Help -- I have only been doing cakes for my kids' birthdays and for daycare holiday parties. I am not that good but people have started asking me to do cakes for them anyway. One I did was for my daughter's friend -- I ended up not charging anything and giving the child his cake as his birthday present. That went well I thought. But now, I have other people asking me to bake .. The problem is are they willing to pay me for my money spent and my time. I figured a basic cake costs me at minimum $15-20 for ingredients -- not including cake board, icing colors, etc. Nor does it include gas -- now that it is $2.60 a gallon that has to play a part since I live 25 minutes from town. So if I charge $15 the price of a WalMart cake -- they will consider that expensive since they can get the same thing (ha ha) at WalMart. I end up losing money and time (which is important as my full-time job comes first and requires alot of time.) I have 2 situations -- one is a birthday cake and she wants me to deliver to her. and the 2nd is a grooms cake -- the General Lee sculpted -- I did one demo already== so that money I figured I'd eat (literally - lol). Is it better to say -- look I will spend at least $15 on ingredients so I'm just letting you know that this will be more expensive than if you bought a cake from WalMart -- People kind of expect you to do it for free. A friend of mine does have a cake business and she said people don't want to pay you anything. I enjoy doing the cakes for my kids but I don't want this to be a freebie to every Tom Dick and Harry. Any comments please?

You need to come up with some prices, definitely!!! I see no reason why you should have to deliver a cake that doesn't need construction, i.e. wedding cakes have pillars, etc., etc.

One thing you can definitely say is that your cakes are much better than walmart, etc. and you offer a lot more than walmart because they have the little cheap generic decorations, whereas you can do a more original design.

Make sure you absolutely discuss a price first off, so that way, no one will be assuming to get a freebie.

People don't want to pay, well she's my sis in law or she's my cousing, blah, blah, blah....but they have NO IDEA what goes into making one. I recently had some family members tell me my prices were too low. Granted, I deducted a few dollars, but hey they're family and I know they'll be there for me one day, but...when doing this just for acquaintances, you have to charge a price and if they don't want to pay it, they'll really be missing out. Tell people what ingredients you use, like all brand names....people should understand. I'd rather pay a lot more to get something like I make then to EVER go to walmart!

Sorry, I like to blab!!

good luck!

I understand about the paying the money and they want it for free.
I give cakes as gifts too. Now, my friends are my cheerleaders and
have given me much praise about my cakes which has led to some orders. Time is money. I try to give the best deal. Rule number
one, when they ask you to do a cake, ask them what their budget is.
Don't quote a price, ask their budget. Try to go on that.
Also, where do you live that they charge 15$ a cake?
Your cakes are special, walmarts are commercial.
Sorry so blunt, but when you have people wanting a 100$ cake for
25$, it seems they have no respect for you time or talent.
vicki
vixterfsu
Long Beach NY

My advise would be not mention the cost of your ingredients. They don't need to know that. Let your cakes speak for themselves. I'm just starting out, too. I charge $1.00 per serving for plain cake and $1.25 per serving for cake with filling. Any decorations and etc. are extra. I'm doing a graduation cake (the big book) for 30 people. The price is: $30.00 for the cake, $7.50 for the filling, $15.00 for the edible images (there is one 5x7 and one just the face), and $2.50 for the graduation cap and diploma. The total is $55.00. This is just a basic cake - no frills. I'm probably not making as much as I should for it, but I'm just starting out and trying to build up my business. The cake will cost me about $25.00 to make.

Ok, first of all I have to disagree with you on one thing - your cakes are beautiful - I looked at your photos and they are wonderful.



Now regarding pricing there are several different schools of thought here at CC. Some people charge per slice, some people charge 3 times their cost (I would include boards, boxes, dowels) and some people use the pricing matrix that you can find on this website by doing a search. I agree with the other post you need to charge something and it will probably be more than Walmart because you don't mass produce like Walmart and I am guessing you won't find that Nemo cake at Walmart so you can't really compare what you do with Walmart. I would call around to different places near where you live to get a general idea of cake prices.

Personally I would charge extra for delivery like you said gasoline is expensive and again your time is worth something too.

Good luck!

Charge 3 times what you spend on supplies. You're kinda like me, I only do cakes every once in a while and because of that I end up spend just like you about $15-$20 at a time on everything because I don't normally have them on-hand. And no you don't have to warn them about the cost either because they know the alternative is Wal-Mart and they like your work more than Wal-Mart. I think the hardest thing for me is telling them what the cake costs because I wish I could just make them for free and say, "Here's your cake hope you like it," but I can't... it's too much money to just spend here and there and not be compensated for, not to mention the minimum of 5 hours you'll be spending working on it. If you tell them how much time you spent on the cake and leave out the cost of supplies, I'm sure they'll be happy to pay whatever you carge them for it. Especially if you're doing it on top of your full time job, house work and the kids.

I started off the same way. I did all the cakes for all the family events and some of my friends. I was always giving them away as presents and then other people (friends of friends) started asking me for cakes. When I decided that I would start selling them, I did a lot of research and created my own price list according to my local bakeries and what I felt I deserved for my time, etc. I have been told my prices are low and since I've just started off, I probably will raise my prices after being in business a year.

But in my price list, I do have a $5 delivery fee (reasonable distance). If they don't like it, then they pick it up themselves. If you think about it, you are spending your time and gas money to do something they can do (and if they are really tight on time, then they can spend the money for convenience).

Hope this helps you out a lot and good luck on your future business. It is scary at first, but once the word of mouth gets out, it is a lot of fun! Enjoy!