I've been trying to get all of my pricing in line and have a question for all you pros. Do you charge the same per serving price for a 1/4 (9x13)sheet as for a 1/3 (11x15), 1/2, and full? I've read lots of different posts, but none seem to answer this exact question. My oven is German (small) and only 15" square, so to make a 1/2 sheet cake, I have to bake two 1/4 sheets, no 12x18 cake pans for me.

Sorry this is so long. Hope some of you can give me some guidance!

I'd start making 14" squares more often instead of rectangular sheet cakes to get more servings

9x13 $35
11x15 $45
12x18 $65

this is for bc iced sheet cakes, obviously more for add-ons like choc bc, rolled bc, filling.....

There is not an easy answer for pricing cakes here especially since different parts of the country charge differently and before the crash we had loads and loads of threads on this subject. Also, I do not turn my oven on for that small and cheap cakes!

There are programs out there that takes your cost of the recipe ingredients, plus box and board plus the energy of turning on your oven and price out the cake per recipe. You might want to start by figuring out that cost, then the rule of thumb is to times that cost by 3 for your labor.

I would also see the types of cake your competition has in your area and what they charge so your price accordingly.

After averaging in all that you can get a feel for the cost per slice depending on your design.

I have a minimum and I'm also in a metro area and charge anywhere from $3.50 per slice for plan 'ol BC without any fancy dancy decoration to $5 for fondant. Then I add additional costs for gumpaste bouquets, extension, lace points etc. If it is a carved cake then I charge for the cake not the slice and have preworked out my designs and the timing and cost of ingredients and charge accordingly. That is wedding and sheet. Both are equal in my eyes.

And remember, that you make custom cakes and not cheap cakes and depending upon your talent level you can charge more for customizing.

HTH

Agree. And the smallest sheet I do is 11x15.[/quote]

me too.

Oops! I tried to use the quote function and didn't quite do it right.

Carving cakes is what got me started on the whole price re-evaluation. They are particularly tricky, I think.

As for competition, we are a small military community on the German/Dutch border. There are only a handful of decorators and then commissary (flavorless, unreliable, and cheap). A family needing a birthday cake doesn't have many options.

Here is what I'm doing. Please tell me if it's ethical:
- set price for sheet cakes (basic decoration)
- per slice price for round cakes
- custom price for carved cakes

Again, i appreciate all of the advice!

how many serving can you get from an 11x15 sheet cake??

I use Indydebi's chart, so 35 2"x2" slices

thank you amysue. where can i see indydebi's chart?

Try this:

http://forum.cakecentral.com/modules/Forums/files/cake_serving_guide_219.pdf

And here is a cake cutting tutorial:
http://cateritsimple.com/_wsn/page19.html

thank u soo much : )

tippyad are your prices for 1 layer sheet cakes or can it also be for 2 layer sheet cakes??