Mini Cake Pricing......what Would You Charge?

Business By golfgirl1227 Updated 13 Jul 2007 , 5:33pm by leily

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golfgirl1227 Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 12:59pm
post #1 of 22

I've had a request for 20 mini cakes about 3"x3" - buttercream with a flower or decorated to look like baby blocks. I have no clue how to go on this. Would you charge your regular per serving price and if so, how many servings would a 3x3 be? Like 2? Or would you just make up a price for each one and go with that?

TIA!!!

21 replies
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nicsnala99 Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 1:03pm
post #2 of 22

at that point, why don't you figure your costs, and then determine a price relative to what u might charge for the same amount of product. if the blocks require more detailed or in depth decorating, i'd add a little extra on for that. hope this helps. good luck
nicole k

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FromScratch Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 1:09pm
post #3 of 22

Have you ever made mini cakes before?? They are a PAIN in the heiney. I wouldn't do a mini cake for less than $8-10 a piece.. especially buttercream which is a SERIOUS pain in the heiney on a small cake.

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smbegg Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 1:10pm
post #4 of 22

I usually charge 3.00 for a 3x2 inch cake in BC only. But since they are bigger, I would go$4.00 each. But that is just me.

Stephanie

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Hollyanna70 Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 1:11pm
post #5 of 22

3x3 is pretty much a one person serving. The place I use to work, we would score our sheet cakes in either 3 inch or 2 inch squares, depending on the customer's request. They would choose 2 inch if they were trying to stretch the cake.

I don't have my own business, and never have.. I've only worked at a Warehouse chain bakery, briefly, but I would say whatever you charge per serving, you should probably double it, since doing single cakes will probably be more time consuming, and have more detail to each of them, than a whole cake would. So, if you charge 2.50 a slice, then charge 5.00 per single cake made; or maybe you could charge like cupcake prices. I think it really depends on the amount of detail in the blocks, or flowers.

This, of course, is just my opinion, and I may be way off here. Just trying to help. icon_smile.gif


Please post pictures of them when you've finished. I would love to see them!

Holly

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ladefly Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 1:11pm
post #6 of 22

I know there has been a couple of threads lately ono this subject. look in the recent posts and they did talk about pricinf and such.
Good luck

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indydebi Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 1:23pm
post #7 of 22

My rule of thumb: 1/4 the size means 4 times the price

Because mini ANYTHING is a big PITA!!!!!

I'm with jkalman .... no less than $10 each.

Once you make them, you'll know why.

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antonia74 Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 1:23pm
post #8 of 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkalman

Have you ever made mini cakes before?? They are a PAIN in the heiney. I wouldn't do a mini cake for less than $8-10 a piece.. especially buttercream which is a SERIOUS pain in the heiney on a small cake.





LISTEN TO THIS ADVICE! They may look cute and smaller and easier, but they are way more time consuming than anything else. Icing a smaller cake in buttercream is painstaking. I too would start in the $10 range/each.

You're probably going to take the order....but you'll remember all this advice after the fact. Mini cakes are THE biggest pain, bar none! icon_cry.gif

If you can, at least save yourself hours by doing fondant? thumbs_up.gif

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golfgirl1227 Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 8:52pm
post #9 of 22

Thanks for the advice. I know they'll be a PITA, that's why I don't want to underprice. I'm going to try convinving her to use fondant, if she still wants to do this when she finds out what they cost.

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Hollyanna70 Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 10:02pm
post #10 of 22

If she doesn't want fondant because of the taste, make up a batch and let her taste it. Maybe that will change her mind. I know that's why I never bothered with it before, but now that I've read about all these other brands, and MMF, I'm definitely going to try it out.

Good luck to you. I can't wait to see them. icon_smile.gif


Holly

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JoAnnB Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 10:31pm
post #11 of 22

You could suggest cupcakes with a little fondant (or candy clay) baby block on top for decoration.

The little blocks will take a little time, but not nearly what the mini cakes will take.

