Hello!  I could really use some helpful advice here.  I have a client who has been a faithful customer for nearly a year now asking for a combination of cake, cupcakes, AND cake pops for a total of 30 people.  I don't know how to combine this without her having a TON of leftovers.  I was just wondering what others would do?  Maybe 12 cupcakes and 12 cake pops with the 6" top tier on the tower?  But I think I read somewhere that you should get 1.5 cake pops per guest?  Any advice would be much appreciated!  Thanks in advance.

:)

I'd have a chat to your client and find out exactly what they want. Maybe she'd be happy with 30 cake pops (so everyone can have one), a dozen cuppies and a dummy cake for effect? Or maybe 6 cupcakes around a mini cake with the cake pops? 

I think cake pops are often a novelty thing and everyone will want one because they're a bit different. Usually there's some people who won't eat cake at all, and I guess my thinking on the dummy cake is that it's easier to hand people a cupcake or two to take home if there's extra of those but harder to palm off pieces of cake. 

But yes, I'd be presenting my client with several options and if she really wants it all cake with heaps of leftovers then I guess its her choice!

AI agree with Nadiaa; ask the client what exactly they want to achieve. Lots of leftovers for themselves, pops or cupcakes as favors for guests to take with? They may not have even really thought it through. Give them several options, and maybe some reasoning as to why one option might work better than another. Personally, I would put a minimum on the pops & cupcakes to 1 dozen each, but that's just me. Then you could do a small cake & a dozen each of cupcakes & pops. That gives more than 30 servings, but from experience, the more options you have for guests, the more servings they take. Like, a three tiered cake with three flavors; there will be a few guests who want to try all three flavors.

AWhat's her budget?

I wound up just listing the different options and telling her exactly how many each option would feed and the price I would charge.  She didn't tell me a budget, so I just priced them like I normally would.  She said she really wants all three for the novelty effect and price wasn't a problem.  So she's paying $110 for a 6" round cake with 24 cupcakes and 30 cake pops.  And she has already told me she will be placing similar orders in September, October, November, and December.  Thank you for your advice!  I really appreciate the responses.  I am honestly just shocked that she wants to put out that kind of money for a 3rd birthday party!  I live in a very rural area and have never had these kinds of orders before, lol.

ASeriously? A hundred bucks is all you're getting for that?

AIf I were you, I'd seriously reconsider that pricing, because everyone and their mother would be placing orders every month at that pricing too. You're ripping yourself off.

Okay I just looked to see where you live, and I used to live in Sewanee. Monteagle might be rural but you have a lot of people who live in that area who have money, and you need to raise your prices if that's what you normally charge. If you're not advertising in Sewanee now you go up there and start slapping fliers up around the university. Those students don't come from poor families, and you can sell them cookies and cupcakes out the wazoo. If I still lived there I would start some kind of service where I sold boxes of baked good to be delivered during exams etc. There's a market for it there.

AThat's not much for all that work. Rural community or not, I don't think you'll be making any money on that order. I'm considered to be in a rural community, and I would've charged quite a bit more than $110.

If she tries to order again for that price, tell her you lost money on this one and had to raise your prices. Since she said "price wasn't a problem." she should be okay with a higher price.

AOh my word. You were offering "big" cakes that were $150 and more, at [B]half[/B] price? For most of us, those are what our smallest cakes are priced at! That's my minimum order, and it only serves about 15 people. My town is as podunk as it comes too, with half the population on welfare, so location plays nothing when it comes to my pricing.

I know you didn't ask all of that, but that is terrible pricing for you, you can't possibly be making a profit. :(

AIf you're not selling Walmart cakes, then why do you want to sell them at Walmart pricing, even lower? :(

Seriously...It might feel like we're beating up on you but you need to market your stuff in Sewanee. The woman who's in charge of the coffeehouse at the University is the sister of one of my classmates from high school, and the coffeehouse itself is named after a guy my mother used to date...I went to SAS and half of my facebook friends have some connection there. My point is that I know that town. You can get some business over there that might actually make a decent profit for you.

You're also only about 30 miles from Chattanooga, right? So if you do wedding cakes you could look into advertising there.

All of those things can be made with one double batch of WASC.  So you can make a 6" cake, the cake pops and cupcakes and I don't think you'll have much leftover batter.

Yes, your pricing is too low for the amount of work you will be doing  but let this be a learning experience!

