Oh No, I'm Posting A Pricing Question...

Business By Pebbles1727 Updated 7 Mar 2012 , 4:21pm by mplaidgirl2

Pebbles1727 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Pebbles1727 Posted 6 Mar 2012 , 10:30pm
post #1 of 9

I apologize in advance, I know how much you love those, but i'm a little confused on 3d cake pricing. Let's say that a customer wants a 3d cake to feed 20 or so, and your 3d cake pricing is $5.00 a serving, does that mean that the cake is $100.00? Or do you start with cake servings before you carve? So if you cut away half of the servings, the cake price is more like $200.00?

8 replies
Dayti Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Dayti Posted 6 Mar 2012 , 10:41pm
post #2 of 9

I would charge per my cake size to start with. Someone has to pay for all that wasted cake and the time you took carving it. But obviously point out to the customer that you will work it out so there is not too much wasted cake i.e. don't start with a cake that's 100 servings to get your 20 out of it. Unless the design is so complicated that you have to do it that way!

TexasSugar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
TexasSugar Posted 6 Mar 2012 , 10:58pm
post #3 of 9

My thoughts are you either have a higher price per serving or you charge for all the servings you made.

So you can use your example, or say you have to bake a cake with 40 servings, then carve down half of it. If your regular price per serving is $3, then I would do the 3x40 giving you $120 for the cake.

I think that either way accounts for the waste and the extra work involved.

heartsnsync Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
heartsnsync Posted 7 Mar 2012 , 12:40am
post #4 of 9

I price my 3D cakes according to how difficult it will be to execute. Not on how many servings or how much cake I will have to begin with. I have had small 3D cakes take 30 hours or more to do (my NASCAR cake for instance).

costumeczar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
costumeczar Posted 7 Mar 2012 , 1:35am
post #5 of 9
Quote:
Originally Posted by heartsnsync

I price my 3D cakes according to how difficult it will be to execute. Not on how many servings or how much cake I will have to begin with. I have had small 3D cakes take 30 hours or more to do (my NASCAR cake for instance).




I do the same thing...with3-D cakes the number of servings is the least of your worries.

tavyheather Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
tavyheather Posted 7 Mar 2012 , 5:29am
post #6 of 9

I always have a minimum. My cakes start at $125 but my carved all start at $200. I make exceptions if it's a simple one.

Pebbles1727 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Pebbles1727 Posted 7 Mar 2012 , 3:33pm
post #7 of 9

Now, I'm even more confused, sounds like shot in the dark for me with 3d pricing. I was hoping for some kind of method for quick pricing, but it sounds like each cake will need to be priced out individually. icon_cry.gif

bellacakecreations Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
bellacakecreations Posted 7 Mar 2012 , 3:46pm
post #8 of 9

Trust me it's much better to price them individually. Like heartsnsync said some take forever depending on the design. I did a 3D cake yesterday that took 7 hours start to finish but I have had some that crept into 24 hour territory. It's much better for you study the design and detail before you shoot out a price. You don't want to have 5 hours of work left and realize you aren't really getting paid for those hours or the last two you spent... <--------has totally happened before icon_redface.gif

mplaidgirl2 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
mplaidgirl2 Posted 7 Mar 2012 , 4:21pm
post #9 of 9

I charge minimum $200 for carved cakes... Unless its really simple carving. So I also do mine on a case by case basis.
I do still charge for the servings lost... But might up my charge based on how complicated it is. You can also offer cake balls at a discounted rate to the same customer with the carved cake since you have all the left over cake anyway.

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%