Help I don't know what to charge!! A bride asked for a quote on 10 - 12 six inch rounds. She wants WASC with raspberry filling and simple decor in white. I made the attached cake as a sample. It's covered with MMF, RI trim and leave and the roses are gumpaste. What should I charge her for each cake? She has told me she has had a couple of quotes for simple
BC covered cakes for $10 - $16 each.

TIA for your suggestions.

Did I read that right? Does a bride want 10 -12 seperate cakes all 6" rounds? First of all if the cake is for a brides wedding I would charge her per slice for the cakes themselves and then I would also charge extra for fondant icing and gumpaste flowers. It doesn't matter if the cakes are stacked, tiered or on seperate cake stands it is still for a wedding and so I would give them the wedding price period. Charge for as many slices as each cake feeds not how many people are going to be there. Sometimes the cake will feed more people than are at the wedding and basically when that happens you just gave away free cake if you didn't charge for all the slices the cake will feed. Keep in mind that the quotes she gave you on the $10-$15 prices are very low considering all the work and time you will have to put into all of them. I don't know how prices range in your area but where I am I charge for fondant covered wedding cakes $5.00 per slice. Cakes go up all the way to $7.00 per slice in my town. Don't forget delivery charges as well if you have to deliver them yourself. Hope all this helps you. Good Luck.

$10-$16 per cake.....did her quotes come from the grocery store or Walmart?

They had to have!

i doubt that a $10 per cake would even cover your costs! no way should you accept an order at that price! for hand made gumpaste roses?! the cake might be simple, but making enough roses for those cakes will not be.

you need to sit down and work out your costs. for very single ingredient, and every thing you do to make that cake - gas for trips to the store, elctricity for lighting and fridge, fuel for your oven, foil... everything. and you need to pay your self an hourly rate as well. make sure it is a good rate, remorse at 2am isnt fun. compare prices in your area, and see where you fit in. and who are you aiming at?

from what i have seen on here is that the lowest per serving price is about $2.50. following wilton, a 6 inch = 12 servings (i admit the charts confuse me, i might be wrong) = minimum $30. and then there would be an add on charge for the roses.

now, all that also depends on your standing as a business. (ignoring the legal/ not thing) if you want to make money you need to charge proper prices to people who can afford you. if you are happy to only cover your costs, that is up to you.

an other thought - storgage of that many cakes i sure dont have space!
and did you cahrge for the sample cake - theres lots of good sampling posts in the business forum.
xx

A 6" cake serves 12 people. At $10-$12 each, she's expecting to pay $1 or less per serving.

If it was me .....

I'd tell her to grab the $10 cakes because it's a deal she'll never find somewhere else. Thanks for checking with us. See ya 'round like a doughnut.

even at the grocery store here a small 6-8" cake-not sure exact size dont usually buy them- is about $10. She should buy the ones for $10 if thats what she was quoted.

$10-$12 each,i'm sure she is lying,and if she is not,let her go there.

If it were me quoting those cakes, I would say, $55 per cake for the fondant with roses on it. If someone were to order that alone, not with 9-11 other cakes, I would charge more... So yeah, tell her $10-$16 per cake is a STEAL for that and she should go for it and not look back.

A 6" round serves 12. My base price for fondant is $3 per serving; fondant elements (ribbon, pearls, flowers) are a minimum of 50 cents per serving. My lowest price for this cake would be $42. Remember you'll be preparing a cake board for each of these as well.
Don't let her "price shock" you into a low-ball price. She may think by doing mini cakes she can avoid the cost of a standard wedding cake. Stand your ground. This is as silly as comparing the cost of a wedding dress to the cost of a Walmart party dress (if they had them, which they don't. They also don't have wedding quality cakes.)
As it is right now I have a bride whose wedding is at one of the premier locations in town. Her flowers are costing $4,500. So what did she want for her cake? The smallest, least expensive 3-tier she could get (I told her 6-10-14), and then kitchen cakes to serve 250! I agreed, but as time goes on the more I think about it the more ticked off I am.

You're in Canada? So that $10-$16 there is barely going to cover your costs.

At the placed I used to work, 10 inch cakes went for $10 - $16 depending on the flavor, (Italian Cream was $16). They were made in mass and were very very simple cakes, no borders no pretty boards nothing. There was an extra charge to go up to the pretty board and border of $5 per cake. That was BC not fondant no decorations. This was at a lovely chain store place. Think about it, several cakes, each boxed separately is not cheaper than a stacked cake because of the paper products involved. The fondant and gp flowers are all extra as well. The grocery store cakes do not make them all the same height and with the attention to detail that a wedding cake would be. $30 would be cheap for the cake. She wants the $10 cake and that is her budget, send her on her way.

So I am super cheap cause I live out in the wilderness but even my prices would be over $20 for that cake!!!

Wow, I would have thought $20 -$25 was a good price but I will definitely have to reconsider.

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate your help.

I know she has a budget of $200 perhaps I will tell her I can do that but for raspberry filling and roses it will definitely be more.

I did cost out the ingredients and can make them for about $75, with boards and boxes, but that's not including my time etc.

Thanks again, everyone.