When you have done a cupcake tower, is there a price you charge for the 6" cutting cake, or do you give it away free with the order?

Hi,

I charge my normal per serving price for the 6" .

I charge my normal price for the 6" also

I don't give it away either. Heck it is harder to decorate than the cupcakes. I am doing a tower with 36 cupcakes and a 6 inch cake this weekend and I charged a fee for the cupcakes and a fee for the cake.

charge for everything. the only thing i give away free is promo samples.

Yep charge for cupcakes and charge per serving for 6". Also charge for stand of course.

Yup, starts at $3 per serving for buttercream, and $4 for fondant. So, for that 6" cutter it would be: $36-$48 for round (that is starting, very, very basic stuff here), or $54-$72 for square.

The bakery I used to work in charged a minimum $35.00 for a 6 inch round.

Any decorations beyond just a plain iced cake added to that price.

Jane

SoCal, are you doing the cupcake tree for a wedding? If so, you MAY want to comp the 6". For a regular stacked wedding cake, the top layer (usually a 6") is usually saved for the first anniversary, so that serving amount is not calculated in my final serving price. So I can see where you might not want to charge for it. As long as you are getting the per serving amount for the total number of servings, I would consider throwing in the 6" in lieu of a top cake layer for the anniversary. JMO, though!

<S>

(ducking the cake scraps being thrown at her)

I give them a free cutting cake with an order of 10 dozen cupcakes or more.

LOL @ the cake scraps!

ok, I'm not in business yet, but here's my thoughts having been self-employed before...

unless you are factoring in the costs of a 6" cutting/smash cake into the charge of the cupcakes, you are giving away free cake, thus lowering YOUR profit margin. Materials, labor. It all costs money.

if you are charging a higher base price on the cupcakes/cake to add in the cost of the 6 incher cutting/smash cake than you normally do when the customer does NOT request that cutting/smasher... then you're not giving away free cake are you? (which is a good thing in my book)

just a little bc cake? but that little bc cake costs time and money.

Personally I don't think it is in any business owner's best interest to be giving away free product unless it is a marketing tactic designed to bring new customers in.

I have had a lot of brides who come in to order 7 dozen or so cupcakes and hear they will get a free cutting cake if they order 10 dozen so they raise their count. So I guess it is a marketing thing.

I also guess it depends on your set up. I make large volumes of cake and to put some batter in a 6 inch pan and throw it in the oven with the other cakes isn't that much more time for me. Torting,filling and frosting a 6 inch cake and putting some fresh flowers on top is worth the 1/2 hour time it takes me to know the customer will be happy and feel they got something special. They remember that and pass it on to thier friends and I book more weddings. So me "Loosing 35$" well...I guess I just look at things differently

Yes, I was definitely thinking about it in terms of a minimum cupcake order ~ get the anniversary/cutting cake/smash cake for free.

Thanks!

hey, what anyone does with their business, is, well, their business! I just wanted to put another perspective on it for anyone else reading it, so that they don't think they *have* to do that and to weigh all the pros and cons before doing so, kwim?

I think regional customs are also going to factor in on this one... if you are priced competitively with the market and they all do it as a custom, you are going to have to as well more than likely.

Rock on, ladies!