Price For Cake Balls?

Business By starbird43 Updated 14 Dec 2012 , 1:25am by auzzi

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starbird43 Posted 31 Aug 2007 , 3:56am
post #1 of 20

Well, I finally made some cake balls!! I work in a factory, and my co-workers are my guinea pigs icon_smile.gif Needless to say, they are in love! I made a few varieties, but the one they LOVE is marble cake with toffee nut creamer dipped in milk chocolate. I had one lady want 2 dozen then asked for a dozen for her neighbor! I just made another lady 3 dozen to go on vacation with her over the holiday!! How much do I charge them? The first ones, she gave me $2.50 a dozen. I don't know if that price is worth my time hand rolling them, and then hand dipping them! I have had to make cakes just to make them. However, I can't really set a price, I live in Michigan and I am not allowed to charge if I am not licensed (as far as what I have been told) So the $2.50 came about when the first lady asked my how much. I just told her I don't know, what do you think. She asked me what I had into them, but I got as far as how much the chocolate cost and she said she would give me $5.00 for the 2 dozen. (about what I have into the chocolate per dozen) Long story, sorry! Anyway, how much should I be charging for them? FYI, I make them to be about the size of a truffle you would get from Godiva.

19 replies
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GI Posted 31 Aug 2007 , 4:09am
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$2.50 is pennies. I don't know what to charge... one lady here on CC was charging $15/doz for her cake bites. Or was it $16? Think of it like you would for candy..how much do they weigh? You are not making a profit and I'll bet you are losing $$cash on the deal. I would up my price.

Just my 2cents!

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PatricesPieces Posted 31 Aug 2007 , 4:13am
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I would like to know the answer to this as well. But I would be willing to bet it's definitely more than 2.50/doz.

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tobycat Posted 31 Aug 2007 , 4:16am
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I agree about upping the price. The thing about selling 2 dozen is that you can make about 60-70 with one cake batch and then you don't have anywhere to sell the extras! So, you end up eating that cost. It's the realities of doing this from home. Bakeries can get things at cost and then sell all of a product. So when they buy chocolate, they use it all and don't have some left on the shelf.

If you made a whole cake with the same ingredients, you'd probably charge $30-40 right? So make them .50 - .75 a piece and you should come out fine. You might even charge 1.00 a piece because they are, after all, extra special!

HTH -- S.

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starbird43 Posted 31 Aug 2007 , 4:27am
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sonoma9:
I wish I received that much for a cake!!! I usually will get about $20.00 for a double layer, filled 1/2 sheet with buttercream icing. I don't know why, but I usually end up doing some sort of special drawing or something on them too! (like an allis chalmers tractor) I know I'm not the greatest nor am I a bakery, but......? I think I may start to vent! icon_twisted.gif I wish my computer hadn't taken a poo on me, I would upload a pic so you could see what I get $20.00 for! I feel horrible when I say I usually get $20 and they look at me like I'm nutso! My own mother says there is no way in the world she would pay that much for a cake! Who knows? I guess I am just afraid that if I tell them a "PRICE" they won't want anymore. I am in an area with a lot of grocery store bakeries, and I hear a lot of, Well I only pay 15 at Sam's or Costco....or I only pay 1/2 that when I get one from Family Fare!

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tobycat Posted 31 Aug 2007 , 4:36am
post #6 of 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by starbird43

sonoma9:
I wish I received that much for a cake!!! I usually will get about $20.00 for a double layer, filled 1/2 sheet with buttercream icing. I don't know why, but I usually end up doing some sort of special drawing or something on them too! (like an allis chalmers tractor) I know I'm not the greatest nor am I a bakery, but......? I think I may start to vent! icon_twisted.gif I wish my computer hadn't taken a poo on me, I would upload a pic so you could see what I get $20.00 for! I feel horrible when I say I usually get $20 and they look at me like I'm nutso! My own mother says there is no way in the world she would pay that much for a cake! Who knows? I guess I am just afraid that if I tell them a "PRICE" they won't want anymore. I am in an area with a lot of grocery store bakeries, and I hear a lot of, Well I only pay 15 at Sam's or Costco....or I only pay 1/2 that when I get one from Family Fare!




