Hi everyone I am new at this and would like to ask a question. How do you all decide on what to charge for your cakes? You know 1/4 sheet, 1/2 sheet, full sheet, and the round ones and so on. The wedding cakes too. what do you guy charge? I ask this because I had two people tell me no thanks, that they can get it cheaper at WalMart. I told them it would not be as good in a nice way. How do you compete with places like that?

S_S_SweetTooth

i charge $2.00 a person base price for buttercream extra for filling and whatnot.... i do alot of shaped cakes and hand drawings.. they arent gonna get that at walmart... if they want a cheap cake .. let them go there if they want quality then they can call me

S_S_SweetTooth, when they say that to me, I tell them, if you want a personalized cake that someone takes time and creates just for you, I'm your person .. if you want a cheap cake and you don't care what it really looks like, go to WalMart ...

I actually spoke with a woman who was shopping in Michaels and had a question about cake decorating supplies who decorated cakes at WalMart (the cashier didn't know the answer as she didn't cake decorate, so I answered her question, lol) ... she said she put reverse shells for her borders on a cake and was told not to do that again .. to just to straight shells in one direction because they didn't have time to do anything fancy or different...

so how I feel about it is, if they don't want to pay my price, go to WalMart and buy a cake

i'm with everyone else! if they want a cheap cake that looks and taste like crap, let them go to walmart! dont get me wrong, i love walmart....just not there cakes, they look horrible! my first cake looks better than theres. about pricing.....its different everywhere. i live in a big city and going rate is about
$30 for 1/2 sheet cake....my friend that lives 300 miles away in a small town gets $15 for a 1/2 sheet cake
to figure out prices, go to local bakeries, and grocery store bakeries and price theres, see what you get for the money, then think about your skills compared to what you saw, and come up with your price. thats what i finally did....now i know what they have to pay if they go somewhere else and dont feel bad for charging them for doing what i love doing!
melody

Thanks a lot guys! This has helped me a lot. Thanks again(smile)

Hi i'm new here too, i'm from the Netherlands, and i agree, if the want the cheap stuff they can go to the grosery store. And my hubby sais if they don't want to pay your price leave them go else were, as you take alot of time doing you cakes. And they just have to pay for my time.
I love this site, when ever i have a chance i come here. Thanks to all.

I charge $45.00 for an 11x15 cake which I call a half. I charge $70.00 for a full 22x15. I live in a small college town with a Wal-Mart and a few small bakeries. I've called them all and got prices and made sure that I am more expensive than all of them. I got advice that you need to be more expensive than the "professionals" so that they won't try to shut you down if you aren't perfectly "legal." I have photos of my cakes in a book and I've done a bridal show and a few other places.

I haven't had anyone say "Wal-Mart" to me because if they are calling me it means they have "taste" to begin with. I give free tastings for wedding cake consultations and invite the groom, mom, and whoever else. I get a lot of sheet cake stuff from that because when they taste real cake they don't want fake cake for their graduates either. I don't do birthday cakes at all, as you just can't make enough money. There are too many birthdays for people to splurge. But for graduations, bridal shower, etc. people are willing to spend $1.00 to $1.25 per person.

Oh, and a professional internet site sets you apart. If you really want to do this... WEBSITE!

I also do cookie bouquets and get cake orders off that. DON'T get known as cheap. Get known as creative, delicious, specialized, etc. That is my motto and so far it's worked. I've only been in business for 6 months and already have June and October booked! I've made money every week this month too!

estherhead, how many servings are in the 11X15 sheet cake? And is that single or double layer? I know that may sound silly seeing as when you go to WalMart or any grocery store, they are just single layers, but on the Wilton website it says for "number of servings 2 layer" there are 60 servings for an 11X15 sheet cake. So, does this mean that the single layer 11X15 sheet cake would feed only 30? And, if that is the case, then you would charge double the amount for a double layer? I am trying to figure out how to charge my boss' wife for a pre-school cake she needs. She has been disappointed with the past two grocery store sheet cakes she has ordered and wants to give me a try.

It's 35. And it is single, but a full 2 inches tall. Plus I make sure my cakes are very cool because I want to distinguish myself from other places. I want to make sure you can't make comparisons. If you want me, you get taste & unique. I have bought supermarket cakes (not Wal-Mart, it's too yucky) even since I've become a baker and I think they have their place. But I would never serve one for truly special occasion. Sometimes a cake can MAKE the party.

OK walmart does not give you cakes that we can. We can make it specificaly as they say. And walmart does not make purses or shoes or castles. or whatever. lol

Ok, I am glad I saw this forum about wal-mart cakes. I have made three cakes for my church. The first cake they gave me $25 for a 1/4 sheet cake. The second cake the lady said she forgot what they paid me and gave me a check for $20 well the next cake I did was a 11x15 and she did not ask me how much they owed me either time and this time she handed me a check for $25. I was very upset knowing I worked 5 hrs. on this cake the day before. Maybe I am wrong about the pricing but I thought the cake was worth more than $25. So if you all could look at the cake and give me your opinion I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks
dkay ok, the file is to big to post the pictures so if you would you can view the picture under baby shower cakes with my user name dkay. It has baby blocks with booties and keys on it. Thanks so much and sorry for all the trouble.

dkay that cake is beautiful, all of them are. maybe you should state your prices from now on, they probably wont order, but you won't be working for nothing. i think you should be paid fairly and being that u did it for the church, they should have paid you more. i think you really above all need to state your prices. I would have charged at least $45 for that cake all the decorations, star swags, just lovely. I only have one cake posted and i got $35 for that and i dont even think it's all that good. but everybody else thought it was nice. mycustomer was really happy with it. it was my first bct also. so state your prices from now on.

Thanks, that makes me feel better. I thought I may be trying to be to pricy. Could you give me some instructions on the bct? How you get started doing it? Thanks

dkay...your baby shower cake is just precious! I think it would be wise to let them know your prices for each size cake. You might even give them a paper with the prices listed. I think a "fair" price on a 1/4 sheet would be 25.00....and a 1/2 sheet...35.00. I have been calling around to some bakeries in my area...one of them said a 1/2 sheet starts at 55.00. So, even at 35.00...the customer is still getting a good deal.
traci

Okay, I have to post this just because its driving me crazy...you all are taking the pricing part way too personal, I can say this because cake decorating is a hobby (but I am addicted to this site-too bad I can't get paid for that)
Your cakes are worth more than you think. I wouldn't dream of paying 25 dollars for that cake-in fact, the lady at church probably went to confession because she had just stolen from someone. Our Walmart doesn't have a bakery but the grocery store cakes aren't even comparable, its like a toyota and a cadilac.
I'm going to sound like a mother but stop second guessing yourselves and start earning top dollar because your cakes are worth it-and that is from my being a consumer-

dkay, that cake is GREAT. That lady should of been ashamed of herself to of only paid you 25.00. It's for sure that would be the last one she got for that price.

here is a pricing matrix you can download here
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-5711.html

it adds up the cost of all your supplies/ingredients and calulates your hourly rate to help you decide how much to charge