I have never done a wedding cake like this one so I am not sure how long it will take ... she wants 3 tiers instead of 4 to feed 50 people. Any ideas what I should charge? I normally don't do wedding cakes, we do mostly cupcakes but this looks like fun and I want to give it a go. I was thinking of charging $275 ... am I low or high?
Tracey, owner
TwoGirlsBaking.com
Anacortes, WA
AHey there...
Some ppl charge per slice. That's a lot of cake for only 50 people. Even if you only do the first 3 tiers. The top one wouldn't count because it's the anniversary tier. What size are the tiers going to be. I'm doing a cake this August for 125 people (buttercream and would charge $3 per slice, it's for my brother so it's free because that's their wedding gift from me) and it's going to be 6", 10", and 14" and that should feed 128-138 people when sliced as standard wedding slices. I only counted the 10 and 14 inch tiers. If I was charging it would be $375 just for a plain cake with buttercream. Fruits, flowers, ribbons, are added accessories and will be extra. BTW, each of my layers are going to be 2" high. Hope this helps.
Hi, you have wedding cakes on your site...how'd you price those?
How did you arrive at $275? Do you have a formula for calculating cost like pricing per serving...etc? It's never good business to just come up with a random price. It does you, your customer and the rest of the market a disservice. There are lots of threads you can search here that discuss what other decorators charge and how they determine their pricing. I recommend you give some of them a look. Good luck.
I didn't just come up with a random number ... I got it from this site as a base price http://www.docakes.com/PricingCakes.html
If I had time to research the site for pricing info I wouldn't have posted the question, thanks for the help.
Well, surely you can understand why someone may think that. It's confusing to see a person that qualifies themselves as an established business owner (your signature line and links to your business), ask a pricing question about a very very basic cake. I'm not trying to be rude, and if you interpret it that way, that's not any fault of mine. I'm stating what I observe. And as far as that website you linked to? I see a comment about "most people charging three times what the cake cost to make", and that's enough to completely invalidate any information that page might have, for me. That's ok for wholesale, simple baked goods for a walk in bakery or bread shop maybe, but not custom cakes with custom labor intensive detailing.
http://bakelovenotwar.co.za/2011/03/02/red-velvet-cupcakes/
Side note, you might want to consider contacting these people, because they're apparently using a photo of yours, and good established businesses wouldn't want to get caught doing that.
I don't normally do wedding cakes other than cutting cakes so I have no reason to price wedding cakes. We specialize in cupcakes and other treats but I wanted to try this as it looked like a fun and somewhat simple to do and it is for a friend.
Instead of being rude, if you pointed me in the right direction for pricing or gave me a formula for pricing, I could do a comparable cost. I was asking so I didn't under charge for custom work.
Guess in the future I will just stick to cupcakes and not ask for any help from people that I thought might be kind enough to help.
Oh good grief, quit being so defensive. The replies prior to your snarky "if I had time to do it myself" statement were perfectly legitimate and didn't deserve what you said. Just google "pricing cakes", and a million responses will come up that will lead right back here, and will be very helpful.
This:
"If I had time to research the site for pricing info I wouldn't have posted the question."
basically sounds like this:
"I don't have time to do research into pricing my own products and decide what will be profitable to me, so I'll just ask these people to take their time to do it for me."
Just pointing out why you got some pushback, hope that makes sense.
""
A
Original message sent by chilicat
I didn't just come up with a random number ... I got it from this site as a base price [URL=http://www.docakes.com/PricingCakes.html]http://www.docakes.com/PricingCakes.html[/URL]
If I had time to research the site for pricing info I wouldn't have posted the question, thanks for the help.
If you don't gave time to research pricing an item then that is one thing you should not be selling. Id give this one to a business who has established pricing in place
A[LEFT]I don't th[/LEFT]
Original message sent by chilicat
I don't normally do wedding cakes other than cutting cakes so I have no reason to price wedding cakes. We specialize in cupcakes and other treats but I wanted to try this as it looked like a fun and somewhat simple to do and it is for a friend.
Instead of being rude, if you pointed me in the right direction for pricing or gave me a formula for pricing, I could do a comparable cost. I was asking so I didn't under charge for custom work.
Guess in the future I will just stick to cupcakes and not ask for any help from people that I thought might be kind enough to help.
I'm pretty sure nobody was trying to be rude, they were just being honest. I simply went to the tip and searched "pricing cakes" and clicked in the first link and it was a great resource with several different explanations for pricing and common questions that was just from a few months ago. We have no problem helping people out, but sometimes we like to know that they actually tried. I'm a hobby baker but I still do research before accepting any cake request from anybody, including family members. So for a paying friend I feel you could've spared the time to do a bit more searching
Here's a place to get started: http://cakecentral.com/t/762633/how-to-price-a-cake
I don't think anyone other than you the OP came off as rude.
You don't have time to do research? and you expect others to do it for you and point you in the right direction?
Aren't you assuming that your time is more important than theirs by making a statement like that?
Do your home-work, and then come to cakecentral for help, and you will get it. Come and demand, and you will get nothing.
I have to ask the question before I go any further.
Is the photo on your website yours or is it taken form somewhere else? I'm assuming it is your work since it is on your website in your gallery?
That would certainly sway my opinion and willingness to help.
