How Much Do People Think A Cake Costs To Make???

Business By TPACakeGirl Updated 23 Jun 2016 , 1:30pm by indydebi

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Lizzybug78 Posted 5 Mar 2014 , 9:23am
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Quote:

Originally Posted by howsweet 
 


Exactly. So if you can't wrap your brain around charging that much for a cake, it just means you can't afford a cake for that price. LOTS of people can't. In fact most people wouldn't dream of spending that amount on a cake. Just like you probably wouldn't spend $700 on a pair of shoes. But the people who do are your customers.

 

This is really meant as a joke, but most of us would be better off hanging around the front of a high end shoe store handing out cards than spreading the word through our friends and family.

I'm off to Jimmy Choo as we speak :-D 

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cazza1 Posted 5 Mar 2014 , 11:35am
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I think that Joe the public just has no idea and goes on the prices they see in local shops.  I take a lot of my cakes in to work as I don't sell.  One of the girls said the other day that she never gave it a thought but that she should have got me to make her birthday cake.  At the time I had taken in a 6x5 inch passionfruit, white chocolate, mud cake with white chocolate ganache.  The cake was covered in fondant and had an overlay on the sides and a large flower on one of the top edges.  I asked her how much she thought the cake was worth.  She did think about it for a minute or so and then queried maybe $50.  I laughed (friendly) at her ignorance and explained that it had about $25 worth of chocolate in it before any of the other ingredients, not to mention the time it had taken and that i would not work for $1 or $2 an hour and neither would she.  She looked rather sheepish and admitted that she had had absolutely no idea of the costs involved.  So I have educated at least one person. She now understands why I have no interest in doing it as a business.

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LoveMeSomeCake615 Posted 5 Mar 2014 , 1:56pm
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Lizzybug78 

I am finding more and more that if I get an enquiry through Facebook I will not get that booking, and they'll be rude about the cost. I don't know what is like where any of you are, but in my area it appears that people going through fb are expecting car boot sale prices.
 

Yep, same here. Unless it is a previous client who is just using FB for convenience, I'd say 9 times out of 10 those who contact initially through FB expect it to be cheap, and/or I respond to their initial message and never get a response back. It ends up feeling like a massive waste of time to respond to FB messages. I have been so tempted to just turn messaging off and tell people that they must call or email to inquire or place an order. It seems like that would weed out the ones who don't even want to put in the effort to write an email.

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AZCouture Posted 5 Mar 2014 , 2:12pm
post #394 of 434

AOh yea, Facebook message inquiries are usually a bust. "How much 4 dis?" Too much, move along.

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Angie0809 Posted 5 Mar 2014 , 10:45pm
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I agree with the Facebook inquiries as well, those always turn out to be someone who wants a cake cheap.I ended up turning off the messaging function. Having encountered all the comments in last several posts and lost business also as several are undercutting me as they do it out of their house. I just opened my bakery last year and people want a Cake Boss cake at a Walmart price. I have been told that I am overpriced and while trying to explain the amount of time that will go into making their tiered, fondant covered, made by hand animals, they just look at you like you just fell off the turnip truck. Luckily, I have other items to fall back on so that helps. No longer will I make cakes and not make money. My time is just as valuable as theirs and I wish them the best and explain I am sorry but I will not be able to make their cake for less.

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Zakared Posted 6 Mar 2014 , 7:18pm
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Angie0809 
 

I agree with the Facebook inquiries as well, those always turn out to be someone who wants a cake cheap.I ended up turning off the messaging function. Having encountered all the comments in last several posts and lost business also as several are undercutting me as they do it out of their house. I just opened my bakery last year and people want a Cake Boss cake at a Walmart price. I have been told that I am overpriced and while trying to explain the amount of time that will go into making their tiered, fondant covered, made by hand animals, they just look at you like you just fell off the turnip truck. Luckily, I have other items to fall back on so that helps. No longer will I make cakes and not make money. My time is just as valuable as theirs and I wish them the best and explain I am sorry but I will not be able to make their cake for less.

 

So maybe we should all have signs up where we work:  THERE ARE NO CAKE BOSS CAKES AT WALMART PRICES.   (I.e. no such thing as a free lunch).  Maybe they would get the idea in advance.  Just my 2 cents.

