Am I Charging Too Much?

Business By lisasnider Updated 4 Jun 2015 , 4:57pm by -K8memphis

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lisasnider Posted 3 Jun 2015 , 11:00pm
post #1 of 10

A customer wanted to order a 3 tier cake. It's fondant covered with royal icing and gum paste or rkt accents (although I could do those out of cardboard but I try to steer clear of non-edible decorations when I can.) It's a 10 in round, an 8 inch square, and an 8 inch round. I told her $350 but is that overpriced?? I'm new to pricing so I worry about overcharging.

9 replies
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jmt1714 Posted 4 Jun 2015 , 12:05am
post #2 of 10

70 or so servings. Base price seems good. Could be more depending on how extensive your gum paste decorations are. 

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-K8memphis Posted 4 Jun 2015 , 12:14am
post #3 of 10

an 8" square will not fit on a 10" round

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Frank68 Posted 4 Jun 2015 , 12:43am
post #4 of 10

Agree with K8memphis, sizes seem out of whack. I'm in NY and my base price is $6 a serving for fondant. I always start with servings, multiply by my base price and include incidentals (SPS, wooden cake board, decorations, etc).  Set a price for your work and stick with it. Also come up with a minimum price that you will do any cake for (mine is $350). It's simply not worth my time otherwise, there are other things that I could be doing besides spending hours between baking and decorating (not to mention the stress that comes with it). 


The price you mention seems reasonable to me. Keep in mind that plenty of folks will walk away because you're not in their budget, and that's ok. You want to attract the type of clientele that will appreciate your creativity and dedication to the craft. Others that don't can simply go to Costco :) 


-Frank

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lisasnider Posted 4 Jun 2015 , 1:47am
post #5 of 10

Thank you guys! I wish I could attach the photo. And thanks for the heads up about the sizes! They may be off. She sent me a picture and that was my best guess. I haven't actually sized the pans but I'll be sure to do that before. I'm located in Central Arkansas and there are a few bakeries around but I'm a home baker so I want to be fair without undercutting local establishments. I guess I should have mentioned that. Does that change anyone's thoughts?

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Magda_MI Posted 4 Jun 2015 , 3:22pm
post #6 of 10

Yes, the diagonal distance across an 8 inch square cake will be a bit over 11 inches, so it will not fit on a 10" round.

(Remember the Pythagorean therom?  The square of the hypotenuse = the sum of the squares of the other 2 sides.  Since a side is 8", the sum of the squares is 64+64=128, and the square root of 128 is about 11.3.)

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jmt1714 Posted 4 Jun 2015 , 4:24pm
post #7 of 10

Fair to whom?


Does target worry about whether wal mart thinks targets prices are fair?  

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-K8memphis Posted 4 Jun 2015 , 4:24pm
post #8 of 10

Magda, I remember that there is a Pythagorean theorem but all I did was put the two pans together :)

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Magda_MI Posted 4 Jun 2015 , 4:55pm
post #9 of 10

My pans are in a bin in the basement at the moment, so math was faster for me.  ;-)

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-K8memphis Posted 4 Jun 2015 , 4:57pm
post #10 of 10

I could travel to China and buy pàns faster hahaha

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