Pricing Opinions Needed On Specific Cake
Decorating By lexi55033 Updated 15 Apr 2011 , 6:20pm by caymancake
I know I have been undercharging for custom cakes and I'm working to correct that now that I'm close to opening my new shop (a couple more weeks). I am fully licensed and have been for a few years now. I live in a suburb of the Mpls/St Paul area of Minnesota if that helps. Here are 2 similar cakes that I've made in the past. I am thinking of pricing them at $55 or $60 for a 10" round (2 layers of cake, 1 layer of filling). Is that reasonable? I would appreciate any feedback. Also, for the same design, but an 8", I was thinking around $45.
Thanks in advance,
Angie
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rivertowncakes/4506363720/in/set-72157621741560783
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rivertowncakes/4558285628/in/set-72157621741560783
In order to accurately price a cake, you need to first know the cost, which consists of ingredients, labor, and overhead:
- Figure out how much you pay for ingredients per unit, and how many units of each ingredient need to go into the cake.
- Estimate how many hours you will spend baking and decorating, and multiply that by the cost of your time in dollars per hour (this can range between $10-30/hour depending on area and skill). Don't forget to figure in delivery and setup time.
- Figure out how much you spend in overhead (liability insurance, business license, kitchen rental, etc.) and divide that by the number of cakes you make per year to get a per-cake overhead cost.
Add these three numbers together to get a rough idea of your cost for the cake, then add 20-30% for a profit margin.
For fondant-covered cakes we would charge about $80 for a 10" round and $70 for an 8" round (this is in northern CA).
I guess I should also mention that these are buttercream, not fondant covered cakes. I know that makes a difference. I have figured out my cost of materials and time, etc. That is how I originally arrived at these figures. I was just looking for others opinions if they think I'm in the ballpark or not for the amount of detail, etc on these cakes.
We price BC only cakes $20-25 less. That's with basic decorations, just a border, writing, and a few flowers.
Aren't those cakes you linked to fondant-covered though?
The cakes that I linked to are buttercream iced cakes, not fondant covered. The only fondant on them are the crosses and the lettering on the one cake, all the rest is buttercream.
I am fairly new to cake decorating, can you give me some tips on how you get your buttercream frosted cakes to be so smooth please? I admire your work, your cakes are absolutely amazing!
I might go a little bit higher, about $2.50/serving. I'm in Columbus, OH, so we are probably fairly similar markets. Depending on which chart you use, $70-95 for the 10", $50-60 for the 8". I'm also in awe of your buttercream smoothing skills. Excellent work!
I am fairly new to cake decorating, can you give me some tips on how you get your buttercream frosted cakes to be so smooth please? I admire your work, your cakes are absolutely amazing!
Thanks Ana2466! It's hard for me to explain my technique in words, but for the most part, the old saying "Practice, practice, practice". You'd have to see me actually do it for it to make sense. I would highly recommend the DVD "Perfecting the Art of Buttercream" by SugarEd Productions (Sharon Zambito) though. This is a VERY good DVD that I learned a lot from!
I'm in WI, and if I were in Minneapolis, I would price those at $60-70 for the big ones (for your area). Its a big metropolitan area and you want to attract the right customers. Don't underprice yourself.
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