I was finishing a cake for a friend from church and was running a little late (Christmas Eve and all) so she and her husband were hanging around talking to me as I finished up. Now...I gave her a slight discount being a friend and all but she had no qualms with the price I quoted ($175) and actualty gave me more than what I asked for. Her husband has recently been watching the cake shows and he was telling me he's now realizing how much labor, planning, etc goes into making ONE cake and how he can appreciate the art form so much more and they were so cute b/c they kept saying how much they loved the cake and I wasn't even done yet...needless to say that was a great way to start Christmas!

I love the "friends" who say you should charge more for your work...but don't charge me the full price, just everybody else!!!!!!!! That is so rude. They know the time and effort you put into making their cake but since they are your"friend" they shouldn't have to pay what everyone else does. Now I notice she keeps coming back to me for more cakes. This is becoming a bad routine.

Mel

The topic of ongoing discounts for family and friends always reminds me of a cousin of mine that went to law school. After he graduated and set up his practice he let all of his brothers and sisters (5) know they would get a one-time freebie and after that it was full price. Must have worked, he's rolling in dough!

Just to clarify...I was the one who gave her a break...completely my call...she didn't ask for any type of discount...she gave me her budget and told me what cake she was interested in I went from there...my personal choice.

Back to the OP...one of the first questions I ALWAYS ask is "What's your budget"...THEN I find out what type of cake they are looking for. If their budget covers it...great...if not, I provide them with some alternatives and if they still want that particular cake I tell them what it costs...then it's up to them.

Have a great day!

While we are talking about price I made this cake for family and only got 50 dollars for it. So what do you think I could charge for this cake in the future?
Thank you Damanda

Here is the link http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1910533.html

I like this thread! I'm just beginning by experimenting on my friends and family. I have only had a couple actual cakes that people gave me money for. I have absolutely no idea what to charge. I made a chocolate cake, 8" 5 layer shaped like a wine bucket, for new years that had a rct champagne bottle in it. I got $40.00. Was that about right? I have no clue. I've got another cake to do for a birthday with a modelled figure of their dog on it, only a 6" cake. I was gonna ask for $30.00. Is that not enough?

Signed,
Clueless in Texas.

Karen421 - don't base your pricing on ours. I live in Orange County CA. I can drive to Mickey Mouse's house in less than 10 minutes. The cheapest no frills cake you will get from me is $50. What I call a Costco cake. Just a cake, no frills decorations. Most people do not bat an eye.

I do not expect you to get that in Arkansas. My mother lives in Stilwell OK. I would most likely charge $15-20 for the same cake there. But I would also be paying less for ingredients. Drive the hour to Tulsa, however, and I would get more than Stilwell.

Do your math and don't worry about us. How much will it cost to convert? Can you sell enough cakes at what you can get in your area that the conversion will pay for itself in a year or less (depending on how much converting we are talking about)? Will you sell enough to cover all costs, including utilities and still have a nice profit margin?

That's how you decide.

I did a "Sea-Bee" Cake this summer, no where near as detailed and large as what you were asked for, for a friend's grooms cake. It did take a lot of time, and it was my first figure that I had done like that, so I'm sure no-where near the quality yours would be. You are right that people don't understand the time and commitment put into their cakes!

Yeah, I posted a topic similar to this a couple weeks ago. A lady told me, "name your price and I will pay it" for the 5 tier Toy Story cake I did. So I thought, "this lad is NOT going to pay what I will charge for this cake with all this handmade figures."

Lo and behold, I was right. I told her we could scale it down to three tiers but the price would still be several hundred ESPECIALLY if she wanted the figures. She was like "I didn't think it would be more than $100.00!" (which, I'm suprised she was willing to spend that much) But the cake was huge and I did it for my nephew (FIVE TIERS)...and she wanted it and all the figures for $100.00!?!?! I sent her an email and haven't heard from her since.

I've always loved cakes since I was little...since it became so popularized with the tv shows etc. I remember being 13 and wanting so badly to work in a bakery. But I didn't do anything with it until summer 2009 when I took a course at the college (which did not teach what I expected...the teacher was not a pro, just a mediocre home baker).

So I've learned alot through the internet and cake central since then but I am GETTING WORN OUT DOING THESE CAKES FOR FREE. And I'm too scared to take on paying clients because I'm afraid I won't be able to do what they want or will mess the cake up

This is a GREAT thread!
Everybody has some of the same experiences I have had.
Sure glad it's not just me!!!!!

People have said 'work your magic' and 'charge more but don't charge me' and 'you don't charge what your cakes are worth'..... but only 3 of my clients are willing to pay what I ask.
And since they are family/friends, I don't charge them what I should but they are regulars.

I do cakes from my home as a hobby and I have a page on facebook so all my fb 'friends' can see what I do. But I rarely get orders that way. It's more 'word of mouth' for me.

And in Arkansas, people are CHEAP. Including me! And the only reason my kids and grandkids get cool cakes is because I make them.

I know how tough times are here so I don't charge much. And my base price is $25 for a basic cake. And you wouldn't believe how many people say they can't do that. [that includes delivery]
So I tell'em to high-tail it on to wallyworld or Sam's club. Be my guest. It won't be personalized and that's your choice.

I had a lady call me Friday at 8 P.M. wanting a boob cake to serve 20 people for the next afternoon! I turned her down. I felt bad about it because her hubby works with my hubby...but that was not enough notice.
That would have been a trip to town for supplies then up all night baking, cooling and icing. And I knew $50 would have been too much for her budget. So I just didn't do it.

