It's my 2nd fondant cake, so for all those pros out there, you guys can see my flaws but I tried ^-^ SOOO...How much can I charge for this?? It's WASC cake w/ a type of strawberry mousse filling....

This cake is supposedly for my baby's 6th month old celebration but someone wants me to recreate it for their kid...this cake was unfinished because I think I mistaken fondant for gumpaste when I made the leaves...so half of them broke, you can see that behind the lady bug there is an area empty with no leaves but if I recreate it I will do gumpaste and fill in the empty area...Thanks for any help....or suggestions hehehe ^-^

750.00

hahaha...$75.00?? I'm sure they wont want it for $750.00 too expensive!

it is so beautiful.. $75.00-80.00. would be a great price.. not $750.00... ha!

You didn't give sizes, so I'm gonna say at least $5.00 a serving....

I forgot to mention its only a 6" cake...wow...I would love to earn a $75.00 for a cake but to many people in my area...they will think it's a bit expensive...what should I substitute in my cake to make it cheaper?

Looks like a 10"? So, 10" at 38 servings, about $5.00/svg, at about $200 now. Was the ladybug cake?

Sorry...My second time making cake and posting...so I guess I'm missing the details...
The lady bug is made out of Rice Krispy Treats
I made it only 6" because not many people eating cake...
I want it to be cheap or else I wont get any referrals from my friend because people in the area dont think its worth so much to pay so much for a cake...

That's too bad. Maybe they just need some education on what a truly custom, professionally designed cake is and what it costs. It's not just cake. It's artwork.

Sit down and add up your receipts(all of your ingredients, colors and foil, parchment paper, cake board, ribbon...etc) and your time(what about an hourly wage for this time?) and cost in your overhead.

Your time an talent is not worth much because it's a cake?!? If you don't value your time and talent no one else will.

There are a lot of cakes that roll through here with questions like this. Your cake however, and the obvious talent you have, demands a high price. You photographed it well (maybe lighten the pic up a bit ), it looks elegant, and on a website would grab attention. More so than Betty Jo who takes a pic of her cakes on the edge of a kitchen sink with the bottle of dish soap behind it. Present your art as art, and you can charge appropriately.....for your art.

That is a REALLY cute cake. I want you to think about how much time it took you just to make it. You have a family. Really, really think about how much time you just spent doing this cake and not with your family. I know you made it for you child, but think about spending the same amount of time you spent on that cake, making a cake for a STRANGER. $150 is NOT too much money. Jaime is right. There are people who WILL pay that much for that cake. If your gonna sell cakes, you want two orders that total $500 (one order for $500 is even better) rather then ten cakes that equal $500. You see the difference and the time that is involved. What we do is all about clients paying for our time and skill. Thats where we make our money. The ingredients and overhead, we want our money back, maybe a little extra, but thats not were we get our real profits from. It's the time and skill. For your second fondant cake it came out perfect and there is someone who will pay $150 for that lil' 'ol 6" inch cake. Why? cause your "exclusive". Look for those clients, not the Wal-Mart ones.

thanks...maybe it's just the people around here, they go for "more for cheap = a good deal" I have no real experience since I'm just starting out...I just wanted to earn some money to support myself and my baby. I'm just a stay-home mom with a barely-can-eat budget. People said I have a talent in art and I love baking, so I went toward cake decorating. I wanted to go to school and applied in a program at The French Pastry School located in Chicago, Illionois. they probably wont accept me because I dont have family who earn enough money a year and cant cosign for me to get a loan out for school...
I love doing cakes, and I am SO not ready to give up my dream of opening my own bakery and doing what I want...
But sometimes your conditions forces you to...I will not blame my baby for pulling me down but I will try not to give up hope

Thanks for your kind words, its so supportive ^-^

and its only taken on a cell phone camera...I'm doing the best I can

you guys are gonna kill me, but I charge $30.00 for a cake like that (2.00 / serv. for individual fondant covered cakes so....$20.00 for the base cake, plus 1.00/serv. for rkt so $5.00 for lady bug and would probably charge another $5.00 for the gumpaste leaves and ladybugs on the board!

There are tiered bc cakes going for $1.25/serv. around here...I charge $2.25/serv. so I know yall are gonna say I'm cheap, but around here I'm the priciest one!

I would quote $30.00 for this cake

If you got the skillz, ya got the skillz, it doesn't matter how long you've been doing this. School is great, but not neccessary to open a bakery. You know how many chefs and bakers out there are self-trained? AND you my dear, are in (or maybe near?) CHicago! You so can get the clients there. CHicago is not cheap to live, so cheap selling prices do not work.

Please, don't sell yourself cheap. Your cake is beautiful and you do have a talent. Making $1-2 an hour won't support you and the baby. It will drain you and burn you out. You don't need to make cakes for everybody. Just for the ones who appreciate it.

KHalstead
Would $30 dollars really cover the cost of making the cake? Seriously!

