Does anyone out there price their cakes per cake rather than per slice??
For instance if someone orders a 12 inch round, charge $55, rather than breaking it down per slice -
If they ask for a round cake to feed 35 people I'd use a 12 inch double layer (based on wilton party sizes )and that would be $52.50 ($1.50 pp) but if they ask for 40 people, I'd still be making the same size cake but charging $60
Am I making any sense???
That way any time someone would call to order, I can say that depending on the # of people they need to feed, would be a certian size cake and would be the same base cost every time - so whether you need cake for 32 or 40 the 12 inch round would still feed both so I should price it no matter what??
Also, maybe this would work for all regular cakes and then differently for wedding cakes due to the extra time and effort???
I don't know!!!! 
You should charge for each serving of cake you provide, not for the servings they need. Using your example if someone needs to serve any where from 40 to 56 people they will need a 12" round cake. At $1.50 a serving that is $84. It doesn't matter if they only need 40 servings. A 10" cake would serve 39 and cost $60. If they need to serve that 1 extra person you have to bake a bigger cake; you don't just give the rest to them. It's up to you if you want to list your prices by servings or by cake size but it should come out the same. 
A 12" cake is always the same amount of cake, whether or not your customer cuts it into 40 pieces or 4. If my customer wanted a cake to serve 40, I would tell them that they can order a 12" cake for 45 servings or an 11" cake for 35 servings, and let them choose. I price by the serving because it's easy calculate the price -- and also easy to explain to the customer. A customer has no idea how many a 12" cake serves. They will be thinking in terms of how many people are coming to the party/wedding.
If you price by the cake, make sure you are being fair to yourself, but also the customer. Don't charge one price for party cakes and one price for wedding cakes. Wedding vendors already have a bad reputation for overcharging brides for items simply because they are for a wedding. As indydebi says, don't put yourself in the position of explaining to a bride why the same cake costs less for a party than for a wedding.
Woah, I'm super confused.....and embarassed 
You said : I price by the serving because it's easy calculate the price -- and also easy to explain to the customer.
So, then how exactly do I explain the difference between a wedding size and a party size and then price it per serving????
Ex. (wilton chart) says 12 inch round serves 38 wedding and 28 party servings. How would I price that??? If I charge per serving than the wedding would be $57 and the party would be $42
How would I price that?? If I'm charging for each serving of cake I provide, it would be different for the two types of cake.
Sorry....I'm so new to this!
I use Earlene's chart for all my cakes. I don't differentiate between a "party-sized" slice or a "wedding-sized" slice. A slice is a slice. All cakes are equal, and I'm not out to rip off brides. 
http://www.earlenescakes.com/ckserchart.htm
Pick one serving chart and stick with it (you may like Wilton's better). Say you have a customer who is having a party and wants to serve 12 people cake. So you tell him/her that (for instance) an 8 inch cake is designed to serve 15 1x2x4 slices. He/she says "well, we want big slices, I don't know if that will be enough". I would recommend to them going up a size, to a 9" round which is 22 servings. They would have to pay for 22 servings if they want a bigger piece of cake than is "normal" or "average".
I will paraphrase indydebi, my pricing goddess, and use her example:At KFC a 3-piece chicken meal comes with 3 pieces. They don't ask you when you order if you're a big chicken eater, or if you're really hungry. You know it comes with 3 pieces and if you want more you have to buy more.
Don't be embarrassed! Pricing is one of the hardest parts of being in the cake business, and we're all here to learn and ask questions! 
i price per size of the cake. most of my customers just call and say i want a 10in or 14in etc. so i have a base price for each size. then depending on what they want as far as decorations the price goes up
forgot to add if they dont know the size they need i ask how many people and then i tell them what size cake they need i usually use the bigger portion because if rather them hve extra cake then not enough
This thread is bringing up some great points. I am trying to get my cake business off the ground. Right now I'm just doing it out of my home and have done about 6 paid cakes. I have hooked up with a caterer in my area who will offer cakes to his customers. He asked me for a price sheet. I told him what I generally charge per serving. I have not done a wedding cake but right now my prices are $1.25-$2.00 per serving based on how elaborate the cake is. Now for wedding cakes I have seen threads where folks charge $4.50 or more per serving. So here is my question. I would love to create a chart which I could hand to someone that indicates what I would charge for the cake alone, then how much it would be for fondant decorations, for tiered or stacked construction, etc. etc. etc. So if someone picked up the chart they could figure out how much the cake would be - for example 12" cake is $10, filing is $2, fondant decorations are $.25 per decorations, stacked or tiered add $5. etc. etc. Does anyone charge like this? Or am I crazy to even think this is a good way to do pricing. ANY opinions or thoughts are appreciated, thanks.
Joanne
I normally start at my base price being $1.75 for regular butter cream no filling no fancy dancy stuff... so what I would do is ask them how many they need to serve. If they need to serve 40 then the price would be $70.~. If they want a tiered cake, it will be more because it's more labor intensive. If they want filling there is an additional charge, if it's a speciality filling that I don't have on hand, or can't get locally I charge them just a touch (maybe $5.~) over what it costs me to order it from online.
