Hi,

i made for somebody 60 roses. Now i have to give her a price. The diameter of the roses are; 4 inch, 3 inch and 2 inch. Can somebody please tell me what price i can charge for these gumpaste roses???
Thanks a lot
Dewi

I know they're 4, 3, and 2", but how many of each? Sixty of each??

I'd go around for $.15 for the small ones, $.25 for the medium, and $.55 for the large ones. HTH.

These are gumpaste roses right?? If i were going to charge for them it would be a dollar and inch. Remember these are a specialty item that not everyone can do. But since it doesn't seem like you gave them a price, look on line and see how much the premade ones are going for and charge accordingly.

Wow, either I'm really slow at making gumpaste roses or you're all fast. It takes me so long to make each rose, I can't see how it would ever be worth it to sell them. :/

I've always seen $5 for a large rose and $2.50 for anything less.

For the time it takes to make one, form it, dry it, add to it, dry it, come back and finish it, it hardly seems worth it to make them at all. Hats off to those who can, though--I'm not very good with gumpaste anyway.

In my photos the pic of the posy of roses I did for my friend I charged her £10. Not sure what that is for dollars.
She was really pleased and I 've had a couple of recommendations because of them, so I'm pleased.

cheers
Jan

go to a site like Cal-Java and get their prices and see what you can charge.

WOW! Was I off. I went to Pfeil and Holing and saw their prices.

Maybe they have a machine that makes them. . .

I try to use florist prices for fresh flowers and go according to that. If they charge $15.00 for one long stem rose, charge the same for a gumpaste rose.

good lord - you made 60 roses and haven't agreed on a price yet?
I wouldn't do that kind of work before agreeing on the cost. Was it just roses? or leaves too?

BUT - are these like the one you have in your photos? No stems? Depending on how long it takes you to make them, you might be able to get away with making them more cheaply. May $4/4.50/5 for the various sizes?

I did 17 moth orchids for a friend (photo in my picutures) - even with a discount I still charged her $125, which she was happy to pay. This stuff is specialized work! you shouldn't sell yourself short.

As far as how the companies that charge cheap prices can do it, part of it is they usually are a shortcutted method (ok, but not as pretty in myopinion) and they also are making much of this stuff overseas where the labor costs almost nothing.

60 roses? Wow. How long did it take you to do that? I couldn't make more than three because it took me all night.

60 X $3.00 each min. = $180.00 min. and this is if one avg all the different sizes together. These are not cheap. Not everyone makes them. How could you take an order for 60 of them without a price attached? You must really trust the person that ordered them.

I'm sorry. After I typed that I realized it sounded critical. I'm amazed you made that many. I got burned out after a few. I think you should charge about $3.00 each like tincanbaby suggested. If she doesn't want to pay that then maybe just remember it for next time. Be sure to post pictures.

Hi,
sorry i did not responded back, but i am just back from my holiday.
My cakedecoratingteacher she had to make a weddingcake coverd with gumpaste roses, but she doesn'n want to make gumpaste flowers herself anymore because of the time you have to spent to it. So she asked me to do it, but now i have to tell her what i want to have for all the work.
I spent in total i think about 4 days on the roses, make it 3 1/2 days, only working on the flowers. It was stressfull for me because i only had 4 days left before we had to go for our holiday, but my teacher was really sattisfied with the result. I think i am going to charge indeed 4/4.5/5 dollar for the 3/4/5 inch roses.

I find the prices on the site very cheap i must say, that's way i was so confused.
But you are right, i should never done it on this way with strangers!!!!!

Thank you all for you advice,
Dewi

Well, if next time neither of you want to make the flowers, here is a great website that sells them in bulk! You can also get an idea of the prices too!

http://www.cakeart.us/index.cfm

Here is a gumpaste price guide that I just posted. It is only a general idea of what to price, but it may help you to decide.
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-551354.html#551354

Thanks for the price list.

I wonder how old those prices are Shirley? Some of those are what I charge, and of course it does depend on your area. But I charge $20 for an orchid. I also try to charge what the florists do.

I'm really discouraged about the internet prices for these flowers anyway, with cal java able to sell them so inexpensively, and the general public doesn't see the 'show piece gumpaste' to know there's a difference in quality. Cal Java flowers and the other overseas imports look just as good and are so much more affordable. It takes me quite a while to make all my flowers because I don't do the shortcuts (well, very few). I'd be working for $6 an hour. The rosebuds I have here took quite a while, I think 3 hours just to make and another hour to color, so I would only get $24 for 6 rosebuds. They were quite large, but I'm not real slow, at least I didn't think I was

Gosh, I hope I don't sound bitter. It's just sad for me since this is what I specialize in.

