Quick Poll/question Pricing For Fondant Figures?
Decorating By michellesArt Updated 7 Jul 2008 , 5:40am by arnab
'kay if you quickly look at the mermaid and fairy in my pics-i'm just wondering how to price something like this. i would think and additional cost but as i have yet to see anyone in my area (Toronto ON-area) do anything like this (and really not in my town at all) i'm just trying to get some ideas from those experienced at that. thanks so much. oh, these are for my DD's 4th bday but just incase it comes up i'd like to know what i'm talking about (ballpark anyway) again thanks 
I don't know. But first off, they are adorable.
I'm gonna say start at $30-ish if the person specifically commissions you to make that figure.
In some ways a single figurine like that might be tacked on as part of the decor. I mean if you are charging in a healthy way for the cake sometimes you just get creative and toss it on. Depends on how fast you are, how many you are making, how many were specifically requested, what mood you are in (literally) when you are pricing it.
I mean if the idea just comes to you and it's a perfect idea to execute the cake and you've already priced the cake for the client, shoot sometimes I just toss it on. But I only do for charity events and for friends who pay so I have this flexibilty/luxury too. (I mostly say no nowadays)
Umm like if you are doing a pool scene and you've got five people in the pool and one is a mermaid y'know generally $150 for decor is pretty shocking plus the cost of the cake--maybe like $15 (and up) as an additional charge for the pool scene tacked onto the healthy base cost of the cake type thing.
Am I making any sense here? Pricing is as much an art as the sculpture huh. So look at the kits in the bakeries and price similar to that only they are using plastic and you are using hand made but hopefully you got your cake price up there good enough too. If you are making brides and grooms or making sculptures to resemble certain people kaching kaching!
I'm trying to figure that out too - I haven't seen to many in my part of town do this either.
I've got a cake due Friday that will have 2 male 3d runners made from fondant/gumpast on the cake a large sheet cake. I quoted her $275 for the cake and didnt' charge extra for them because she's getting a pretty simple cake for what she's paying and thought I'd be nice and include them- the only real time consuming part will be these 2 men. But after starting on the bodies last night, waiting for them to dry so I can dress them. I think I should have added at least $15 for the trouble. Live and learn.
Hello,
I'm in the UK but I would charge a basic price for the cake and then each figure would be £7.50, sorry dont know what that is in dollars.
Lynne
I love making fondant figures and adding them to my cakes. I too usually only make cakes for family and friend events. I am very slow at modeling and no one would want to pay enough to cover the time it takes me to make a figure! The cakes with fondant and gumpaste figures are my favorites. Most people are not used to seeing the figures on cakes and are amazed that they are edible! If I did have someone ask me to make a specific figure, I think I would take into account the difficultly of the figure in my pricing. Some things are much harder and more time consuming than others. The Woman I made for my shoe cake took me a long, long time, whereas the three babies under the blanket took no more than probably 15 minutes for the 3 babies and the blankets!
thanks price-oh you're old woman is adorable!! such detail! how did you get the hands so perfect? is there a mold to do that and her hair? hair frustrates me so much but all those pieces make it a little piece of art and to know that someone took that time to make it...i do want to do more so i can get better and faster
For figures and extra hand work You are supose to charge per hour. Think of how much an hour of your creative work cost. This is very personal. I am no expert but I trully think that creative work should not be give away for free and we are sometimes kind of shy to price this. For me is more work than making the cake itself. We are not just bakers we are artists. Sugar artists. You can tell that I just love cake making. LOL
I, too, have been making fairies and mermaids and angels and whatnot (you can see the pictures in my photos), and I presented them to my boss and he started charging $48 for them. I think that's a bit pricey. I would charge $25-$30 myself, but...I got the process down to an hour; the angel in my photos took me only 45 minutes, so $25 an hour in addition to whatever they're paying for the cake sounds fine to me. But I don't think my boss beleives it only took me an hour. Whatever.
In any case, I'm not so sure myself what to charge. But if people are willing to pay $48, why not? We're in downtown Chicago, too, so our demographic for custom cakes is a little more willing to spand $$.
That is exactly what I am talking about. If you think your hour is worth $25.00 and this is the amount of time it took you to make a figure that is what you should ask for. But when you add that you are in Dountown Chicago, well that add to the cost $$$$$. Is kind of triky to figure this out. By the way if it took you 45 minutes 
to make a figure you are my hero, I am not there. 
And I think is going to be a while 
Ana
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