Okay, since this is a big topic I thought I would share what I charge for cakes.
I live in Ohio & around me most of the grocery store bakeries charge $15 for a 1/4 sheet & 38 for a full sheet.

These prices do not include fondant"

My round cakes are 2-layers & filled:
8" iced with border& writing $25
8" detailed decoration $30-$35
10" iced with border & writing $30
10" detailed decoration $35-$40

1/4 sheet 1-layer 15 servings $25
1/4 sheet 2-layer 20 servings $30 These prices are for FBCT's, etc
1/2 sheet 1-layer 30 servings $40 I charge more for choc covered
1/2 sheet 2-layer 40 servings $45 strawberries, extensivly detailed
Full sheet 1-layer 60 servings $60 decorations, etc.
Full sheet 2-layer 80 servings $65

9" Cheesecake $30

Wedding Cakes

Buttercream $1.75/slice Extra for fresh flowers, decoration, etc.
Fondant $2.75/slice

Shaped Cakes: I'm going to refer to some in my photos:

Basket Cake with Strawberries(2nd page w/handle) serves 20 $45
Skateboard Cake serves 15 $35
Sesame Street Cupcakes 1 dozen $18
Indian's Jersey serves 15 $30
w/6 cookies $35

I hope this helps at least some of you who need a starting off point on prices.Like I said, these are just the serving sizes that I go by & what my customers are willing to pay for my cakes.

If anyone would like to know how much I charged for any other cake or any other questions feel free to post here & ask.

My 2-layer is not torted...its two cakes filled once.

ge978

I'm just wondering how you came up with your pricing. I don't know if ingredients cost WAY more here or what my problem is. I mostly do cakes for free, but someone I know asked me if they could buy a cake for a party. I threw a price out not know what I was talking about. Later I went back to figure it all out. Priced out all the ingredients, etc. I figured it cost me $27 for 8" or 10" white cake and $31 for 8" or 10" chocolate cake just for the ingredients and supplies, that doesn't include my time or any extra decorations like chocolate shells or FBCT. It was totally discouraging, the price I will have to charge to make any money will be a lot. Any tips to getting the price down?????

SarahJane,

You are at a disadvantage because of your location ingredients are much higher there. Is there a Costco On the Big Island? That would be your best bet for supplies if there is one there. I know there is one on Maui, but of course that is not convenient if you are not on that island. Buying in bulk is going to be your best bet.

Cindy

SarahJane: Honestly, I don't have a special formula for my prices...I've researched what other places charged for theirs & figured mine out accordingly. I kind of made mine about the same as a local bakery down the street(not grocery store)...they do about the same type of decorations that I do & their cakes are very good, so I used it as a guide.



I will say that I think your ingredients must be way higher than mine here because $27 seems an awful high price for ingredients for an 8" cake..... I would say it costs me about $9 to make an 8" iced 2-layer cake....that includes box & board.

By the way, thanks ge978 for the information. You are pretty close to what I am charging. I think I am still underselling myself to a certain degree. I am going to really sit down and make a price list and go by it. I need to quit being so unsure of myself!!!

Cindy

This is almost exactally like my list.. now I dont feel like I am off with my prices.. thanks ge!

No problem Alicia

Hi everyone thanks for trying to help. I do shop at costco, but there are a lot of things they don't carry such as cocoa powder, unsweetened chocolate, crisco, etc. my flour sugar, eggs and stuff are bought at costco. As you can tell, I mostly do scratch cakes, if I'm in a rush I'll make box. I did take each item and it's cost, figured out how much I use for a recipe, etc. I figured out the cost of that item per recipe. I have a whole page of ingredients and what they cost here are just a few examples of the more expensive: Crisco is $5.66 for 3lbs. which is the only size they sell here, that comes up to $.94 per cup, eggs at costco are $.16 a piece, Butter at costco is $.49 per cube, costco flour $.10 per cup, if I have to use cake flour (bought at safeway) it's $.67 per cup. Cocoa (which they don't sell at my costco) is a killer at almost $2 per cup. Cakeboards cost almost $.50 per board. Milk at costco is over $4 a gallon. For example, just for one batch of buttercream is $2.77. For a 8" cake (using it as filling also) I probably use 2-3 batches depending on decorations.

