how do i charge for a cake when half of it is dummies . Iknow the only difference is no cake but decorating is the same. Would i charge the sae because i have to purchase the dummies?? help please

You'll get lots of answers on this one, but most range from 80 - 100% of the price. Personally, I charge the same as real cake for dummies because you're right, it takes me just as long as decorate and even though I don't have to bake layers, the styrofoam is actually more expensive than the ingredients to make the cake. HTH!

Where do you buy your dummies? I can get a 6",8" 10" and 12" for less that $15. I think it would cost a lot more than that to bake a cake this size.

Use your pricing worksheet and figure the cost just the same as any other project. That's what you charge.

Cupadeecakes wrote:

But doesn't this defeat the purpose of making the dummy cakes for most customers, because most customers go for the dummies to reduce the price, right?

The only way that a bride will save money is if the go to someone that makes only faux/fake cakes to rent out on a regular basis. The cost to rent these cakes is quite low compared to the cost of a real or 1 time fake cake.
My cake rentals start at $50.

I use dummies only to make a cake look more grand. The Bride realizes that she is saving very little since I only take 20% off the price of the dummy tiers but usually it's more so they don't waste the food simply because they want a bigger centerpiece. I buy my dummies at www.**********.com  (remove the spaces) because they are good and they are inexpensive.

Cat

I get my dummies from *************. Great service and SO much faster than www.**********.com . I take off 20% for the dummies...but that will vary depending on the design. HTH

20% is still saving money.

I just ordered 7 dummirs from www.**********.com for about 20 bucks...with shipping. I couldn't make and fill 7 cakes for under 20. But I see both sides of the argument. Most of what their paying for is the artistry...not not cake inside.

thanks for your help, i did order the dummies from dallas and i was figuringing 20% off too just wanted to see if i was on the right track. she does want the dummies to make the cake look grander only the bottom layer will be cake and she is also buying a sheet cake. meeting with her tommorrow to go over everything wish me luck!

When you make the cake try to put the dummies together to be it's own cake so that it can be use as decoration for the rest of the evening at the wedding or as a sample cake for shows and/or for future clients.