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Pricing questions

post #1 of 12
1/25/13 at 12:36pm
Thread Starter 


I made this cake for a friends birthday. It's dairy free and the middle tier is gluten free. I make cakes as a hobby and haven't charged but I'm starting to get requests and have no idea about pricing. How much would a cake like this cost? I know it cost me about $50 in material not to mention the hours making the gumpaste flowers. Any advice on pricing would be appreciated! The tiers are 10", 8", and 6". So this was a smaller cake for a wedding


Eta. New to this forum and I guess this is in the wrong place. Don't know how to delete. Can mods move?
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post #2 of 12
1/25/13 at 1:15pm

I don't bake gluten or dairy free, and I know that many bakers charge a premium for specialty baking like that, so I can only say what I'd be charging.

 

Based on the Wilton serving chart that cake serves 74.  Ignoring the flowers for a moment, my rate for fondant is $3.50 without additional fondant/gumpaste work, so $260.  I couldn't tell how many flowers you had, but it looked like more than 20, so you can either figure out how much time it took you and calculate it based on an hourly rate and mark it up, or figure out flat rate per flower that you'll always charge for that rose.  I've never really known now to charge on a per flower price, but I might bump my per piece rate for the overall product to $4.50/piece or $5 depending on how intricate.  So I might charge $335-$370 for that cake.  I'm not really sure if I'm in the ballpark here.  I'd be curious to see what others say.

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post #3 of 12
1/25/13 at 1:42pm

Are you sure that those are the sizes? Because to me, it looks like a 6, 5, 4. If it is a 10" on the bottom, how tall is it? Sorry, the proportions just look different that the hundreds of 10, 8, 6"s I've done. It is lovely.

I would rather make 1 cake for $150, than 3 for $50 each.

The person who works for nothing will always have plenty to do!

My sarcasm is good-humored. People generally really like me, in person ;-) 

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I would rather make 1 cake for $150, than 3 for $50 each.

The person who works for nothing will always have plenty to do!

My sarcasm is good-humored. People generally really like me, in person ;-) 

Licensed, inspected, insured, home-based commercial...

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post #4 of 12
1/25/13 at 4:21pm
Thread Starter 
Yup, 10 8 6. each tier was about 5 inches tall. There were 2 dozen flowers on it. I really only do these as gifts so I'm just more wondering what the value of my gifts are! Thanks for the feedback.
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post #5 of 12
1/25/13 at 4:41pm

I would charge $5 a flower and $3 for simple fondant cake.

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post #6 of 12
1/25/13 at 4:42pm
Baking with different allergies and intolerances in mind is always more difficult due to the extra overhead involved in ensuring there's no cross-contamination. Our price for a cake like that would be in the $400-500 range, not including the cost of the gumpaste flowers (which might be another $100-200 depending on complexity).

FYI, gluten-free tiers should always be on top of tiers containing gluten, otherwise the gluten-free tier could be contaminated.
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Recent Articles: The Magic Pricing Formula • Copyright Law
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post #7 of 12
1/25/13 at 4:48pm

pmarks0 do you mean you charge $3.00 extra for covering a cake with fondant per tier?

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post #8 of 12
1/26/13 at 11:23am
I would've charged about $260 for the cake, and about $120 for the roses. Leaving a very expensive gift!

I would rather make 1 cake for $150, than 3 for $50 each.

The person who works for nothing will always have plenty to do!

My sarcasm is good-humored. People generally really like me, in person ;-) 

Licensed, inspected, insured, home-based commercial...

Reply

I would rather make 1 cake for $150, than 3 for $50 each.

The person who works for nothing will always have plenty to do!

My sarcasm is good-humored. People generally really like me, in person ;-) 

Licensed, inspected, insured, home-based commercial...

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post #9 of 12
1/27/13 at 1:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by punkin90 View Post

pmarks0 do you mean you charge $3.00 extra for covering a cake with fondant per tier?


No, my prices are a per piece (based on the Wilton chart) as I indicated above.  I think you might mean the question for Ali3971,

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post #10 of 12
1/27/13 at 1:38pm
For regular cake I would have charged about $350 for a 6-8-10, plus whatever the delivery was. For special diet cakes it wouldhave been a little more.

I'd also mention that you need to be really careful selling gluten free cakes if you don't have a dedicated gluten free kitchen. Just wiping down your equipment and using gluten free flours isn't necessrily going to be safe if someone is super sensitive to it. I know a couple of kids who have been put into the hospital by so-called gluten free foods because they can't tolerate it at all.
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http://www.acaketorememberva.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/acaketoremember
http://www.youtube.com/karabuntin
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post #11 of 12
1/27/13 at 4:29pm

Sorry I misunderstood.

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post #12 of 12
1/28/13 at 4:02am
$364.50-$538.25 depending on flavor & filling does not include tax or delivery.

www.VeryDeliciousDesserts.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Delicious-Desserts/207874222593145

 

It's never "just cake!"

 

You may get a cake for $way to little but you won't get this cake!

Groom's Cakes
(1 photos)
Other / Mixed Shaped Wedding Cakes
(3 photos)
Retirement
(1 photos)
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www.VeryDeliciousDesserts.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Delicious-Desserts/207874222593145

 

It's never "just cake!"

 

You may get a cake for $way to little but you won't get this cake!

Groom's Cakes
(1 photos)
Other / Mixed Shaped Wedding Cakes
(3 photos)
Retirement
(1 photos)
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