I undercharged for this cake. It was a 6X8X10 square wedding cake and I only charged 145.00.... kinda embarrassed, especially since I get on these forums and tell everyone else that they need to charge more for their time/talent. This cake took a total of 8 hours, including baking time, to create. The reason I charged so little is that this was the brides budget and I REALLY wanted to make this cake. I learned from making it though that in the future I need to charge extra for vibrant colors- I think about 3 dollars worth of gel paste went into the frosting!
http://cakecentral.com//gallery/1939475
And here's another cake I drastically undercharged for, once again, it was because I really wanted to try it out and the lady was willing to go with whatever idea I had in mind since there wasn't a particular theme to the baby shower. I charged 110.00 and again, including baking time, took me about 8 hours to create. It's a 6X8X10
http://cakecentral.com//gallery/1939493
I undercharged for this cake. It was a 6X8X10 square wedding cake and I only charged 145.00.... kinda embarrassed, especially since I get on these forums and tell everyone else that they need to charge more for their time/talent. This cake took a total of 8 hours, including baking time, to create. The reason I charged so little is that this was the brides budget and I REALLY wanted to make this cake. I learned from making it though that in the future I need to charge extra for vibrant colors- I think about 3 dollars worth of gel paste went into the frosting!
http://cakecentral.com//gallery/1939475
And here's another cake I drastically undercharged for, once again, it was because I really wanted to try it out and the lady was willing to go with whatever idea I had in mind since there wasn't a particular theme to the baby shower. I charged 110.00 and again, including baking time, took me about 8 hours to create. It's a 6X8X10
http://cakecentral.com//gallery/1939493
After looking at these 2 I took a look at the rest of your gallery. You make beautiful cakes! I can only wish I could make figures as good as yours!
Thank you ladies that looked at my photos and made such wonderful comments! You are all so nice I looked through most of your galleries (while my lil twins let me at least!) And you all are seriously fabulous. I don't feel as if I am even close to you all in terms of decorating! So thank you!
I like this thread because it reminds me that others are having the same inside issues that I have about charging what we should for cakes! Some customers just don't realize the time and money it takes to even start up the cake, much less decorate it. And I agree...think it was cupcakefrost that said...
"don't be afraid to charge. If they don't want to pay, they don't have to, but your work is definitely worth the money"
LOVE IT! Thanks for starting up this thread cupcake frost...if nothing else it boosts all of our confidence for the next order!!
Here is a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cake I made this past weekend...again it was an exchange for services (we needed an electrician but I would have charged $200.00. Customer wanted it to serve 30 people, and I'm sure it served more. It took me 10 hours, it was an 11x15 chocolate cake with vanilla mouse filling, buttercream frosting, and fondant covered RKT for Mickey's head, hand, foot. All other decorations were MMF. Smash cake and mickey's body were banana cake.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1947157
Here is another cake that I totally underestimated my time on..I thought it'd take me about 4 hours, but I think it took more like 7ish...I charged $68.00, and I think I should've done about $100.....those little grapes and vines took me longer to roll out of modeling chocolate than I thought they would! The cake is a loaf size, no idea the dimensions, but the pan you'd use to bake banana bread or something. All B/C basketweave frosting. Bottle is RKT covered in MMF. You know it took me the longest to figure out how to get all those names on the board (customer orginally wanted them on the cake, but I told him there wouldn't be room enough for everything on top!)
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1911914
I've never tried to make my own. . . seems like too much of a hassle, lol.
I thought the same way as you for such a long time, that homemade fondant was too much of a hassle. Then I discovered how simple it was to make MMF. It tastes SO much better than any of the pre-made fondants and is just SO easy to make...really, you wouldn't believe it. It also saves a lot of money.
It isn't great for figure making but you can't beat it for covering a cake. You should try it just once.
Thanks for your kind compliments, Kathy CC and cupcakefrost (not here, but other posts) I use MMF to make figures, bows, and everything else, just knead in some tylose powder....now, if its a spur of the moment thing that has to dry hard, thats different!
I used to undercharge all my cakes because I just started my business 2 months ago.
Here is the baby shower cake. I charged only $55, but next time I wouldn't go under $80.
8 in marble cake with strawberry filling
20 servings
6 hours
Milwaukee
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1916608
This was Baptism cake
9 and 6 in
36 servings
f. vanilla cake with strawberry and Oreo fillings
10 hours
$110 - and again I wouldn't go under $150 next time
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1927587
This was dummy cake that I made for our presentation at a mall.
