What To Charge?

Business By acakedecorator Updated 30 Jun 2013 , 12:13am by samash

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acakedecorator Posted 5 May 2013 , 9:24pm
post #1 of 19

I am making a six inch, two-layered carrot cake for a customer. It is going to be simple and just say "Happy Birthday, -----". The supplies cost me around 12 dollars. I want to get a little bit of profit for the time spent, but I think charging much higher than 20 dollars for a simple six inch cake is a bit much. Thoughts?

18 replies
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Smash Cakery Posted 5 May 2013 , 10:56pm
post #2 of 19

A

Original message sent by acakedecorator

I am making a six inch, two-layered carrot cake for a customer. It is going to be simple and just say "Happy Birthday, -----". The supplies cost me around 12 dollars. I want to get a little bit of profit for the time spent, but I think charging much higher than 20 dollars for a simple six inch cake is a bit much. Thoughts?

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Smash Cakery Posted 5 May 2013 , 11:01pm
post #3 of 19

AA six inch cake serves at least 10 servings. What is your time worth? When I first started, I felt the same way and was scared to charge more than that, because I thought "it's only a little cake!"

You've got to figure out what your time is worth, then set a firm price per serving based on your costs, market value (how much are other cakes in your area being sold for?), and your time.

I live in Houston, and I would charge $75 for that size cake, because that is my order minimum. If I didn't have an order minimum, I would charge by the serving, which would be $4 a slice. $20 is barely breaking even, don't put yourself through that. Customers will learn to take advantage of you and you will become the "cheap cake lady".

Trust me, there is no pride in that. Plus you are severely undercutting other decorators in your area, which is not good at all.

Good luck. No fear!

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Stitches Posted 5 May 2013 , 11:22pm
post #4 of 19

My 9" three layer carrot cake, ingredients only are $20.00.

 

That's no labor or overhead.

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DeliciousDesserts Posted 6 May 2013 , 12:31am
post #5 of 19

AWhen you say 2 layer, do you mean 1" or 2" layers.

I do 4 1" layers. My 6" carrot is $35

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acakedecorator Posted 6 May 2013 , 12:53am
post #6 of 19

A

Original message sent by DeliciousDesserts

When you say 2 layer, do you mean 1" or 2" layers.

I do 4 1" layers. My 6" carrot is $35

My layers are about 1 1/2 - 2 inches.

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DeliciousDesserts Posted 6 May 2013 , 1:30am
post #7 of 19

AAm I correct you don't torte & fill so its cake, cream cheese, & cake. 2 layers about 3-4" tall.

Yours is similar to mine in product cost. Mine is cake, cream cheese, cake, cream cheese, cake, cream cheese, cake. Mine takes a bit more frosting & a bit more time.

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DeliciousDesserts Posted 6 May 2013 , 1:32am
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AIf it helps with perspective, I cahrge $35 for the 4 layer 6" carrot.

Occasionally, I will offer a holiday "cake for 2." It is one 2" cake that is torted & filled (making it 2 1" layers) for $15. I would charge $17 for carrot.

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acakedecorator Posted 6 May 2013 , 1:33am
post #9 of 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeliciousDesserts 

Am I correct you don't torte & fill so its cake, cream cheese, & cake. 2 layers about 3-4" tall.

Yours is similar to mine in product cost. Mine is cake, cream cheese, cake, cream cheese, cake, cream cheese, cake. Mine takes a bit more frosting & a bit more time.


Exactly. Layer of cake, cream cheese, then the other layer of cake.

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acakedecorator Posted 6 May 2013 , 1:34am
post #10 of 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeliciousDesserts 

If it helps with perspective, I cahrge $35 for the 4 layer 6" carrot.

Occasionally, I will offer a holiday "cake for 2." It is one 2" cake that is torted & filled (making it 2 1" layers) for $15. I would charge $17 for carrot.


Thank you. This does help me get an idea. Thanks for everyone's great help!

