just wondering, how much would you charge for a fairy tale book cake covered in fondant serving 40, 30 cake pops(strawberry, french vanilla and red velvet) decorated to look like red riding hood, 30 mini cupcakes (same flavors as cake pops, and a smash cake (yellow cake with whipped cream and mmf accents)?

Thank you guys for the response..I'm going to sit back down right now and refigure it...I'm actually not sure how i figured out that profit now..heh back to the drawing board! I'm so glad there are people out there to give you help. So expect me to be writing back on here by tonight or tomorrow morning ! And thank you for responding to the torting question, and also earlier I asked about how many cups of batter for the cupcakes...thank you also for responding to that!

This thread needs to be closer to the top. I love to look at what others are pricing and how they come up with their pricing, because it really helps me determine if I need to make any changes. I am still fairly new to the business side of cakes, so I am always looking at ways to improve or make my life easier. Right now, I charge a base price, meaning I charge a minimum amount for certain cake sizes. Then, based on the complexity of the design, the price goes up. Here is my current price list >> http://violascakes.com/cakes/prices/ . I took a look at what other bakers were charging in this area and used that as a guide. The local bakery around here starts at $3.50 per serving (I'm in central TX), but they do not make 3D cakes, they do mostly bday cakes and weddings. Although I start at $5/serving for 3D cakes, some of my 3D cakes are as much 7-10 dollars per serving, simply because of the amount of work that goes into it. I also have a 25 serving minimum; I didn't at first but I was tired of people asking me to make a 3D cake for just 5 people. This is the pricing structure that works for me as of right now; it may change in the future.

Thanks!

Hi Everyone! I just recently started decorating, although I've been baking for quite some time. I made cupcakes for my sister in laws baby shower as favors, and made tons of holiday cookies, and cakes for parties. At my sister in laws shower, I met a party planner who would like to hire me for events. Unfortunately I don't know what to charge. I was recently asked to make a 6 layered rainbow cake, as in my profile picture (party cake will be much much neater lol, made this cake with no sleep for 48 hrs). I already figured out how much it will cost me approximately to make the cake, It will cost anywhere from $22 - $28 depending on frosting and fondant, but that's just cost to make the cake itself. Not time, overhead, or profit. I'm just wondering what a reasonable price would be to charge for this cake. It's for a 7 yr old birthday, but I would really like to have this woman as a client because it could potentially send a ton of business my way. From Long Island NY by the way. I know I can do so much with it as far as the theme, and cereal treats rainbows. I've looked at some of the pricing on here and i just can't imagine price, I have a few sketches drawn for more detail pm me. Thanks for all your help! I appreciate it.

Roxy, did you mean six layers of cake? That's what I see in the photo, not six tiers.

Before you start wholesaling, you need to make sure you are legal to bake from home in your state. You need to check with your local health department, get a business license, and pay all the proper insurances. I would not get involved in any sale of baked goods until you get that squared away. FromScratch just posted a thread yesterday or the day before I believe about a person who was wholesaling to a business, and both parties got in trouble because it was discovered she was baking illegally from home.

That being said, you really need to determine how much your time is worth to you. If you know how much ingredients are, that is about half the battle. You need to sit down and really determine how much you need to make for your time and also covering the other overhead expenses.

I know you said you did the cake late when you were running on empty, so maybe you can post another picture of one that you professionally decorated, so others may be able to assist you and make sure your skill level and your pricing are appropriate. But even then pricing will be difficult to determine because of the time factor; it takes a more experienced person less time to decorate a three tiered cake than someone who is just starting out.

@ Annie thanks for the reply, so sorry, I meant layered. I am licensed from home (recently lol) and I never really took pictures unfortunately, all I have are what a few family members took, and am kicking myself. I'm just looking for a base price, because it depends on how I decorate it, I have a 3 different ideas a base, a more complex, and an elaborate. And of course all three would be priced accordingly, I just don't know what a base price should be. What do people think there time is worth? If I were getting paid hourly at a desk job I would make about $16 per hour, but I can't imagine pricing a cake accordingly to that.... It would be an $80 cake and I feel like that's a lot. Thanks!

$80 for a six layer custom cake in long island is not a lot. Especially if you are adding decorations etc to finish out the cake. Many people set a min price for any order of $50 and I'm seriously considering not offering 6 inch single tiered cakes because it's not worth my time in most cases.
The orange and blue cake in my pics I charge $70 for. It's an 8 inch round. Most people would charge $20 for just the now. I'm in TX so my pricing will be low compared to long island. For a basic BC cake, nothing to fancy, I charge 2.50 a serving and that works for me to cover my time and expenses. I estimate my hourly wage at $10 and that gives me a small profit above what I have in the cake.

One person on here has a really cool system where she estimates the hourly wage by skill set. For basic frosting and baking she pays herself one hourly wage. For figure modeling and gumpaste flowers another. Because these are specialized skills she feels her time is worth more. It's a shame you didn't keep pics of your work. That's how I determined my pricing. I went through all my pics and figured out what the cakes would have cost using my pricing model and determined if I thought the price would work in my area. Good luck.

That is cool thanks!