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Apti Posted 6 Mar 2014 , 7:38pm
post #397 of 434

$20

 

That's what it costs every baker/decorator all over the world to make fancy cakes.

 

* * * * * * *

 

No.  Seriously?   $20?

 

* * * * * * *

 

Yup.  $20

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Godot Posted 6 Mar 2014 , 7:47pm
post #398 of 434

AWhat? That seems a little extreme. Everyone knows that a cake mix and a can of frosting don't cost more thsn a couple of bucks.

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TheItalianBaker Posted 6 Mar 2014 , 9:43pm
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Apparently all the customers in the word think they can get a big super fancy cake for $20.

Today a man came into the bakery asking for our prices.. 2 tiers cake, fresh fruit inside and buttercream to feed 50people. I priced it $216 (10" + 8"), he said he was going to think about it because it's very expensive.. 

Oh and "I would need the cake Sunday at 10, can I let you know saturday?"

 

NO!!!!!! 

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Rachel S Posted 7 Mar 2014 , 1:34am
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If they were to go out to dinner they'd spend $50-$100 for 2 people. So a cake to feed 30 people at $300 looks like a bargain to me! The people just don't  get the cost of time to make it, plus cost of supplies. If they want a cheap cake they can buy a mix and can of frosting and make it themselves. 

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tsaria Posted 7 Mar 2014 , 2:08am
post #401 of 434

AI'm gonna jump in and answer the thread title question now so that I can look back in 3 years and laugh at my naive self.

I have always assumed that an 8" cake costs about $10 in supplies, and I've never had any idea how much fondant costs (just heard of it recently! all these years I thought people were just making their buttercream super smooth with magic!) I've never been good at estimating the time it will take someone to do something, so my random guesses for amount of time I thought people spent decorating: 10-20 minutes to ice a cake, 2-3 hours for decorating a not-overly-involved cake. I would expect people to value their decorating time around $15-20/hr and the baking/basic icing at more like $10/hr. I have only bought a cake twice- for one I paid $40 for a super basic giant cupcake, and the other time I bought was somewhere between $125-$150 for a 10", an 8" & a 6" round (undecorated, uniced, it was kinda like a mousse pie deal so it didn't need it.) Neither price made me flinch, though I might have thought twice if the cupcake was over $60 or the mousse ones were over $200.

I've never bought a cake from a grocery store/supermarket but I would expect them to be more like $15 for an 8", unless it is whole foods and then I would expect more like $25-30.

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Lizzybug78 Posted 7 Mar 2014 , 8:58am
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AAt least you are giving credit for having to decorate the cake, which I think a lot of people genuinely don't think about! Personally I'd like someone like you as a customer because you've actually assumed a decorator has to decorate a cake, rather than just pull it from the oven ready iced :-D

Don't forget though you also have preparation (shopping for ingredients, getting ingredients ready/chopped, preparing tins, making batter, making fillings etc), electricity costs, materials costs (boards/boxes/dowelling/ribbon etc) torting time, filling time, covering time, colouring sugarpaste (this can take a while if you're going for a specific shade or a deep colour), dowelling for tiered cakes, carving for shaped cakes, delivery time, setting up time, petrol costs, clearing up time. Oh, and very importantly, there's the experience and talent of the decorator, who could have been honing their skills for many years. Then there's the admin involved for quotes, sketches, invoicing, tax returns etc.

I think these things just aren't thought of when buying cakes.

To be fair though, if I go to a good restaurant I may well baulk at the prices, and it's only after I've eaten that I will think 'actually, that chef clearly knows what they're doing, it's far better than I would have managed and it was worth paying the extra'. And I won't ever give a thought to their overheads...

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howsweet Posted 14 Mar 2014 , 1:35am
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Quote:
Then there's the admin involved for quotes, sketches, invoicing, tax returns etc. 

So far this week I have spent 12 hours quoting out cakes, answering questions, taking orders and running cards.  So if I make 4 cakes this week, that could be looked at as 3 hours of labor cost per cake.

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costumeczar Posted 14 Mar 2014 , 10:38am
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A

Quote:

 

 

What drives me crazy is sometimes she gets a very nice cake.

