Id doesn't seem like many people in my area offer fondant cakes. I want to make that my exclusive thing. I like it better. People that offer both typically charge more for fondant per serving. If the going rate in my community is 800.00 for a basic buttercream cake to serve 200
people, what would you say a reasonable price would be for a basic fondant covered cake the same size?( fondant and cakes are scratch and very tasty!)

After knowing the base price, how does one establish a price for decorations made from sugar paste/ gum paste/ fondant? Or, the time spent hand painting a cake? By the amount of product, then an hourly charge? Given the price in my area for a buttercream 200 serving cake, can you tell me what I should charge for these three random items, 1.) a gum paste star gazer lily. 2.) a gum paste figurine small, medium and large. ( 1-2" , 3-5", 5 -8", or so ) 3.) a cake with hand painted flowers on fondant covering the whole surface. ( 200 serving. )

Thanks for any replies. I know these are a lot of questions.

For hand painting, you should charge by the hour.

Ditto for flowers--but you can price them separately from the fondant covered cake. The customer can then choose how many flowers or clusters they want to add to the cake.

Thanks Irene. How does one determine an hourly rate? Any advice?

For any product, the labor involved in producing the product should be incorporated in the price, along with the cost of ingredients, allocated overhead, and markup (for your profit).

Hourly wages for cake decorators are usually in the $10-15 range, but if you have specialized skills you can usually earn more than that.

I charge $1.75 per serving for fondant.

I charge $25 per hour for sculpting

I charge per tier for hand painting. For example, a 12" round with brush embroidery is $100.

I charge per flower depending on flower. A gumpaste peony is $35.

Thanks Jason. Your info is always so helpful!

Delicious, do you mean you add that much to a base price for fondant?

AI charge a base price for fondant covered cakes and then the extras are priced separately, this way a client can pick and choose the amount of extras that fit in their budget.

For flowers I first do a search online to see what the "going rate" is if I purchased the flowers. Then, I decide if I want to make the flower or just buy it. Sometimes if the flower is not one I would make again I can buy it already done for the same price or less than the cutter/veiner.

I personally don't charge an hourly rate. It is not the customer's fault I may be really slow at something and as I increase my speed I shouldn't have to then charge less for the same amount of work. I take each flower/figurine/project and price individually for each cake.

I made a peony for a wedding over the summer (turned out lovely). I charged the bride $12. I make that flower all the time, so I have gotten quite fast at it, for my market $12 is a fair price.

AI charge a flat fee per cake based on the serving count, and I don't add extra charges for decorations. My fondant charge is about $1 per serving more thn the buttercream charge. So if a cake serves 200, the fondant would cost $200 more. That takes into account the time to cover the cake, cost of fondant, and any extra time it would take to decorate it using different techniques specific to fondant. I make my own fondant so it isn't as expensive as commercial.