Pricing debate  

Charging $20 for that cake means you make less than 60 cents/serving. Can you even buy a Twinkie for that price?


If you charge a customer $20 for that cake it basically means that you actually are paying the client to take that cake off your hands.

Umm . . . I would have gotten somewhere in the neighborhood of $185 - $200 for all those little flowers. Before delivery. That $20 was a typo, right? Or you're just messin' with us.

Geez. Reading the OPs last post makes me want to go kick a dog.

Get out of the Wal-Mart mentality. NOW. Just because YOU won't pay more than $20 for a cake doesn't mean that others won't.

Besides, how in the world can you possibly know what others are willing to pay?

I would definitely charge more than $20 but if that covers your costs and you're happy with that, then that's FINE!
It's entirely up to you what you charge and who you make cakes for.

For the OP - please if you charge, do charge more! You are setting yourself up for problems. The people will take advantage of you, even when they don't think so or mean it. They will never understand the real price of your cakes, unless you set it so.

I was in the same situation this Monday - my mom calls me at work and wants a cake for a friend on Thursday. She wants a small sculpted cake. I should say no immediately, but I did promise to think it over and call back. I said I would do it, but the cake would cost around 30 USD - mind you, with the exchange rate it comes probably about two or three times the "Walmart cake" (no Walmart here, but similar chains). You could hear the shock.

I didn't make the cake - the answer was she can get it cheaper in a bakery. OK with me. I love my mom, but I am not going to spend two of my nights with only my cost covered for a friend of hers, who I don't even know.

It is enough that I spent this month on family cakes as gifts, where the people want and appreciate them, but have no idea at all about the cost and work involved.

yea, $20 is crazy low.

Bluehue, where is this pricing guide you speak of? just wondering lol

I don't know how this pricing can be SO difficult for so many people

Funny but I am constantly gobsmacked on here - when people CONSTANTLY quote low prices and use the same TIRED old excuse that nobody will pay it where they live... Then why come and ask what WE think it is worth... because you don't really care what anyone else thinks - you have ALREADY ACCEPTED that it is worth $20
Do you want all the platitudes about ... oh no - your work is worth more than that! - because I for one am not going to do that.

Your work has as much value as YOU YOURSELF place on it - and if you are happy to do this then ... fine !! but it really is Kindergarten Maths to work this out.

There are about 10 threads a day just like this - where people can't figure out what to charge!!

I remember a very smart person on here once said that you might as well stand at your front door and hand out 50bucks to every person that asks you to make a cake!! I can't think of a better way of saying it

Actually.... on second thoughts...

I would be really interested in seeing your calculations for HOW you came up with the figure of $20

and then I might be in a much better position to steer you right

I think AppleGum is more right than she knows.

I mean for real .... does anyone who has spent any time on this site at all REALLY think twenty bucks is "enough" for a cake like this?

I'm frustrated with folks who think the only expense they have is the cost of the flour, sugar and eggs. They spend $8 at the store, they get $20 for the cake and they THINK they've made $12. If that's your thinking, then stop pretending you run a business. Because you're nowhere near close.

I'm frustrated with the "They only pay Walmart prices around here." Really? REALLY? Your walmart makes cakes like this? Your "customer" can stand there and actually tell you "I can get it cheaper at Walmart!" Really? THey can REALLY walk over to walmart and get this VERY SAME CAKE? This isn't a pricing problem ... this is a selling problem. This is a marketing issue. If your "customer" walks out thinking they can get this cake at Walmart, then YOU didn't market yourself properly. You allowed them to think this cake is THE SAME as a walmart sheet cake.

Just because you don't know the poeple who will pay the right price for a cake, doens't mean they don't exist. It just means you don't know who they are.

Doing a cake that puts you in the red is NOT better than turning down the "business". As Nancy Reagan said, "Just Say NO!"

(I really shouldn't get on here before I have my morning coffee.)

Kim, when you are new to cakes and pricing the cakes it's a common mistake to underprice for a variety of reasons. I used to get all wonky about that until I realized that I LEARNED something from these mistakes -- so I think of it as "tuition." When we pay tuition we pay to learn something and in this case you undercharged, but the money you (think you) lost is actually money you "paid" in the tuition of learning this lesson. Does that make sense? So I don't sweat making mistakes as long as I learn from them. And yes, some lessons are harder to learn than others but if they get you to where you want to be then hey, it's all good! By the way, that's a cute cake you did!

Um did you make your own fondant or did you buy the wilton box? Cuz it looks like you purchase Wilton stuff (the cake board you have it on is Wilton so I just figured...) If you purchased enough fondant to cover both cakes you bought the 5 lb box which retails from $19.99 to $24.99 depending on your area/store. So how did you make any money? It is obvious you gave away your time, some thing I feel is priceless but you obviously think is worthless, so I won't even go there. Have you factored in the costs of your paper goods? You know that board, the bags, a box, any parchment you may have used for baking or drying your gumpaste items. Your equipment investment of pans, piping tips, fondant tools, support for the tiered cake, etc. Then the cost of your ingredients probably around $8-$12. Looks like a big loss to me. Now multiply that loss times everytime you shortchange yourself by selling your $20 cakes and you have taken a big financial hit.

Walmart and other grocery store bakeries do sheet cakes, 4" rounds and 8" round. They purchase those cakes already made for $3 a half sheet size. Even using cake mixes and ingredients purchased from Walmart you cannot even bake the bare cake for one cake mix worth for that amount! And scratch is about equal in price to using a mix too so no savings there. Their wedding cakes are set, they order the "kit", it comes with the cakes prebaked in the appropriate size, there is NO customization like what you did. They have to copy exactly what is in the book and they cannot spend more than 30 minutes in the decorating process because they also have little Suzy's and little Timmy's birthday cakes to do as well so they can't take the attention to detail that a custom cake demands.

Comparing a grocery store, Walmart, Costco, Sam's, Kmart, or Target store cake to your custom cake is like comparing apples to oranges! Go ahead keep trying to price yourself so they will buy your cake instead of the WM cake and you will put yourself and your family in grave financial distress in the long run, and for what? To give a cake away to someone you don't even know? I'd say don't even bother doing cakes anymore except for your own immediate family functions. Harsh I know but it is the truth.