Thanks for your help. Just a little background. I'm a new cake decorator and I did a wedding cake for my sister-in-law. A friend of hers wants a cake but not a traditional wedding cake. I'm not sure if my pricing is too low or too high. I'm charging $400. I will deliver which is about 40 miles round trip. She also wants me to stay and cut the cake. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
I've attached pictures of what I'm planning to do for her.
Will feed approx. 200 people (6" round is not included in this)
(1) 6" round covered in fondant
(2) 10 " rounds covered in fondant
(3) 9x13 sheets covered in buttercream only
To figure out pricing, you need to determine the cost of ingredients, cost of your labor (a reasonable hourly wage * the number of hours required to bake and decorate the cake), and your overhead cost on a per-cake basis (insurance, licensing, commercial kitchen rent, etc.). Add these numbers, then add an additional 20-30% for your profit margin. For deliveries I tend to charge $1/minute round-trip, based on the Google Maps estimate.
FYI, if you don't have an inspected commercial kitchen it is currently not legal to sell food in FL, so if you are still baking from home you wouldn't be able to legally accept any money for the cake (but you could still make it as a gift). Luckily there is a cottage food law working its way through the state legislature, so the situation may change within the next few months.
that's just about what I'd charge, so it's safe to say you AREN'T CHARGING ENOUGH
the math of it all indicates your charging about 2.00 per serving, and depending on location and other factors, usually fondant covered cakes are, at the least, 3.00 per serving and that's with no elaborate decoration. With the price of gas, the free delivery is very generous of you. Also, many decorators do charge a cutting fee to cover the costs of your time sitting around for the wedding and reception and the dishing up....of course, I love weddings so I'd probably be okay with that, plus you can get in some really good word of mouth advertizing and contacts at the reception
Without being able to see the design you plan to do, even for a very basic cake $2.00 a serving is very low. Especially considering delivery to 40 miles away, and cutting the cake. Of course, pricing does very a lot depending on location, but where I am in Florida, the going rate for wedding cakes is starting at about $3.75 a serving and up. I would at least charge on top of the $400 for delivery, otherwise you will be paying for gas and time to get there out of the $400 you get for the cake. HTH!
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