Most of you (so far as I can determine) have a base price for BC and one for fondant and then increase that price depending on what the customer wants. What are some of the things that you charge extra for and is it a per slice increase or is it just a tacked on extra charge?
If they order a full buttercream cake, I have no upcharges. I don't charge extra for any design elements.... not for square cakes, basketweave, lace, number of BC roses, cake or filing flavors, etc. Flat price all the way.
Fondant cakes have a flat price per slice. That includes most fondant work/decors. Exceptions are bows, crowns, etc. .. pieces that require significant add'l work.
I guess I'm the odd ball here. I don't charge by the slice. I charge by size of cake ( which is basically number of servings) and then I charge by complexity of design. Whether it's fondant or buttercream. You can have two cakes, exactly the same size, and one could take twice as much time as the other, based solely on design. I'm a major stickler on getting paid for labor!
I don't charge by serving - I don't know of anyone here who does. I charge by an hourly rate so each cake is individually priced according to how long it's going to take me. I do have a different hourly charge for wedding vs celebration cakes to cover the difference in overheads and I also charge a set price for cakes with just icing & ribbon (as mentioned in another thread it's a very high price!).
I don't charge by serving - I don't know of anyone here who does. I charge by an hourly rate so each cake is individually priced according to how long it's going to take me. I do have a different hourly charge for wedding vs celebration cakes to cover the difference in overheads and I also charge a set price for cakes with just icing & ribbon (as mentioned in another thread it's a very high price!).
Under this pricing structure, I (a 30 year cake maker, who can whip 'em out really fast) would make less than the newbie, who has been making cakes for a year and it takes her 3 days to do a cake that I can do in 3 hours. I understand this works well for you ... just illustrating why I wouldn't prefer it.
And it all comes down to semantics. If I charged $50/hour for a 4 hour cake that served 100 people, it breaks down to $2/serving. In the reverse, I could take my $350 cake for 100, break it down to time and say I charge $100/hour.
Semantics.
I have a base price for buttercream cakes, regardless of the design on the cake. If they want fondant accents, bows, etc, I add an additional charger depending on what they want. Depending on the size of the cake, I usually add $15 for a bow and fondant accents. I feel like the bow charge is a fair price because it doesn't take me long to do it. I was looking at some competitors prices lately and saw that one locally charges $50 for a loopy bow - OUCH! People in this area just won't pay that for something they are not getting to eat. Maybe they charge that much because they really don't like making them. I can make thiem in 10 minutes so it is worth $15 to me.
Under this pricing structure, I (a 30 year cake maker, who can whip 'em out really fast) would make less than the newbie, who has been making cakes for a year and it takes her 3 days to do a cake that I can do in 3 hours. I understand this works well for you ... just illustrating why I wouldn't prefer it.
Except that I set my hourly rate much much higher than I would expect a newbie to set theirs (though some may be deluded enough to think that they can charge say $3000 for a three day cake that I'd charge $450 to cover three hours worth of work). Over here no one charges by serving - it's a completely different charging structure and my consultations tend to revolve around explaining the different amounts of work involved for various designs so that the customers understand why cake A on my website costs B vs cake X which costs Y. It's all about the total cake price here rather than per serving (and I'm not saying one approach is better than the other, just that I don't think in terms of per servings - semantics, yes).
I do charge extra for basket weave, tons and tons of flowers, if they want cornelli (sp?) lace, bows...stuff like that. I start with a pretty low price though, because I do want most people to be able afford a basic and if they want a super fancy one, well, that's extra!
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