True, but it won't be for long becaust the rude cow will send all of her feidns to this cheapo baker and the cheapo will quit after she realizes it's not fun anymore.

Original message sent by howsweet

So far this week I have spent 12 hours quoting out cakes, answering questions, taking orders and running cards.  So if I make 4 cakes this week, that could be looked at as 3 hours of labor cost per cake.

This is very true, and that's why I hate it when people ask me how long it takes to make a cake. I always tell them that it depends on the cake, but I work a full-time job doing it.

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DaysCakes Posted 14 Mar 2014 , 1:10pm
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The issue is that if these people were going to a dressmaker for instance to get a tailor made outfit - then they would be prepared to pay extra - because it is bespoke.  The problem is that a lot of tv programmes nowadays make it look so easy to make a designer cake that people think you are trying to rip them off.

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natt12321 Posted 17 Mar 2014 , 4:15pm
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Quote:

Originally Posted by DaysCakes 
 

The issue is that if these people were going to a dressmaker for instance to get a tailor made outfit - then they would be prepared to pay extra - because it is bespoke.  The problem is that a lot of tv programmes nowadays make it look so easy to make a designer cake that people think you are trying to rip them off.

 

Any one that mentions Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss to me now gets some kind of comment regarding their costs. A relatively plain 8" cake from Charm City Cakes costs around $150 and that isn't one of the custom ones....

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tsaria Posted 17 Mar 2014 , 4:26pm
post #407 of 434

A

Quote:
Originally Posted by natt12321 

 

Any one that mentions Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss to me now gets some kind of comment regarding their costs. A relatively plain 8" cake from Charm City Cakes costs around $150 and that isn't one of the custom ones....

 

Their website says "6-inch and 8-inch cakes available online starting at $65."

I never thought to check websites before, but the pre-decorated (or standardly decorated, idk how to phrase it) cakes at Carlos Bakery are not as expensive as I thought they would be. $25-50 for a 7 inch cake. Cupcakes at $3.50. A 6" cheesecake for just under $17. (why? cheesecakes are fabulous! I would pay more for cheesecake than for a regular cake!)

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natt12321 Posted 17 Mar 2014 , 5:11pm
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A

Original message sent by tsaria

Their website says "6-inch and 8-inch cakes available online starting at $65."

I never thought to check websites before, but the pre-decorated (or standardly decorated, idk how to phrase it) cakes at Carlos Bakery are not as expensive as I thought they would be. $25-50 for a 7 inch cake. Cupcakes at $3.50. A 6" cheesecake for just under $17. (why? cheesecakes are fabulous! I would pay more for cheesecake than for a regular cake!)

If you check through the pictures they have on their 'top tier' page, they do have cakes for $65 however the majority of them are $150 for 8". And they aren't what you see on ace of cakes, they are simple, well executed designs.

'from' prices are deceptive at the best of times.

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Laydk Posted 19 May 2014 , 9:48pm
post #409 of 434

AI have had that problem too.People always want somthing for nothing especially family and friends that's why I stopped making cakes for people let them go to a Bakery and see how much it cost.Cakes are very expensive to make at home. The decorations cost a lot

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peppercorns Posted 25 May 2014 , 9:07pm
post #410 of 434

ADitto! I agree with you 100%, when one bakes a cake as a treat you of course bake from scratch and use the best and the freshest ingredient there is in the market. Because of this if I want dessert I make my own. Hah! I've learned to decorate from fondant to Lambeth and three d figures for my own leisure,spent a few thousand dollars chasing well known ********** teachers, buying expensive how to books as far as the Squires in England, and then when you bake a really scrumptious, moist and heavenly sponge cake or even a Jaconde with awesome filling someone asks you to bake the exact cake for twenty dollars? Buh humbug.

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WWCC Posted 27 May 2014 , 5:42am
post #411 of 434

Hi Everyone,

 

New to the blog.

 

I recently had the experience of someone not wanting to pay the appropriate price for a cake.  She wanted a tiffany and co present box, for 40 people, all the bells and whistles, happy birthday plaque, the diamond numbers on the cake and all and delivered and only wanted to pay $100.  I was a sucker and did it for her at that price, I kick myself everyday since doing it, because now I am worried she will tell her friends I am the 'cheap cake lady' and I don't want that.

