It is tough to charge what we're worth because of the economy and people who are not educated to the time involved in our art. People think they can call 2 hours before an event and we can create miracles. Thank you to those shows that bring the arts to homes. But these show only give 6 hours or so to create master pieces which make us look bad as people don't realize prep involved. Let people know more about the time involved.
Educate!!!
Thank you,
Jeani

I don't think inexpensive necessarily means inferior quality.

I've found sweaters at upscale clothing stores and bought them(OMG! this is the most beautiful sweater! and the color! I've just got to have it!...I thought in my head)...Only to find the EXACT SAME SWEATERS in just above $1 store...the only difference-the freakin' name on the label! made from the same materials, from the same country...same same same.

Maybe it's lack of humidity(gotta blame something), but I think I'm taking offense to the general idea that unless you pay out the a$$ for something that it's gonna taste or look like kaka(which in and of itself doesn't make sense 'cause if you're payin' out the a$$...kaka has to be close by!)....translates to me that 'cause my cakes don't cost as much as the next person(and I ain't pointing at anyone inparticular...just any ol' person who happens to charge more for their cakes) it must either taste like crap or look like crap or both...

Surely, ya'll didn't mean that...but that is how it's sounding on my end.

Edited for grammar, I think...

I think it's all different for everyone. And I do believe you can get quality for less it depends on the person and what they want (hey check the men's shoe dept too). If someone is fast and can pop that cake out in no time it might be worth her while to charge less.

Some businesses even prefer it that way, how do I know? Because we, my SO and I, have a small business (not food related) and we/he undercuts everyone. Our items fly off the shelf. (the Walmart theory) He says he rather have it gone and go on to the next one than have it sit and his money is tied up. Mind you our items are EXACTLY the same thing as what other's sell and we see them sit on their product for weeks sometimes when ours are usually gone in 3 days or so. This is a side business too, and I think that makes a difference in what people charge too.

Sometimes it is true though. I think in this case if I were to go with the cheaper lady I'd ask for bride referrals and ask to see pictures and if she was good well then I'd have a decision to make.

When my sister got married there was this "older" lady who used to be a seamstress and she sewed beautifully and just needed/wanted the extra $ so she was more than reasonable on pricing. Guess who made all the bridesmaids dresses? She had work anytime she wanted and that made her happy and kept her some extra pocket $. She definitely didn't charge was she could have but it was what she wanted.

How did this get out of hand????? I have blue ribbon cakes, they look and taste great. Most people who try to order love the look but have never tasted the cakes. Average brides want a $300. to $600. cake for $70. They come with hard luck stories just to find they went on a cruise for their honeymoon after you gave them an awesome deal. Maybe I am too soft.

Its hard to charge in this economy. Many brides want a $300. to $600. cake for $70. It's a matter of educating the puplic of the time involved. I end up charging very low because that tends to be the budget out there. My cakes are blue ribbon and beautiful. But yes, it's like pulling teeth to get $200. for a cake, and we work hard for it....

I'm glad to finally see that some ppl view things the same way I do- Cheaper pricing does not mean inferior quality!

First, no one is saying, cause someone charges low, that their cakes are automatically terrible. What we are saying is that you run that possiblity. Theres a reason they are so cheap. And that's just a fact. Just like it's fact a high end costing cake can taste like crap someitmes. I know. I've tasted them. But what we are saying is that is always bad to underprice yourself. I will NEVER pay to make someone a cake.

Now, as far as custom cakes go, this is an entire different business. You do not purchase a custom cake everyday, once a week or heck even once a year. You do it for those milestones, like a wedding, baby's first birthday, 21st, birthday, etc., etc., etc. You get my point. I gurantee that is someone wants a custom cake, they will pay for it, regardless of how low their budget it. They will. We ALL have things thatr we aqre willing to pay for no matter what. Some people are in to tools, some shoes. Regardless of anything, if someone wants a custom cake that bad, they will get the money to pay for it. People get the money together for what they want all the time. Whne you devalue your work, you devalue everyones. I can't see working three days on a cake and charging $250 for it. I just can't. ANd if you really need the money for income, I REALLY can't see undercharging. And some places may be cheaper then others, cause some places the cost of living is cheaper and ingredients are cheaper. But there is no where I can think of in this country, and maybe it's cause I bake from scratch and ingredients cost me a little more, that can sell the cake pictured, for that size for $250. No where. I am from California, so I know what it cost there, and I live in Virginia, not high end at all. I couldn't sell that cake here for $250 and make it worth my while.

I have a question for you guys that say "you can't charge $x.xx in your area because people won't or can't afford to pay it".

