I'm not sure what to charge for a bouquet that has 6cupcakes. I added up my material list and that consist of $23.00. Now what would you charge for labor? Any suggestions/help would greatly be appreciated!!

$23 for 6 cupcakes?!?!?!?!

Is your flour made from ground gold??? lol

It all depends on how long you take to make it and how much YOU want to make

Not just 6 cupcakes. Their in a pot, thats painted, has tissue paper and all detail that goes into it. The material cost money and then I cut some of that in half. Just was wondering what someone may charge for it.

I am just saying your costs seem high, in MY area I wouldnt sell them at all cuz I wouldnt be able to get over $23 for that.

I always wonder the same thing......how much do people charge for labor?? It seems that when you ask the question "what to charge", everyone always says the same thing......figure out your cost for materials & your time. WELL, that really doesn't tell me anything. I know you have to figure in your materials & time. But after you figure your time that's when some of us get stuck....(how much do you charge for your time?) I know prices differ depending on your area, but can't anyone just give a $number for cupcake labor? Its just a guide for people that are new, not something that carved in stone.

KsCakes....I know how you feel. People in MY area would totally buy these bouquets. When you spend so much time on them shouldnt you get paid for your time? I've looked around and so far people are charging for 12cupcakes about $35-$40. And then lower it for 6cupcakes. I went online to some site and shes selling hers for $60 or more. So people do buy these. Its like a flower arrangement, people spend alot of money on those and they die. So people who really want these will spend the money on them as well. And I was thinking, you can always start out low and then raise prices. So thats what I'm thinking of doing.

I agree..if people want it they will pay for it. Its just very frustrating when your trying to figure out pricing when you have no idea what the going rate is for your labor. I know their is a baker in my area that gets $3 & up for decorated cupcakes & supposedly that's the going rate, but she is experienced. I recently did 4 cupcakes w/ very detailed fondant characters on them & it took me over 4 hours (I actually lost track) just for the characters, not counting baking time. So the big question is what are they worth?? If I charged $20 that would be less than $5/ hour for labor, not counting supplies......ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Isn't your time worth more than that? Thank God I enjoy doing it. Would LOVE to hear some other peoples prices for cupcakes.

IMO yu need to lower your costs first. Get containers at dollar stores and find ways to cut that first. I make a LOT of cupcake bouquets and it costa me less than $5 to make a bouquet with 7 standard cupcakes in it, and approx. 1 hr from start to finish, including baking time! I charge $15 for that size bouquet in a pot with tissue paper and a ribbon. I charge about the same for a bouquet of mini cupcakes (about 13 of them in the container)..my costs are lower for the minis but the labor is higher. If you break down my pricing you will see that my costs are covered and I have made about $10 profit for 1 hr. of work!

ingrdients ------
-(1/4 of cake batter) = $1.25
-cupcake liners (7) = $.14
-clay pot or other dec. container = $1.07 (w/ tax)
-4 sheets of tissue paper =$.25
-1 foot of ribbon = $.25
-icing for 6 cupcakes ( 2 cups approx.) = $.66
-bakery box for delivery = $.55


that's only $4.17 total...so I have a little more leeway on containers if I want or with the ribbon. You are spending way too much money putting the containers together

KHalstead....wow thats cheap. I didnt break it down like that. I broke it down buy dividing my ingredients in half. I . How do you put your tissue paper in? I guess Ill have to refigure out my pricing and see what I come up with. Thanks for your input!

KHalstead....what do you use to put your cupcakes in? I use a styrofoam ball and those are not cheap. Plus I weight the pot down. Maybe I'm overthinking this too much lol.

KHalstead That's exactly what I was trying to say but it came out wrong.

jrukes2426, you need to break down EVERYTHING before you start selling, or else your not going to know your actual costs/profit no matter how much you charge

What to charge for labour? Not as complicated as you may think - what minimum wage where you live? The more skilled or specialist or designer or whatever you are or feel you are the more you can add on. (and if you are slow, is it fair to charge your full price per hour, should you do some free or half price labour or give a new design discount.... More to think about!)
It's a mistake to start low - it's more difficult to up your prices later. Means you will lose your 'cheap' customer base, and have to start again to get your 'premium' customer base built up.
xx

It is hard to get an exact price on what to charge for cupcake bouquets. However, this is a basket I did for someone and I charged $55. I have now realized that it really was severely under priced.......LOL It is 48 cupcakes.

Tanesa


http://media.cakecentral.com/gallery/650507/1293910958.jpg

I'd like to see it Tanesa. The ones in my area are going from 35-40. So why would I want to charge so little. Theres so much detail. Not to mention, you have to put it all together.