Wow SarahJane!! I had no idea things were so expensive where you live!! What do other bakeries charge for an 8" cake?

SahaJane, I haven't had a chance to look closely at all you prices. You are probably still a little low for your wedding cakes. In the burbs of Los Angeles bakers sell starting at $2.50 for a very plain wedding cake. In the city starting at $3.00. Check out www.sweetladyjane.com sometime. Wedding cakes start at 6.75 per serving.

I think I would stick to boxed cake mix with those prices...geeeesh.

SarahJane, just learn from the experience and adjust the price accordingly, and maybe ask friends/family to pay the cost. They'll understand what the cost is there. I know they will appreciate getting a scratch cake with quality ingredients. I know a pizza hut pizza there is about $30 so people are used to paying a higher price for everything. I guess it's the price to live in paradise.

Thank goodness for Sam's Club. We took the kids there every other day for lunch on Oahu for the cheap pizza/hotdogs.

ge, there aren't really any places to compare to. The only bakery in our town will give you a plainly frosted cake, but you have to add your own decorations. Safeway only sells decorated 1/4 and 1/2 sheet cakes. The half sheets are $35 and are pretty ugly. And there is costco (I'm not sure the price on those) they're big but I've heard they taste bad, so I don't know what's different about theirs, back home costco cakes were pretty good. Anyway, I've had people specifically ask if my cakes are made from scratch. What do you think about having two sets of prices, one for scratch and one for mix and then people can decide what they want?? I really don't like making box cake. We try to eat organic chemical free food and I prefer to make scratch cake (I only make the crisco exception because you just can't decorate w/ all butter and organic shortening would absolutely kill my budget) LETA costco food court is very popular around here for that very reason.

Okay,

I am very new to this and have an order for a cake to feed 30....so I was thinking to do 2 9 x 13's, she wants half chocolate and half white. I was thinking of charging $40.00. Am I way out to lunch??? I don't want to be too high but I also don't want to undersell myself.

Also, this is probably a very dumb question but what size is a 1/4 slab, 1/2 slab and a full slab? I can never figure that out!

Thanks!

SarahJane: I think you could make two price lists..its all about how you want to do things. Maybe try it out & see how it goes. I honestly wish I had great advice for you, but maybe someone else will see this thread that can help you better.

Gibson: I think a half sheet 1-layer would be perfect for 30 people & I charge $40 for mine. I use 9x13 for 1/4....2 9x13's for 1/2 & 4 9z13's for a full sheet. I hope this helps.

Hey SarahJane-
I compared my price list to yours. I do the exact same thing. You really have no idea how much it costs to bake until you add it all up. It's been a real eye-opener for me. I pay appx $1/c Crisco sticks, .91/c butter, eggs .09 each, flour .12/c. I'm not sure about cocoa. I need to check the price next time I shop. My only advice would be consider using a box mix (DH) for your chocolate cakes, since cocoa is so expensive. The boxes and cake boards really add up to, don't they?

Thanks ge978!!!!!

Does anyone buy their boards bulk? The only thing they offer here is the wilton brand at walmart and their is one cook supply store that offers them individually but they cost about 50 a piece, ouch.

No problem Gibson..I hope I helped

SarahJane: Have you looked at online stores? I only buy the cake circles in bulk because I got through those like crazy, but I'm not sure where you could buy the other ones....

I just got a request for my first paid cake so I wanted to thank you for this since I was at a loss of what to charge. Thanks GE.

no problem yukisaru...I'm glad I could help.

Thanks GE! I'm so bad at pricing!

No problem Jen....I'm sure this price list isn't for everyone but hopefully it does help give an idea