12 10 8 and 6 in dummies
100 serving
I am not sure about the hours.
I would charge around $380 for this cake.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1871527
Here is a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cake I made this past weekend...again it was an exchange for services (we needed an electrician but I would have charged $200.00. Customer wanted it to serve 30 people, and I'm sure it served more. It took me 10 hours, it was an 11x15 chocolate cake with vanilla mouse filling, buttercream frosting, and fondant covered RKT for Mickey's head, hand, foot. All other decorations were MMF. Smash cake and mickey's body were banana cake.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1947157
Here is another cake that I totally underestimated my time on..I thought it'd take me about 4 hours, but I think it took more like 7ish...I charged $68.00, and I think I should've done about $100.....those little grapes and vines took me longer to roll out of modeling chocolate than I thought they would! The cake is a loaf size, no idea the dimensions, but the pan you'd use to bake banana bread or something. All B/C basketweave frosting. Bottle is RKT covered in MMF. You know it took me the longest to figure out how to get all those names on the board (customer orginally wanted them on the cake, but I told him there wouldn't be room enough for everything on top!)
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1911914
You did awesome on both cakes, love especially the mickey mouse cake!
What a great post! I just found this!
I have a friend who has obviously been watching too many cake shows and has ordered a bunch of cakes from me. The first one I made as a present for the girl's first birthday. For the second birthday, she told me she wanted a safari with lots of animals (she made a list) and a water fall and at least 3 tiers and she only wanted to pay $125-150. Sure. I made the cake for her since we are friends http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1602291
She only paid me 125 and moved the cake after I drove over an hour to deliver it and the whole thing fell somehow and she called me to ask how to fix it. Never again, I said.
She orders another cake. This one is for a wedding for a friend of mine and the bride told me she wanted a cake for 300 in square tiers with a tree growing up. After quoting her $588 for the cake, she shared with me that she only wanted to pay $125 and didn't understand why it would be anymore than that. Since it was a friend's wedding, I decided to share the cost and give it to her for 300.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1829301
She paid $240 for it and I delivered it 2 hours away.
Now she wants another cake! She already said she will only pay $125 and wants three tiers, a magical forest, faries, Disney princesses, unicorns and a castle. Seriously? I don't think this is good for our friendship.
What a great post! I just found this!
I have a friend who has obviously been watching too many cake shows and has ordered a bunch of cakes from me. The first one I made as a present for the girl's first birthday. For the second birthday, she told me she wanted a safari with lots of animals (she made a list) and a water fall and at least 3 tiers and she only wanted to pay $125-150. Sure. I made the cake for her since we are friends http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1602291
She only paid me 125 and moved the cake after I drove over an hour to deliver it and the whole thing fell somehow and she called me to ask how to fix it. Never again, I said.
She orders another cake. This one is for a wedding for a friend of mine and the bride told me she wanted a cake for 300 in square tiers with a tree growing up. After quoting her $588 for the cake, she shared with me that she only wanted to pay $125 and didn't understand why it would be anymore than that. Since it was a friend's wedding, I decided to share the cost and give it to her for 300.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1829301
She paid $240 for it and I delivered it 2 hours away.
Now she wants another cake! She already said she will only pay $125 and wants three tiers, a magical forest, faries, Disney princesses, unicorns and a castle. Seriously? I don't think this is good for our friendship.
That's why I don't offer discounts on cakes, even to friends or family. They just end up thinking that they can keep getting cakes for cheap, and you end up feeling used and resentful.
At some point you have to put your foot down! Sorry for your troubles!
I haven't posted pics or responses on CC in a while but I happened to come across this topic and I think this is a great idea(posting your prices on your pics). I actually post prices and servings on my website with each photo.
This helps weed out less serious people and I do know that when customers are looking for cakes they want to know aprox. how much the cakes are and if it's in their budget.
A lot of people don't realize how much these type of cakes are and this educates them and also helps me reduce my time in calling or emailing people who are looking for less expensive cakes.
It also helps me remember what I charged for that cake because I'm always asked..."how much does that cake serve and how much is it".
Anyway, it's been very helpful for my business to have prices and servings on my website. Feel free to check out my site.
I haven't posted pics or responses on CC in a while but I happened to come across this topic and I think this is a great idea(posting your prices on your pics). I actually post prices and servings on my website with each photo.
This helps weed out less serious people and I do know that when customers are looking for cakes they want to know aprox. how much the cakes are and if it's in their budget.
A lot of people don't realize how much these type of cakes are and this educates them and also helps me reduce my time in calling or emailing people who are looking for less expensive cakes.