It took several tries but I was able to put a link to the picture in the original message. Geez!

Thats very pretty. I can see why you charged so much. Ill get a picture of one of mine. I just cant seem to charge as little as 15 for this.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1903595.html
That was made with 6 cupcakes and fondant.

Thank you! Maybe charge $20. I don't know how much time was involved in putting this together. The only easy part is icing the cupcakes.....LOL the only thing that may get labor intensive is the actual arranging so that everything looks the part. You also have to take into account the individual cost of the items put in the pot (i.e. the pot itself, tissue paper, lollipop sticks, etc.) For my cupcakes my base start per cupcake is $1.00 for basic flavors and $1.50 each for what I call premium flavors. I'm quite sure that this is still under priced considering the labor involved. I am an extreme bargain hunter so I can usually find my stuff for cheap. The basket I used for the 48 cupcakes only cost $9 at a craft discount store. If I had gone to one of the retail stores it would have easily cost me $20. Hope this helps.

Just remember that hunting out a bargin takes time, that u should
charge for.
xx

I managed to teach a class on how to make cupcake bouquets and total of supplies was around $20 for 5 bouquets.... 5 regular sized cupcakes each. I'd say shopping wisely was the key. I just purchased terra cotta pots and we wrapped them in tissue...eliminating the need to paint them. We also added silk flowers to fill in any holes...I found those on clearance for .25...I shop all year long for "deals" on silk flowers...always after any major holiday and decor change....
HTH

I cut my tissue paper into squares and them grab the center and gather it so it poofs out to points, sometimes I'll attach it to a skewer stick but mostly just use a dowel rod to shove it into place.



Here are some bouquets I've done........I use the cup method for all of them (again because it's cheaper....styro balls are about $6 each where I live, and I can get 200 cups for $2.00)


Guess I can't attach pics today

Here are links

19 standard cupcakes in 5oz. plastic cups (total costs about $2.00)

http://www.freewebs.com/khalstead/apps/photos/photo?photoid=34795243


30 minis in a pot (customer prov. containers) total cost about $3.00

http://www.freewebs.com/khalstead/apps/photos/photo?photoid=72003332


more minis (simple terra cotta pot w/ tissue paper adhered with spray adhesive, customer even gave me the sparkly papers) These only have 13 minis in them

http://www.freewebs.com/khalstead/apps/photos/photo?photoid=87880465

[quote="KHalstead"]I cut my tissue paper into squares and them grab the center and gather it so it poofs out to points, sometimes I'll attach it to a skewer stick but mostly just use a dowel rod to shove it into place.



Here are some bouquets I've done........I use the cup method for all of them (again because it's cheaper....styro balls are about $6 each where I live, and I can get 200 cups for $2.00)


what is the cup method??

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-672414-0.html&sid=c4d859808745e84f735a15a2edc7e0b4

check out this thread.....I put tons of pics on there showing the cups and the finished bouquets

IMHO there are some things that you need to keep in mind when making cupcake bouques.
1. Did you buy your supplies (flower pot, tissue paper, styro ball) at wholesale prices or did you pay market prices?
2. Where in this wonderful world do you live? Things cost more in certain parts of the world. ( I live in Ontario Canada and I buy most of my supplies in the U.S. because it's much cheaper.....no such thing as $1 stores here anymore....more like $2 or more stores)
3. What is minnum wage were you live?
4. How much is your time worth?
5. How long did it take you to make the bouque?
6. What is the going rate for that product in your area?

So you see, there is no exact pricing for something like this. You have to take all these things into acount. It may cost 1 of my U.S. cake buddies to make a bouque $7.00, but here it would cost me $14.00.

thanks for this thread it was very helpful..making these for a bridal shower. Using them as centerpieces and dessert!

What would you pay for my cupcake bouquet. I was thinking of charging R280 which is more or less $40. it has 8 cupcakes in. But im thinking i should drop the price to like R220 = $31

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1916923

I agree that people spend money on things that look professional.  I just started making the bouquets and the first one I made I was charging $40 because I had $20 in materials plus 10 cupcakes it took me about 2 hours to make. (including material shopping time)  The lady that purchased it from me told me that I was not charging enough so she paid me $75.  I usually figure my materials, plus $10.00 an hour when calculating my pricing.  It works for me and I have been doing specialty cupcakes for about 2 yrs now. Waco, TX

the standard amount to pay yourself is 7.50 Hr

A

says who? That is nothing. Just barely more than minimum wage! I have skills that not everyone can do so I pay myself $15 an hour.