How much do people think a cake costs to make??? - Page 11

Really guys, i just started my cake business from home and some people say im really cheap and others well think are maybe stingy lol..... I do my 9 in 2 layer cake tres leches for $25, and if custom $35 and with fondant than $40-45....i have a cake order for september and it will be a 3-4 tier cake 12in, 10 in, 7 in and 4 in 3 layers each, fondant and bows, with stamps, tiara and rhinestonnes, thinking $200? and 2 flavors and 2 fillings....

that's not even $2 a serving

molten lava cakes at arby's are $2.17 each here

i think $200 is seriously under priced a flat out joke for a 4-tier fondant cake

to get a dessert at a fast food restaurant for 120 it would be $260

come on

I don't mean to sound unfriendly

and i sincerely welcome you to the board but i'm gobsmacked by the thought of sucha low price

stunned

did you get a chance to read any of this thread?

here's another one for yah

http://cakecentral.com/t/753906/price-the-cake

Quote:

Originally Posted by viannasdesserts 

Really guys, i just started my cake business from home and some people say im really cheap and others well think are maybe stingy lol..... I do my 9 in 2 layer cake tres leches for $25, and if custom $35 and with fondant than $40-45....i have a cake order for september and it will be a 3-4 tier cake 12in, 10 in, 7 in and 4 in 3 layers each, fondant and bows, with stamps, tiara and rhinestonnes, thinking $200? and 2 flavors and 2 fillings....

here's a good question

what do you base your prices on--how do you arrive at the $200?

No no no. $200 is waaay too low for that amount of servings. Red lobster charges $6.25 for ONE slice of chocolate cake. Not decorated, not custom, not made to order. If you took that many people to red lobster and ordered cake, you'd be paying $750 for some half frozen cake. Do not set your prices based on what people can afford---that's not your problem. Set your prices based on what you think your time is worth. If you think your time is only worth a few bucks an hour, you'd be better off working at McDonald's. IF that's all your time is worth ;) You don't see Bentley lowering their prices just because everybody can't afford to drive one. Nope. If they can't afford it, they are just going to have to go someplace that is more within their budget. That may sound snooty, but people have to realize cake decorating is like taking your cake to a mechanic. You don't just pay the mechanic for parts (cake ingredients). You also have to pay for time, labor and expertise!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ali3971 

I had a lady email me wanting a carved jersey cake to feed 50 ppl all fondant with lettering and numbers. She wanted mocha cake, rasberry filling, and white chocolate buttercream icing. She also wanted a football cake to go next to it with grass around the football. I sent her a qhote and she said "oh wow, thats more than I expected I was thinking more along the lines of $70, thats all I can afford." I told her the time/cost/and talent it takes to make the cake she is requesting would not be cost effiective for me, have a nice day

This lady is crazy I am not taking time away from my kids, my fiance, my home and weekend to be a cake slave for the cost of ingredients!! She has a filet mignon taste on a hot dog budget!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG this made me LOL. I had one lady ask me how much for my Wall-E cake (see my album) and when I quoted her a price, she said she was only looking to spend $50. COULD. NOT. BELIEVE. IT.

I also have just started my business, thank God people are recommending me and asking to make cakes for them, but I have the same problem.... I don't know how much to charge I don't want to sound arrogant and charge a lot because I'm just starting the business, but at the same time I'm doing it the best I can, and I'm taking away time from my family to do them.

Can any of you recommend a price chart per serving I can guide from??

Thank you!

