How Much Would It Cost To Have This Cake Made?
Decorating By faishay Updated 16 Jan 2014 , 1:24am by SystemMod1
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Original message sent by shaunana
What kind of baker jumps from 150 to 275, let alone even sells at 150? I'd give negotiating a try. Something tells me they've got wiggle room.
It's unlikely there is any "wiggle room". Chances are OP did not adequately describe the product she was looking for initially, and/or the baker has no idea how to set prices.
Howsweet......I DID NOT say that bakeries charge $35 per slice. I DID say that they can charge 10X the price of other bakeries. It is not unreasonable to believe that someone would charge $1.00 per slice for a simple design, such as this one. However, you are not going to get that price across the globe. Check out this website and her advertised prices.... http://www.threelittleblackbirds.com/available-products/ Wedding cakes START at $10 per slice with a $1000 minimum!
I'm sorry if you think it's sad that "Some People" spread this kind of thing.....I'm just passing on what I've seen and heard!
I know what you said, but I'm wondering if you read everything I said. Comparing that cake in the photo to the cakes 3 Little Blackbirds does is, I don't know, pointless? This is not an issue of location, but an issue of quality. Also, you needed to be able to read between the lines. I cannot speak for 3 Little Blackbirds, but when a baker gives a minimum price of $10 per serving specifically for wedding cakes (their other cake are less), they aren't just saying they are pricey, they are telling you that they don't even do cakes like the one posted in this thread. They have enough high end customers that they dont have to do simpler cakes they'd make less profit on. Again, I am not specifically speaking for that bakery.
Another reason not to do cakes lesser skilled bakers can do is you have less absurdly priced competition to try and compete with.
And please tell me how $10 a serving is 10x more than other bakeries. Maybe someone charges a dollar a serving, but no one can make a living selling cake for that. So to say that $10 a serving is 10 times what anyone charges is misleading. It implies that $1 per serving is a valid price to sell cake for.
When I said it was a shame, I was giving you the benefit of a doubt and assuming you had read that here and believed what the person said. Not that you were making it up out of your own head. So I was saying it's a shame people say these things, people believe it and then repeat it. But you say, "seen and heard"? So let's see some examples.
If the prices were insulting why would they even quote them to me? I was never trying to insult anyone, was just trying to get an idea of a price. When I first contacted them regarding pricing I stated what I wanted and for how many people (I described a three tier square cake to feed 150). They came back with the $150. Even after her giving me the higher quote I told her I wanted it to look like that, but only to feed 150 (whether or not the cake I posted is for more people I don't know because I am not a baker). The $275-$290 obviously is fair and the $290 quote came from a really great baker who does it for a living. So where I'm from I'd say that those are the average prices. We don't have high end bakeries, or even lots of options when it comes to who makes cakes for a living. I was just trying to understand why the price jump from $150 -$275. Obviously other bakers can charge more and have no problem getting the business for it, but some do it for cheaper because they love what they do and aren't necessarily in it to use it as an income.
Thanks for all your advice. :)
AWow. Over reactions all over the place today.
op, I would charge minimum $5.65 a serving for the cake in the picture. I don't understand the low quotes you are getting, but that's the baker's faults, not yours. Some of us don't expect people who know nothing about wedding cakes to realize when another baker is grossly undercharging, if she does good work in a clean, legal kitchen, and wants to charge under $300, I'd jump at it.
Wow. Over reactions all over the place today.
op, I would charge minimum $5.65 a serving for the cake in the picture.
I don't understand the low quotes you are getting, but that's the baker's faults, not yours.
Some of us don't expect people who know nothing about wedding cakes to realize when another baker is grossly undercharging, if she does good work in a clean, legal kitchen, and wants to charge under $300, I'd jump at it.
Thanks. I wasn't trying to "under cut" anyone, or ask them to do it for lower. I simply came on here to get some advice.
Maybe they make a living. Not sure whether you really know that because so often the person doing it doesn't even know. There are lots of people who think they do. But instead what's happening is they make some extra income not realizing how low their profit margin really is. And there are plenty of places where these people with a love of making cakes (and hard work for low pay) are putting others out of business. It's going to get harder to get nice cakes where professionals can't make a living.
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Maybe they make a living. Not sure whether you really know that because so often the person doing it doesn't even know. There are lots of people who think they do. But instead what's happening is they make some extra income not realizing how low their profit margin really is. And there are plenty of places where these people with a love of making cakes (and hard work for low pay) are putting others out of business. It's going to get harder to get nice cakes where professionals can't make a living.
Okay, well I'll word it like this. I live in a small town where everyone knows everyone else and there are not alot of people who bake cakes here. Like you said whether they make a living do it or not I probably don't really know.
