I know we talk about cake pricing all the time....but here is how mine works. I used the wilton chart for the serving sizes and I charge $3.50 for buttercream and $4.50 for fondant. For example, a customer wants a single tiered sq cake covered in fondant to look like a present, to serve 35 people. So, I look at my chart to see which one will serve that and it's a 10in sq...it's $189. She said that it way too expensive. This is how I price my wedding cakes as well. Do you think there is a difference between wedding cake pricing and birthday cake pricing...I mean a serving is a serving, right? Now when pricing, an 9in sq is too little servings and 10in sq is a little too much, there is no in between...but the chart says it will serve 42, it being $189....now do I charge $4.50 a serving based on 35, even though the actual cake will serve 42? Or leave it as is?

thanks for the respones...

Denae ... sorry you didn't get any responses so far. This is the first time I've seen the thread.

Your pricing is exactly the same as mine, so I can relate.

I use the wilton chart and a 1x2x4 serving from a 10" square cake will serve 50, so my price for fondant covered to look like a present would be over $200.

Cake is cake. Call it birthday cake, call it wedding cake, call it kiss-my-butt-at-8th-and-main-cake, it's still the same costs, same time, same price.

Did she say how much she wanted to spend?

My theory is "Their eyes have seen the glory but their minds haven't caught up yet."

"Back in the day ....." wedding cakes were large ornate creations that cost a lot. Birthday cakes were little sheet cakes that cost twenty bucks. With the influence of shows like Ace of Cakes, which has done lots of positive WONDER for the cake world, people want a large ornate creation for a birthday, but in their mind they're thinking "twenty bucks".

I do not have different pricing for different events because I am not going to explain to two neighbors why a 10" square cake for their daugther's small wedding was $225, but a 10" square cake for the neighbor's birthday was $150.

I'm doing the same work. I'm getting the same price. And you know ..... just ASK them, "Why should this cake be cheaper because it's a birthday cake?"

My favorite line is from a CC'er who pointed out that when I buy my eggs, my supplier doesn't give me a discounted price if I tell them I'm going to use them in a BIRTHDAY cake instead of a WEDDING cake.

You charge based on how many the cake is designed to serve. What I do, in this situation is tell them, "An 8" square cake will serve 32, so it sounds like you might want to go with the 10" square cake that serves 50. Which do you prefer?"

Sorry, but if you're feeding 4 people for dinner and you want 2 pieces of KFC chicken each (you need 8 pieces), but the smallest "bucket" is 12 pieces, you're going to pay for 12 pieces. KFC is not going to charge you for only 8 pieces just because that's what you plan to serve from it. You get 12 pieces .... you're paying for 12 pieces.

I charge the same per serving for all occasion cakes as I would for Wedding cakes. Cake is cake you're right.

If the size serves 42, then charge based on that number. Are you looking at Wedding size portions or party size portions? There is a difference, party size are larger so that the pan yields less servings.

You said the customer wants a single tiered square to serve 35 people? So will your finished cake be 2" tall? If so a 10" single tier 2" cake will not serve 42, that serving # is based on a 2 tier 4" high cake.

all my cakes, bday and wedding are all 4in high...
both of you guys made perfect sense...now the chart i have says that a 10in sq cake serves 42...where does it say it will serve 50? do you have another serving chart...indydebi?

wilton wedding chart, which is pretty much the industry standard: http://www.wilton.com/wedding/wedding-cakes/wedding-cake-data.cfm

Pieces are 1x2x4. The good news is that with a square cake, you can just do the math to determine the number of servings.

If you're cutting the pieces 1x2 (x4" tall), then a 10" cake would be cut in 5 rows (10" cake divided by 2") by 10 columns (10" cake divided by 1"). 5 x 10 = 50 pieces.

A 12" cake, cut in 1x2x4, would be cut into 12 rows by 6 columns = 72 pcs.

To get 42 pieces, the 10" cake is being cut into 6 rows by 7 columns, which means they are assuming a 1.67" x 1.42" piece.