i recently did a cake for my neighbors sweet 16. I have a pic on here, its the 3 tier fondant. I used a 10, 8 and 6. I made it for her as a birthday present and now all the kids told thier moms they want one. So her best friend said her mother would pay me to make one for her just like the one i did. Well i made the topper and all the stuff for that was $50. I had to buy the cake pans for the first one, but have all the stuff now except the fondant. Can any one tell me for someone who would like to start getting into business and start taking orders what to charge? I would like to be competative around here. Thanks so much.

Mary

Depends on your area, to some extent.

TX doesn't license home bakers, so I don't sell cakes...but if I did, I would charge about $2 per serving and then add on for any extras like gumpaste flowers or a topper. You can find the servings on the Wilton website...most people go by the wedding servings regardless of what occasion the cake is for.

I made that same size cake for my daughter's birthday..It feeds 74.I charge $3.00 per serving for Buttercream and $5.00 for fondant so the base price would be $370.00 for fondant.Then add in extra for the toppers and other embellishments.

Cute cake!! I would probably say $4.00 a slice or so.

wow that seems high to me. I was thinking like 150 bucks... I do live in a state where you can do business out of your house as long as its under 10% or it has to be zoned business.

Really that much money... We do have some cake places around here, one that i worked for some time back and she would charge like 400-500 bucks... I had a huge 4 tier wedding cake in butter cream that was about 540 about 4 years ago. Does this seem to fall in line.

And would you hesitate to ask some one for that much money? I mean are they expecting to get it cheap because i am not a bakery?

thanks

Very cute cake!

I am curious...under 10% of what?

Well...you have to consider your time baking,ingredients,electricty,cleanup and that doesn't even include the decorating time etc...Do you want to work for $3.00 an hour? I don't think so...It is a business or maybe that is not how you are looking at it...It is up to you what you want to charge but if you want to be competitive then you need to check around and see what the other bakeries are charging etc. and go from there.Don't under sell or undercut or poeple will become to know you as the "Cheap Cake Lady" and you don't want that..LOL

Thanks, I just felt that maybe it should be less expensive because i am such a newbie to this. I eventually want to start a business, but not for a while. I just like the idea of practicing and well if someone wants to pay me then hey thats great.

if more than 10% of your home is used for business then it has to be zoned a business. But i can start one out of my home... if that answer your question.

I don't care if they feel since you are a homebaker & not a bakery that they should pay less. Cause I am a homebaker & a custom cake designer the odds are they will end up paying more. I don't buy ingredients at wholesale prices. And no, I don't have a problem charging people the right amount of money. They shouldn't ask for a custom cake to be made at massed produced prices. You want to get into this business, start it with a business mind.

Well i didnt mean to strike a nerve on that one. All i meant by that line was that i am not very good at this yet... but thanks for comments.

You didn't strike a nerve. I was trying to encourage you to be fair to yourself.

Thank you I appreciate that, i just dont know if i believe in myself yet. I have a long way to go before i can feel confident about doing this. Just didnt know if being as new to this as i am, i can start off by charging competatively. I mean why would they pay me that much when i am not that good, when they can commission a bakery to do it for that same price. Maybe this doesnt make much sense... but thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

I know you didn't post in the business (where things can be quite ruthless), but I tend to be bluntly honest. I saw the picture of the cake you made and it is beautiful! If I thought you couldn't charge competively, I just wouldn't have said anything. There are some people on here who charge a lot and I just don't see how people pay for those cakes. Let me put it to you like this, except the orders you know you CAN do and charge appropiatley. If you feel there is chance you may not be able to do a request, dont't accept the order until you know your ready. That way you don't have to lower your standards on pricing.