AThank you, ladies. I actually just moved from Chattanooga back to Monteagle, so I haven't really had the chance to advertise in Sewanee. I have been extremely busy with cakes in Chattanooga since this client started referring people to me. So I try to give her good pricing. She doesn't order from anybody else (understandably). The stupid sale thing was a desperate ploy to attract some clients and let them experience what I have to offer. Most people around here already have someone they go to loyally and word of mouth is huge in this area. A local diner actually closed down after years and years because it changed owners and the people didn't know the new one. So I though I'd try getting my foot in the door. And it has worked to a degree. Let's just say I won't be doing that again! And I actually just increased my prices a month ago by $1 a serving on cakes. I had little to no confidence in my skills so didn't think my work was worth much. I planned to increase prices as I learned. Any suggestions on what I should be charging now? I really appreciate it. :)

So what I'm reading is, people already have established businesses that have regular clientele. So to get business, you severely undercut them. Please just think about that for a moment, and don't lash out. Because if you were the one who was already established and started losing business to the new person who was severely undercutting you....what would you think? Not "hating" on you, just making a point. :)

AMy opinion probably isn't going to be very popular, but it is what is. I don't see the point in offering anything less than about a hundred bucks. Really well crafted cake should be a luxury. Otherwise, what's the attraction? Walmart cakes were just fine up until what, about a decade ago? Now a tiered or carved cake is basically expected at every event. And what happened to the pricing, because suddenly everyone had to have them? We got the people jumping in and selling them for pennies. And it's been a downhill battle for the rest of us ever since

A"My opinion probably isn't going to be very popular, but it is what is. I don't see the point in offering anything less than about a hundred bucks. Really well crafted cake should be a luxury. Otherwise, what's the attraction?"

Golden AZCouture! Greetings from the Imperial Valley.

Hey there @Sammy09! 

AI'm not trying to undercut anyone or steal anyone's business. And to my knowledge I haven't had anyone "switch" to me. I was trying to attract people who don't usually get custom cakes bc of price and hoping that maybe a couple of then would be happy and realize the value. I wasn't trying to be malicious at all. I have been mistreated by "competition" myself before and wouldn't do that to another person. I was simply trying to build some clientele so I can stay home with my new baby. 90% of the business I do is from referrals from people I used to work with--like the customer who placed this order. I've generated maybe 3 new customers with my Facebook and that "sale". Right now I'm charging $2.75 and up for party cakes and $3.50 and up for wedding cakes (because of all the extra work I put into them like tastings). I charge $4 and up for 3D or carved cakes.

AOh and $18/dozen for simple cake pops (the more detail, the more I charge) and $20 per dozen for cupcakes with a cookie cutter decoration and 1M swirl.

(Edited to fix a typo--gotta love autocorrect! Also please don't think I'm "lashing out". Just trying to clear up any confusion.) ^.^

In your original post, I think you may have charged too little, but I think your prices you just listed sound okay.  I charge similar, but $4.00 and up for detailed cakes. ( I don't make wedding cakes.)  My cupcakes are $2.75.

My cake pops are $2 each.

Starting out, working alone, caring for a baby, it is doubtful you are going to takeover and undercut everyone else's cake businesses.    So have fun and by the time you are able to expand, should you decide, you'll have pricing down to a science,

AThose are the prices I charged her, though. $25 for the 6" round, $20 per dozen on the cupcakes, and $18 per dozen on the pops. That adds up to $110. Should I have charged more just bc of the size of the order, then?

A

Starbucks sells pre-made basic cake pops for $1.50 each...if you're making them up as ordered and doing custom decoration on them you need to go up on the price there. I don't do cupcakes but I wouldn't do them for less than about $3 each if they have any kind of decoration at all other than a plop of icing on them. And the 6" cake serves 8-10 people if you cut it the way it should be cut and not the way a frat boy would cut it, so if you're charging $2.75 a serving for the most basic cake you need to go up on that for anything decorated in a custom manner. Jus for reference, i will do plain, undecorated anniversary tiers as a courtesy for my previous brides, and those are $40 for a 5" tier that has no decoration on it. As soon as they say they want to have a reproduction of their wedding cake tier it becomes a custom order and that:) would fall under my $100 minimum. If they tell me what to make they have to pay for the custom work. If you go to Starbucks and grab something that's premade off the shelf it's not the same level of service as ordering a custom anything, so that's where the price difference should come in. They'r paying for the cake PLUS the skill to make what they want specifically.

I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable charging that much for my cakes because I don't think my skill level is up to par--I am definitely not professional quality even after 7 years.  Although I certainly could charge slightly more on cakes and cupcakes at least to compensate myself more for time!  Thank you for your input--I will definitely try to figure it out.  :)  I have the 2011 version of cakeboss but I need a new computer before I can install it.  :(

So I did some research on what others are charging in my area.  The general amount per serving is pretty much the same as what I am charging and they're actual bakeries of professional quality.  The only thing they charge more for is cupcakes--they would have charged $2.25 for the cupcakes and don't offer cake pops.  I did find a couple of home bakers that offer cake pops at $2 each.  Should I really charge more than the professionals at home?  Sorry-- I just want to be fair to other bakers and, of course, make money so I can stay home with my baby.  :)