Another Pricing Question

Business By catgirl Updated 25 Jul 2016 , 4:28pm by -K8memphis

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catgirl Posted 25 Jul 2016 , 2:19pm
post #1 of 4

I charge $4 per serving for buttercream cakes and $5 for fondant covered cakes.   I'm starting to charge the general public for my cakes. I've worked out the costs, etc and have a few questions that I hope you ladies can help me with  


1.  How much do you charge if someone wants a cake to feed 20 people but your cake servings feed 28 people?  $100 or $140?

2.  Do you charge a certain amount per serving for a carved cake (say $6 per serving) or go you charge the fondant price but add on a flat rate fee for carving (say $30)?

Thanks Trish 


3 replies
-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 25 Jul 2016 , 3:00pm
post #2 of 4

yes advise them by the price of the cake and servings -- so you'd say my smallest cake is $140 and will serve 28 so you can handily get your 20 servings --

for sculptures and extra decor I mainly go by the full price -- your sculpture of a designer purse to scale and to serve at least 30 will be $320 (so $8 a serving)

but for a large tier cake that will have two hours of decor -- i'd include that in the base price same as for a small tier cake that includes an hour of decor -- 

if the decor takes me longer to make I'd up the price per serving and quote the total price to client -- not how you arrived at it -- confuses the client and otherwise gives them too much room to negotiate --

if it was covered with handmade flowers I'd give the base price plus the upcharge for the flowers --

just kinda depends on your mood at the time too -- when you're doing the custom work you have to be clairvoyant -- a cake that can seem straight forward enough at the consult can be an intricate nightmare to produce -- you learn how to do this by screwing yourself for a few years -- then it all becomes clear stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye.png blush.png

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catgirl Posted 25 Jul 2016 , 4:00pm
post #3 of 4

Thanks K8memphis. I forgot to mention that the $5 per serving is just to cover the cake in fondant. I also charge extra for stripes, balls, large pieces such as flowers and things.

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 25 Jul 2016 , 4:28pm
post #4 of 4

just be careful when quoting so you don't conjure up people micro-managing all the extras kwim -- 

another very important thing is that -- i'm not saying you -- i'm just saying in general -- people take way too long to make/set up/decorate cakes --

i would not charge extra for stripes, ball borders, a coupla flowers, things like that -- i'm efficient so that would be included in base price for moi --

best to you

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