A very interesting thread. All your cakes are beautiful. Most people don't realize the time that goes into making these edible works of art and that's why they balk when you tell them the price. I'm a hobby baker and have only made cakes for friends and family. What would you guys charge for this cake? It's a 12inch 3 inch chocolate chiffon with whipped cream filling and frosting and covered with fondant and fondant accents. The libra picture in the center is all hand drawn. Btw, I'm in north california if that makes a diff..
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1965727
Cute cake! Personally I would charge $100 for it....
Thanks Caymancake....
this thread is awesome! I hate pricing my cakes, and wonder if I'm off base at times. Its good to see what others are doing... I'm in the chicagoland area, and I am a home baker. I just do it randomly on the side, as I have a day job 
I cover all my cakes in ganache instead of buttercream, and I use callebaut coveture chocoalte for the ganace, so my cost is a bit higher than the normal buttercream/fondant cakes....
Paddle Tennis: $220 + $50 delivery fee
50 servings
carved from full sheet pan
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1928353
Frog/duck baby shower: $175 (for family, would charge at least 225)
50 servings (but was actually more than that)
13x15 carved
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1950276
My first ever purchased cake -- XBOX + bball
charged 210, and was FREAKED the whole time that it was too much, and my client didnt even flinch. go figure.
served 40. and it the ball was cake as well.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1519153
Toy Story: 168 (undercharged)
10, 7 and 6" round ball. client provided figures.
Steak Cake: $68. think i would charge about 80 if i had to do another.
it was pretty simple and not very time consuming. steak is just painted with gel colors. served 20. carved from 9x13 (i think).
Marshal the Monkey: $150
served 30. head is RKT.
would charge at least 225 i think next time. but this was for a family member, and i really wanted to try it out.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1745710
TFL!
I always use Earlene's chart. I can't seem to find the Wilton chart online. Can anyone give me a link to find it? A link was posted earlier in this forum but it didn't work for me. Any ideas? Thanks!
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-party-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm
How many of them did you do? There very nice looking. I have never had some one stiff me! Id be pretty pissed.
Thanks!! I did 50 of them.
$75 for 50 cupcakes is pretty good. Thats a very fair price considering you had some fondant decoration. She totally scammed out on the price. Just make a mental note the next time (of if you ever make anything for her again) to get the money before you hand over the goods!
This is a 6" cake I am selling today. I asked her for 40.00 I think I gave it to cheap considering I did a gumpaste bow on top. This is my strawberry swirl cake with choco Ganche filling iced in buttercream and choco fondant details.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1976667
Have you thought about just setting a basic price for your bows? There very good. Like maybe just adding an extra $10 for any bow that you do? $40 is a good price. You even decorated the board with fondant/gumpaste. I know some CCers charge extra for that.
Even though Im here 24/7 its the first time I open this thread, its soooo cool!!
BTW everyone your work is ...AMAZING!
so $2.50 each for these
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1969038
and $1.50 each for these
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1969054
MMMM Chocolate!!!! Lovely.
This is one of my favorite cakes I have made. It was a gift, but if I was charging someone for it I would have charged around $100 to $125 due to all the fondant work. It was iced in buttercream WASC with Strawberry BC filling, 9" round. http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1451533
This one was also a gift. It was approx 130 servings. Each tier was a different flavor with different fillings. Iced in butter cream. Had I charged, it would have been around $650 again due to custom fondant figures.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1691999
I have made an excel spreadsheet for myself with the cost of my ingredients to help me figure what I am actually spending to make my cakes. The hard part is knowing what my figures are worth. The cost of the materials is not that much for figures, but many of them take me hours to make. If I really wanted to sell them, I'm not sure people would want to pay what they're worth.
WOW your little people are amazing!!!!
Thanks alvarezmom. I love modeling figures from fondant. I want to give modeling chocolate a try when I get the time. I took a look at your pics. The little popcorn cakes are too cute, and I love, love the fish cookie. Wow, I don't remember if you quoted a figure of the cookie earlier in this thread or not, but if you were selling them, how much would that go for? A lot I hope!