Are you all paying a LOT less for groceries/ingredients then the rest of us? Are your utilities, gas and water a LOT less expensive then ours?

I'm not being a smarty pants here I'm just trying to understand how you can afford to charge so much less and still make a profit.

here where I am gas is 2.39 a gallon. eggs are about 1.50. things are cheaper here.

I don't think that the message is so much cheap cakes always = shoddy work, but that cheap cakes always = an underpaid decorator.

I live in a small town in NH... I start at $3.75/serving for party cakes (untorted and you can choose van or choc cake with van BC) and start at $5/serving for wedding cakes (torted and you can choose any flavor combo under the sun and you get a tasting and a consult and all that jazz). I only do weddings and big occasion cakes.

There is a difference in the markets too. Some make what I would call more "normal occasion" cakes... birthdays with Happy Birthday So-and-So" written on them and simpler sheet cakes... all good cakes, but not the same in marketing at all. So it's hard to say you should NEVER charge less than $4/serving for a cake because some cakes don't warrant the price. Not because they are ugly or taste like crap, but because they fill a different niche in the market. I don't make sheet cakes or normal "Happy Birthday You" cakes... I do custom cakes. So I can charge more and people will pay.

Now the cake that the OP posted... that's a very custom wedding cake. Worthy of a very custom price. Giving that cake away for $2-3/serving is, IMHO, doing the business on the whole (and the caker making it) an injustice.

Gas and eggs are about the same around here as the PP by the way... just for comparison.

About the same for eggs and .20 more for gas.

Just curious....does the cake designer of the magazine photo you're using charge more than you quoted? Would she be peaved that you undercut her original price and offered it to this bride for only $600? Isn't that kind of the same thing?


Just a thought.

Exactly Jeanne.

There are people in this area making $7 an hr too, they're not my target client.

When starting out in our business, I think we need to decide who our target clientele will be. Will we market to the $7 an hr people or to the people who can afford our custom cake prices.


It's important to keep in mind that if we don't value our own product nobody else will either.

I'm fairly certain that nobody is giving away their gas and eggs for a penny. We're all paying about the same thing.

I totally agree with all4cake.

I am very rural here (and am on the verge of a price increase BTW). My power bill is about $130 in the dead of winter and the heat of summer. Less at other times. Gas is about the same. Eggs are $0.98/doz most of the time. Milk is $2.70/gallon. I get lots of things in bulk because DH works in a food distribution company. For example, my 19X14X4 much-sturdier-than-Wilton boxes are about $0.45 each...and shipped free since he just brings them home when he gets off work.

My wedding cakes start at $2.25/serving for non-torted bc cakes. Nobody orders fondant for weddings here. I will be upping that very soon and probably again later in the year.

it's been said again and again but a lot of people do not include ALL the costs it takes to make a cake. it's not just ingredients. it's electricity to run the frig, the oven, the hot water tank, lights, the water, soap, steramine, licenses, paper for writing down orders/cake sketches, tape--gosh i could not believe how much tape and paper towels i went through when i started actually accounting for all this stuff. so, i must charge enough to cover costs as well as my time. i cannot "operate a business out of my husband's wallet" (someone, probably indydebi, shared that phrase here on cc i believe)

Ok jammjenks...that hay bale cake is cute x10.

I know I am higher than others around my area...I only include custom cakers when considering a price change...not walmart, not the grocery store...

My prices even though on the high side for my area are considerably lower than the nearest large city of Charlotte. I get a LOT of orders out of Charlotte but I'm not going to price my items for that area because that would exclude a lot of potential customers in my own area. With that said, cakers in Charlotte could be thinking that someone in their area is underpricing them when, in fact, their customers are choosing to go outside their area for less expensive cakes(seriously, I don't get why, 'cause they wind up paying pretty much the same thing when delivery charges are tacked on).

As a SCRATCH BAKER(like that has anything to do with anything), I don't pay more more my ingredients than one who uses mixes...just takes a bit more time to measure the stuff out.

One runs the risk of getting a shitty cake regardless of how much they paid for it or who they get it from. Any one of us(and many have posted disaster threads to prove it) can and probably have or will have something go amok with a cake.

For the record, that cake, as pictured, would cost(without that POS looking spray of sorts and that wth is that doing there band around the bottom), depending on the size chosen from the choices given, 230-367.5....basic buttercream as icing and filling basic cake flavors. That ain't the only cake/dessert/whatever that is being made....it's only a portion of getting the bills paid. I have no intention of EVER making a cake, a lone cake, that pays my monthly bills...

A cake mix averages $1. A bottle of quality vanilla extract is at least $4, not to mention butter can average $3 a lb. I don't see how scratch baking is as affordable as baking from a mix.