I have been a lurker here for about 2 weeks and have found this forum absolutely delightful!
I am a beginner and I'm excited about doing some great cookies and cakes using all the tips I have learned here. Thanks so much to everyone for the generous sharing you do.
I am currently a business owner and work in the helping profession. When I set up my business I had to learn how to charge for my services in a way that helps me prosper financially and continue to feel great about what I do.
I was told by many people in my field that people would not pay what I was planning to charge. (please bare with me........I'm going to relate this to cake decorating......I promise!)
I have to admit, it did cause some real doubt in my mind. But despite that, I decided to press on and do what I wanted. I spoke with someone outside my field and was given positive, encouragement about going ahead with my plans.
Well, my business is prospering and I am getting my full fee on every occasion. I've learned that some people are my clients, and some people are not - some people shop at Walmart, and some at Macys.
I have been completely disheartened by some of the posts I have read here around charging for what I know are complete works of art!! You guys are so talented and you deserve to get paid well for what you do.
I lived in a very small town of 12,000 people for over 20 years and you know what the bakery charges for wedding cakes there? A base price of $6.00/slice. It goes up from there. They have been a thriving business for many more years than when I lived there. Their bakery is nothing fancy but the cakes are out of this world good.
Check their website: www.carlocksbakery.com
You guys do just as good or better work. You deserve to be paid well for what you do. 
Roberta
Thanks for sharing Roberta! It is good to hear that reinforcement that it is o.k. to charge for what we deserve. It has been a hard lesson to learn but I am getting there. In fact the other day a lady came in the bakery and wanted 15 mini wedding cakes for the next day. I told the gal taking the order that I wouldn't do them for less than $15 each. Of course the lady whined, said that was too much, hummed and hawed, tried to whatever she could to get the price to go down, talked to my manager, he came and asked me and I said no, I'm not doing them for less than $15. Well, guess what? The lady wanted them bad enough so she paid it!
Ah let me guess....Los Osos or Morro Bay? I was born and raised in Santa Maria and now live in AZ. I miss the area so much I named my daughter Cambria, hence my business name!
Anyhow, I must agree with you. I often second guess myself and what I'm charging - afraid that no one will pay what they're really worth. I like what you said about some people shopping at WalMart and some at Macy's...I never thought of it that way! Thanks for the encouragement!
Roberta1, I am so glad you mentioned the size of your town.
For the record, I grew up in small towns. As I like to joke, we had to stop calling it a one-horse town because the horse died!
I get very frustrated when I see "I live in a small town and they won't pay big cities prices" logic. People live in small towns as bedroom communities. People who have large salaried jobs live in small towns for the schools, for the family connection, for a number of reasons. Just because you live in a small town, does NOT mean you are poor or low income.
People who live in small towns buy BMW's and Lincolns and Cadillacs. People who live in small towns have access to those "talkin' pitcher boxes" so they can see the Wedding Channel, the Travel Channel, and all of those commercials that show them what's out there in the world. People who live in small towns have access to the internet and they order from on-line catalogs ... expensive ones ... all the time.
Break out of that paradigm and stop setting prices based on what you THINK your neighbor's income may be or what you THINK they will spend.
SueBuddy - that was so wonderful to have you share that. Good for you!! You really deserve the money you are asking for.
I've been reading alot here, and I understand that mini cakes are a lot more work. So glad you got the $15.00 each.
CambriasCakes - I lived in Los Osos for 22 years and miss it like crazy. I'm counting the months until we move back. It's a whole 5 years away when my husband retires.
That's why I posted about Carlocks Bakery. I know first hand that they are not cheap. And their bakery is definately not upscale. It's the quality of everything they make that helps them comand the prices they do. Their seashell wedding cake is really their signature cake.
How neat that you are familiar with the Central Coast!
Hi IndyDebi,
Your comment about bedroom communities is right on the money. (No pun intended, of course 
) The town I was referring to is definately a bedroom community.
I believe pricing services and products is less about everyone out there and what they are doing, and more about the person setting the prices. I speak from experience on this.
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
I think that starting any business, you have doubts about what you are worth. Especially when you are competition with not only other people in your field, but bigger companies who can mass produce things. Not saying that mass produced is better.
I'm still fairly new to all this and when people compliment my cakes and tell me I have quite a talent, I still go "Really?!!?" To me it's just something I love. And well...who doesn't love cake!
I always stick my foot in this type of discussion, since I am one of "those" people in a small town that doesn't charge quite as much as I would like. I have to interject that it really depends on your small town. My community is about 18,000 and there were some statistics in the paper just the other day about how OVER 50% of the population would qualify to be on some form of public assistance. Now, I am of course marketing to the other 40-whatever%, but there are only so many of them and I'm not the only game in town. So that said, I have to be available to many different people on many different budgets, so I do have some quite high-end offerings, but I try to have some simpler things that allow me to compete with the supermarkets (there are also 3 of those!) and get some of that business as well. I think everyone should remember that we all have very different clients, but they're ours! 
