AYou won't ever get into your shop not charging for labor. Good Lord who could be that dense to even suggest that.

No kidding, I am genuinely curious to know what that person's logic is. Other than getting cheap cake from you, that's the only thing I can think of. Another decorator wouldn't have suggested that...would they? The biggest factor in most cakes IS the labor. Shoot, I'll give you the ingredients for FREE, you're paying for my time.

Okee - so I hope you are sitting down for this one then

Where I live (the Netherlands) that is actually a fairly common advice. The question of "how much for this cake" is very lively here as well. And the most told advice ....

"charge your ingredients and then some extra for your cake money box"

And when you ask the advisor why in heck's name that advice was given, the answer almost always is

"because if you add labour to the price, the cake becomes very expensive"

ehhh .. duhhhh ... yes, my time is quite expensive actually.

We have a ton of hobby home bakers here who are seriously undercutting and harming the business. There are no regulations, so as long as you can find somebody to buy your cake, you can bake in your own kitchen. It's how I started anyway. And I still bake out of my own kitchen, but make sure that the kitchen is clean. I regularly get people over to pick up cakes, do weddingcake consultations in my home and the house needs to be spotless. But if you start to argue on the price, the answer almost always is the same "oh, it's a hobby, so i can't charge a lot' or "if I charge more, then people stop coming" (which sort of  defies the whole hobby thing, but that is different debate)

Some actually think they have a niche in the market, stating that not everybody can afford an expensive, unique and beautiful decorated cake, and therefore they make them for ridicoulous prices ($2 or less per slice is not uncommon) making it more accessible for others

But my all time favourite must be "just be glad we bake for cheap prices, we get a lot of customers and we then need to purchase all our stuff at the cake decoration shops (paid out of that cake money box) and if we did not do that ... then shops would not exist and you (the profs) would not have a place to purchase your tools" - granted ... it get's a 10 out of 10 for creativity LOL

Anyway - the problems is worldwide i guess, and that advise really is not uncommon and almost always given by people with no business skills.

AThe problem is indeed worldwide. And it began with the first person who decided that eeeeeveryone deserves a custom cake. Sure they do, if they can afford to pay the decorator appropriately. Cause ya know, eeeeeeveryone deserves a Prada bag. Still waiting for Prada to take pity on me cause I don't have the budget but I deserve one!

Exactly ... and everybody deserves cake (plenty of alternatives) ... just not everybody can affort a custom cake.

And actually this week I tried to educate somebody (silly me). The person invited 130 persons to her wedding, and was looking for a wedding cake with a budget of max $ 400 (and she was stretching it). She literally asked for a hobby baker with a big heart.

When I mentioned that perhaps she would need to rethink that, because that was just not a doable situation, and if she was willing to invite 130 people to her wedding, she also need to know that there is a cost involved with that.

I was slapped left, right and center by others because I dared criticize the bride. But if you don't educate people, nothing ever will change.

AThey'll get nothing but curses and epithets from me for that nonsense. People are full of excuses. If being an idiot only affected them I'd have nothing to say. But these undercutters are messing with other peoples money. The ones who really make my skin crawl are those who will try to rationalize it.

I went to Wilton..all the classes...The instructor said...only charge for ingredients...your time and labor had nothing to do with cost....only the end product...

AThat so-called Wilton instructor needs a good whipping.

That is, without a doubt, the stupidest thing I've ever read. I can't believe anyone would ever take 'advice' like this seriously!

Those are the words of someone who - no, I'm not even going to continue - I'll end up giving myself a stroke.

When I go to work tomorrow I'm going to tell my staff that they are not going to be paid for their labour, but I will give them a little bit to put in their cake box.  They will be so excited to know their skill and time is worth so little.

Yes, they should be trilled!

So many are under the impression that your costs have something to do with market prices and they just don't. For example, if we both make identical cakes and I paid $4 for the fondant I used to make it and you paid $14, you wouldn't be able to sell the cake for $10 more. Your cost is irrelevant.

I beg to differ. While both fondants achieve the smooth finish on the cake, it's not irrelevant if I can justify that my fondant (brand b) is a higher quality, tastes better and is worth the extra $10.00 vs your cheaper fondant (brand a) that tastes horrible and goes uneaten on the plate.

I just reread your post Howsweet, I misread it earlier, my bad. The part about your cost being irrelevant threw me off.