One of the bakeries in my area charges a set fee for their bows. 1 price if solid color, a little more if 2 colors. Bows can become time consuming too if you add detail to them. I like putting an edging on my bow loops, but of course that adds lots of extra work and time.
@ Price-I havent set a price yet. I have a brood range but starting off Id have to say $30 for sure.
You should check out the bows from here. She does an amazing job! SO many colors!!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25863947@N05/
Most of my cakes are gift, so I haven't even thought about pricing...but here are some that I charged or at least thought of charging
$50 (for a friend)
6in round
Dark chocolate cake
dark chocolate ganache (made with high end, very dark chocolate per request)
Fresh raspberry and chambord (sp?) filling
$500
14, 10, 6 in square
MMF, vanilla buttercream, WASC
gumpaste roses and hydrangea
(threw in the monogram topper and a 8in square kitchen cake b/c it was for a friend's sister)
A gift for my BFF's shower, would have charged $250
MMF, vanilla buttercream, WASC variation
Bears and blocks are 50/50
Traded for $50 worth of professional photography (she paid for the plastic kit)
Red velvet with cream cheese frosting and MMF decorations
$160
8 and 10in Strawberry cake, bavarian cream filling and vanilla buttercream
Decorations are FBTCs
It was my own shower cake, but I would have charged $160 for the cake and $15 per shoe (I make all my own cakes...everyone thinks it's sad but no one I know can afford what I want at retail, lol)
10in chocolate cake with cookies and cream filling
shoes are gumpaste
$120
8in chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream
50/50 "wood" panals
MMF top and bubbles
Hmmm, after looking through all of your prices, and most of you (like me) saying "I should have charged more"... Maybe I'm underpricing my cakes????
This is a round 12,10,8,6 with gumpaste flowers. I charged $390
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1979767
This one is an 8,6,4. I charged $100
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1937216
Granted, I'm in a smaller city....but I'm tired of working myself to death just to keep my head above water.
Hmmm, after looking through all of your prices, and most of you (like me) saying "I should have charged more"... Maybe I'm underpricing my cakes????
This is a round 12,10,8,6 with gumpaste flowers. I charged $390
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1979767
This one is an 8,6,4. I charged $100
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1937216
Granted, I'm in a smaller city....but I'm tired of working myself to death just to keep my head above water.
I looked at your beautiful cake and YES you need to charge more
Hmmm, after looking through all of your prices, and most of you (like me) saying "I should have charged more"... Maybe I'm underpricing my cakes????
This is a round 12,10,8,6 with gumpaste flowers. I charged $390
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1979767
This one is an 8,6,4. I charged $100
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1937216
Granted, I'm in a smaller city....but I'm tired of working myself to death just to keep my head above water.
Yeah, you way undercharged with all of that gumpaste work! very pretty
Pricing occasional cakes has been a struggle for me. I'm definitely undercharging, but in my area people just won't pay top dollar for high-end cakes -- champagne tastes, beer pocketbooks!
Had someone who recently wanted me to make them a cake just like this one that I did
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1853777
When I told her I charged $250 for that cake, she immediately recanted her order and said "she'd have to get back to me".
Hmmm, after looking through all of your prices, and most of you (like me) saying "I should have charged more"... Maybe I'm underpricing my cakes????
This is a round 12,10,8,6 with gumpaste flowers. I charged $390
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1979767
This one is an 8,6,4. I charged $100
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1937216
Granted, I'm in a smaller city....but I'm tired of working myself to death just to keep my head above water.
WOW 
Amazing work! You could have gotten more, your work is amazing! Flawless!
This is one of those "next time" cakes. The customer only requested the two cars, for which I quoted $250. I wanted to keep it all edible so I made a (very large) track out of RKT. What was I thinking???? The whole thing weighed about 50lbs! And serving wise it was crazy ridiculous...considering it only needed to serve 30 people. Next time the track will be styro or wood.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1865090
This one is a 10'" and 6" round. Took me around 10 hours. Charged $210.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1940486
You did a wonderful job on your cakes, however I want to know what area you live in, because I wouldn't be able to charge that much. Thinking I am under-biding myself big time.
Again you do awesome work!!
You did a wonderful job on your cakes, however I want to know what area you live in, because I wouldn't be able to charge that much. Thinking I am under-biding myself big time.
