Hi everyone, I am in a very poor area of ohio. mostly farms and where people are out of work. I had a friend who has refered at least 50 clients to me for business functions and everything from gratuation through wedding and babyshowers. All by word of mouth and taste at a function. That said everyone said I should raise my prices. Me, I enjoy it and call cakes my therapy, since I can't ride my horses any more due to health reasons. I did an 8" /12" babyshower cake for yet another referal yesterday. Chocolate ganache frosting with blue fondant polkadots and a fondant bow with a small resin teddy bear in the middle of the top bow. It also had the clients favorite gourmet double dip malted milkballs around the bottom of first tier and bottom tier. She told me to call when it was ready for her to pick up because of distace from here and I did. She ask how much so she could either bring cash or check. I was thinking 65.00
but my mouth said $50.00 there was silence and then a little who didnt know to talk again. I ask if that was ok thinking too high. She said no I have been watching all these wedding cake shows and expected it much higher. With that my husband who was near the speaker phone said well thats fine if you want to pay more..and then he laughed. I was stuned...and pleased I wasnt too expensive. She ended up paying me 60.00 cash and was very pleased but not every client is going to be like that. Ijust am stumped on how to charge these people who I know strugling to make ends meet. and still be able to afflord to celebrate family events. Itsnot like one of those fancy upscale shope of major cities.

I don't sell cakes myself, but I would think you need to quote a price and have the customer at least okay it (or better yet, PAY it) at time of order. Telling them the price after the cake is done when they're about to collect it is asking for problems. In this case it didn't end too badly, but it could so easily go the other way. That would solve your problem of feeling bad for charging what the cakes are worth too - if your price is not within their budget then at least they'll know not place an order!

It is not up to you to decide what people in your area can afford. I agree that you need to give a price at the time the cake is ordered. If it is too much that is the time for the client can speak up. You can always ask what their budget is and work from there. If you don't value what you do, no one else will.

You mentioned that you consider this your therapy and you're doing it for the joy of it and not because you need the money yourself and you're not undercutting businesses, then I say go with your gut and heart. I know that's not the popular answer, ut you obviously have a good heart and it hasn't gone unnoticed. When the economy picks up, I think your generosity will be remembered. Of course, if you are doing this as a business and need the money, definitely charge what you are worth.

Just doing the math .... a 8/12 cake serves 24/56 = 80 servings.

If you believe you're covering your expenses and not undercutting the cake industry at 75 cents a serving, then I guess you're ok.

But I also agree with blissfulbaker .... you are not a cake welfare dept and its not up to you to decide what people can afford. The cost is what it is.

I'll bet that if you added up ALL of your expenses, you actually paid her to make the cake.

But if the only purpose is to have fun and enjoy a hobby that you love, then what you charge and what they think of your pricing doesn't matter. Just enjoy the hobby.

I am thinking of selling my cakes and have been struggling with pricing too. I got a few different pricing matrices and then proceeded to do my own to suit my needs. I was blown away at what the true cost of the cake is.

Whoever said it's not up to you to decide what people can afford is right. You must set your price and stick with it. People will come and people will go. Don't under sell yourself.

But if you don't want to make money off them and feel ok with just covering your costs, go ahead and do so.

I finally told a gal who wanted a cheap cake " well you can go to Taco Bell and buy 50 churros for your guests, that will only be $50.00. She laughed and I got the order.

The last time I went to the grocery store they didn't ask what I could afford before I checked out. You need to decide what your goal is when you're selling cakes. Is this a hobby? Is it a business? If you're not making a decent profit then it's a hobby regardless of what you're thinking. If you want to give cakes away that's your prerogative, but if you want to run a business and make a profit you need to reassess what you're up to!