How can I get it out there? I just cant wait for people to come...and I probably need a license to bake for others...im so confused

If you are a stay at home mom on a shoe string budget you should charge good money for your cakes. You can not make a living giving cake away. I like the idea of pricing the base 6inch cake per serving and charge extra for the fancy bits like the lady bug topper. I would have charged a minimum of $15 to $20 extra just for the lady bug which is beautiful. And honestly I think that's a bit low. Fondant and gumpaste are expensive and you need to make your cost back including your gas etc.

I think $75 for that cake is fair in an area where cakes are expected to be cheap cause that aint' just cake.

Just remember if you loose money on the cake that's money you're taking out of your life and your baby's life. Quote the price and if they say it's too much, ask them their budget and if you want offer to do a simpler cake at the price then do so. You can not afford to sell yourself short if you are struggling for money. if you would be making more money working retail than baking that is not a good sign These messages to you to charge what you are worth are out of love for of this industry and for your personal talent so think long and hard about what you charge for that adorable cake.

I'm still working on my stuff, but plan to start a cake business too. I pretty much have the prices figured and the cheapest I would let that cake go for would be $54, but that just by serving 12 with a fondant and gumpaste design (4.5 a serving)- i haven't worked out a lot of the details, but I would also say $75 would be a reasonable amount for that cake.
Like everyone else said, you can't sell yourself short or charge less while your first starting out, because then your clients will expect that later when you get even better. GREAT cake btw!

oh, and I've got an 8 mo old and I know how much harder it is to get your stuff done while trying to take care of your LO

Fondant prices start out at $4 a slice...something like that would be much more and it would be about $75. Your talent IS worth the money. For right now, till you get a license, make sure you are getting experience by making the cake as your gift to the birthday person or bride/groom. As your experience gets more varied and you build a portfolio of images you will be able to launch your business and charge what you need to charge. No, not everyone will be able to afford the price of such an artistic cake but you have to stop thinking of it as JUST cake...it's your ART. You need to take in consideration all of your time, your skill, your efforts at perfection (cause we all know that, as artists, we are very hard on ourselves in that department) along with the cost of ingrediants and packaging supplies. You will easily get up to the $30 just in supplies! Figure it all out, time plus supplies, then DOUBLE it. THAT is what the art is worth. So if it takes $2 a slice just for your time and supplies then charge $4 a slice. This cake is WORTH the $75...just maybe not to that client. Building a cake business is like any other art...it takes time to get it going, to make it profitable and get the word of mouth, but in time you will be seen as a cake artist, not just a baker who makes cakes. Have faith in yourself...for a while, you may be the only one who does...and don't give up..you DO have talent, now build that portfolio, get legal and GO!

Don't sell yourself or other bakers short by charging an unrealisticly low price. You won't make any money...and you won't be doing any favors for the established businesses that need to get paid what they deserve for their work ~ in order to cover expenses that come with having a business. Imagine if you were the one that had the license fees, insurance fees, huge energy bill for the coolers and ovens, employees, and building costs ~ and somebody across town was charging a fraction of your prices....
Think before you undercharge...someday you could be one of the businesses that have earned your way to charge the higher prices...and you will be faced with the competition of others that charge hardly anything. How do you cover your costs then?

Besides, by the looks of your cake, you have the talent...that is what your prices should be based on. Not on what other people want to spend on a cake. You will definitely burn yourself out completing 100 cakes that you undercharged for VS. charging properly for 20 cakes. Same money...more time to dedicate yourself to your craft.

You could always scale down the cake (how about the just the ladybug out of cake?) for a smaller price?

Your cake is beautiful and your time and talent is worth the money.

I agree with everyone else. Dont think it is too expensive. if they really want it, they'll pay whatever you want for it. I would pay as much as the other one said 750 if I had to. If they go to one of the bakers that come out on tv they would charge about 750 and up. Just because its your second cake it shouldn't matter how much you charge. That cake is beautiful. Have them tell wal-mart or h-e-b to make it for them. Not happening. I would say charge what you want but dont sell it cheap.

Thanks to everyone who give me all those great supportive suggestions...I would definitely make cakes for friends' and family's birthdays as gift first (since I wont have money to buy big presents) but hey at least my cakes will be the center of attention for a few minutes! and hopefully it will get the word out and it will also be great if they post it on their online websites of homepages just to give me some support!
I feel I'm worth something now...we definitely be call THE Cake Artist...instead of the average baker in this or that bakery

THANKS THANKS THANKS!
~*Much Love*~

Aw heck.

I'd rather make one cake for $100 than five cakes for $20 each.

Don't sell your self short and stop undercutting the other bakers out there.

You could even spend a few bucks printing up business cards and display them near your "gift" cake. That way people will know who to contact for a great cake when they need one. I made a cake for a friend and I thought it was horrible. I had so many issues with the BC melting. But I recieved a million compliments and a few people asked me for my number. Now I have business cards so I look that much more professional - which will allow you to charge higher prices