I hardly ever make gumpaste flowers for customers, when I learned to make them I learned to make show quality from Betty VanNostrand, and Rosemary Watson and chocolate flowers from Stephen Bronson..I think his name is..lol

so I don't know how to do "comercial" quality...so I buy them and let the customer know they are NOT mine and charge them accordingly and they pay shipping!

As I said, that list is from a few years ago. I don't agree with all of those prices, and it doesn't mean that's what they would sell for in your area. As mentioned, this is a general guide only. I haven't had any clients back off the price of my gumpaste flowers when they see the price of fresh from the florist. And I also explain to them the time involved making them. Gumpaste flowers are not as fast to make as icing but they look so much more natural that to me they are worth the time spent. Besides, I love making them, my favorite form of sugar art. I haven't ordered pre-made flowers but I have seen some that look very pretty in pictures on websites.

When I took the sugar flowers class with Ron Ben-Israel, he strictly taught us the show method of flower making. When I went to Betty Van's, she showed me both techniques for making gumpaste flowers, both the commercial style and the show style. Given the choice, it is show flowers all the way.

I have never made that many, so I will not give you bad advice as far as pricing, but at least I have enough training and experience to qualify me to tell you what I would do, and that is to use Shirley's list as a guideline, and add about 20%, since ingredients prices have gone up about that much over the past few years. Each one takes the same amount of time to make, so if you add in your time to your fee per flower, discounting for a quantity order will cut deeply into your net profit.

Theresa

It's really confusing for me to see all the different prices! I went to every site you all told me to look at, but i'm shocked. How is it possible that they sell these flowers so very cheap!!! What also difficult is to see, is how big the real size is. How big is large or medium in inch or cm?

Most of the paste and piped flowers that can be purchased are imported from other nations, where labor and materials can be procured for much less money than we can make them for here. Many of those nations do not have labor laws like we do here, regulating minimum wage, hours, child labor, safety and health. Other nations use slavery, in the form of prison labor, for government profit. I do not mind that the incarcerated helping earn their keep, but both laborers and prisoners are worked for many, many hours without breaks or meals at appropriate hours.

I have purchased gumpaste flowers from one of these vendors. I was very disappointed in the product I purchased, so I took the flowers apart and made cardboard templates, which I then used to make my own flowers. A second time I bought from the same vendor, the flowers were packed in the carton first, with cake pans on top. Needless to say, they were smashed. Fortunately, the vendor has a wonderful customer satisfaction policy. I was refunded half price on the first order of flowers, and a full refund on the second order.

I read labels very carefully, and if I see a product from a nation that participates in these violations, I try not to buy it. I say "try," because sometimes it is a necessity, and alternatives are not available. Would that I were rich, and could afford to make more alternate choices.

Theresa

Ok I'm in Ohio who teaches you all how to do these gumpaste flowers? I'm dying to learn. Thanks

Hey, Debster! How are things in the Buckeye State?

First, let me offer you and everyone else who wants to learn, some advice via CC. On the homepage there is a list of articles, tutorials, really, with some really great how-to's. If you page down to the bottom of the list, you will see a link that will take you to More Articles.

In there, you will find a couple of tutorials on making certain gumpaste flowers.

There are also several books available on the subject of making gumpaste flowers. Which is best is a matter of personal preference. Mine is for anything by Alan Dunn. I have seen the work of many great decorators, and I feel his work is the best. His books were recommended to me by three award-winning decorators, and after seeing the work of others who have books out there, I would have to concur with their opinion.

There is at least 1 link per week where someone asks which books are recommended. If you go into the search section of the forums tab, you can use the key word book or books, and do a topic search.

There are tutorials available online, also, through some cake club or vendor websites. Does anyone out there have a link to some websites that have tutes on them?

Have you checked out your state ICES chapter yet (www.ices.org). Go to the contacts section, and find the link for state representatives. Find your rep and ask them about ICES events in OH. Your ICES membership is good to attend Days of Sharing (we do not call them meetings) anywhere in the world where there is a chapter, so if you live near a state border, you can attend a DoS in a state near you, also! Most chapters offer demonstrations or hands-on classes at their DoS.

Once you learn the names and uses of the tools, and a couple of basic flowers, you should have no trouble picking up a book and teaching yourself others. And if you do find yourself in a spot, you know you can always call on us here at CC.

Theresa