Hi everyone, I'm quite new to the cakey scene and I'm really struggling with charging people for my cakes. I'm constantly feeling like I'm ripping people off! I charge around £45 for an 8" cake with a 3D topper, £50 if it's really detailed. My cupcakes, I'm charging £10-£15 per dozen. Thing is, I'm kinda getting peeved with spending 6 hours on a cake and then realising I've earnt about £3 an hour! I struggle with having any confidence in my work, I mean my cakes are not anywhere near as good as most on this site! But then, people are asking for cakes after seeing my work so they must think they're ok!
How did you start charging more for your cakes? Did you feel bad about it?
My other problem is that I always do cakes cheaper for friends and family, but most of my orders come from friends and family! :'(
I'm never going to be rich am I!

Hi Abisnail,
Im currently having the same problem! so i will keep my eyes peel to see what feed back you get!

But your right about one thing if they have seen what you do before and they are ordering you must be"ok" lol

xx

Hey Abisnail, Your cakes are great, I LOVE the Angry Birds one! You need to ensure that you are getting compensated for you time as well as everything else and not just ingredients. Electricity, wear and tear on your equipment, research time, insurance etc, etc. The list is endless! If you don't you will get disillusioned very quickly. If you are selling to other people, i highly recommend that you get inspected by the local EHO (not complicated at all) and get some public liability insurance if people are collecting from you, special car insurance if you are delivering and product liability (product and public insurance isn't too expensive) Also be careful if you are selling cakes that have copyright and or trademark (cartoons, football logos etc) as they can catch you and you could be taken to court if the worst happens. Have a per slice minimum for a simple cake then add for the figures extra decoration etc. Do a bit of a search of local cake makers and see what they are charging too. Just DON'T be scared to charge what you are worth. I see that you are in Hornchurch, I used to live 5 mins from the tube station!

Thanks Tania, you're right, I should get all that organised. I did my first commisioned cake last April so am still quite new to it all. I'm worried about going professional and actually advertising, getting EHO cert etc because of how little I charge! I'm going to need to put my prices up as I literally am charging ingredients plus £20 or so. No proper wage or profit really, when you take into account overheads and stuff.