Cake Cost For My First Order......

Business By stfd211 Updated 28 May 2009 , 3:42pm by colagal

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stfd211 Posted 22 May 2009 , 12:51pm
post #1 of 16

I have not had many paying customers and I need help with pricing.

Here's the breakdown:
one 6" and one 12" cake (2-layers each) covered in MMF and MMF accents. The cake theme is stripes and polka dots so that isn't hard but the colors that the lady wants are bermudia blue, lime, and orange and she wants them to match exactly. I have come up with a price of $180.00 for this cake. icon_surprised.gif

Now maybe its cause I know how to do this, but I would NEVER pay 180.00 for a cake. Is my figures off???? Please reply ASAP with what you think I meet with my "client" this afternoon!!!!

15 replies
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Kiddiekakes Posted 22 May 2009 , 1:00pm
post #2 of 16

Well...that is close.According to Earlene Moore's chart at 6 inch will feed 8 and a 12 inch will feed 45.I charge $3.00 per serving for BC so that would be $159.00...but...you are covering the entire cake in fondant and that is expensive and time consuming.I charge $5.00 per serving for fondant.It would be more like $265.00....

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cakeschmake Posted 22 May 2009 , 2:44pm
post #3 of 16

[quote="stfd211]
Now maybe its cause I know how to do this, but I would NEVER pay 180.00 for a cake. Is my figures off???? Please reply ASAP with what you think I meet with my "client" this afternoon!!!![/quote]

I can't afford my own cakes, either... but if you hang around here on CC long enough you'll see time and time again: somebody will pay $180.00 for a cake, easily... you just have to find the right customers icon_smile.gif


KiddieKakes is right, your price sounds pretty fair.... but definitely charge extra for all fondant

Hope this helps

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yamber82 Posted 22 May 2009 , 2:53pm
post #4 of 16

i just started charging for cakes too. someone told me for pretty much anything you make, cake or other, you can figure costs, double it, and add labor. i never could really go by the per slice thing. myabe i will eventually. anyway.... i charges 80 for my first cake because i felt so bad charging mroe, but in the end i only made like 10 profit and spent 2 days working on it so i think your price is def reasonable. these cakes take a lot of labor! you have to take that into consideration. how much is your time worth?

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sweetkozie Posted 22 May 2009 , 5:10pm
post #5 of 16

I'm having the same issue with pricing cakes. I think going by the slice is too much for the people I make cakes for. I don't actually have my own buisness I just do word of mouth and haven't had many paying customers. Today actually my son's teacher saw a pic of one of my cakes and said wow I need something like that and I told her the price I got for the cake and she about came unglued. Then asked me for a deal price and I said that was a deal price normally it would have been more. Now I'm double guessing myself on if I'm charging too much or too little. I don't want to work for hours to profit 10 dollars off of a cake! Sorry for ranting!

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-K8memphis Posted 22 May 2009 , 5:17pm
post #6 of 16

See what I mean here?
We need those over indulgent people in order to make a decent living!!!


http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-632637-.html


<cups hands around mouth>

"Overindulgent people of the world SPEND!!!!!"


icon_lol.gificon_lol.gif

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sweetkozie Posted 22 May 2009 , 5:20pm
post #7 of 16

LOL Yeah I agree.. wish I knew more overindulgent people!!!!

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yamber82 Posted 22 May 2009 , 8:25pm
post #8 of 16

i don't think people understand how much it costs and how much time it takes to make these kinds of cakes!

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kimmybritt Posted 22 May 2009 , 8:41pm
post #9 of 16

Having the same problems here. I had someone book a cake. I spent several hours looking for ideas. Sent them to her. She liked it and we agreed on a price. Two days later she sent me an email that her husband said that was more than they could spend on a cake. Oh well my time aint free you know. NEXT!!!!

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cylstrial Posted 23 May 2009 , 1:00pm
post #10 of 16

So stfd211, what happened with your customer? Is she going to buy the cake for $180?

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stfd211 Posted 24 May 2009 , 3:27pm
post #11 of 16

well my customer decided that she'd told me at some point that she wanted BC frosting with MMF accents and not the entire MMF with MMF accents....so I reworked my numbers and came up with a price of 150.00. I ended up dropping my per hour rate from 15.00/hour with the all fondant cake to 11.50/hour with the BC and MMF accents. So I haven't heard back from her. She is an old friend from high school and my husband is figuring that she wont reply to me cause of the price....but my husband and good friend also say that my cakes are totally worth it and that I shouldn't undercut myself or I'll regret it later.....So I guess that I'll just have to wait until after the wonderful weekend to see what she's wanting to do!!! Thanks to all my CC friends for their help!!!! Its nice to see that others are willing to help me with such a huge price problem.......and I love ya all!!!!

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candoo Posted 25 May 2009 , 6:42pm
post #12 of 16

I also need help! I know that prices very by region, & I live in Ga., so my prices will have to be cheaper than those up north or in bigger cities... That being said, I've had a few orders in the next few months (none immediately) & I don't konw what 2 charge! I've only done the cakes that you see posted under my name, and a couple more (horse and puppy) from pan molds. The cakes that the customers r interested in are 10' & .8' stacked, 10'. 8', & 6' stacked, and 9'x13' sheet cake. All are BC w/ fondant accents, all similiar to these posted that I have done. Hepl!!

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cylstrial Posted 26 May 2009 , 12:25pm
post #13 of 16

Stfd211 - I hope that she decides to book with you. And your husband is right, don't undervalue your cakes. Sell them for what they are worth!

Candoo - A good place to start is buy adding up all of your expenses and figure out how much it costs you to make a cake. Check your local custom bakery shops and see how much they charge per slice for buttercream with fondant accents. I would say that you should sell them for $2 to $2.50/slice depending on how many decorations there are. Hope this helps!

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candoo Posted 26 May 2009 , 11:37pm
post #14 of 16

cylstrial- Thanks! That's close to what i was thinking, but i just wasn't sure! thumbs_up.gif

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cylstrial Posted 27 May 2009 , 1:53am
post #15 of 16
Quote:
Originally Posted by candoo

cylstrial- Thanks! That's close to what i was thinking, but i just wasn't sure! thumbs_up.gif




Glad I could help! thumbs_up.gif

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colagal Posted 28 May 2009 , 3:42pm
post #16 of 16

Just wondering how much to charge for a quarter sheet cake with BC and Fondant accents?

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