Hello...I would really appreciate some help with pricing. Until now I've only make cakes for friends and family, so I have never charged for a cake. I made this one for my grandpa's 80th birthday and have someone interested in a similar one. It is three WASC 3/4 sheet cakes, strawberry filling, iced in buttercream and covered with fondant. I've researched the other threads, but now I'm even more confused. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

First question is how many does it feed? I charge $5.00 per serving for my 3D Cakes so that being said..If the cake feeds 50...50 x $5.00 is $250.00

Looking through other threads, I too have seen that anything carved starts at 5.00/serving.....or I aslo saw that minimums starts at 100.00.


HTH

A 1 layer (2" high) 3/4 sheet (18"x18") serves 162 (2"x2"x2" sized servings).

Three 3/4 sheets would serve 486.

486 servings @ $5 a serving = $2430

There are to many varients to give you a price. You need to work that bit out yourself. unless someone was in your area, buying the exact same ingredients, using the same fuel and paying themself the same rate no one will be able to tell you how much it will cost to make.

You need to work out how much it costs YOU to make, ingredients, fuel,YOUR time, then I would times that by 3 and hey presto a price. (but some would times by 4 or 5 depending how much cakes go for in YOUR area.

I could be wrong, but that cake doesnt look anywhere near that big. I wonder if op meant (3 ) 1/4 sheets stacked??? I dont even know how big a 1/4 is without looking it up I wish people would include actual dimensions.

A lot of people consider 1/4 sheet to be a 9 x 13

I think your # of servings is off. I would charge 5.00 per serving, but first you need to refigure those servings. Unless that cake looks small in the picture and is really a big monster of a cake, no way it serves almost 500.

No, I meant a 1/4 sheet for a lot of people is a 9x13, which is exactly what I said. A full sheet is much bigger.

Whoops! tiggy2, I was reading your original comment as commenting on what the size of the cake in the OP was (whether the OP really meant a true 3/4 sheet or 3/4 of a quarter sheet...does that make sense?) and not as answering the question bbmom asked....sorry!

bbmom, just to chime in w/ tiggy2's info, here are the sheet sizes:
18"x24" = full
18"x18" = 3/4
12"x18" = 1/2
9"x12" = 1/4
BUT
9"x13" ALSO = 1/4 IF you are using a "quarter sheet" pan made for home use, which, for some reason, has 1" added to the length, if you bake full sheets (which generally requires a commercial oven) and cut the half and quarter sheets from it, then you get the even measurements above.

No problem prterrell, my pan is actually 9x12 but I think Wilton has the extra inch.

I don't use the Wilton pans, either. I have on that is really nice and has straight sides like the Magic Line pans, but isn't ML. I don't remember what brand it is. I found it on clearance when Linen 'N Things was closing, but it also has the extra inch. In fact, every "quarter sheet pan" I've ever seen does have the extra inch. I had no idea that true quarter sheet pans were even made!

Mine is Fat Dadios so the sides are straighter then wilton.

Wow, I am so sorry I caused so much confusion! lol I am still pretty new to cake decorating and obviously misrepresented the size. It was (3) 12x18 sheet cakes. Which I see from another post is 1/2 sheet .

Doh! Indydebi, you're right! I totally goofed the math on that!

Let me try that again!

81 x 3 = 243 @ $5/serving = $1215.......which is still a big ol' chunk of change!

You know what, I'm so used to the 1x2x4 serving for layer cakes, that I MUST have goofed the original calculation up that way.
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Per the OP's later input, apparently the cake pictured was actually 3 12x18's, so that's 54 x 3 = 162 @ $5/serving = $810

Am I the only one who is surprised that more than one person have requested an accordion cake? I feel like that may be the one of the oddest cakes I've seen. Don't get me wrong the cake is amazing!!!! But I would be totally shocked if someone requested an accordion from me.

Nice cake!

Well I made this cake for my grandpas 80th birthday. I chose to make it as a gift to him since one of his most prized possessions is his accordian that he's had for 68 years. Normally I'd be suprised about a second order too, but with the crowd that attended his party (120 guests), many musicians, mainly consisting of Italians, with live accordian entertainment, I'm not too suprised

Thank you for the thread Indydebi. I will definetly give measurements from now on. Thanks to everyone who gave me insight into pricing!

Ok... I may get some backlash but for my own personal calculations I wouldnt be pricing this at sheetcake sizes just because it is carved from sheetcakes. I would measure and cut based on regular wedding (some people may use party size, but i use wedding size for all cakes) serving sizes. So if the finished dimensions are 12X18X6 I would get 84 servings(basicly the same as one 12" square + two 6" squares) Most of my cakes end up being close to 6"tall anyways since I torte the layers so I would not charge extra for the added height (people would just get nice tall peices )I would charge $6.00 per serving because that is what i charge for carved , sculpted or custom designs (your per serving price may be different.) So I personally would charge $504.(Buttercream & fondant) and upcharge any special fillings or gourmet flavors.