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peg818
Forum Fanatic
Joined: Mar 19, 2005
Posts: 1784
Location: upstate NY
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:21 pm |
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I'm talking cost here, just for a basic cake for what ever you consider a basic cake
Cake $3.50
Icing $6.50
Box/board ruffly $2.00
Making the total cost for an 8in round cake $12.00 meaning i should be charging at least $36 for a basic cake.
This is really just curiosity on my part, with so many what should i charge questions it got me thinking it would be interesting to see what its costing to make these cakes. |
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tiny_dancer
Regular Member
Joined: Sep 29, 2006
Posts: 184
Birthday: Jul 02
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:34 pm |
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It really depends on where you live because grocery prices vary and it depends on what size of cake you are talking about and how many tiers it has. Cakes are relatively cheap to make but you have to think about the labor. If it cost you a total of $14.00 to make a cake and you spent 5 hours decorating and you charged $36.00 then you are only making $4.40 an hour. So you kind of need to figure out what you think you should be paid and what people are willing to pay in your area. |
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ericaann79
Frequent Member
Joined: Feb 09, 2007
Posts: 239
Location: San Jose, CA
Birthday: Feb 12
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:36 pm |
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You can't really do it that way...I have a spreadsheet I use, I will attach to this reply. It factors in my grocery cost and my hourly cost. Then it calculates what I should charge. If I don't charge the full amount I use the second summary to find out what I made per hour...let me know if you have ?'s. |
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pricematrix.xls |
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Jasmine33
Frequent Member
Joined: Jul 23, 2008
Posts: 249
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:58 pm |
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My basic chocolate sheet cake cost $3.50. That is made from scratch using all real butter. There is one in my pics section.
The two 4th of July cakes I made, also in my pics. They cost $3.50 together as well, not counting sprinkles. Those are 8 inch rounds and I usually slice them into 8 slices each. They usually sell $2.00 each or 2/$3.00.
We slice and then send them out in plastic packaging. SO no board/box cost.
They are both quick/easy to frost and toss some sprinkles on.
We also sell cookies/brownies/ banana bread and want to get into baking and seriously decorating cakes and selling them.
There is a pineapple cake in my pics section. We baked that last weekend and it cost :
Basic cake recipe $3.45 +
Icing $1.45 +
Pineapple $3.20 +
Fresh strawberrys $2.50 +
Coconut .75 = $11.35
The box and inserts would be about another $3.00
SO $14.50 rounded off.
I think we spent about a good 3 hours on that cake since I made it from scratch, sifted the flour 12 times, wasn't familiar with the recipe, etc. lol
I think as we get quicker we could probably do that whole thing in 2 hours. Baking time included.
I hope.
That cake wasn't sold. It was for my aunts birthday. But I told my dh we should charge bare minimum $40.00 if we sold it to anyone.
Some ladies I have heard charge 3 x ingredients plus hourly. That sounds like a good rule of thumb.
With my other baked goods it is easy with not much time involved like decorating a cake would be. So I charge 7 x - 10 x ingredients cost.
I need to figure out what works for us with the cakes. If I followed the 3 x plus hourly that pineapple cake would of cost $90.00!
I don't think that is going to happen. LOL
The double layer chocolate round cake in my pics section. The one with cherries. I believe that was $5.68 ingredients only. Not sure what I could charge for that. We made it for ourselves. |
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Jasmine33
Frequent Member
Joined: Jul 23, 2008
Posts: 249
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:09 pm |
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tinydancer
| Quote: | | So you kind of need to figure out what you think you should be paid and what people are willing to pay in your area. |
That is exactly what I am trying to figure out right now. I am actually surprised people pay what they do for cookies/brownies here. Unfortunately i am having a hard time with even getting $1.00 per cupcake!
I had 1 customer 4th of July who seen the cupcakes in small boxes of 3 with 3 small sugar cookies and they are marked $3.00 each. He called and asked for a discount. He is a regular and a great customer so we told him $2.50 per box. He wanted 4.
Another customer offered us $20.00 for a dozen cupcakes for the 4th and her hubby was mad. I didn't find out he was mad til way later but I still felt like I was overcharging her cause we sent them out for $3.00 in packs of 3. SO I accepted the money and also sent her $7.00 in free cookies.
Anyhow. I need to find the fine balance between charging what I am worth(which I admit is not alot yet! LOL) and what people will be willing to pay. |
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kimblyd
Regular Member
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Joined: Apr 13, 2007
Posts: 113
Gallery Supporter Member
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:12 pm |
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First off I have to say I do not charge for cakes, I only make them for my family as an obsession, I mean hobby. But I am the money manager at my house and I keep track of what everything costs. I'm Type A and I actually made a cake spreadsheet. 
I figured out that it costs me about $15-18 to make a cake using one cake mix and 6 cups of buttercream. I add a box of pudding and one extra egg to all of my cakes, that makes them more expensive.
