I'm really hoping some of you out there can help me run these numbers.

I have a group of clients that throw an annual jubilee for Virginia Tech. For 2010, I have been contacted to do design the cake. Awesome! They want a larger-than-life Topsy Turvy cake. I emailed them with some quotes on how much it would be to do half cake/half styrofoam cake. I meet with them tomorrow, so here I am pricing Styrofoam.

If they truly want a larger-than-life cake, I want to meet with them and give them a quote for an all styrofoam showpiece and kitchen cakes to serve from.

I have never sold styrofoam cakes before. I plan on selling them at 60% regular topsy turvy price (60% of $6=$3.60).

My question is...do you usually include the cost of the styrofoam and shipping/handling with this discounted rate. Or is the discounted rate solely for time and other materials (fondant, buttercream, etc.)

Thanks for your help!

I don't do alot of styrofoam, but for the ones that I have done, I have found that the price of the styrofoam dummies is pretty comparable to the cost of doing a real cake.....especially if you have to order them and pay for shipping etc. I think most people on here charge somewhere in the range of 80%-100% of the regular cost of their cakes.

Dummies are pretty universally charged at 80% of real cake. Some people charge the same price. I'd get on the phone with d a l l a s f o a m and get actual costs of cutting large topsy turveys if they don't carry the sizes you truly need.

Yeah, I've got quotes being processed from dallas f and taylor f

60% seemed to be the recommended price from what I read on here. My wording to my clients was this:

"Styrofoam cakes are $3.60 a serving (60% of a standard topsy turvy cake cost) based on what a real cake of that size would serve, plus the purchase cost and shipping/handling."

So, I did tell them they would pay for it all, but I wanted to see if anyone else did that. The way I figure it, is they are paying 60% of the regular price for time and other materials. The money that was deducted would be the time and cost of making real cake. Since styrofoam and s/h can vary in price, it's hard to set a price for that, so I would just charge on an individual basis and add to the $3.60/serving price.

Thanks for your input-it really helps!

Go to Tay lor Foam . com. They have countour tops, much easier for fondant. I think they might even have contour topsy turvies now!

Dallas foam is good, too.

I would definately put the price of the materials into the price they pay.

Up the price, not enough in my opinion.

Most of what we do is labor.

Jen