It also helps me remember what I charged for that cake because I'm always asked..."how much does that cake serve and how much is it".
Anyway, it's been very helpful for my business to have prices and servings on my website. Feel free to check out my site.
this is a great idea!...and your cakes are spectacular!!!
This was $300, took me a very long time, several days actually. Served 200, i can't remember the sizes! ugh! Should've been $600!
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1759825
Hi, Katherine! I'm curious to see this pic. Love your other ones!!! This link is not working though. Maybe you have to hit the space bar after it?
Thanks for posting!
sorry cupcakefrost! try this
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1759825
What a great post! I just found this!
Now she wants another cake! She already said she will only pay $125 and wants three tiers, a magical forest, faries, Disney princesses, unicorns and a castle. Seriously? I don't think this is good for our friendship.
ok, just a question. She already told you what her budget is ($125), so why don't you just tell her how far the $125 is going to take her/how much cake she's going to get? I think that would save you a lot of resentment and misunderstanding down the road. AND she's already cutting into your business by telling people how you bend down and lower your prices as long as they tell you they are only paying X and they want XYZ.
Your cakes are gorgeous, and friends don't take advantage of friends.
Thank you so much for this forum... I though I undercharged my cakes, now I know for sure.... I wish our clients realize how much work is involved to make a cake... well, for this one I charged $95....
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1910104
Thank you so much for this forum... I though I undercharged my cakes, now I know for sure.... I wish our clients realize how much work is involved to make a cake... well, for this one I charged $95....
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1910104
the client order the ballerinas from somebody else, and they cost more than the cake!!!!
I love that cake. If my prima ballerina sees it she'll want it for her 4th birthday coming up. You seriously undercharged.
Each of you are very talented and have made some amazing cakes!! I am new to cake decorating, and I find this topic extremely helpful. I have alot of people ask me for cakes, and I feel hesitant to price them because I don't want to charge too much for them, but too little for me. Noone realizes how expensive and time consuming this stuff really is unless they are involved also. I really enjoy it. Have a request for a 3-D Bear with a Honey Pot smash cake, sitting atop of crazy daisy pan to resemble a tree stump. I priced the cake for $60, and the lady had the nerve to ask to borrow my pans so she could just make it herself....
priced the cake for $60, and the lady had the nerve to ask to borrow my pans so she could just make it herself....
Wow...that's takes some guts! I had to laugh because that's just so hard to believe. How do you react to that?????
I LOVE this topic. It's great to see what people actually get for their talents and hard work!
This cake was for a friend's 1 yr old son's first birthday. He was born on Halloween so it was a Halloween/Sesame Street theme party. Everything is edible: the haunted house and bottom are cake, the tree and costumed Sesame St characters are fondant. The only thing not edible is the light up ring behind the door, and the plastic cauldron, and that's because I put dry ice in it .
This cake took waaaaaaay longer than expected (that seems to be the theme with my cakes, lol), and it was a gift, although my friend gave me a generous giftcard as a thank you.
If I were to make this for anyone else, I would charge at least $350. The detail work, although you probably can't tell by the picture, was very time-consuming, and total time was about 50 hours over two weeks!! I also painted the background, which actually takes away from the picture, since the tree and flying bat are hard to see in front of it. The cake is also bigger than it looks and fed about 100 people.
http://cakecentral.com//gallery/1854538
Here is one of my first cakes. The beer cans came out pretty nicely, I think, but I now can see the bottom is very sloppy and would totally do it much better now! . I only charged $75 for this one. This was when I used to be afraid to give high prices. Boy, have I learned my lesson, lol. Now I would charge $200 (the bottom would look much better, though ).
http://cakecentral.com//gallery/1592455
I haven't posted pics or responses on CC in a while but I happened to come across this topic and I think this is a great idea(posting your prices on your pics). I actually post prices and servings on my website with each photo.
This helps weed out less serious people and I do know that when customers are looking for cakes they want to know aprox. how much the cakes are and if it's in their budget.
A lot of people don't realize how much these type of cakes are and this educates them and also helps me reduce my time in calling or emailing people who are looking for less expensive cakes.
It also helps me remember what I charged for that cake because I'm always asked..."how much does that cake serve and how much is it".
Anyway, it's been very helpful for my business to have prices and servings on my website. Feel free to check out my site.
Jacqui, I love your website, and I LOVE how you post prices per serving!! You are right; it takes the guesswork out for customers, and they know what to expect when ordering a cake. I just bookmarked your page . Great work! Thanks for sharing!
