I have been decorating cakes as a hobby for a couple of years and make a cake every month for family and close friends. When I started getting orders from friends of friends, I started thinking I should look into becoming legal since in VA (I'm in NoVa) I can work out of my kitchen. Well, it finally has happened and I passed my inspection this past Friday! I am very excited, it was far easier than I ever thought. Wish I had done it sooner. Now that kids are back in school, I can work on advertising. One of the things I am struggling with is pricing. My portfolio is small and I am having a hard time justifying to myself my cost Hubby thinks I am going to underprice. For instance, I made this Minnie Mouse cake this past weekend and charged $100 and I delivered! LOL 6" and 10" white cakes with strawberry filling. Was it reasonable? How much would you have charged? I am using the Wilton serving chart so this serves ~ 50 and mentioned to the customer that they would be about 1"x2" pieces. I even printed out the cutting guide for her so she knew how to get 50 pieces. Here's the cake, I was inspired by some pictures on CC and she requested this specific design:
Congrats on getting licensed!! And what an adorable cake! I think you probably should have charged at least $150.
According to my calculations for that size cake, the bow on top and delivery charge, close to $170 + tax.
Edited to include: Congratulations! You did a beautiful job on the cake!
$2 a slice is a ok price, it is definatly on the low side. and including delivery was a good deal for the client. (although free delivery within a little area can be standard, once you get further from home, you really do need to charge, so it depends if you have set up boundary zones or not)
have a look, see what other bakeries that do similar cakes charge. if they charge more, so can you. if they charge the same, then it suggests thats the standard for your area - but theres no harm in pushing the boundries, aiming for a better off clientel who will pay you more for your time. (if they charge less, they arent worth comparing yourself to!)
xx
Each market differs, but for fondant cakes, I charge $4.50 x 50 servings = $225. Plus you have some extra detail work on there.
It is an awesome cake and it was a steal for $100. I hate to agree with husbands, but I think he's right. (Shhhhh! Don't tell him I said so!)
Congrats on your legalization!!! I just was legal on thursday of last week!! Your cake is beautiful!!!! As far as charging $100, to be honest I probably would've charged the same amt.
Congrats on being legal! You did price this on the low side, but the cake is beautiful
First: CONGRATS on being legal!!!
Second: Probably could have priced higher, but its hard to do in the beginning.
Third : (and I hate to be the buzz-kill here) but since the mouse-ears are copyrighted by Disney, this one is a no-go for your website.
Being legal means being TOTALLY legal, not sorta legal. Its like being sort-of sued. They aren't going to serve you papers and then swat your wrist, they're going to take you to court, take up your time, and eventually take the stuff that you worked so hard to get all for a REALLY ADORABLE $100 cake.
Ok- off my copyright soapbox. Sorry, its become my pet peeve latel. You don't know how many times a week I have to explain this to customers who respond "But such-and-such did one for me last year, why won't you?"
Thanks for all the kind words and taking your time to respond. I guess deep down I already knew that I was charging on the low-end but hard not to since I just started and with such a small portfolio. I'll work on the pricelist again - other businesses around here are charging $3-6/serving. I should at least meet the low end of that!
Thanks for mentioning the whole copyright issue. Never thought of that and I'll have to keep that in mind in the future. Wouldn't want to get into any legal issues.
Thank you!
Congratulations ! I think you underpriced your cake. I decorate at the grocery store and we charge $ 2.00 a serving for tiered cakes with buttercream icing. You do not want to be cheaper than grocery store. Cake you made is beautiful.
Your cake is awesome. Will you post it in your photos so I can save it to my favorites?
Thanks, Carol
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