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Need help pricing my first cake! - Page 2

post #16 of 22
2/20/13 at 1:12pm

Basing your wage off what servers make per hour is not the way to do it.  They get paid a lower hourly wage because they earn tips to make up the difference, and that is assuming they get to keep 100% of their tips, which most don't if they take a lower hourly rate.  For example, I may agree to work for X restaurant for $5/hour, but I get to keep 90% of my tips and pay out 10% to the bus staff.  But if I only get to keep 40% of my tips because I have to pay out to bus staff, hostess and expiditers, then the hourly wage should be in the $8/hour range.  See how this does not translate to straight labor making a cake?

 

You should be paying yourself Federal minimum wage at the minimum.

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post #17 of 22
2/20/13 at 3:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jess155 View Post

Well that "tip" thing only works IF you don't include that $26.50 in your price for the client and *hope* they come up with even giving you a tip, let alond a $26.50 tip.  Gratuity, by definition, is something given without claim or demand.  It is not added in the price of your cake.  It's ok to have that $26.50 included in your wages.  It's not a tip though. 

Yeah, no kidding! It is not a tip, unless it is freely given, such as "You could double your wages if you worked at McDonald's."

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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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
post #18 of 22
2/20/13 at 3:35pm

I think we need to cut Chrysty some slack here... at the end of it all, she is charging a perfectly adequate price for her cake.  If the way she broke it down is what is getting people upset, forget the breakdown!  The customer never sees that anyways.  

 

(Edited to fix spelling mistake)

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post #19 of 22
2/20/13 at 3:51pm
IMO how you get to your final price is just as important as what the price turns out to be. If you are going through the trouble of figuring out what your ingredients, labor, and overhead costs are, you might as well use realistic numbers in a scalable pricing model you can explain instead of relying on tricks like using an artificially low wage and multiplying by 3.

That's why we ask questions in these pricing threads, throwing out a price for a specific cake is not helpful (even if it happens to be appropriate in the OP's market) since without a model the OP will not be able to adjust that price to different products with different levels of complexity.
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post #20 of 22
2/22/13 at 5:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jason_kraft View Post

IMO how you get to your final price is just as important as what the price turns out to be. If you are going through the trouble of figuring out what your ingredients, labor, and overhead costs are, you might as well use realistic numbers in a scalable pricing model you can explain instead of relying on tricks like using an artificially low wage and multiplying by 3.

That's why we ask questions in these pricing threads, throwing out a price for a specific cake is not helpful (even if it happens to be appropriate in the OP's market) since without a model the OP will not be able to adjust that price to different products with different levels of complexity.

Yeah!

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...

Reply
post #21 of 22
2/22/13 at 6:11pm

And for the record, a waitress is paid a lower base wage, true, but if the tips aren't enough to bring her income up to the minimum wage, the employer is supposed to make up the difference. It's called minimum for a reason.

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post #22 of 22
2/22/13 at 6:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jgifford View Post

And for the record, a waitress is paid a lower base wage, true, but if the tips aren't enough to bring her income up to the minimum wage, the employer is supposed to make up the difference. It's called minimum for a reason.
Any decent waitress can make ton in tips, but I was one where the restaurant owed me money, lol. I chalk it up to being young and cute though, and having single guys sit an my table for too long, just to bask in my glow... Not the fact that I pored hot coffee all over someone's hand, dropped a whole tray full of ice water in another guys lap, was too slow, and my large breast kept dipping in the food I was carrying on my tray, and would be covered in gravy each day icon_biggrin.gif

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...

Reply
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