I base my prices on a per serving price, I do not NEED to disclose the exact science behind my prices or how I come to them unless they ask why is it so much then I'll explain that "this cake is very time intensive and will have special needs to be transported as well as insuring it gets thru your party in one piece." or something equally basic lol.
You don't need to explain your prices, they aren't paying for some junk, they are paying for a piece of art that you are taking your time to make and create and they are paying for a very nice dessert for their guests.
Now I'd love to be able to charge $5.~ and $7.~ and $8.~ per slice lmao because then I could use the arguement "Go to AppleBee's or Red Lobster and try to feed a party of 40 dessert for under that price" or something along those lines lol... But in my area that's about all I can ask right now.
The people I make cakes for currently are cake LOVERS! meaning they don't want the normal size slices they take a huge square and sit there with it and eat the entire thing... I'd say maybe it's a 4x4 piece of cake lmao I don't have my ruler or tape measure in reach so I can't be exact on what sizes they eat but I will say a 9x13 Pineapple Upside down cake was gone in 12 hours... with only one person eating it minus 3 pieces that she allowed others to have and those pieces she cut very small lol... she wasn't sharing it... But yes they still pay by the slice but don't know it... I know how big they cut cakes because I attend the parties and I do the slicing and plating of the cakes and I've seen these people eat cake so when they ask me for a price on a cake I now ask them how many have stated they are coming, and how many have you invited, if there is a large difference in the two I just go with how many were invited because she'd rather have too much cake then not enough... and we go from there... Get to know your customers and be fair to their needs, don't skimp on servings and don't over do the servings, don't give them too much so they have so much left over they throw it out and don't give them so little they end up opening up the pantry to find brownie mix or something lol.
Find a base price for your area and use any one of the guides that gives you the serving sizes and go with that. The average Wedding and party slice size would be 2x2x2 in my area so I go with the Wilton party 2" deep chart... it works great.
I know this is a long speel and I'm sorry I tend to ramble... but find a chart, find your base price and charge accordingly.
Whether you are charging by the slice or by the cake, ultimately you are still charging by the slice.
As mentioned above, pick one chart and stick to it. I use the Wilton Wedding Cake Guide to determine pricing, not necessarily to determine number of servings.
You used an example of 35 vs 40 servings on a 12" cake and charging two different prices. I do not see how you can charge two different prices for the same cake. In the manufacuring field, this is a violation of the Robinson Patman Anti Trust Act. I wouldn't want to be you when two friends get together and find out one paid more for the same cake just because she happened to give you the "40" number over her friend's "35" number.
The chart indicates a 10" cake serves 38 and a 12" cake serves 56. I take these numbers times my per-serving-rate to determine the price for the cake. A customer wants a cake to serve 45, they get the 12" cake at my pre-determined price. As was also mentioned above, I don't go into how I came up with the price. They could care less. They want a cake to feed their guests and they want to know how much it costs. Period.
I'll skip the KFC example since it was explained very well above! but that's exactly what it is. A pre-determined servings size with a pre-determined price. I don't tell KFC what the serving size is....they've
already done that. And they've priced it accordingly.
Don't over think this. Just do it. Pick a chart ... .Wilton's, Earlene's, it doesn't matter. Just do your pricing based on a "serving" size. Your customer is welcome to cut it any dang size they want.
for those that have been in the business for awhile, how do you explain to someone that even though they are having 25 guests which "could" be done with a 9x13, they have to get a 11x15 which feeds up to 35. thus costing 10-20 bucks more? or with a tiered cake that they need 100 @ 2.00per slice but the closest you can get them is 115. so instead of 200 dollars they pay 230. i've always done the 100 dollars at 2 per slice and figured the 15 servings as free. The way i always looked at it was if you need the extra 15 servings you should have to pay for it, but if you come out and 100 and have 15 extra, oh well extra cake somebody gets seconds.
I've never had a customer question or not understand the difference in pan sizes. I have my wedding cake chart, and I tell them "we can do 95 servings or the next size up, 115". Almost always they opt for the next size up and gladly pay for the extra (even if I try to talk them down in servings). Everyone would rather have too much than too little.
for those that have been in the business for awhile, how do you explain to someone that even though they are having 25 guests which "could" be done with a 9x13, they have to get a 11x15 which feeds up to 35.
Along the lines of what kelley said, when they tell me they need cake for 25, I tell them "Sounds like you would need the 11x15 .." because even tho' the standard serving is 2x2", I know (if I'm not the one cutting it) that they are going to cut it bigger, so it is not upselling when I suggest the 11x15 .... I honestly believe they "need" the 11x15.
I use the 2x2 to determine my pricing, not necessarily to determine servings (although they are coincidentally very close).
(Besides .... I don't do 9x13's. 
)
I have a block of wood that is cut to the size of a Wilton party serving (and painted to look like a slice of cake.) It is 1.5"x2"x4". When a customer asks me what size cake they need, I tell them that a 1/4 sheet serves up to 25, based on this serving, and hold the piece up to show them. If they will be serving bigger pieces, I advise them to order the next size up. If they opt to stick with the 1/4 sheet, I have shown them what the serving size looks like and it's up to them to cut pieces correctly.
