New At This...need Help With Price List Please!!
Decorating By amberakanicole Updated 20 Jul 2011 , 5:13pm by amberakanicole
Hello,
I've been making cakes just for friends and family and only charging cost to make the cake. I make my own buttercream and marshmallow fondant. Everyone keeps telling me I need to get the word out there because they think my cakes are good. I've already received 3 orders since I posted a page on facebook. I really need help with a price list.
I was thinking starting base price at $35. But really have no clue from there. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
* I live in a state where it is legal to bake from home and sell the product for profit *
Thank you in advance,
Amber
1st....if you're baking cakes in your home, you need to check your state's laws....many states don't allow you to sell food products made in your home for profit.
IF it is legal in your state, then your price should be figured per serving. Less for buttercream, more for fondant. Check around your area and see what other people are charging per serving. Assess your skill level and develop pricing from there.
To set your prices you need to look at your costs (including ingredients, labor (paying yourself a fair hourly wage), and overhead like insurance and license fees) and add a profit margin, typically 20-30%.
So if a $35 cake takes $10 in ingredients and an hour to make (including baking, decorating, packaging, etc.) that might be an OK price -- if you can legally bake from home your overhead will probably be low (say $10 per order) so that would translate into a wage of $8-9/hour. If your state requires food for sale to be baked out of a licensed commercial kitchen you would need to charge more in order to make a profit.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1628609
This is a price list that a CC member posted. It is in the Templates Gallery.
I think it gives you a good idea of a price structure. You can adapt it to prices
in your area and your skill level.
Thank you everyone for your advice. I came up with a price list & would appreciate feed back.
$1.50 per serving Single layer ( No filling)
$.50 per serving for fondant
$ .50 per serving for filling (Other then Buttercream)
$2.00 per serving Double Layer (With filling)
$2.50 per serving Double Layer (With filling and fondant)
$24 for single layer non filled cake frosted in buttercream and covered in fondant
Base price starting at $30 minimum for filled and fondant
$1.50 per serving Single layer ( No filling)
$.50 per serving for fondant
$ .50 per serving for filling (Other then Buttercream)
$2.00 per serving Double Layer (With filling)
$2.50 per serving Double Layer (With filling and fondant)
How big would that $24 cake be?
If you look at, for example, a 10" double layer cake with filling and fondant (which you would price at $2.50 * 38 = $95), what would be the ingredient cost for that cake, and how many hours would it take you to complete the entire cake? Also, how much annual overhead do you have? Luckily you won't have to pay for a commercial kitchen but you'll still need a business license (in most cities) and business liability insurance, plus other expenses like accountant's fees (unless you will be handling accounting yourself).
Amber, Julianne and Jenna are sharing a cake matrix done in excel, if you're interested. Here's the link.
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-724514-.html
A few people are going to try it and give feedback.
Thanks everyone for you help and suggestions! I've decided it might be easier to just charge by the cake example a 8" filled and covered in fondant for $60. If the cake has a lot of extra decorations and work then charge a little more.
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