I am just now at the point people are wanting to order cakes and I have no clue what to charge. the sizes i would be making are 8 inch round, 8 inch with 6 inch stacked, 11x15 and 12x18. How would i know what to charge? I have attached a picture of the stacked cake (8 inch and 6 inch) that has been requested and then also a 11x15 sheet cake that is pretty standard (time wise for work involved). if anyone could even tell me what they'd charge for these i'd appreciate it. I am in alaska, they are made in my kitchen at home. I buy cake mixes and i use butter cream icing (wiltons recipe) and royal icing.

and i did this one for a friend... in the future what would you charge for something like this??? i really am a at a total loss here

What I did was visit some local grocery stores and I picked up their "wedding cakes" price list. I also took note of what they charged for party cakes. Then I also went online and looked at some other web sites of peopel who make cakes and looked at their price list and between the 2 I made my price list. I do price my cakes higher than the grocery stores since my cakes are "custom".
Jacqui

Here's an example of what I charge:
6" $20
8" $25
9" $35
10" $45

I also charge extra for fillings, fondant, and extra decorations.

thanks! that is definitely a good place to start. since i am in anchorage alaska the selection of grocery stores is pretty limited. There is Carr's (Safeway), Costco and Fred Meyer (kroeger). other than that it's a bakery!

yes, exactly. i certainly don't want to over charge...i;m not a professional. but we are providing a homemade, custom cake. I want to be reasonable, cover my costs and make a little extra. does any one charge for delivery?

If I were you, I'd figure out how much all your ingredients, supplies such as boards, etc. cost and then figure out a price. I've seen on here where people charge cost x anywhere between 2 and 3. So if it cost $20 to make the cake you should charge between 40 and 50 dollars, etc. I don't know if alaska is like Hawaii, but it cost a lot more for ingredients here, so once I actually sat down and priced out the ingredients and how much I use in each recipe, it was shocking how much I was spending on ingredients.

i have thought about that.. yes, it is very expensive here. a dozen eggs is $2.50, cake mix ON SALE is $2 (unless i buy at walmart), EVERYTHING costs more. it all has to be shipped in. milk is $5 a gallon! i could go on forever about the cost of stuff as i have only been here a year and am still in shock! LOL.

I'm in the same boat, I would definetly take the time to figure out your cost, you could be losing money. Don't forget to add in extra for boards, bags, food coloring, dusts, etc. All these things will add up if you don't add these into your cost. And if people tell you your cakes are too expensive then tell them they can get one at Safeway. I would say, "I make fresh, custom-made, one of a kind cakes. If you want something cheap you can go pick one up at the grocery store."

You know that's just it. You can go to the grocery store and order up a cake but everyone is gonna get that same cake. What we need to remember is that we do "custom" cakes with the flexibility to offer different flavors where as a grocery stores has what it has, take it or leave it. I did make an error on my pricing, I actually have my 10" round for $35. It's kind of hard to figure out one's costs on items but you can try to estimate I guess.

Oh, Alaskanmom...I'm originally from North Pole...just outside of Fairbanks. I was raised there and moved away when I was 18. My parents and brother still live in Fairbanks. I haven't been home in a long time but I used to go to Anchorage every now and then to visit my best friend...we have since gone different directions. I do miss how beautiful it was up there (I took it for granted when I lived there) but I don't miss the cold!
Jacqui

It takes time, but it's really not hard. For example, you get a big bag of powdered sugar at Costco. It's 25 pounds, there are sites on the internet where you can find out approx. how many cups are in a pound (dry ingredients) then figure out how many cups you will get out of the bag and then divide that with how much you paid for the bag and you can figure out how much you paid per cup (approx). Then do this for every ingredient and you will know how much the cake will cost. For boards and misc. supplies I just add a couple dollars per cake.

You need to tell people up front what the costs will be so if they are not happy you can discuss ways to get it lower. Like doing buttercream rather then fondant, no fillings and so on.

If they are still not happy then you can explain that you do charge more because of how much time it takes. Also, show pictures of your cakes and compare them to the stores around you that charge much less.

I know there is a bakery I always went to before I started to make cakes and this week I went back. I looked at the work they did I thought about how I would be embarrassed to send a cake like that out.

Most people are so impressed with cakes that they don't really notice the level of the work until you show them.

Many people charge per person. If a cake feeds 10 people they charge so much a slice. You could work that out for where you are also.

Good luck and never sell yourself short.

this is the hardest part for me especially when it comes to my relatives. and depending where you live....sometimes they dont want to pay that much for a cake. they rather go to costco and get a cake for $15. lol

I've decide to have a family/friends discount (15%? I haven't come up with a number yet)so that I can get away from "giving" my cakes away and then my family and friends still feel "special" and feel like they're getting a good deal.

I would really recommend taking the time to price out all of your supplies . My wonderful husband, who is really good with numbers helped me with mine. It took a whole evening, but was definetly worth it. We went with 2 1/2 times the cost of the supplies for base pricing. It puts me a little above the grocery stores around me but not too much. It turned out I wasn't charging enough for my cakes before we did this-I was barely breaking even!

wow, i just opened and tried to read that! that is one impressive list. i just don't think anyone up here would pay that much. would you send me your formula, not on a spread sheet????