How Much Would You Charge?
Decorating By passion4baking Updated 11 Aug 2013 , 1:28pm by passion4baking
AA pillow cake that serves 20 people. The pillow cake would be covered in fondant, have a bow on top, with diamond criss cross and those pearl beads. How much would you charge?
That gave me a great laugh to start the day with! 
Not to be rude but all those prices are well under what you should be charging. You need to factor in all your time - research (including price researching which will be quite a few hours) and I would say you are looking at a price round the ballpark figure of 1 x cow 2 goats and 1 chicken.
Just Kidding but in all seriousness there are plenty of helpful threads - you just need to look them up and work out the formula as it applies to you. No one but yourself can answer the question you have asked. Good Luck.
A
Original message sent by bubs1stbirthday
Not to be rude but all those prices are well under what you should be charging. You need to factor in all your time - research (including price researching which will be quite a few hours) and I would say you are looking at a price round the ballpark figure of 1 x cow 2 goats and 1 chicken.
Just Kidding but in all seriousness there are plenty of helpful threads - you just need to look them up and work out the formula as it applies to you. No one but yourself can answer the question you have asked. Good Luck.
Seriosly though, everyone is being silly because that question comes up almost every day. No one can tell you what to charge. Please use the search feature to read the numerous threads on the topic.
Here are two good articles on how to price a cake:
http://jasonkraftblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/the-magic-pricing-formula/
http://www.cakeboss.com/PricingGuideline.aspx
You can also put ?Coupon=CC2015"cake price" in the search box at the top of the page, hit Enter, and the results will be shown (at the left) as threads, posts, etc. Tons of information is already on CC.
AI thought I would ask since I quoted her 80 for it and she thought it was too much so I wanted to see what some of you had to say.
Just because she is a cheapskate or can't afford your cakes doesn't mean you are undercharging. If you have figured in time X hourly wage, materials and overhead and that cake costs $80 then it cost $80. I never made a pillow cake..but $4 a serving sounds low to me. With fondant, quilting, beading. Yeah real low
Don't know why I have lines through my words, but it adds an element of coolness to it, don't you think?
AI agree. You are not only charging for the cake and materials but for skill and artistry as well!
AI thought it was a good price since right now I'm doing this like more of a hobby than a business. I've been doing a lot of research before I do decide to start a business. I think they don't understand how much work goes into making cakes.
No one does. First you need to see if it is legal for you to sell food without a license in your area. You set yourself up for lawsuits and other troubles if you are not. Secondly, just because you are a hobby baker does not mean your should charge below market value. That is a really hot topic. You look at it as putting a little extra cash in your pocket, those that do this full time as a sole source of income look at it as you taking food from their kids mouth. I didn't see it that way either and was grossly undercharging at first. When it was explained to me that way I seen their point of view. Besides if your work is professional enough to sell why should it cost less?
AThank you for the advice. I live in california so we have a cottage food law. I'm looking into getting licensed and getting insurance too.
AAre you selling this cake to a friend or relative or is it a stranger? When you sell to friends and family you have to charge what you're comfortable charging, that may be market price or it may not. If you're selling to a stranger but don't yet have a legal setup, you are going to run into customers that think they should get a cheaper cake if they're getting it from someone who's just doing it on the side because quite a lot of the people who do their cakes from unlicensed kitchens charge pennies to just make what they think is a quick buck. Your customer can take her champagne taste on a beer budget to one of those lucky chumps.
There has to be a way to tactfully educate a customer why your cakes are worth more than walmart and Craigslist bakers. I am going to start freezing cuppies from leftover batter to give at consultations. Just 3 or 4 of my customer's favs
A
Original message sent by kikiandkyle
Are you selling this cake to a friend or relative or is it a stranger? When you sell to friends and family you have to charge what you're comfortable charging, that may be market price or it may not. If you're selling to a stranger but don't yet have a legal setup, you are going to run into customers that think they should get a cheaper cake if they're getting it from someone who's just doing it on the side because quite a lot of the people who do their cakes from unlicensed kitchens charge pennies to just make what they think is a quick buck. Your customer can take her champagne taste on a beer budget to one of those lucky chumps.
well did she say ok or it was too expensive? If she says no it is too expensive recommend she get a few more estimates. More than likely she will find someone on CL to do it for $40.She will then get a $40 cake. Let her learn for her mistake.
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Original message sent by passion4baking
I thought I would ask since I quoted her 80 for it and she thought it was too much so I wanted to see what some of you had to say.
A
Original message sent by BatterUpCake
well did she say ok or it was too expensive? If she says no it is too expensive recommend she get a few more estimates. More than likely she will find someone on CL to do it for $40.She will then get a $40 cake. Let her learn for her mistake.
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