I believe that there is a picture of someone else's serving 'pieces' in the template section of the gallery if you want to see what I'm talking about.
Oh, and I usually use Wilton's party serving #s, minus 2 or 3 to make up for cake crumbs from cutting the cake.
I use the 2x2 to determine my pricing, not necessarily to determine servings (although they are coincidentally very close).
(Besides .... I don't do 9x13's.
)
I am sort of confused...... how can a 10" cake ( I am assuming you are talking round ) serve 38 people if you are using the 2 x 2 method? The way I figured it, a 10" would only serve approx. 15 if the peices were 2 x 2. Please correct me if I am misunderstanding...it's just that I am getting ready to make a pricing flyer and now I am lost.
I looked up some of the Wilton serving charts and they seem like really small pieces. I too am trying to figure out how to charge and himmed and hawed about whether I should use the 1 x 2, 1.5 x 2 or 2 x 2 as a 'serving' and then determine pricing per serving from there....... and after 3 hrs. with a calculator I am just wondering what I did wrong that my #'s come out differently.
sorry I figured I had misunderstood. So do you find the 1 x 2 too small? Do you point out that it is small when they order (I'm sure you don't ~ lol) but if they are ordering for a birthday for 30 do you offer them a cake that feed 30 1 x 2 servings or use the 1 x2 to determine the price per serving but the actual serving is for more to accomodate for the party slices?
Forgive me if I am redundant but I came up with this whole system for charging since I read that you said do not charge differently for wedding cakes and am trying to find a common ground I am slowly losing my mind.......I swear.
Sorry i hate to price cakes. my husband says i give my talent away. i just love to bake and usually just make out with a little profit. good luck
sorry
I figured I had misunderstood. So do you find the 1 x 2 too small?
No. I've posted this story before, but I intentionally watched this at my granddaughter's birthday party. I cut the cake in wedding cake sizes. It was perfect for the little kids, and the adults were fine with it since they had also had lunch (a cookout). A 1x2x4 piece is bigger than it sounds.
Do you point out that it is small when they order (I'm sure you don't ~ lol) but if they are ordering for a birthday for 30 do you offer them a cake that feed 30 1 x 2 servings or use the 1 x2 to determine the price per serving but the actual serving is for more to accomodate for the party slices?
Let's use a 12x18 sheet cake for an example. Figuring 2x2 pieces, my pricing is based on 54 servings. If a customer cut them in 2x3 pieces, they would get 36 servings. So I tell the person "...I have a sheet cake that will serve 35-50 people, depending on how big you cut it. Price is $xx.xx"
Price is the same .... they can cut it in 35 pieces or 50+ pieces.
A 10" round serves 38 according to the Wilton Chart. My pricing is based on 38 servings. Knowing that people may cut them bigger, I tell them, "I have a 2 layer round that will serve 25-35. Price is $xx.xx."
I dont' get into explaining the per person calculation ... they dont' care.....they just want to know how much the cake costs. I do give them a general idea on how to cut it, especially the rounds.
ok, one last question & then I will leave you alone..... 
If they want a tiered cake for 90, which end of the scale are you using? If the Wilton chart says, for example 38 for a 10" and you charge $? per 38 then which # between 25-35 are you using to figure out which size tiers to use?
Again, probably a 'dee-de-de' question but I am just trying to understand - thanks
ok, one last question & then I will leave you alone.....
If they want a tiered cake for 90, which end of the scale are you using? If the Wilton chart says, for example 38 for a 10" and you charge $? per 38 then which # between 25-35 are you using to figure out which size tiers to use? Again, probably a 'dee-de-de' question but I am just trying to understand - thanks
I use the wilton chart numbers to primarily determine pricing and secondarily to get a general idea of servings. So I will use the 38 number to determine what size tiers to use.... as a general idea.
The advantage I have over most is that I am at the wedding, cutting the cake, so I have portion control. First thing I do when I arrive is count tables and number of chairs per table, then do the math to see how many seats there are .... then when everyone is seated, I can tell at a glance how many people are there by the empties. This helps tell me how big or small I can cut the cake. Fewer people....cut bigger pieces.
Okay, I have been reading this, and I too have a lot of trouble with this. But I also feel like I'm an idiot, because I don't know if the chart is meant for one, say 10" round feeds 38 people. Does that mean just one cake, or is that set on two 10" rounds stacked? Because the wilton chart says 4 in high cake in a two inch pan, so does that mean two of each? Am I making since, and why do I get so confused on this! Ugh! Thanks,
Christie
christielee wrote:
Okay, I have been reading this, and I too have a lot of trouble with this. But I also feel like I'm an idiot, because I don't know if the chart is meant for one, say 10" round feeds 38 people. Does that mean just one cake, or is that set on two 10" rounds stacked? Because the wilton chart says 4 in high cake in a two inch pan, so does that mean two of each?
It is two 10" rounds with filling between.
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