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kikiandkyle Posted 6 May 2013 , 2:33am
post #11 of 19

AAs minimum wage is around $8 in most states, unless it took you less than one hour to make, you aren't going to make any profit at $20. In fact, after paying for the overhead you likely didn't consider as costs (equipment, utilities, licensing, insurance etc), you probably didn't pay yourself more than $1 an hour if that. So not only did you not make any profit, you paid yourself a third world wage too.

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Sissys Goodies Posted 6 May 2013 , 3:49am
post #12 of 19

AI use the Wilton Serving guide and charge by the serving. A 6" cake is said to serve 12. Since I'm still a beginner, I only charge $3 per serving. So for me, I would just round it off and charge $35 for that cake. That sells really good here in California. I understand what you mean by charging a lot for a small cake. I still think that too. But I still get business, so that must mean that not everyone thinks that way, I guess.

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Sissys Goodies Posted 6 May 2013 , 3:50am
post #13 of 19

ABut u forgot to add, I covet my cakes with fondant. That should make a difference in your pricing ad well.

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Celeste_CreativeCakes Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 2:03am
post #14 of 19

AHi Sissy, As the others ladies here. I charge per slice as well. I have found two ways to figure the price... 1) I total my cost for...ingrediants, gas, boxes, boards, etc 2) I estimate my time for...shopping, baking, making frosting, making fondant, assembling, decorating, any additional side pieces. I figure how many hrs in total...and times that by how much I want to make an hour. 3) I add them together. There's my total. If it seems riduculously high. I take that total and divide by the number of cake servings and see how much that comes to for each slice. Just remember when you go down on your price your $$ you get per hour gets lower. p.s. A good friend once told me. If you charge a decent amount for your cakes people will think...wow! she must be really good if she can get that much for cakes. You will have some turn you down. That's ok. You deserve and Are Worth all the time and energy you put into your work. If they don't want to pay that. That's there loss. I understand too well, I struggled with this for years. Now things are going great! Because I stopped bending on my prices. Now I quote them, period. And stopped myself from saying... Is that price alright??? They can't go to a bakery and say that's too high, and barter the price down. Well, neither should they with you, right? Hope this helps!! Good Luck. :) Celeste

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Godot Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 5:05am
post #15 of 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by acakedecorator 

I am making a six inch, two-layered carrot cake for a customer. It is going to be simple and just say "Happy Birthday, -----". The supplies cost me around 12 dollars. I want to get a little bit of profit for the time spent, but I think charging much higher than 20 dollars for a simple six inch cake is a bit much. Thoughts?

Well, gee, if you only want to make a little bit of profit why not charge $15? That's three whole dollars you can put in you pocket right there! I mean, $20 for a li'l ol' six-incher is just way to much, isn't it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*please observe the heavy sarcasm here!

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mashy Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 5:17am
post #16 of 19

AIf you had have a smart phone or tablet, I really recommend the Cakulator App. Breaks down each recipe for cost, plus from there you can build a quote estimating how long shopping, baking, decorating will take and what you charge hourly for each process. I downloaded it because I wanted to know how much everything was costing me - I'm only a hobby baker whose family will pay me for ingredients when they want a cake. This makes it exact, no guessing at all.

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kikiandkyle Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 4:48pm
post #17 of 19

AYou have to remember that you are not your customer. You might not think $35 for a 6" cake is reasonable, I don't think $90,000 for an Audi is reasonable but I'm not who Audi is trying to sell to.

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Hajnalka Posted 29 Jun 2013 , 8:04pm
post #18 of 19

It was a really helpful post. I have no idea how much to charge either, but since I have fine art background as a painter and as a ceramist, I'll go with the higher price.

I agree with that You do not want to be the cheep cake lady, I certainly don't want to be. You have to decide if you want to do quantity work, or quality one.

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samash Posted 30 Jun 2013 , 12:13am
post #19 of 19

People are paying for a cake because they either lack the skills or the time to do it themselves.  Just like I pay a plumber to do my plumbing, or an electrician to do electrical work.   We have to stop thinking "It's just cake" then our customers will too.

 

I live in a small town in Australia and people don't pay the high prices they do in the cities, but my basic 6" mud cake with a simple decoration is $30.  I have come to my prices by going through the websites and facebook pages of other cakers in my area and making them similar (not undercutting). 

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