Quote:
I don't normally do wedding cakes other than cutting cakes so I have no reason to price wedding cakes. We specialize in cupcakes and other treats but I wanted to try this as it looked like a fun and somewhat simple to do and it is for a friend.
Instead of being rude, if you pointed me in the right direction for pricing or gave me a formula for pricing, I could do a comparable cost. I was asking so I didn't under charge for custom work.
Guess in the future I will just stick to cupcakes and not ask for any help from people that I thought might be kind enough to help.
Im pretty sure Pinchofsweetener did JUST that... By advising you to check pricing threads here on CC, since you probably know being a business owner, that pricing cakes or really any baked goods isn't just a simple 1,2,3..and what works for one area such as, las vegas, probably wouldn't work somewhere like a small town in lets say, Vermont.
Quote:
http://bakelovenotwar.co.za/2011/03/02/red-velvet-cupcakes/
Side note, you might want to consider contacting these people, because they're apparently using a photo of yours, and good established businesses wouldn't want to get caught doing that.
The bit that struck me right from the start was, the OP said she wanted a 3 tier cake to feed 50 people. Wow that's a lot of cake.
Then OP'er said she was going to make the tiers - 6'-8'-12", and again that is a lot of cake, for 50 people. The 12" alone will serve over 50 people.
The OP'er needs to do more research than just pricing.
And as a side note, I didn't think anyone was rude, except the OP'er.
Also that cake looks simple, but it will be time consuming.
Good luck with the cake and the research.
WOW!!! I am sorry I thought this was a forum for help ... without knowing anything about me or my business you all sure know how to judge.
1. I apologize if I came across "snarky" I had just come to the computer from a 13 hour day of baking as I am one girl baking for two since my partner quit to open a restaurant and I am busier than ever.
2. I didn't do my website my 14 yo daughter did in Feb and I didn't notice the picture she had used until now. It has been removed and I emailed the blog owner to apologize. I had saved it 3 years ago when I was looking for the red hearts. Since our RV look a lot like those my daughter just thought it was ours, my bad for not checking the site from top to bottom. I have gone thru and found a couple others she had used and those have been taken down.
3. The client wanted her cake that size to serve 50 people but as she put it, "We are big cake eaters" and wanted to serve healthy size slices. I know how many it will serve but that is what she wanted. I normally just do cutting cakes and have not ever done a larger size and wasn't sure how long the piping would take to be able to figure the price out.
4. She also wanted a quote yesterday when she called, again 13 hour day, so I thought if I came here and asked a simple yes or no question that is what I would get so I could go from there. Never entered my mind this was not the place to get help as the cupcake forum has always been very helpful.
5. Thank you to the couple of you that PM'd me and gave me the help I was asking for ... pretty sad they don't post for fear of this exact thing, of being harassed without knowing anything about the situation. I have no problem doing the research on things, it is the time I don't have and thought I could get a quick answer to a question. Will not be back for help.
Regarding number 3. I understand that the customer wants for 50 people and if they also want a 6 8 12 that is fine oto. I bring it up because often bakers charge by the serving. I mention is so if you read prices or people give you feedback on their serving price that you times it by 92 servings not 50 people that the client wishes to serve.
AAnd those people that pmed you rather than post publicly, pretty sure most of us know who that was, and they have instigated so much drama themselves, that they usually get flagged and have their own posts deleted. So don't go thinking they're some fabulous helpful people, truthfully, they're most likely sneaky, snarky, drama queens. ;)
A
Original message sent by chilicat
WOW!!! I am sorry I thought this was a forum for help ... without knowing anything about me or my business you all sure know how to judge.
4. She also wanted a quote yesterday when she called, again 13 hour day, so I thought if I came here and asked a simple yes or no question that is what I would get so I could go from there. Never entered my mind this was not the place to get help as the cupcake forum has always been very helpful.
5. Thank you to the couple of you that PM'd me and gave me the help I was asking for ... pretty sad they don't post for fear of this exact thing, of being harassed without knowing anything about the situation. I have no problem doing the research on things, it is the time I don't have and thought I could get a quick answer to a question. Will not be back for help.
We don't know anything about your business or partner quitting etc et which is why people are blunt and to the point when it comes to things that seem wrong I myself gave a link to a thread that would help you and others have posted on here suggestions of where yiu could look since there really is no simple yes or no answer, but that doesn't mean opinions will be voice when it comes off a certain way.
Even just stating from the beginning that you've had a long work day and would appreciate the help in locating a good source would've been a lot better than I don't have the time to do it.
This is a forum, therefore all we can do is try to interpret your words and most of us do it quite literally. Wording should always be considered
AAnd concerning to: 2. I didn't do my website my 14 yo daughter did in Feb and I didn't notice the picture she had used until now. It has been removed and I emailed the blog owner to apologize. I had saved it 3 years ago when I was looking for the red hearts. Since our RV look a lot like those my daughter just thought it was ours, my bad for not checking the site from top to bottom. I have gone thru and found a couple others she had used and those have been taken down.
I can't apologize whn I say that anything with my name in it would have been checked from start to stop because the website is what will attractt new customers to you. Daughter or not I would've gone through the site with a fine toothed comb to make sure it had me coming off at my best instead of giving room for people to think that I just copy others work and use their materials, whether it be in the gallery or elsewhere. I feel like that goes for everybody when it comes to an actual business, whether it be cakes or otherwise.:roll:
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