just because of cost of ingreds; I can totally see how $11 could happen. They're beautiful cakes, too, arent they?

Her work is beautiful but there is NO WAY I would ever pay $150 for 6 individual cakes!

Also, not all her cakes are cheese cake. Some are regular cake.

For a large wedding cake and if I were rich then I may buy a cake from her but never would I spend that for a 2nd birthday.

I would ..........but thats just me.........I have come to learn and appreciate the cake art for what it is! althou i did start making cakes because I didnt wnt to pay the quoted price for the 5 tier cake we made for my daughters 1st birthday........

Her talent is waay beyond mine but if I had lots of money I might shell out her prices for a terrific special occassion I didn't have to make, who knows. I'm not though so I'll settle for gawking at other peoples pictures, as I do now.

These are couture, show-stopping cakes. I can't pay that much, but I would.

On my digital cable, I hit the info button on the remote for the episode of Ace of Cakes where he made the King Kong cake, and it said the cake was $2000. I also remember hearing during another episode, that the wedding cake that the girl was holding while opening the door with her foot was $1500. The "Cheesecake Lady's" prices aren't too much different that Duff's - especially considering she's working with Cheesecake!

Wow! She is REALLY good!!!