Well, I hear you! One difference though is that I'm in CA, which is soooooo much more expensive than everywhere else. But, it's still just a cost ratio, right? If you want to make anything on a cake, then you have to charge more than you spend. Simple, yes, but not always easy to do. I remember having someone balk at a price I quoted. Ironically, hers was the first cake that I actually tried to be fair to myself on. Until then, people kept giving me 10-20 more than what I was asking. Then that happened, and my confidence completely deflated. Then, I got a couple of people who wanted to pay me "fairly." I started looking at what a boutique-like grocery store was charging, instead of Costco or Sams. They were charging $30.00 for 1 8", so I figured that not only am I better than they, but the people I make cakes for get EXACTLY what they want, which they can't do at Sams. I did do cakes for less in the beginning (not 20 though), and then eventually, I lost the fear of people saying no. If they don't want to pay something that I think is fair to me and fair to them (I'm never trying to gouge them!) then they are more than welcome to go elsewhere -- no hard feelings!

Just hang in there and keep it up! Your cakes are better than Sams, and they are getting way beyond what they would ever get there! It's just a different world.

HTH -- S.

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countrycakes Posted 31 Aug 2007 , 11:05am
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I charge and GET IT $10/dozen for my cake truffles....and I have a 2 dozen minimum order too....you need to be charging more! If people want your product and like it......they SHOULD BE PAYING for it. Plain and simple.....if you are doing this as a business, do not give your products away. BTDT. icon_smile.gif

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diane Posted 31 Aug 2007 , 11:14am
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i wish i could send you my cake scraps...i'm so sick of cake...and i make at least 3 to 7 cakes a week! icon_eek.gif

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armywife1 Posted 31 Aug 2007 , 11:18am
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I don't think you can even get donut holes from Dunkin' Donuts for $2.50! I would definitely up the price.

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mgdqueen Posted 31 Aug 2007 , 11:26am
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I am the queen of not charging enough, but I definitely charge more than you do! I do a single layer half sheet with a drawing or FBCT for $35. I don't take less than $8/dozen for cake "truffles"-we all know they're BALLS, but truffle makes people pay more. They are a total pain in my butt and I HATE to do them-I'm thinking about $12 or $15/dozen and I'm sure I'll still get it. I think they are pretty gross, but everybody seems to LOVE them...I'm not a fan of chocolate!

You cannot compete with grocery store prices so don't try. Sams only charges $37 for a FULL SHEET. We can barely buy our ingredients, boards, and box for that and wouldn't be reimbursed for our time at all. If those are the only customers you get, maybe you should rethink selling at all. I don't want that to sound mean-that's not how I intend it, but is it really worth your time and effort?

PS-I DID THE SAME THING WHEN I STARTED AND STILL DON'T CHARGE ENOUGH-JUST HIGHER THAN THAT!!!! If you look in my gallery and see the picture of the Cat Cake-she got that for $20. I would never do it again for that kind of money!

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FrostinGal Posted 31 Aug 2007 , 12:35pm
post #11 of 20

Quote:
Originally Posted by diane

...i'm so sick of cake...




GASP!!!

HERESY!!!

TREASON!!!

j/k icon_biggrin.gif

I wish I could learn to be sick of cake. Even when I decorated professionally, I never learned that trick.

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GI Posted 1 Sep 2007 , 12:46am
post #12 of 20

icon_eek.gif wow! $20 bucks for that cake!! That's high-way robbery!! You were robbed!!

I honestly think cake truffles/balls whatever you want to call them, are gross. Oreo cookie balls are a close 2nd...now don't anybody get all ticked off with that one!!! But people want what they like and if they are willing to pay for it, then I'll make it.

If someone wants to pay cheap bucks for a nasty shortening-flavored cake from the grocery store, let them! How much of it is going to be tossed in the trash versus one of these yummy cakes we do ourselves?!?!!!

