How Much Would You Charge For Each Of These Cakes?
Decorating By CupCake.Goddess Updated 14 Feb 2018 , 3:31pm by CupCake.Goddess
I've been asked to do a tiered square cake and a two tiered round minnie mouse cake with 12 cupcakes. The first pic is fondant and I'm going to place leopard print ribbon around it. She doesn't want the brown dots or the elaborate bow. However, she has two daughters and wants their names on the cake. I quoted the "leopard" cake at $115 and haven't given a price on the Minnie Mouse ensemble. I know they are going to be labor intensive. How much would you charge?
For the second cake, the family wants the the top tier in picture #1 and the rosettes in picture #2, plus cupcakes.
Cupcakes
I'm not able to edit my response, but each person's cost for the leopard cake will be different as there are 1,000,001 variables. If you haven't done so already, search the forum for pricing. It is the most asked question, and there's a lot of information. For me, I charge per slice so it would be $4.00x the number of slices, plus add ons, plus delivery.
@ AAtKT I had no idea about copyright infringement. Thank you for responding in an eloquent manner. I'm quite sure the people who posted these pics didn't contact Disney for permission so how in the world were they able to post these pics on the internet and not get into trouble? Can you tell me a bit more about CI?
@AAtKT I found this. WOW. Who knew they'd be so anal?! http://info.legalzoom.com/legal-use-disney-characters-21231.html Well, I'll have to find another way without them getting their undies in a knot. I do have an account with DecoPac. Perhaps I can buy a kit? If there is one. I do know I have to make the cake exactly the way its displayed on the pic. Any idea on the first cake? I charged $115.00 but don't want to cheat myself.
if you charged $120 then your square tier cake should feed 30 people which is very tiny tiers or you cheated yourself -- for example an 8" square cake serves 32 so....you're way low
Hey ((K8memphis)) Hi Doll!! Ok...$115 is too low.. Geez. I figured as much. She's definitely not getting a 10 inch!! lol Maybe a 6 and an 8? Would that work @ $115. 125.00 is about the highest I'm going to get because she had that "worried money" look.
Another thing K8memphis, I read on a site where to release me of liability. I would have to have the buyer sign a form saying they would be assume total responsibility for any fees, liabilities, etc in case Disney was to come after them. The buyer says that's what they're willing to do. Have you heard of this?
do a 7x4 -- it's gonna be petite -- she needs to know this -- but how many servings does she need? maybe do an 8" and call it a day -- put the names up on top in 3-d --
don't touch the Disney stuff -- no that little waiver will mean nothing in a court -- you are driving the bus -- you keep it on the road -- they come after the caker --
you just can't really do copyrighted stuff -- sad but true -- but you can ask for permission like from schools for mascots and for company logos and things like that -- Disney isn't going to give you permission but others might if you ask their legal department --
Waiver won't help...you created it,you infringed on their copyright. Period. You can make "backgrounds" and they can buy licensed toys and put them on top. But I wouldn't even place them.
As far as price, size does matter....lol. Without a size, the price cannot be determined. It is the number of standard servings in the cake, not the number of people they want to serve. Funny story here once was a husband wanting a recreation of his wedding cake for his anniversary, and was "fine" with the price per serving. Blah, blah, blah. So since he was":serving" two, he really thought his price was $10 (5+ emails later). LOL.
PS. And how do others get away with it? Same way the speeders pass me by and I get the ticket. If I am the unlucky one on Disney radar- I have NO defense. And it could be a VERY expensive lesson.
for things like this -- you need a minimum price overall which means no matter how small they want it to be like Johnson said, they pay your minimum -- like $100 or whatever -- nobody should do a tier cake for thirty bucks -- it's about the same amount of work as a larger tier cake -- so while yes you do price per serving -- there's a minimum price for any work -- small tier cakes should be $75, $100 minimum to start -- then as you grow you raise it --
@johnson6ofus Ok..so no recreating it but buying plastic figures is totally different. Yes, I've looked up some websites she can go to and purchase what she wants. I'm not about to put myself on the line for a cake. That's insane. Now, I was thinking of buying the Minnie cupcake wrappers from Party City. They also have red and white polka dot cupcake wrappers. I'm paying money for them so would that be infringement as well?
Scratch that. I'll go with solid baby bink or solid red just to be on the safe side. They are willing to place the decorations on themselves.
good -- the idea here is stay as far away from trouble as possible -- not try to get a close as possible without stepping exactly on the line kwim -- it's cake -- it's happy -- it's fun -- don't build stress into it -- yes?
@cuocake.goddess. You CAN use premade Disney wrappers. The company that printed those paid the fee, or is liable for infringement. You just can't make the original item. Same with the toys. I am not a lawyer but read a lot on this, so (disclaimer, as I understand it) it is just the creator that makes the image. Like someone bought fabric (Disney) and sewed the edges to make a blanket. The fabric was "legal", Disney tried to say the blanket was not...eventually Disney backed off (on Etsy).
So don't make mouse ears. Cute wrappers, plastic toys, ok...In the case of the wrapper you made the CAKE, not the wrapper, so it is OK.
johnson6ofus That sounds so cute!! I've never heard of them but that sounds like a stellar plan. However, she has yet to give me a deposit on the cake so I'm not going to hunt her down. I was just talking with SandraSmiley about people wanting custom made cakes at Walmart prices. No, it does't work like that. Harris Teeter charges $120 for a 9in, four layer round cake with decorations. $120.
I cheated myself by charging another customer $115 for a 6 tier square cake with decorations. K8-memphis, I really wish I hadn't quoted that but guess what? She has yet to give me a deposit either. I don't start cakes until I have money in my hands. That way I know they're serious. I think its good business to do that.
oh good -- you can tell peeps that quotes are good for one week or however long too --
Quote by @CupCake.Goddess on 50 minutes ago
I don't start cakes until I have money in my hands.
Rule#1
Look at this cake! (SIGH)) https://www.cakecentral.com/gallery/i/3405544/minnie-mouse
It's so GORGEOUS but I can't risk Disney lawyers! :(
There's an easy fix for the copyright infringement problem...just tell your customers if they want a copyrighted design, they have to bring you written permission from the copyright holder before you'll start it. Put it back on them and don't worry about it. They usually rethink what they "have to have" for little Johnny's party or they buy a deco pak and call it a day.
Thanks cakefan92! Well both of them cancelled because they wanted to pay only $30.00 to $40.00 for their cakes. I don't turn my oven on for $40.00. I think that's one of the most frustrating parts of making cakes: super cheap customers.
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