I took my only decorating class almost 3 yrs ago. And I'm sticking with decorating as long as possible. It's great therapy for me to escape everyday crap.
And I LOVE some of the stuff I can create. Even if I do steal an idea or 2. lol

I did this cake 2 days before Christmas with a grooms cake and I charged $130 for both. They paid me $150. [family friend] It took 10 1/2 mixes for the big cake and 2 for the small one. I know I undercharged but people here can't afford it.
Just curious as to how much it would go for somewhere else.... http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1910541.html

oh man can i relate to this I had a new customer hit me up they wanted a 3 tier cake with brown and blue stripes with a gold edible shoe on the top and the cake to be carrot cake , ok sounds simple for me to do so i gave them a price of 225 ( i charge for delivery ) and no reply until 2 weeks later , they said they will go with someone else, i said fine good luck with that WOW factor for under 50 , now my request from anyone is i tell them i dont do STOP AND SHOP prices ( local supermarket) . so if thats what you want i cant help you i have clients who understand the wow factor and will pay the wow price .

When someone asks for a cake that is in the Duff category, and they look shocked at the quoted price, then respond with "I can get it cheaper at walmart" ...... I suggest that we all respond with "No .... you can't. Because walmart doesn't make that kind of cake. you can get *A* cake at walmart ... but you can't get THIS cake at walmart."

I vote for cattle-prodding them back to reality!!!

I had a friend (who is no longer a friend) who wanted a three teir strawberry shortcake theme cake. The cake was really detailed with lots of fondant accents and bows.

I told her I would make her the cake for $80. I was giving her a HUGE discount (basically only charging supplies). She went over to my house and made me spend lots of time searching for the ''right'' cake. A few days later she texted me that she didn't need the cake because a friend of her cousin's could make it for $40, YES I said FORTY dollars!

Well I was a bit disapointed because I kinda wanted to make it but I didn't want to end up paying out of pocket just to make her cake. A couple of weeks after the party I see her again and ask her how her cake turned out. She said it didn't have any filling (just reg buttercream in between the layers), the bread showed through the icing, and she said it looked sloppy.

I acted like I felt sorry for her, but inside I was laughing at her. So long story short, the cheap ass got what she paid for, A CHEAP CRAPPY CAKE, lol. Oh and she is no longer my friend...that is why I called her that.....

I have to admit that I've taken secret delight in checking out "friend's" FB page pictures of their events featuring the cheap cake they got instead of paying my outrageous prices for me do the order. Sometimes I'm astonished that the same lady who originally wants a multi-tier, fondant figured "do your magic" cake ends up with some sad looking cupcakes or a sheet cake from the store with toys set on it. It's sometimes quite odd to see how far they get from what they wanted in the first place.

I TOTALLY agree!!!! People don't realize how much work goes into these cakes and the materials! They think oh it's just flour and eggs. lol. The cake show I like is Fabulous cakes, because they actually show the price of the cake. If more shows did that, people would have a more realistic idea.

Isn't it amazing that people love the cake shows, but somehow expect to get cakes like that for Costco prices? It's not the guys in the back room at Costco being featured on television! The people on tv are there because they're exceptional, they are stars, not because they're cheap.

So, if you want a cake like that, you should expect to pay star prices. BTW, just checked Toba Garrett's site -- two-tiered wedding cake serving 60 - 75 people, $3,750. Let's see, that comes to a little over $62 per slice. Now, we're talkin'.

Karen421, I'm outside of Van Buren....most of my family is still in Fort Smith so I'm over there alot.
Where are you? And this is funny, my sister's name is Karen and her bday is April 26. lol
She used to do cakes [lives in Greenwood] but won't anymore. I think her last was my oldest daughter's wedding cake 7 yrs ago.

Wow, can I sooo relate. I had a lady from the local cake shop call me on a Wednesday night. She said a customer just came into the shop, looking for a 3 tier carved pillow cake with a shoe on top for her daughters birthday for Fiday night. Two days, uh huh, with me working full time. I explained to her that I worked and couldn't do a carved cake in one night, to which the customer said she would bake the cake for me I can imagine what that might look like and she was willing to pay $50 for it. Yah, no thanks. I directed her to instructions on how to do it yourself on CC.

I had to wonder, did the date of her daughter's birthday move around every year ?

This thread is killing me, I have only been doing cakes for a year but I already feel like I have gone through everything everyone else has mentioned.

I'm sorry if I am a hard a** but I even charged my sister for her wedding cake. I only charged her for ingredients and her only statement was "are you shipping all the ingredients from australia?" Good thing mom pulled through and paid for it because I was not footing my own bridezillas dreams.

I am getting so tired of meeting with brides doing a cake tasting them loving all of my work and then it comes to price and they don't want to pay. (I've done my research and I am the lowest in town) But I am def. taking the advice and asking their budget first. I even had a bride cancel because 1.50 for the hotels cheesecake sounded better. Her loss.

I am also with everyone else in I can't even afford myself but the people who want it def. pay.

My prices went up this year...I know everyone is having a hard time, but they will pay lots of money for a ticket to a concert; go out to eat a meal three or four times a week; or go to some sporting event which is extremely expensive...I tell them that you get what you pay for and if they want a really cool cake, they will have to pay my really cool prices

I turn down more cakes then I make...my cakes taste as good as they look, and the others go to Sam's, Kroger, or WalMart...my motto is, "I only make and sell art cakes...if you want to get your cake for your special event at WalMart, you go right through the area where the hemorrhoid cream is and past the tires and dog food"... I finally decided that my time is worth more than $9.00/hr. If you decorate with filigree, hand made roses and other flowers, figures, etc. it takes time.

For some reason, the church family always wants me to "donate my services" for their special cause (whether it is personal or otherwise)...I have always donated my cakes for funeral dinners and for visitor dinners, but they took advantage of my good nature... turned down a job for 80 this week because they were 'going to get prices'...I gave them the name and phone numbers of all the others who bake in the area and said, "It is not worth my time to do this for what you want to pay."