I know it's all dependent on flavors, decorating, etc, but could you guys just give me feed back on ballparks on these? These were all family/friends cakes, so I charged almost nothing. Everyone tells me to start selling them, but I need to know what kind of money I should be expecting. Cake flavors are standard, and most are fondant (except 1st and 3rd below and "Aloha Donna" and Baseball/Glove). And all accessories (except 1st wedding topper and Belle princess) are edible fondant/gumpaste. Yes, I know I could do the $/piece concept, but I'd just like someone out there to say "that's a $500 cake" or whatever. Thank you all!

oh i really like your work--but per serving is how i think--sculptured cakes should start around $7 to $8 a serving for the most simple designs--your first cake should have been about $9 $10 per or more--and i don't know the servings so you have to do the math--

then the cake with all the animals on top i'd upcharge for those by giving a higher per serving price as well as the one with all the butterflies--the baseball & mitt is a sculpture--the castle is a sculpture but it has a 'loving hands at home' quality to it rather than a professionally priced cake--love peas in a pod--really nice tier cakes that would not require any upcharges imo--so just base price on the other tier cakes--

spend some time checking out other cake websites for their pricing and place yourself that way to get a feel for it--tier cakes should start about $4 - $5 per serving give or take--

just research other cake websites to get a feel for it

APrice per serving or a whole cake is basically the same thing... The smallest 4 tier cake I offer is a 6" round, 8" round, 10" round and 12" round which will feed 125 (according to Wilton which is what I base my cakes on). So you can either tell people: 1) my prices are $4/person for buttercream cakes so your cake is going to cost $500 2) The smallest 4 tier cake I offer is $500 - and by the way that feeds 125 people.

You have to remember that clients do not understand how many people a cake will feed. Brides come to me all the time with a picture in their head of what they want - and that picture has nothing to do with guest count. People do not understand that there is a direct correlation between the two.

That is why a price per serving is usually an easy way for clients to understand the cost of the cake they are ordering. When someone calls you wanting the price of a cake and they send you a picture of a 4 tier cake and all you give them is a total, the client won't understand how you got that total. If you break it down $4 x 125 (servings) = $500 it not only helps educate the client but also alerts them to how many servings the cake will feed. Maybe they only 50 or maybe they needed 200. This also helps the client figure out how to adjust their order based on their budget.

AWhat is that at the bottom of the pink ladybug cake? It's impossible to give an accurate figure for a cake just by a picture, and anyone who does would be doing you a serious injustice imo. I know its not what you want to hear, but the only way to figure out your prices is to price out your expenses + time. getting random numbers from different bakers from different areas, will just confuse you and cause you to set up your whole pricing structure wrong.

AYou're wondering how much money you could be expecting...thing is you won't get the answer to that question by asking what you asked. Especially on an internet forum where you're talking to people from all over the world.

If you're going into business and don't even want to take the time to find out how to price your own cakes you're in for a time. Honestly. Its better that you sit down and price those cakes out. You can even search on here and find out some tips on how to do it

ASo is this a hoax, centered around the interesting little addition to the baby shower cake? Hilarious if so...10 points to Gryffindor.

ASo yeah, it's just impractical to throw out pricing on cakes that none of us made and don't know how many they served, what your costs were, what kind of overhead you deal with, quality of ingredients you used, etc. etc.

So weird.

Maybe there was a hidden surprise in every photo posted . . . 

But I'm not going back to look.

Liz

Maybe the picture posted in the forum was HER picture she took at home, and that is some sort of flesh colored last minute mushroom or something, and the picture posted in her album is at that party where someone saw the "mushroom" and jerked it off the cake before anyone else saw it?

A

Oh, you're baaaaaaaaaad! ;-)

http://cakecentral.com/t/655386/baking-for-friends-how-to-price

peter n repeater

If those cakes came very easy for you, and you are shocked at what people will pay for cakes, you can try a little harder to crisp up those sides and edges, and REALLY charge a mint! ;-)

AI agree with Anna. It looks like you have talent. The more cakes I do, the more clean my work gets. I think the thing to consider is how will you promote yourself and build a customer base. That is where I am now. I am being realistic and giving myself a year to build my business and get it where I want to be (around 3 large/detailed cakes a week).

A