Again you do awesome work!!
I think this was for me...So Thank you! I live in British Columbia, Canada in a pretty high income area. I have struggled with my pricing like most. It's hard to determine how much time something is going to take. I want to be fair in my pricing, but at the same time don't want to give my cakes and time away for nothing! I now price based on servings using the wilton chart at $4 and up per serving. I still feel that sometimes I should be charging more for my work...but I am working on that!
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1980146
I charged $110 for this cake for a friend, I didn't even break even on it 
I would be interested to hear what other's think it would be worth though. I have no idea!
What sizes are the tiers Claireybear? I'm probably not the best one to give an opinion on what you should have charged since I'm underpricing myself....... but even I would have charged way more than $110
Pricing occasional cakes has been a struggle for me. I'm definitely undercharging, but in my area people just won't pay top dollar for high-end cakes -- champagne tastes, beer pocketbooks!
Had someone who recently wanted me to make them a cake just like this one that I did
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1853777
When I told her I charged $250 for that cake, she immediately recanted her order and said "she'd have to get back to me".
I think we may have had the same customer LOL... I had one ask me about this cake, and when I told her it was $200 (which is underpriced) she said she would get back with me too! hehehe.....
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1937224
Hi Kelli,
The sizes were a 14" square, 12" circle, and a hexagon carved out of a 10" circle (I don't have hexagon pans). I know it should have been waaaayyy more, but I really wanted the chance to try a wedding cake for a friend, and I thought I'd break even on it. I ended up spending a little more than what I charged her, but it was partly because of my trial-and-error with different MMF recipes Oh well, I had a blast doing it, and everyone at the wedding LOVED it!!
Hi Kelli,
The sizes were a 14" square, 12" circle, and a hexagon carved out of a 10" circle (I don't have hexagon pans). I know it should have been waaaayyy more, but I really wanted the chance to try a wedding cake for a friend, and I thought I'd break even on it. I ended up spending a little more than what I charged her, but it was partly because of my trial-and-error with different MMF recipes
Oh well, I had a blast doing it, and everyone at the wedding LOVED it!!
Here's my method of madness.... I came up with 166 servings x $3.00 per serving= $498.00 + $45 for flowers = $543 (and like I said I usually under price according to most of our cc friends)
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1980146
I charged $110 for this cake for a friend, I didn't even break even on it
I would be interested to hear what other's think it would be worth though. I have no idea!
Yikes! I would have chrged $775 just based on servings!!!! Not to mention the scroll work and flowers!
So I guess the next question is- do you guys think I have enough talent at this to actually try doing it for a living? This was the 2nd stacked cake I've ever made, the first one for myself I love cooking/baking, and I think I'm reasonably talented at decorating.... just a little lacking in self confidence I think
Kelli, your cakes are stunning! You are DEFINITELY underpricing!!!!!!!
Thanks Kathie-d! I really appreciate that. I worry about charging more because I live in a mostly blue collar area. The average job around here is $40,000 a year...
I don't to run myself out of business by charging much more than the competition, even though I'm about the only one in my are that does my type of work. We have the ones who have been in business for years that still do mostly old school looking cakes (not that there is anything wrong with that) but I'm more trendy I would say.
Pricing occasional cakes has been a struggle for me. I'm definitely undercharging, but in my area people just won't pay top dollar for high-end cakes -- champagne tastes, beer pocketbooks!
Had someone who recently wanted me to make them a cake just like this one that I did
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1853777
When I told her I charged $250 for that cake, she immediately recanted her order and said "she'd have to get back to me".
I think we may have had the same customer LOL... I had one ask me about this cake, and when I told her it was $200 (which is underpriced) she said she would get back with me too! hehehe.....
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1937224
Love the cake Kelli! $200 is a very fair price.
Kelli, I completely understand where you are coming from. I think what most of us (myself included) Is that our time is worth something, and most of the time we aren't even paying ourselves mininum wage! People are only going to value your time and effort if you do as well. IMO, if we have confidance in our pricing, the customer is less likely to question it. Yes, it is true, some people won't be able to afford our prices...but that is why there is walmart.
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