So glad I read some of this thread, I to have been on that up and down roller coaster of pricing. I get people all the time that want a custom cake for the price of a grocery store's cake. I charge per servings, 3.50 per serving for basic fondant cake, 4.50 - 5.50+ per serving for fondant cakes with more elaborate decorations, my husband says I'm way to cheap and trust me I get that "I'll have to get back to you"often and why does everyone think you can just whip out a custom cake in a day anywho.... I have visited bakeries just to see what they are charging and ones that just sell cupcakes and the average price was 3.00 for a cupcake and this got me thinking about what I was charging. If a cupcake bakery can charge 3.00 for just being simply baked, iced and really no or hardly any decorations per cupcake why can't I charge 3.50 per serving for a basic fondant cake. I've seen wedding cake prices starting at 5.00 - 10.00 per serving. People don't understand that there is a lot that goes into making custom cakes you just don't bake a cake slap a mass produced plastic figure on it and call it a custom cake at least in my mind you don't. I think as cake decorators we should find value in our time, work and designs and charge accordingly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LadyViola 

OMG this made me LOL. I had one lady ask me how much for my Wall-E cake (see my album) and when I quoted her a price, she said she was only looking to spend $50. COULD. NOT. BELIEVE. IT.

That's funny I had a lady that wanted a 2D Titanic cake along with a LaLoopsy cake and she wanted both cakes for like $50 as well. After my quote she gave me the famous words "I'll have to get back to you" and then proceeded to tell me "believe it or not I make cakes too but I don't have the time".  WHAT?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BTown 

So glad I read some of this thread, I to have been on that up and down roller coaster of pricing. I get people all the time that want a custom cake for the price of a grocery store's cake. I charge per servings, 3.50 per serving for basic fondant cake, 4.50 - 5.50+ per serving for fondant cakes with more elaborate decorations, my husband says I'm way to cheap and trust me I get that "I'll have to get back to you"often and why does everyone think you can just whip out a custom cake in a day anywho.... I have visited bakeries just to see what they are charging and ones that just sell cupcakes and the average price was 3.00 for a cupcake and this got me thinking about what I was charging. If a cupcake bakery can charge 3.00 for just being simply baked, iced and really no or hardly any decorations per cupcake why can't I charge 3.50 per serving for a basic fondant cake. I've seen wedding cake prices starting at 5.00 - 10.00 per serving. People don't understand that there is a lot that goes into making custom cakes you just don't bake a cake slap a mass produced plastic figure on it and call it a custom cake at least in my mind you don't. I think as cake decorators we should find value in our time, work and designs and charge accordingly.

I think 3.50 per serving is extremely reasonable, cheap even!

Quote:

Originally Posted by viannasdesserts 

Really guys, i just started my cake business from home and some people say im really cheap and others well think are maybe stingy lol..... I do my 9 in 2 layer cake tres leches for $25, and if custom $35 and with fondant than $40-45....i have a cake order for september and it will be a 3-4 tier cake 12in, 10 in, 7 in and 4 in 3 layers each, fondant and bows, with stamps, tiara and rhinestonnes, thinking $200? and 2 flavors and 2 fillings....

To low of price for that kind of cake. I made a wedding cake for my son 12,10,8 and 6" all 3 layers each. All with strawberry and cheesecake filling. 2 covered in vanilla fondant and 2 covered in butter cream and white chocolate shavings. Decorations included handmade, airbrushed and hand painted star gazers, hibiscus, fantasy flowers, sea shells and rope border. Of course I did not charge my son but if I was making that cake for someone I would of easily charged $700. I think your price should be more in the $400+ range.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cake_architect 

i think a huge problem too is that bakers, if in the customers position, wouldn't pay their own prices. think about it- would you pay $250 for a first birthday cake for your child? if you wouldn't, you need to start justifying your own prices to yourself so that when a customer comes along, you can justify your prices to them. if we can't imagine paying that much, we can't expect customers to. what i'm basically trying to say is we need to value our work and not degrade ourselves to the level of lowering our prices so much that everything we're doing is to simply please the customer. we need to raise our self esteem to the point where we won't let others dictate the value of our precious time.

I know this is an old thread, but I saved the other day to read bit by bit, when I got a moment. But this quote really stuck out to me. It is SO true!!

Funny enough, a lot of people are discussing how we should share our pricing when we post cakes, and many of them have gone back and put prices in their gallery. That is going on now, too ;-)

When selling cakes, think like a businessman and not a beggar.