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thedessertdiva Posted 12 Jul 2007 , 10:46pm
post #12 of 22

I just did 45 of these little suckers, I think they are in my photos, and I charged $5.00 a piece for them. WELL...even though they were a blast to do, I agree with the previous posts...I wouldnt charge any less then $10.00 each for them and they better be in an even quantity!

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golfgirl1227 Posted 13 Jul 2007 , 12:27am
post #13 of 22

I hear ya! I feel the same way about those darn Martha Stewart sugar cookie cakes. I won't do them again for less than a million dollars a piece! Actually, they weren't that bad- but they took a lot more time than I thought they would.

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indydebi Posted 13 Jul 2007 , 12:39am
post #14 of 22

I'm actually working on something as we speak (uh, type) to put on my website on this issue in the hopes that brides who visit my site will become educated on how these are NOT "cheaper", contrary to how the magz and websites are trying to mislead brides into thinking so. It's a matter of educating them.....PITA that it is.

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leily Posted 13 Jul 2007 , 5:55am
post #15 of 22

well i went to reply to this post around lunch time but then CakeCentral went to maintence icon_cry.gif

I just wanted to add that anything under a 6" Cake I Pretty Much start at a minimum of $4/serving for just the basic cake/buttercream, and the smaller it gets the more expensive it gets. I have attempted a mini tiered cake of a 4,3,2 and I don't think I would charge less than $15 for one this size, but even a smaller one would still start at $10.00

There are a few reasons for this, smaller is definitely harder to do. Also once I go under 6" I am having to make sure that all of my "waste" is covered. It does not take all the batter for one of my cake recipes to make a small cake like this, I will have quite a bit left over, not to mention the extra fondant, buttercream, etc. It is also taking me the same amount of time in the oven (actually more usualy b/c I don't have that many small pans) and the same amount of time to do the dishes etc...

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indydebi Posted 13 Jul 2007 , 11:42am
post #16 of 22

lely, you have explained practically perfectly the concept of "overhead" and why high volume (big cakes) merit lower prices than low volume (small cakes) which require higher prices. Scrap factor, set-up and tear-down (clean up), basic material costs (same number of disposable piping bags whether you're decorating one big cake or 20 small cakes), and TIME.

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Momof4luvscakes Posted 13 Jul 2007 , 12:04pm
post #17 of 22

I had a bride the other day want 25 smaller cakes with a little bigger cake for the bridal party table. I did not dare quote a price right off the bat because I knew it would be a PITA! I finally mailed her a quote, and I think she is rethinking that. I really did not want to do all that work, so I priced it high enough so if she did decide to do that, it would be worth my while. Do not end up losing money on this deal!!

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rebe Posted 13 Jul 2007 , 12:55pm
post #18 of 22

Definitely go with the highest price. i tried these a little smaller than 3x3 with poured fondant. i must admit they taste great but i would think twice about doing them again. way to hard to frost something that small. i hope it goes well for you.

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SweetHope Posted 13 Jul 2007 , 2:41pm
post #19 of 22

Here is the site where you can find various mini cakes with pricing.
www.carriescakes.com/cakes.php?style=11&sort=ranking
It confirms it is not worth making them for less than $10! HTH icon_smile.gif

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indydebi Posted 13 Jul 2007 , 2:55pm
post #20 of 22

SweetHope, what a great reference site! I saved this to show brides if they try to go this route! Thanks a bunch!

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SweetHope Posted 13 Jul 2007 , 5:23pm
post #21 of 22

You are very welcome Indydebi. So many times I have found the mini cake question on the forum and I was very happy when I visited this site. I am sure this can be very helpful.

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leily Posted 13 Jul 2007 , 5:33pm
post #22 of 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by indydebi

lely, you have explained practically perfectly the concept of "overhead" and why high volume (big cakes) merit lower prices than low volume (small cakes) which require higher prices. Scrap factor, set-up and tear-down (clean up), basic material costs (same number of disposable piping bags whether you're decorating one big cake or 20 small cakes), and TIME.




Thanks indydebi, I had originally had Overhead typed in, but that words meaning seems to be lost on here so I figured examples are always the best!

Sweethop - That link was a good one, I have bookmarked it also.

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