I hope I'm posting this in the right place, as I am usually in the cake decorating forums...I recently made cupcake toppers (17 bears with 37 tiny flowers), here's a photo:



The bears were not difficult to make, but it just took so much time to make them. This was my first order so I was unsure about how long it would actually take me. I charged $17 for these and I'm not sure if I may have undercharged or if my pricing was ok. How do you all calculate the prices for your toppers? I know I covered the price for the materials to make them, but I'm not sure how to calculate the time that goes into making them (and if I'm making enough of a profit)...any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

how long did it take you to make them - how much do you want to earn per hour - add this to what the supplies cost and you have your answer!

Thank you, but how much should I charge per hour for something like that? It took me about 6-7 hours to complete them (spread out over a few days).

The question is what is your time worth to you? Will you work for $10 an hour, $20 an hour? What amount of money makes it worth it for you to do the work?

I have a minimum of $5 for any modelled figure!! You definitely undercharged for $1 each.........basically after you subtract let's say $2 for the fondant you made $15 for 7 hrs. work?? That's like $.50/hr..........not good money!

KHalstead, I think you said what I needed to hear. I set the price after making one bear (customized to the customer's liking), and I hadn't realized the amount of time it would take to make all of them, along with the flowers. I'm definetly learning, and will calculate how much I actually deserve and the time I sacrifice, instead of being afraid of my prices not being affordable enough.

Thank you all for your advice!

Definitely figure up your time like KHalstead suggested and then figure out what you're actually getting paid per hour. When you look at it that way it changes things.

I don't do a lot of modeling like this, but another place to take a look at is ebay and search "sculpey bear" or "polymer clay bear" You're doing the same thing as them just out of an edible medium. See what they are charging just to sell on ebay. Just another idea of where to get prices.

hey, I learned this the hard way too..............the thing is........I started to get an attitude when I was missing out on family events and such because I had cake orders and I was realizing I wasn't even making that much money, so it gave me a bad attitude when doing the cakes and I didn't like that......that is NOT why I started doing cakes.....I did it because I loved it!!!

I still don't charge nearly enough, but my prices go up about ever 6 months (just a quarter or two/serv. here and there lol) and my customers stick with it. I lose a few here and there, but that's ok I'm too busy as it is!!

When I do get very time intense cake orders I'm making enough money that I have a positive attitude while working on the cake, knowing that I'm getting paid well, and it also results in a nicer cake!

Those bears are ADORABLE!! Excellent attention to detail-well done!