Starting A Cupcake Business How Much Should I Charge??

Baking By petitedelights11 Updated 27 May 2011 , 7:14pm by TexasSugar

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petitedelights11 Posted 25 May 2011 , 4:51am
post #1 of 12

Hello,

I am starting a new cupcake business but have no idea how much do cupcakes sell for. I tried taking into account how much I spent on ingredients but it just got to complicated.

I am making chocolate cupcakes covered with a chocolate ganache frosting topped with chocolate covered strawberries and with a drizzle of white chocolate and chocolate cupcakes with a raspberry buttercream frosting with a raspberry filling for a birthday dinner. I am thinking of doing 12 cupcakes of each. How much should I be charging? Any ideas or estimates will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much!

11 replies
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pmarks0 Posted 25 May 2011 , 5:06am
post #2 of 12

For cupcakes like those you're describing I'd be charging $3-$3.50 each because of the ganache and fruit. My basic cupcake with a swirl on top go for $2.75 each. But your costs could be different than mine and where you are can make a difference too.

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petitedelights11 Posted 25 May 2011 , 5:09am
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@pmarks0 thanks so much for your insight. I am in Texas don't know if that changes your estimates a bit, but I think you are just about right.

Thanks icon_biggrin.gif

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indydebi Posted 25 May 2011 , 6:25pm
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Anywhere between $3 - $10 each, depending on location, market, and costs. What did your business plan indicate about pricing and costs?

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cai0311 Posted 25 May 2011 , 7:13pm
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If figuring out how much 1 dozen cupcakes cost you is to difficult/confusing I don't think running a business is a good idea.

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LKing12 Posted 25 May 2011 , 7:33pm
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I am wondering OP are you legal? Renting a space? That plus a business plan will be a great influence on your cost per. Two flavors/kinds sounds like you are not going to reach very many clients.

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Pieceofcakebyrita Posted 25 May 2011 , 7:45pm
post #7 of 12

I charge $2.50ea or $2.00 for 50+. I live in a small northern town in Ontario Canada where it is a trek to get wholesale ingredients. I make a VERY good profit selling them at this price. I could go higher but then the amount of customers decreases and so does your incoming cash. At my price I'm able to make lots of profit and they are a reasonable price for anyone to buy, so people are more pronged to buy because they won't break the bank. I think anything over $3 is to much for a cupcake and I do some very creative deigns. If the average person won't pay if they're expensive than you have no customers. So it's up to you? One thing I might suggest with cupcakes if you want to build up a portfolio of all different designs is have a giveaway... Lets face it cupcakes are cheap to make because your batter goes a long way, if you have a portfolio to show your work than it's hard for people to try to negotiate with you. This is something I did and it has paid for itself with a matter of a couple weeks. I did my giveaway on Facebook and it worked just as planned.....LOTS of customers who want my cupcakes and they're not even the highlight of my business.

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HomemadeUpgrade Posted 25 May 2011 , 7:54pm
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Are you trying to start a business or just selling a few cupcakes to a friend? I'm confused. Are you legal? Are you in a state that has cottage laws?

Your first step in figuring out what to charge has to be figure out how much your cost is. Then you need to see what the going cupcake price is in your area. Personally there is only one cupcakery in my area and they sell their cupcakes for $2.50 for plain and $3 for fancy. I sell from home (legally) and charge $2 each unless my customers want something extra like fondant accents or whatever and then I charge extra.

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Kiddiekakes Posted 25 May 2011 , 8:00pm
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I checked out your website and your cakes and such are very good..homemade..It is advantagious to have a business in a very small town because everyone comes to you for every event like weddings etc as usually you are the only one but in a larger city your prices would be too low and therefore one would probably go bancrupt.It is easy to say that $3.00 is TOO much for a cupcake by your standards but to others it's the only way to turn a profit...and...If my talent/skill is going into making cupcakes with extras ontop like fondant flowers...then I am going to be well paid.It all depends on location and demographics.

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NatashaRedel Posted 25 May 2011 , 8:41pm
post #10 of 12

Maybe she is trying to figure out her business plan?

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Pieceofcakebyrita Posted 26 May 2011 , 12:51pm
post #11 of 12

I live in a small town, but what I forgot to mention is that the town is sandwiched between 3 moderate sized cities consisting of over 200,000 ppl. Just within our area there are over 40 cake makers. People have their pick of someone to make their cakes and cupcakes. I do so well with my business because I am not arrogant in thinking that my cupcakes are made of gold, they're cupcakes?? I make a great product for a reasonable price. I would rather sell cupcakes and cakes that people love for the look and the taste at a fair price, than for them to walk away feeling hosed because they paid $8 for a single cupcake. A lot of work goes into cakes and such but I think you have to ask yourself when your selling them, would I pay that much for that??

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