AI started making cakes about six months ago. Most of the cakes I have on here fed 20-30 people. I feel I undercharged and I am hoping in the new year to get a better handle on pricing.:D

If you are asking for particular feedback on your abilities and have cake pictures to look at--please help me find them.

 

But on the pricing--I typed the word 'pricing' in the advanced search field up there on the top right of the page and I got over 28,000 threads. That outa fill you in for a while.

 

But it's really subjective and even though there's a thousand variables I think one word really sums up the best all 'round answer, "more.'   Just like you said.

 

And I think a good place to start is at least twice the Costco/Sam's prices. And as quick as you can I think a home baker's goal should be to get their product desireable/advanced enough to set their prices just more than the prices of the best bakery in town. And doing the kind of cakes they don't do is also a worthy goal if possible. I mean unless you're in New York or something and they already do everything of course.

 

 

Best of the best to you!!!

Double duh on me!!! Yeah I think you should blow right past the local bakery prices that don't do the sculptures and etc. Some of that work oughta be priced individual like Yoda (it's small right) shoulda been at least $250/$300. If it was 2 feet tall it oughta be like $700- $800.

 

And your modeling is.awesome and is often priced by the each just depending on the complexity. Wow you're really good. Please peruse as many of the preceeding 28,000 posts as you can hold and that will give you a great basis for big decisions to be made. Like perhaps learning to attract a new clientelle who will put it out for such well done artistic work.

AIt might help if you chose one cake as an example and told us how much you spent on ingredients for the cake, how many hours it took to make (including prep, baking, decorating, and cleanup), and how much you spend in annual overhead.

AMy cakes are in my photos on here under my profile.

ABut without knowing what your costs were (in terms of time and money) it will be impossible to set a fair price.

Beautiful , FC. I think you can start ramping up your prices and building a clientelle that want the high end cakes you are clearly capable of producing. To stem the gap, you might want to consider an ocassional portfolio discount. Where if someone wants a certain certain cake that would enhance your portfolio you could offer the discount--just mostly until you get fully transitioned into higher prices.  Maybe something like that.

But I meant to add that that way with a portfolio discount they will know how much it truly is worth and what they could expect to pay next time. It's a one time discount, once you get the picture no need to give another pd on that design..

Have you mentioned anywhere how much you charge? I can't see your costs or your prices anywhere so I can't comment if 'more' is warranted. And as Jason said, its impossible to work out your price unless you have all your costs accounted for!

 

All my prices are based on not only my relative skill in my market, but also how much business I want, and of course the costs I incur running my business, and the profit margin I wish to keep. Its that simple :-)

 

If you need help in working our costs etc and you are running a legitimate cake business, then maybe look at investing in a software program such as Cake Boss.

You definitely have talent and I would suggest you check prices of other cake shops in your area. Pricing that works for me in my area may not work in yours...with this level of skill and detail you'll want to understand who your buyer is. I found out the hard way of not pricing my labor intensive cakes right in the beginning and then people started expecting prices to always be low. Since I love cake decorating, it never seemed like "work" for me...so don't cut yourself short with pricing. Good luck and again...GREAT CAKES!

Your work is very promising, just needs to be cleaned up a little and then you should charge whatever a high end bakery charges. In this area, that's like a starting price of $5 per serving and figures would start at $45, bows $35. That's usually $6.25-$7.5+ per serving for cakes when all is said and done. 3d cakes might be around $10 per serving, but should have a minimum price. You need a little work on drying your sugarpaste pieces. Either use foam or wadded up paper towels to support so that bows don't go droopy. If they don't dry within a few hours, you must not be using the right material. Here's the recipe in case you don't have it. 2 t tylose powder per one pound fondant. Knead in.

 

What the grocery store charges for cake is completely irrelevant. That's like a stretch limo service concerning themselves with what a taxi charges.

A

The bold part of your post explains why it's so important to know what your costs are.

Supply and demand in a specific area my be different depending on which customer base you target, so knowing what you can charge based on your costs can help determine which market you can sell in.

Huh?  Of course it's important to know that. It helps her know whether the profit makes it a viable business.  I just said that.  My point was you left out an important part of the equation - what she can sell cake for in her market.  Every time I come to this site, someone asks this question and someone else says, "figure all your costs and then you'll know what you should charge". That's only part of it.

 

What the market will bear is not something you can just forget about. If I can make a hamburger for $1 and everyone is selling them for $8, maybe I should make hamburgers. But I'm an idiot if I sell them for $2 based on the fact that I think I'm making double my money.

A

You are absolutely right that both your cost and the market value is important. In my opinion it's more efficient to figure out your costs first, since that will give you a good idea of which markets you can participate in, but if you prefer to find out the price point for different target markets first that works too.

It's also been my experience that accurately determining your costs is more difficult than gauging market prices, so generally when I give advice on pricing the former is the first step.

Thanks for the feedback. Is that 2 tsp or 2 Tbs per pound of fondant?

Your cakes are great.  Charge whatever you want to make!!  You may find yourself turning down orders from people who can't afford your work, but you are good!  It's interesting to note that even if you think you are charging too much, there are people who won't think twice...then there's the opposite, the cheap, "I want a sheetcake price type."  You don't, I repeat, don't, want those customers.

Thank you very much. I have learned the hard way that some people take advantage. I have increased my prices and have turned down some who wanted my cakes for the big box store price.