After 7 years and counting I have a pretty good idea about what I can get by with and what is just not going to work. Just my 2 cents, please don't yell at me!!! 
-Lori
Hi Lori,
You will never get yelling from me Everyone has a right to their opinions and I respect that completely.
I like the way you have some lower end offerings, as well as higher end.
I think in a bakery that is naturally true that there are all price ranges.
I can tell you that the town and bakery I referred to is not upscale. One prominent problem with that area is lower wages and high housing costs. That is due to the location which is absolutely beautiful. But I know their success is clearly due to the quality of their products. They are outstanding in flavor.
I think there are different business models to choose from. There's the Walmart model - high volume, low price, ok quality - and there's the boutique model - low volume, high quality and originality, plus high price.
(I'm aware of some bakeries that use the boutique model and do quite well.) I guess it's a matter of what type of customer you are going after and what works best for you. There are people here who look at Walmart and Costco and think they have to compete with them. They don't. There are other choices and that's a good thing!
I'm sure there are lots of other business models as well.
I've just been so amazed at some of the pricing I see here. I feel bad for people that price things so beautiful and valuable at rock bottom prices. It's just me but I feel they deserve so much more for their talent.
In my profession the whole area of pricing for services shares the same struggle as what I see here.
Personally, I decided I didn't want the Walmart client because I couldn't live on the Walmart wage. And beyond that, I would be seeing more clients in a week and the quality of my work would not be as good because I'd be more fatiqued. My clients pay premium price and get premium service. This allows me to work less hours per week and have time for the things in life that I love. I want to learn cake decorating and I have the time to do it
Roberta
Hi Amber,
Don't believe what you heard.
I went through the very same thing when I mentioned to others in my field, what I wanted to charge. They totally discouraged me and they were wrong. I proved that by going ahead with my fees and getting them!
I think it takes alot of courage and conviction to do what is right for yourself and your business - rather than follow what others think.
Good luck to you!
Roberta
I watched my mother struggle for years, and continue to struggle, due to not pricing her own art effectively (she does stained glass). Instead of factoring in overhead, materials, labor, etc she charged simply to be competitive with nearby stained glass stores.
I learned my lesson watching her- frankly, it's not worth busting your balls to make three beautiful cakes for 100 dollars a piece over making a single beautiful cake for 450 dollars. In the end, you're only cheating yourself- you may see less people coming to you for cakes, but it'll even out that the people who do come are paying your actual price.
I've decided that when I start making cakes for other people, my base price will be 5 dollars a slice and that's without anything special. From there I'll add on-- and I'm not going to have any problem telling someone that they want a 20 dollar a slice cake, heh! I am also going to have a very clear no-negotiation policy. You don't get to negotiate the price of a venue, a cute shirt you saw at Nordstroms, that amazing Couch bag. Why should I negotiate with my edible works of art?
Everybody is different but I just hope that people do the math before giving their prices. There's no problem offering something that's cheaper- but I always will hope that the cake is similarly simple because anything complicated DESERVES payment.
That's just me, I guess!
My price that was supposedly so unreasonable is $35 for a 4 layer torte that is filled with mousse and iced with whipped icing and garnished with nuts. That's expensive to make, and I'm not charging less than $35 because I've paid that much for way less tasty cakes!!!
This guy (the guy I met today) is underestimating people. If something tastes great and looks great, people will buy it. I know, because I've done it and so do my friends. When you have a party or wedding, your goal is to impress people with your cake. The cake is no longer just a cake. It's a status symbol and a source of competition. Who had the nicest, most tasty, most unique cake?
Doesn't he realize this?! DUH!!! It's a trend! I'm going to capitalize on it. And my prices are still lower than what some of the places around here are charging. He said "why would someone buy from you what they can buy from Costco for $15?" The point that he doesn't understand is that he's not comparing apples to apples.
GRR! 
Hi Nikki,
I have had the benefit of 3 business role models over the years.
One is a dear friend of mine and she just recently retired after 30 years working with stained glass. She is amazing! I watched her go from working from her garage and raising 4 little boys, (often we did stained glass together and had our baby monitors humming while we worked and our babies napped), then she moved to a small studio, then a larger studio, and then a huge studio. She's an outstanding artist, but the key to her growth and ability to retire at 50 has been her business sense. She hired an accountant to set up all her bookkeeping for her on a one time consultation basis. Then she determined what she wanted to make hourly, plus keep track of all her materials and the cost of making something.
Roberta
Amber,
Isn't it interesting how some people seem to hold Walmart or Costco up as the standard business model???
I keep thinking - why not model after other cake decoraters who are not doing budget work, and yet, are very successful and make a good living.
Roberta
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%