Add about $5 for each additional cake mix for bigger cakes/more layers. Add $1 for each additional cup of BC, oh, and the filling. Forgot about that, guess that's about $1 a cup, or more if I use cream cheese or lemon curd or anything else besides BC. I also make at least one recipe of candy clay for decorations for each cake, that's about $3.50.
Hmmmm....so the total is...a lot more than people think, and that's just ingredients.  If I were charging for my cakes with labor added, my family would think I was ripping them off!
I usually just say that the cake is their gift. They probably think I'm cheap, but WE know better.  |
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loriemoms
Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Nov 09, 2005
Posts: 2638
Birthday: Feb 12
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:19 pm |
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| peg818 wrote: | I'm talking cost here, just for a basic cake for what ever you consider a basic cake
Cake $3.50
Icing $6.50
Box/board ruffly $2.00
Making the total cost for an 8in round cake $12.00 meaning i should be charging at least $36 for a basic cake.
This is really just curiosity on my part, with so many what should i charge questions it got me thinking it would be interesting to see what its costing to make these cakes. |
You can't do that three times thing with cakes....it just doesnt work. How long does it take you to ice that cake? You need to be doing your time, as well as the electricity and the water and the gas to buy the cake supplies and rent and all that too. If you are just doing a buttercream 8 inch cake, with some buttercream flowers on it, then consider it took an hour to bake and cool, and then another hour to frost and put flowers on it. I would say closer to 65-70 dollars for that cake. More if the decorations are more detailed. |
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kettlevalleygirl
Frequent Member
Joined: Apr 07, 2006
Posts: 442
Location: BC, Canada
Birthday: Mar 16
Gallery Supporter Member
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:39 pm |
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I am making a wedding cake in a couple of weeks and did a very (very) rough estimate of the cost to buy everything. I have to buy from Safeway, Costco, etc...and a cake supply place for the stacking system.
I am not providing the ribbon or the flowers, and I will let her use a cake plateau for no charge. It is costing me close to $275.00. I figured the fondant alone is $70. It is the wedding gift for my daughters friend, so she is paying for the supplies only. |
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kettlevalleygirl
Frequent Member
Joined: Apr 07, 2006
Posts: 442
Location: BC, Canada
Birthday: Mar 16
Gallery Supporter Member
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:43 pm |
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Sorry, forgot to say they will be 14,12,10,8,and 6. three different flavors and fillings! |
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tracycakes
Forum Addict
Joined: Feb 27, 2007
Posts: 746
Location: North Little Rock, Arkansas
Birthday: Apr 24
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:55 pm |
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Someone mentioned that they bought 30 cupcakes for ashower over the weekend and it only cost her $11. I think it was at Wal-Mart or Kroger and she couldn't believe they were that cheap. |
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Fairytale
Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 11, 2006
Posts: 684
Birthday: Sep 01
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:12 pm |
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Well, the cake I made yesterday, which was an 8" round, (two layers) that cost me over $40.00 just in ingredients. It included 1 lb of butter, a dozen eggs, 12 oz. of Guittards chocolate, 3/4 cup Schlesen Berger cocoa, 1/4 cup Madagascar pure vanilla, etc. It tastes just like a giant brownie. |
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sweetenedcakes
Junior Member
Joined: Feb 01, 2008
Posts: 31
Location: Carolina, Puerto Rico
Birthday: Dec 28
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:14 pm |
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the cupcakes are very cheap...but they don't do it like with eggs, flour and everything fresh; is a mix that you add water and that's it |
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Suebee
Frequent Member
Joined: Jan 30, 2006
Posts: 405
Location: PA
Birthday: Mar 06
Gallery Supporter Member
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:16 pm |
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Store cupcakes are cheap and they taste cheap too.
Have you seen some of those supcakes in the stores, they have a great idea, but sloppy. The icing is just thrown on them. I charge $8.00 a dozen for your basic cupcake. It might be double the price, but atleast it tastes and looks better. |
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jkalman
Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Mar 12, 2007
Posts: 4239
Location: Southern New Hampshire
Birthday: Oct 28
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:16 pm |
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Goodness.. it costs me on average $1.20/serving to make my cakes just in ingredients.. some are more and some are less..
Chocolate is one the more pricey varieties. I use SMBC and bake only from scratch. |
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Suebee
Frequent Member
Joined: Jan 30, 2006
Posts: 405
Location: PA
Birthday: Mar 06
Gallery Supporter Member
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| Posted:
Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:16 pm |
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Store cupcakes are cheap and they taste cheap too.
Have you seen some of those supcakes in the stores, they have a great idea, but sloppy. The icing is just thrown on them. I charge $8.00 a dozen for your basic cupcake. It might be double the price, but atleast it tastes and looks better. |
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