Help With Pricing

Business By LizzyLaw06 Updated 14 Aug 2009 , 6:23pm by indydebi

LizzyLaw06 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
LizzyLaw06 Posted 14 Aug 2009 , 4:54pm
post #1 of 3

hey ladies. I'm new here. I haven't found an introduce yourself section yet, but haven't looked too far. I'm just taking decorating classes and am getting pretty good pretty fast. Before 2 months ago I've never done anything but a sloppy ice job on a regular box mix cake.

but anyway. I've got a few interrested people who want me to make a cake for them for events coming up. I don't want to feel like i am overcharging them, but i want to feel like i'm getting paid enough. Cakes in my area go for anywere from $1.5 to $4.00 a slice. Any ideas on what i should charge as a newbie would be great. also, do you give discounts to friends and family, if so, how much of a discount?

I'm so glad i found this forum. I"m sure you'll be hearing alot from me, and i'll try to get some pics posted for you soon

2 replies
chuck1 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
chuck1 Posted 14 Aug 2009 , 5:28pm
post #2 of 3

I've recently found that issue in my area also. Around St.Louis, a regular iced sheet cake is around $2.50-3.00/serving.
Fondant cakes are roughly $1.00 more per serving.
And of course, the 3-D cakes are always priced according to the difficulty of the individual cake.

Oh... don't be shy about asking for a min. deposit. You'd be suprised how many people want to change their mind or cancel mid-way thru the cake.

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indydebi Posted 14 Aug 2009 , 6:23pm
post #3 of 3

Lizzy, welcome to CC, the greatest source for all things cake!

It's part of the initiation that when someone asks about starting to charge, they must receive the speech about is it legal to bake out of your home, what are the local health dept laws, if you're not legal then accepting money for any type of exchange-of-goods is not permitted, etc etc.

So .... consider yourself 'speeched'! icon_biggrin.gif

If you give discount to family/friends, the general advice is to always give them an invoice that shows the REAL price of the cake, then list their family discount, then the final total. This is so they KNOW what the cake is really worth. They will understand that the cake they paid $25 for is actually a $150 cake. The hope and the theory is they won't tell all of their friends "Oh let my sister do the cake! Her cakes are only $25!'"

No, they're not $25. The SISTER gets it for $25. Your cakes are $150.

So whatever you do in pricing, just be sure to do it this way. It will save lots of headaches down the road.

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