AA 16", 12", and 8" would give you 232 servings.
Afaishay - Did you ask the decorator why the increase in price? My first thought was that the $150 quote was an accident. Were you communicating on the phone, or by email? (I thought maybe she meant to quote $250 originally.) I would really be interested to know what her explanation was.
I have contacted her regarding the price difference but no response as of yet. It was done via email since it was the easiest way to show her the photo.
I'm wondering is it possible to do the same style of cake (I don't want to budge on this as it is the only thing my fiance has picked himself) but to feed roughly 100-115 people? I could eliminate a few guests but not many.
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Original message sent by faishay
The $275-$290 obviously is fair and the $290 quote came from a really great baker who does it for a living.
If I were you I would go with the $290 quote, it sounds like you may not be happy with the person who quoted you $275.
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Original message sent by faishay
I have contacted her regarding the price difference but no response as of yet. It was done via email since it was the easiest way to show her the photo. I'm wondering is it possible to do the same style of cake (I don't want to budge on this as it is the only thing my fiance has picked himself) but to feed roughly 100-115 people? I could eliminate a few guests but not many.
A 6"/10"/14" cake would serve 166. 4"/8"/12" would serve about 110. If a professional baker is not able to give you accurate sizes for the number of servings you want, that's a big red flag.
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm
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Just remember, faishay, the cake in the pic does not have a 4" difference in tiers. I know you're trying to figure servings, but Delicious Desserts pointed this out on the first page. A 4" difference in tiers is going to look more "squat" than the inspiration picture. DD's sizes gets you approx 131 servings.
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Just remember, faishay, the cake in the pic does not have a 4" difference in tiers. I know you're trying to figure servings, but Delicious Desserts pointed this out on the first page. A 4" difference in tiers is going to look more "squat" than the inspiration picture. DD's sizes gets you approx 131 servings.
So would that not cost less to make than the original 16, 12 and 8 the baker quoted me? Now I'm completely confused. I can say for sure though that I will scratch this baker off my list.
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So would that not cost less to make than the original 16, 12 and 8 the baker quoted me? Now I'm completely confused. I can say for sure though that I will scratch this baker off my list.
I'm not sure HOW she figures her prices!! I would say the flags for me would be the difference in pricing she gave you (especially the rock bottom original leads me to believe she may not know what she is doing.) And the sizing information. Most bakers who have done a fair number of cakes could look at the pic and tell the spacing is not a 4" difference. She may be giving you a great price, but my fear is that you are going to end up with a disaster for a wedding cake just to save $150 by going with the cheapest quote.
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Original message sent by faishay
So would that not cost less to make than the original 16, 12 and 8 the baker quoted me? Now I'm completely confused. I can say for sure though that I will scratch this baker off my list.
A 6/9/12 square cake like the one posted would typically cost in the $400-800 range, assuming reasonable pricing. With the pricing quoted so far a 6/9/12 would be around $250.
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Wow, my chart says 232 servings, as well. And it would $986. OP, If those are the sizes the lady wants to sell you to serve 150, run! She obviously has no idea what she is doing.
I would do that cake as 7, 10, 13 and call it 158 servings. It would be $632.
Or, actually, a 6,9,12 would be better, to serve 130, because not everyone eats cake at a wedding. It would be better proportioned, too. It would be $520.
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Original message sent by jason_kraft
A 6/9/12 square cake like the one posted would typically cost in the $400-800 range, assuming reasonable pricing. With the pricing quoted so far a 6/9/12 would be around $250.
Scratch that last sentence...if the $275 quote was for an 8/12/16 (232 servings), that works out to $1.18/serving. For a 6/9/12 (131 servings) the underprice would be $155.
AI m
Original message sent by faishay
No no not because of what people were saying price range. I obviously get that I'm going to get different responses about prices.. especially seeing as how most people where I live charge $350 for a top of the line wedding cake and where ya'll are from you would charge $800+. I just felt some of the responses were a tad rude.
A
Original message sent by tammyanderson6
I must agree....some responses were ignorant and rude.
Can you explain which responses were "ignorant"? Ignorant of what?
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Ignorant, you know what that means, Jason.This is the year 2014. It is the PC way of calling someone a stupid jackass. It means that the bakers didn't consider this woman was on a budget and didn't tell her what she wanted to hear.
I remember the good ole days when ignorant wasn't a bad thing, it just meant you didn't know something yet. Not that you were rude or stupid or incapable, you just lacked knowledge. Even in KY, the inbred, backwoods hillbillies of the 1980's used it properly.
AI thought Tammy was referring to responses in this thread, not the responses of the baker to the OP.
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