I have a customer requesting this cake. She wants it just like the picture, it is a cake someone else has done. It looks like it is the size of a wedding cake and is covered in fondant. I am thinking it should be the price of a wedding cake. It is for a 1st birthday so I am unsure of what I should charge. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My husband says $200 at least, but I am not very comfortable with that. I have done a 2 tiered castle with the towers on top with just icing and charged $65, I need help!

Thanks,
Christina

listen to your husband.....just look at all the detailed work that is in this cake...not to mention all the time it will take to cover this thing with fondant!! and what about your time...whew!!!! hahahaha i agree with your husband!!!!! good luck...keep us posted!!!!

craftmasterchris wrote:

I would charge $485 for that cake. I am thinking it is 90 servings at $5.00 a serving plus $35 for the turrets. But I am in a metro area. If you are in a rural or economically depressed area, I would charge about $4.00 to $4.50.

BTW, IMHO you way under-charged for your two tiered castle cake! Remember you are making a hand crafted, custom cake and not cheap cakes!

Wow! That's gorgeous! Yes, I would definitely charge wedding prices for this because it is so detailed and so big. Now, I know there's differing opinions on this too, but if your customer didn't need all that cake (that would certainly be alot of cake!) you could do 1 or 2 of the tiers styrofoam. I personally don't charge as much for my styrofoam layers just because it saves me the headache of having to bake that much cake. I'd much rather ice and decorate a dummy! But even if you did do dummys, I agree completely with your hubby, $200 is the least you should charge. Anything less would be giving it away.

I don't know- I would start by figuring out how much I would charge for each tier (its hard to tell how big each cake is --10, 8 & 6??) -- anyway, then add those up and the figure out how much extra per slice or per cake you want to charge for the detail.

You could always offer $200 or whatever for a very close replica of this cake....and if she says that's out of her budget, you could do a less elaborate version for less $.

I have to say nothing less than 150.00. That is alot of work.
Good luck!!!!

Shelleylynn

Where I live I would have are hard time asking for $200, but I think I would for a beautiful cake like that!
Another one voting with husband's idea.

I am making a 2 tiered castle cake for this weekend. The castle part is 9" x 7", but not sure how tall to make it? How tall is bottom castle part in this picture? How tall are the turets? I am also adding 4 turrets to the cake I will be making.

The 2nd tier is a 6" round cake with a turret................and stupid me quoted a price of $45.00 dollars.

I think, regardless of your location, even $200 is too little for that cake. It's gorgeous, huge and a LOT of work. I would charge at least $400. If the customer doesn't want to pay that, then tell her you could do a smaller version since that cake serves at least 90 people like a PP said....

HTH

Jen

PS be sure to post and let us know what you end up charging her and what she said...

I think anything less or very close to $200 is giving this cake away. That's a lot of detail and hours.

The cake looks like a 6, 8 and 10 covered in fondant with seven towers, plus drop flowers. the board will need to be thick enough to hold the cake.

So $250 to $300 maybe, look around.

here are some pretty castle cakes, from the UK.

http://www.cakesunlimited.net/html/body_castle_cakes.html

here coment on the cake below by a mother:

This cake was made for my daughter's 4th birthday celebration! Next time I make a castle cake I'll add more color, but on this one I ran out of time. Didn't realize how much time this would take! It was fun though.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3076/1425/1600/100_4793.0.jpg

main link to her page> she has some nice cakes.

http://cakespace.blogspot.com/

Just wanted you to see how much work goes into a castle cake so do not short change yourself.

good luck

southaustingirl wrote:

The client would only get a couple of cupcakes from me for that price......

Thanks to all of you who replied to my question. I guess my husband is right I have been charging less than I should for my cakes. I know I put a lot of hours into my cakes and a lot of hard work, it is just hard to ask for what they are worth. I think I will as for $200, I will keep you all posted and let you know how it goes. Thanks again!

Christina

P.S. You all are great with all of your support. Thanks!

Southaustingirl, I think the bottom layer is 4 inches tall and the towers are 4 1/2 to 5 inches tall. Thanks for replying to my question, everyones input helps. I still haven't emailed her back yet, I am still having a tough time with the price. I will see how it goes and keep you all posted.

Thanks,
Christina

Don't charge less than $200.00 that is really too little for that cake. Keep us posted.

OK - here's your cheering section.....

You can do it! You can ask her for at least $200 for that cake. Your time and effort is worth even more then that. You are VERY talented and deserve to be compensated for your work of art!


Jen

Craftmasterchris if the bottom is 4 inches then 200 is still too low!!!!!!! If this person can't afford the price she shouldn't be in your store. She should stand outside and window shop instead!

Thanks dolcesunshine20, Jenteach, & tiptop57 for the cheering section, I really need it. My husband had just asked me today if I had given her a price yet, and of course I haven't because I have been really worried about losing a customer. I guess I will go ahead and take the chance and see what she says, all she can say is it is to much. I will let you know.

Thanks again, everyone!
Christina

I don't think it ought to matter whether it's a 1st b-day cake or a wedding cake. If someone wants an elaborate detailed cake for any occassion they need to pay what it's worth. This is a beautiful cake and it's going to take a lot of time and talent to pull it off. Set your price and quote it to her and if she wants it she'll pay it. You can't do work like this and then under charge for it just because it's for a 1 year old's b-day. Geesh............ Think of all that you put into your cakes. This momma needs to know right now that she ain't gettin this type of cake for chicken feed, so to speak. Good luck!

Guess What?................She said YES!!!!!!! I finally emailed her this afternoon and she replied shortly afterward and said that was the cake she had her heart set on and she really wanted it. Thanks to your support and my husband I took a giant step on this cake. This is my most expensive birthday cake to date. I will post the picture when I finally do the cake in September. I will be keeping my fingers crossed until then.

Thanks for all of your support,
Christina

Well, good for you!!! That's exciting, I know.

VERY good for you!!!

Good job! I'm so glad you told her the price it's worth - for the cake and your time....

Congratulations.

Jen

[quote="craftmasterchris"]Guess What?................She said YES!!!!!!!/quote]

Congratulations! That's great. As a people pleaser myself, I know that that took a lot.

Congrats! Anyone should see that the cake is well worth the money. If they don't, tell them to go to wal-mart and try to get the cake made, lol!

looking forward to seeing your cake.