 

I now am driving prices up and if people don't want to pay, then I would rather not do it.  What also makes it worse is when you have to justify why cakes cost what they do, when it takes about 10 hours to shop, bake, carve, decorate, clean up and then deliver the cake, for $100, that's $10 and hour and not including ingredients, who can be bothered with that.

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DaysCakes Posted 30 May 2014 , 5:35am
post #412 of 434

ATell her/her friends you forgot to mention that it was done for her as an "introductory" price - and learn a little from this.

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SystemMod1 Posted 30 May 2014 , 6:32am
post #413 of 434

This thread has run its course.  Many opinions have been expressed so thank you for participating.

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Brenda0214 Posted 13 Jun 2016 , 7:57pm
post #414 of 434

i have a question for ya, i was asked to do a three tier double layer cake 12, 9, 6 with a cascade of buttercream roses down the side.  they are supplying me with all the ingredients to do this and to bake it.  should i just only charge for my time to do it?


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yjflores1 Posted 13 Jun 2016 , 8:36pm
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I never understood why some cakes were expensive but I never had a problem paying and what not. But now that I'm involved in this environment I can see why they a cost the way they do and the caker deserves every penny !! I had a person message me with a picture of a cake to serve 25 ppl I told her it would be 70 didn't hear from her for a week then finally I get a "never mind on the cake I found someone that can do it for 45 the lady that wanted the cake thought it was too expensive " I was like ok ☺️. Umm... I'm not busting my a.. For a cake that I know I'm not going to profit out of it . Now I don't even get hurt at first I did now I just move along !

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carolinecakes Posted 14 Jun 2016 , 12:42am
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First I am a hobby baker but I will share with you some of things I have learned on CC.

Th cost of the ingredients for a cake is the least expense. The time and skill it takes to decorate a cake, your labor, needs to be taken into consideration. The cost of utilities,insurance, licenses, rent all impact your pricing.

You did not mention cake boards, SPS/dowels that will be used for support, gas,if you are delivering the cake.........

I would charge like you normally do minus the cost of the ingredients. 

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Gold Star Mom Posted 14 Jun 2016 , 1:47am
post #417 of 434

With cake boss software, I get a deposit of over half of final cost when the invoice is first sent, after figuring everything up. I use that to buy all ingredients and necessaries. Then I get the rest before the cake is ever made, absolutely due two weeks before cake is due. That way, they CANNOT back out and say they found someone else cheaper, whatever. And when I talk to my clients, I have them come to my home with their boyfriend or husband, and have a tasting, and talk to them, and have them deeply involved in the process. It is then that they will not back out and I stay in touch through email, and keep them excited about what a beautiful cake THEY have chosen, and I text them and Facebook them also...keeping them engaged makes it more exciting and after that much buildup, they don't balk. And that's My Two Cents! 

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frogcooke Posted 20 Jun 2016 , 7:57pm
post #418 of 434

Thoughts on this cake and what someone would reasonably pay? 

(I know what was charged for this and an additional 10" chocolate cake with 3 characters on top plus a few other fondant accents)

3 layer 8" strawberry cake(real strawberries in batter), 3 layer 6" vanilla cake, 6" tall rice crispy. All imbc(filled and coated), middle tier covered in massa fondant colored and airbrushed gold. Top rice crispy covered in 2 coats of white chocolate then covered in imbc. Total height probably close to 18"


Sometimes i know we are under charging for some cakes and other times im not sure. 

[postimage id="4313" thumb="900"]

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Gold Star Mom Posted 20 Jun 2016 , 9:40pm
post #419 of 434

Without running it through software, maybe $100-120...decorations are simple...three different cake batters, real fruit...


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810whitechoc Posted 20 Jun 2016 , 11:38pm
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One of my all time favourite posts  Apti, still makes me laugh smile.png

Quote by @Apti on 6 Mar 2014 , 11:38am

$20

 

That's what it costs every baker/decorator all over the world to make fancy cakes.

 

* * * * * * *

 

No.  Seriously?   $20?

 

* * * * * * *

 

Yup.  $20


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