I've been asked about a pirate ship cake to feed 20 people. I surfed the galleries and pm'd some lovely cc members to find out how best to do this.
I figured out it would take me at least a half sheet cake stacked and carved plus gumpaste for the sails and railings, anchor, etc, etc. That's $47 in cost for me without labor.
I told her I would do it for $100. That comes to $5 per serving. Which considering that the "other bakeries in town" would only draw a picture on a flat cake, seemed reasonable to me.
She said she was expecting $50-60. Am I nuts or is she nuts?? Should I offer her a breakdown to explain where I got that price, or just let it go?
I would break down the price for her. She does not realize how much time a cake like that would take. I think the fee you quoted her was conservative to say the least.
Once she knows the cost if she balks then let her go. People tend to overvalue themselves and undervalue other people's work.
It is going to be a complicated cake to say the least. If she still walks then you have saved yourself a lot of work.
Good luck Claire
I would show her what you would do for her for the 50-60 price range and what you would do for the $40 more. Then I would explain that what she wants is really labor intensive and let her decide. That way you don't loose a sale. Could you tell me how you arrived at the 47 price without labor?
Thanks everyone:
I got my cost by figuring how much a half sheet chocolate cake would cost me, adding in frosting, gumpaste, dowels, cake board, skewers (for the mast) and the box to hold it all. That with the base charge for electricity involved in making the thing comes to around $47. I might be slightly overestimating how much frosting I'm going to need, and it's possible that my gumpaste estimate is off, but that wouldn't save her more than $5-10 at the very outside, and I doubt I'm off that much.
Plus, even if I was off that much, it gives me some room for profit, since if I pay myself minimum wage, I'm already in the hole on this cake. (If I start from when I start mixing ingredients up to when I box the sucker up).
I broke it down for her but didn't offer an alternative, since she had already researched other bakeries. I figure it will just come down to whether she wants a 3D cake or not. Thanks for your input everyone, I really do appreciate your help. Sometimes I just can't get my mind around stuff in this business....all so new to me.
Customers don't need a "breakdown".
You can just tell the customer that a custom made edible work of art is cheap at 5.00 a serving..but that's about it.
You don't really have to "qualify" your pricing.
too many explanations confuse the consumer..lol
I agree, just telling her how much time is involved in "sculpting" a cake,
should really be all she needs to know....dont you worry about it, even if she goes and gets a boring ol tasteless sheetcake somewhere, have satisfaction in knowing yours wouldve been better and that your time and work is valuable!
people really have nooo c lue- I once had someone say "wow you must've" spent all day on that.
uh yah like all WEEK!!
I would say stick to your price-offer a lower priced option (FBCT or such ) and let her decide .
I agree with everyone else that posted, and I have a suggestion for you if you are worried about the cost of making it:
Get yourself a 3-D football cake pan, and then, bake one small oval shaped one. You can make one half sheet layer as a base. Cut the football in half lenthwise, and set on the sheet, then the small oval one. This will give you depth, plue height, and then you can use some wooden dowels dressed up to look like docking planks for bracing. It will require less craving(the oval on the edges) and save you not only time, but money as well. Just a suggestion.....I am getting ready to do a pirate ship cake myself in a month or so, for my husband's new gaming community. (He's a computer nerd, but he's my nerd! 
. ) I've been brainstorming for weeks, and viewing all the cakes from everyone here that has posted. Mine will be a compliation of the ones that I liked the most.
Good luck to you on yours!! And charge her what you think you are worth!! If she respects your talent and wants the best she'll pay for it! 
You can just tell the customer that a custom made edible work of art is cheap at 5.00 a serving..but that's about it.
So funny!! That's precisely what I wanted to tell her, but was afraid of sounding flippant. You never fail to crack me up, Risque!
I amde a pirate ship cake in September for my son's birthday, and it was a lot of work! It wasn't hard, but time consuming. I wouldn't do it for $50-6-! I don'y think you owe her an explanation, and I don't think that $-5 per serving sounds unreasonable at all!
This is why I don't do cakes for less than 50 people, the difference in expenses from 20 to 50 its next to nothing, the work is about the same, but the client is willing to pay more for 50 than 20. I get complains in my shop cause i don't do smaller cakes, but i tell them there's no such thing as leftover cake, you can eat it the next day.
I don't get much call for cakes from outsiders anymore, because I don't solicit that kind of work. Most of my cakes are giveaways. But, on the rare occasion that I do accept a paying order, I don't do anything for less than $50, because it's not worth it to me to mess up my kitchen. I'd tell her that for $50, she gets an edible image of a pirate, or a ship or a treasure map or something like that. And, it would be cute and delicious. But, for 3D...no way would I do anything for less than $100!!!! Stick to your guns, honey. These people will squeeze the life out of you if you let them!
Most of my sculpted cakes at $250. There are very few designs that I will do for less.
mpc
www.mypastrychef.com
I don't think you ever need to give any customer a break down. Just explain to them that it's very involved and then offer them an alternative like a Buttercream Transfer.
Jacqui
I think you're price is great. a pirate ship cake would be a lot of work . If it's a "pirates of the carabben" party theam you could try the kraken cake in my photos.
-Sam
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