This christening dress cake was made to replicate the little girl's christening dress, which I had a picture of. It has edible diamonds and pearls, and measured 2 feet long. It fed over 100 people. Shoes were made out of gumpaste, using a template I found here (thanks! )
Price $200, but I would charge at least $250 to do it again
Location- Long Island, NY
Total time- can't remember, but I think about 15 hours.
Supply cost was high because of the fresh fruit filling, and sugar diamonds I had to order online.
http://cakecentral.com//gallery/1641981
Now she wants another cake! She already said she will only pay $125 and wants three tiers, a magical forest, faries, Disney princesses, unicorns and a castle. Seriously? I don't think this is good for our friendship.
SHE wants to dictate the price AND the product?
"Hello, General Motors? I'd like a car. Cadillac. An Escalade. With the gold trim and gold wheels. All the bells and whistles. And I'm only paying $12,000 for it. Oh, and I need it in 3 days."
Yeah .... THAT'LL work!
Indy, I love (all) your comments!
On a more serious note though, I think you have to know your customers. All of the cakes people have posted links to are gorgeous, really beautiful but I know that where I live I could not charge as much as some of the prices quoted.
cakescraftsandmore- that pillow is phenomenal! i know the ballerinas are porceline but they are so cute! the draping on the board is awesome too!!!
What a great post! I just found this!
Now she wants another cake! She already said she will only pay $125 and wants three tiers, a magical forest, faries, Disney princesses, unicorns and a castle. Seriously? I don't think this is good for our friendship.
She is taking advantage of your friendship. I would tell her I could not make the cake... that's what I did for a friend of mine (I had too many orders and she told me 4 days before the party), so she had to pay somebody else whatever they asked. If it was me, the story would be different...
cakescraftsandmore- that pillow is phenomenal! i know the ballerinas are porceline but they are so cute! the draping on the board is awesome too!!!
Thank you very much!!! That cake is small, but it is my favorite so far!
This is a great idea!! Thanks.
We got $120.00 for this one, but it was when we first started charging for our cakes. It was 18"long and 12" wide. I think we would probably charge a lot more for it now. It took about 8 hrs to do. Chocolate mmf and candy corn melted to make the legs.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1636300
What a great post! I just found this!
I have a friend who has obviously been watching too many cake shows and has ordered a bunch of cakes from me. The first one I made as a present for the girl's first birthday. For the second birthday, she told me she wanted a safari with lots of animals (she made a list) and a water fall and at least 3 tiers and she only wanted to pay $125-150. Sure. I made the cake for her since we are friends http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1602291
She only paid me 125 and moved the cake after I drove over an hour to deliver it and the whole thing fell somehow and she called me to ask how to fix it. Never again, I said.
She orders another cake. This one is for a wedding for a friend of mine and the bride told me she wanted a cake for 300 in square tiers with a tree growing up. After quoting her $588 for the cake, she shared with me that she only wanted to pay $125 and didn't understand why it would be anymore than that. Since it was a friend's wedding, I decided to share the cost and give it to her for 300.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1829301
She paid $240 for it and I delivered it 2 hours away.
Now she wants another cake! She already said she will only pay $125 and wants three tiers, a magical forest, faries, Disney princesses, unicorns and a castle. Seriously? I don't think this is good for our friendship.
Now and again I see no problem with helping a friend out by doing a cake for less then you would normally charge. I make it clear that it was a discount and for what reason...
I think your friend is taking advantage of your friendship! She is telling you what she will pay? If you are going to run a business you need to grow a backbone and demand the prices you charge. I'm confused??? You agreed on $300, but she paid you $240 and you were okay with that? No more cake for her! I would explain to her that it is costing you money to make these cakes and if she were a friend she would not be okay with that. She will keep dictating to you her price as long as you keep making her the cakes! You need to stop, tell her you are booked that day and can not do the cake. If she were my friend I would be upfront about it.
What happens if you do a cake for her for $125 and you get an opportunity to make a cake for a "paying customer" for $500, but now you can't do it cause you are wasting your time doing a cake for a friend who does not sound too grateful?
This is a great idea!! Thanks.
We got $120.00 for this one, but it was when we first started charging for our cakes. It was 18"long and 12" wide. I think we would probably charge a lot more for it now. It took about 8 hrs to do. Chocolate mmf and candy corn melted to make the legs.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1636300
that cake is awesome and so comepletely disgusting at the same time! ...and I mean disgusting in the very best way!
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