How Much Should I Charge For This Cake??????

Decorating By cakeymom Updated 10 Mar 2009 , 9:40pm by FromScratch

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cakeymom Posted 9 Mar 2009 , 2:47pm
post #1 of 16

Now that I have forwarded this cake picture to some of my co-workers they want to know how much would I charge???? It is a 6" all chocolate cake. I was thinking at least 30.00.

I could not get the picture to attach. It's in my photos. Sorry

Please advise,

cakeymom

15 replies
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yelle66 Posted 9 Mar 2009 , 2:53pm
post #2 of 16

Is it just a regular round cake with buttercream? I guess that would be the deciding factor. I just set a $50 minimum on all cakes b/c its not worth my time to do the smaller ones, but if I hadn't, I think $30 is fair. I'm sure others will disagree b/c they have a higher slice price than me icon_wink.gif That is the thing you need to figure out is price per slice. Once you do that, figuring out what to charge people for cakes is SO much easier.

Danielle

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butterfly831915 Posted 9 Mar 2009 , 2:59pm
post #3 of 16

I know with the chocolate transfer sheets you have to add that in plus by the slice I would say $35.00 to $40.00. $30.00 sounds like you might get yourself just breaking even with time, sheets etc.

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mcook1670 Posted 9 Mar 2009 , 2:59pm
post #4 of 16

A 6" cake that just buttercreme, you not going to get more that $20-30, the chocolate transfer is nice, but still a 6" cake is a really small cake. What would you want to pay, that's the better question?

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starcitycakes Posted 9 Mar 2009 , 3:00pm
post #5 of 16

I think the cheapest you should do is $30. The cake your talking about is the one with the "Happy Birthday" print? If so, YEAH Def. $30 or more as the size gets bigger. Even if it's the simplest cake (not necessarily cheapest) to bake I think the print and the good quality icing you use is what makes the price.

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yelle66 Posted 9 Mar 2009 , 3:05pm
post #6 of 16

mcook, I have to disagree on that one. I had some really good advice given on here about not setting your prices based on what you would pay. I wouldn't pay for cakes b/c I always did my own. I am not marketing to myself, I am marketing to people who don't want to make their own awesome cake, but want something that Walmart just doesn't provide. I know I've never charged what I'm worth, but I also know those small cakes are a pain and I never charge less than $25 for a BC cake 6" or not. I had a section on my site about how smaller cakes were priced separately b/c of the amount of work involved.

Danielle

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FromScratch Posted 9 Mar 2009 , 3:20pm
post #7 of 16

What you would pay has NOTHING to do with what you should charge. I wouldn't pay $250 for a cake, but you bet your sweet piping bag I charge that much. I have a $100 minimim on all orders. If they wan't a 6" cake that's fine... but they will pay the min. Most don't and just order the 8" (20 servings at $5/serving), but that's my minimum and I stick to it.

So my min for that would be $100, but if you wanted to do it per slice that'd be $50.

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tonicake Posted 9 Mar 2009 , 3:28pm
post #8 of 16

I don't think any one would have a problem paying $30.00 for that. If they do, oh well!

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dandelion56602 Posted 9 Mar 2009 , 3:36pm
post #9 of 16

I charge $3 per slice, so $30 wouldn't cut it for me. They can take it or leave it. You want to make it worth your while. And transfer sheets aren't cheap either.

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tinygoose Posted 9 Mar 2009 , 4:56pm
post #10 of 16

I was in Baskin Robins the other day getting kids ice cream. They had a sign on their cake freezer that said "Cakes staring at $12.99!" Really! I had to look. Sure enough it was a teeny tiny 4" square, said it served 2-4 people. That's $3.24-$6.50 a slice...oh and decorations are extra! So if you go by Baskin Robin prices thats:

12x$3.24=$38.88 to 12x$6.50=$78 for a 6"cake. Oh and decorations were extra...(transfer sheet)

Hmm...now you can say you don't charge anymore than if they went to Baskin Robins.

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starcitycakes Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 2:11am
post #11 of 16

How do ya'll decide what ya'll will charge a slice/serving? Do you make your cakes from scratch, your icing from scratch? Store bought? Do you use fondant or not. I'm having trouble with that. If I can find a recipe that don't end up dry I want to do them from scratch. I use a limited amount of fondant on most of my cakes now. So I don't know what to do. I added it up today and if I do $2/slice and that would be $72 for a 8" cake. I just don't think I could charge that. Now I think I could charge $1.50/slice and make it $54. But I still know that people around here wouldn't pay that. I just don't know.....

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tinygoose Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 3:17am
post #12 of 16
Quote:
Originally Posted by starcitycakes

How do ya'll decide what ya'll will charge a slice/serving? Do you make your cakes from scratch, your icing from scratch? Store bought? Do you use fondant or not. I'm having trouble with that. If I can find a recipe that don't end up dry I want to do them from scratch. I use a limited amount of fondant on most of my cakes now. So I don't know what to do. I added it up today and if I do $2/slice and that would be $72 for a 8" cake. I just don't think I could charge that. Now I think I could charge $1.50/slice and make it $54. But I still know that people around here wouldn't pay that. I just don't know.....




Starcity- How many slices are you getting out of an 8" cake? Wilton's wedding cake chart is 24 servings, not 36. So at $2 slice for an 8" two layer cake, that would be $48. At $1.50 a slice (x 24 servings) it would be $36. Earlene's serving chart is less servings per cake.

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FromScratch Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 4:13am
post #13 of 16

I add up how much it costs me to make a cake... figure out how much I want to be making after expenses and then divide it by number of servings. I used an 8" version of my most pricey recipe as my model (not that it's TONS more than my other flavors so I'm not ripping people off) when I was figuring it out. I make everything from scratch and include fondant with all of my cakes. I don't charge an upcharge for certain flavors or anything like that either. $5/serving will get you pretty much anything you want flavor-wise (unless you request something really out there that requires me to get something that's more expensive than usual). There's only an upcharge for really detailed decorating and gumpaste work like bows and flowers.

I use a modified Wilton chart for servings.

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starcitycakes Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 2:06pm
post #14 of 16

tinygoose-I'm sorry I may have meant a square cake. I know you can get more servings out of a square one. $36 sounds better to me for a 8" round. Now....if you make a two teir, you'd charge the price for both layers as if they were seperate? so say they have a 8" bottom and a 6" top. That's around $54? Ok that sound better then. Thanks icon_biggrin.gif

I plan on making a lot of cake this month just for fun to try out with new recipes on the family. I've got a pretty empty month, but next month will be more than full. So I'll get my prices and stuff figured out by then. Thanks everyone icon_smile.gif

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Cinderina Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 6:50pm
post #15 of 16

I'm try to keep things consistent and easy when someone asks what the price is. I'd like to have a spreadsheet with what the price is per size. Those of you that charge per slice, do you charge the same per slice for all your cakes or is it by type of cake? Also, how do you charge (how much) for fondant/gumpaste decorations such as bows, booties, flowers?

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FromScratch Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 9:40pm
post #16 of 16

Same price for all cakes. They are all the same on the inside so it costs me the same to make a cake no matter what it's for. Usually the birthday cakes have more detail than the wedding cakes... icon_lol.gif.

Gumpaste work I charge per job. Bows start ar $10 and figures start at $30.00 each... flowers are priced according to their difficulty and size... a small blossom could be $1 whereas a full hydrangea will run you $40.00 per flower (they are such a pain to make... so many little flowers). You work out your prices as you go.

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