Pick up your voice, there girlfriend, and set your price!! icon_biggrin.gif

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starbird43 Posted 1 Sep 2007 , 4:07am
post #13 of 20

Well,
I dropped off the cake balls today, and she left me an opening!!!! "How much do I owe you"? I told her that she could have these for the same as last time, but I will never sell them that cheap next time. I also made them smaller this time, to kinda balance out the cost! I know that's probably not the most honest thing to do, but I started using a scoop to get them all uniform in size. They were maybe the amount of a rounded dime smaller than the ones before, so you really couldn't tell that they were smaller!! icon_evil.gif I do know that I need to charge more, I really enjoy making the cakes and the "truffles" as I will now call them!!! Sounds so much better! I guess if I don't get the orders it is their loss. I have become pretty well know around the company as the "cake lady" and the "sweets lady". I do have to say one thing though that made me smile really big. One of the girls kept going on and on about a cake she purchased from Costco. How cheap it was, and that it was sooo yummy. Well, not too long after, I brought in a cake for one of my co-workers birthday, and I made quite a large cake just because I know a lot of people there have a sweet tooth. Someone brought her a piece, and she came to me after eating it and wanted to know why in the world I never told her that I could make cakes that tasted like that! icon_lol.gif The thing is, she basically had blown me off a few months before when a friend of mine suggested she get her wedding cake from me! She has been a loyal customer ever since! I have been letting a lot of people (that I do cakes for regularly) know that my price is going to have to go up. I let them all know that I am actually losing no less than $12.00 per cake that I do for them and that does not include gas, electric, my time etc... I guess I am going to have to just bite the bullet and charge more! I just know that I always run the risk of getting in trouble because I am not licensed. I don't know any way around that one!

Thank you all for your comments, suggestions and most of all, your SUPPORT! I really appreciate it!

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GI Posted 1 Sep 2007 , 4:42am
post #14 of 20

AWESOME!!! thumbs_up.gif

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MsMitchell Posted 4 Sep 2007 , 7:56pm
post #15 of 20

I made some that were so good I could not stop eating them, I made marbel cake with amerreto covered in milk chocolate, um so good! Thanks to all CC for the help! icon_biggrin.gif

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MsMitchell Posted 4 Sep 2007 , 7:57pm
post #16 of 20

I made some that were so good I could not stop eating them, I made marbel cake with amerreto covered in milk chocolate, um so good! Thanks to all CC for the help! icon_biggrin.gif

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MsMitchell Posted 4 Sep 2007 , 7:57pm
post #17 of 20

I made some that were so good I could not stop eating them, I made marbel cake with amerreto covered in milk chocolate, um so good! Thanks to all CC for the help! icon_biggrin.gif

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MsMitchell Posted 4 Sep 2007 , 7:57pm
post #18 of 20

I made some that were so good I could not stop eating them, I made marbel cake with amerreto covered in milk chocolate, um so good! Thanks to all CC for the help! icon_biggrin.gif

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FearlessAlly Posted 13 Dec 2012 , 8:01pm
post #19 of 20

Ok, how are some of you even covering costs? a 25 pack of sticks is at least 3.00 if you are using boxed cake and frosting and get them on sale, you would pay at least a dollar each. candy melts are 2.99 a pack when they are on sale. thats at least 8 dollars in ingredients? plus if you use sprinkles, another color etc. Be competitive. Call your local bakeries. Most bakeries in my area charge AT LEAST 3.25 a pop. One in particular is $40 a dozen. You also need to pay yourself for your time. I don't just cover the cost of my ingredients and not count and pay myself for my time that I spent making them.

 

To read that some people are charging per dozen what bakeries get for a single pop?  Forget that.  It isn't worth your time.  I don't bake for free.

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auzzi Posted 14 Dec 2012 , 1:25am
post #20 of 20

Always check the posting date. This thread is over 5 years old - lots of things have changed since then  ...

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