I know pricing is a popular question...I have been dealing with figuring this out for so long!

I have been told over and over, the past several years, I should charge more for my cakes. Also told that when you charge a higher amount, people realize they are getting quality and will be more excited to buy from you and you will get more orders.

I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and there are alot of people with money in this general area. I've also had customers from Princeton, NJ area which is also pretty lucrative. The cost of living is also quite high here.

I have raised and raised my prices and seems like my orders have gone down and down to where I've barely had any orders now for several months (here and there, a couple weddings but many of the people who email to inquire about a cake do not follow through with an order.) Just when I think I'm overpricing though, I'll have someone knowledgable in the business who will look at my prices and claim I am very reasonable for what I offer.

I do alot of 3D stuff and fondant, and the 3D stuff I have been pricing at like $3-$4/serving and recently someone was inquiring into a fondant mad hatter cake, three tiered (but smaller--40 servings, which was actually a 60 serving cake cut down in places to shape) including lots of hearts on wires on the top, and I charged $5/serving including choice of cake, filling, and also free delivery and she never wrote back.

Have I just not targeted the right audience? I am trying to build up a word of mouth customer base so that I can decide if I want to try to pursue this full time and go forward with the legalities of it all, etc. If you want to check out my website you can, the 3D page includes servings and prices. I know there is a lady in the Poconos that does 3D cakes and for some reason she charges quite a bit less than I do, but I do not think I could make enough profit if I copied her pricing.

Again, I do not live in a rural area or a low cost of living place. I live in big city suburbs and have had inquiries from New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, etc. I've also had people hoping I ship (haha) to California, Florida, and other places. But I just seem like its difficult to get past the inquiries....nobody wants to pay for the cake. I just got some teeny bopper who wrote from my website saying that one of my cakes "rocked" dude but that the price was outrageous.

I have made cakes for wealthy people who say "all my guests want a cake now and took your card" but then I never hear back.

Any tips?

I am originally from Langhorne PA and I am very familiar with the mentality of the people from the Princeton, NJ area etc. They like appearance but the the cost of it! I never did cakes while I lived there, but I would tell you to go around to local bakeries and price shop. Do some donating to local events to get your name out there. When they taste it, and its good, they'll be back. The prices sound a little high, but not outrageous. Good luck!!!

Can't help you but wanted to say how beautiful all your cakes are. WOW!

Do you deliver? If so, then I wouldn't think they would care since they don't have to travel to a neighborhood. I don't have any idea! I know you can only do so many free cakes, its very frustrating (sp?)!!!

HANG IN THERE!!!!!

PS - Your cakes are beautiful and very professional looking!

I don't generally deliver because for most of my cakes its not cost effective to do so.

I deliver for wedding cakes and for other occasion cakes $200 and over. For any cake under that I do charge for delivery. I figure most bakeries don't deliver so I only do it if its a cake that's about equal to a wedding cake in size or price.

So yes they do come pick it up, and I do live in a house behind a church...but then by that time, they've already bought a cake...so not sure if the people who are still deciding notice I work out of my home (I am up front about that) and decide they don't want to do it.

I also don't mind that my photos have my table in the background, to me it looks more "realistic" so people know they are really my own cakes and not stolen ones. I find my customers seem often very nervous that their own cake won't look like the ones on my website, and they are often very relieved and happy when they get their order and find its up to their expectations.

Still I am scratching my head trying to figure out why word of mouth isn't working.

I'm not very busy either. I've been told that I charge too much by a couple people (I start BC weddings at $2/slice and fondant at $3/slice) and then by others that I'm not charging enough.

People LOVE the looks of the cakes, but they never want to pay the price for them. They would much rather have a flat photo cake than something truly customized and shaped and such. Cheap bastards lol.

BTW, your cakes are AWESOME!

LOL I hate edible images. I find the printers to be such a pain in the butt! LOL

I charged $260 for the blue/green wedding cake in my photos. I actually made a good profit on it! I made probably a good $150-200 on it....After all, I only use MMF and that's so cheap to make.

But I agree, the sculpted cakes definitely need to cost more because of all the work that goes into them!

If you want the quality, you need to pay the price!

I agree!! I charge by the hour and not by # of servings and recently I have thought maybe I should change this. I have had quite a slump in orders for cakes lately too!! It is so hard to determine pricing especially when you figure in what it costs you to make it and the time that you put into a project. Soooooo confusing!!!!

Candy, how much was that per serving? That cake is really awesome.

I buy my fondant, the MMF never turns out the same each time and I've run into problems with it when I color it darker colors. Plus its hard on my Kitchenaid and I don't really want to burn out my motor, that will take away the cheapness of it. haha. I have a cake supply place nearby and I just buy my fondant. It also cuts down on time that way, which technically "time is money".

Cakejunkie, I know what you mean, you can almost get your hourly doing wedding cakes but its SO hard to get it doing kids cakes, which is what I usually get ordered! I don't really try to charge by the hour but after I figure everything up I usually hope to get $10-$12/hour but it doesn't always work out that way. (I get more than that working at my p/t job where I make wedding cakes!).

I will say I charge less than where I work...I work at an upscale caterers at a mansion in Philly and their wedding cakes start at 4.75/serving for the basic and then they charge more for fondant or extra fancy decorations. So I'm not THAT bad yet! haha. I guess I don't sell out of a mansion, either!

Kitagrl I know how you feel about how hard it is to make any money off of shaped cakes and kids cakes. Gosh, some of the those shaped cakes are more detailed than a wedding cake!! I have charged up to $40 for a shaped cake, is that seem like too much? My clients have never complained, but it seems to me that if I'm going to spend all that time researching and desiging and finally baking and decorating a cake I should get something!! Am I wrong in thinking this way? I want to be fair! Heck a basic sheet cake from Costco is $30 bucks!

I am familiar with that area and your price is right.

You need to try to make friends with some of the event spaces you are delivering to - see what you need to do to get them to recommend you. Most brides contact the vendors that their event space recommend...

I am trying to do this myself and it's hard, but worth it. I got one place to start recommending me exclusively and it really helps business a lot.

Hope this helps!

It ended up being $3 per serving. I was told that I should be charging $4+. I charged $50 for delivery and setup.

So 70 servings + delivery.

Cakejunkie, personally I don't think you're charging enough for a carved out cake. That's a LOT of work to only get $10 more than Costco! Up that price $10 or so!!

In my area, the going rate for wedding cakes is $2.50 a serving and up. Fondant starts at $4 a serving and up. It depends on the work involved.

8 inch rounds, nicely decorated average about $30 here.

Call around to other commercial bakeries (as a prospective bride) and ask what the per/slice price is... just to get a good idea.

Keep plugging away and DON'T discount your time whatsoever. You put a lot of work and love into a cake, don't let it go out the door for nothing. Heck, I've seen professional cakes going for upwards of $2K!