Pricing Help

Decorating By webby2013 Updated 29 Jun 2013 , 2:50pm by kikiandkyle

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webby2013 Posted 26 Jun 2013 , 3:54pm
post #1 of 18

just wanting your help and opinions on this cake I did for my wife's friend's husband.

 

what would you price this cake at ?? and what do you think of it ??

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17 replies
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kristenlee08 Posted 26 Jun 2013 , 5:27pm
post #2 of 18

AHow long did it take you to make the tractor? I would price depending on how long it took you to put it together and do fondant decorations. I'm just staring out so for me I feel cheaper is better until I get a name for myself. If it were me I would price somewhere between $50-$80. I know that's a big price range but like I said it would depend on how long it took me to do the fondant. I hope this helps.

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jason_kraft Posted 26 Jun 2013 , 5:46pm
post #3 of 18

ACheck out the Pricing Formula link in my signature below.

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webby2013 Posted 26 Jun 2013 , 7:37pm
post #4 of 18

AI'm just starting out 2 I did cupcakes to start and decided do big cakes aswell and this is my 3rd attemp it took me about 6 to 8 hrs and thnx for the info and will check that out jase thanx

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Norasmom Posted 27 Jun 2013 , 1:19am
post #5 of 18

Cute cake!  Suggestion:  clear the clutter in the background before you take pictures,and maybe cover the surface with a tablecloth.  There are a few threads on here with great advice about how to take good pictures of cakes.   The cake will look far better with a clean background!  

 

I see some minor errors and I'm not sure how many it serves, but I would say $80-100.

Just starting out you could charge less ($70) until your name gets out there.  Only spend 6 months "getting your name out there," though.  That's about how long it took me to raise my prices.  I didn't want to have low prices for too long and have that be the reason people order my cakes.  I still don't charge for my time, because I'm learning and it takes me much longer than an experienced decorator to get things right.

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webby2013 Posted 27 Jun 2013 , 7:55pm
post #6 of 18

AThanx for the info yeah I see what your saying about a cleaner back ground and using a table cloth will keep that in mind thanx I don't really wanna charge for timne anyway as I learning and like you say takes us longer than an experiaced cake decorator. I don't charge that much at the mo and only do it for family and freinds untill I get better and I don't like pricing cakes I feel like I over price (£25) I charged and felt that was to much and having people thinking I'm a ripping them off and not coming back for anymore cakes but the prices I see them selling for at shops maybe I under charged them who knows(enough rambling on)i will eventually get there lol thanx for that appriciated

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jason_kraft Posted 27 Jun 2013 , 8:01pm
post #7 of 18

A£25 (~$38) is too low for anything besides a very simple, small, single tier cake. If you don't feel confident in the quality of your work, don't charge for it (and definitely don't advertise) until you are ready to create a product that people are willing to pay a reasonable amount for.

If you want to "get your name out there", it will be much better for you in the long run if you put together a marketing strategy based on your target market instead of just cutting prices.

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webby2013 Posted 27 Jun 2013 , 8:27pm
post #8 of 18

AYeah I thought it was to low but ill learn lol and Hence the fact I only sell to family and freinds. I don't advertise as I don't feel ready enough to sell to ppl I don't know not yet anyway and when the time comes ill come up with some marketing plan. Thanx

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RubinaD Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 2:12am
post #9 of 18

AIt looks awesome, how many layers is the cake and size. What is the tractor made of?

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webby2013 Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 5:33am
post #10 of 18

AIts a 2 layer 12" chocolate sponge filled with chocolate buttercream and the tractor is made of plain sponge. Thanx

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Jenna1588 Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 10:46am
post #11 of 18

Before I read any comments I thought £25. I really don't think that is over priced, under if anything!

 

I was asked to make a Blackberry (mobile phone) cake, I added up how much it was gonna cost for ingredients, £13, so I said £20. That is probably over priced for me but this person is a friend of a friend of a friend, had it been friends or family I probably would have charged £15.

 

My advice is to work out how much it costs for Ingredients then just add a bit for time/electric/gas etc. When you get more confident, inquire with a pro how much they charge and go from there.

 

Fab cake though! Love the tractor. :)

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kikiandkyle Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 12:17pm
post #12 of 18

AWhen you pay people to take your cakes off your hands (since at these prices, you definitely lost money), the name you are getting out there is that you are a cheap baker, and that people should expect something for pretty much nothing from you.

Don't give away cake because you are just starting out. Practice on free/at cost cakes for friends and family and then sell them to everyone else under your business name at market price when you're good enough to charge that much.

All you're doing is building a reputation that's based on a quality level that is below where you expect to be, and building a customer base that will never pay you what you're worth.

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manddi Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 12:35pm
post #13 of 18

A

Original message sent by kikiandkyle

When you pay people to take your cakes off your hands (since at these prices, you definitely lost money), the name you are getting out there is that you are a cheap baker, and that people should expect something for pretty much nothing from you.

Don't give away cake because you are just starting out. Practice on free/at cost cakes for friends and family and then sell them to everyone else under your business name at market price when you're good enough to charge that much.

All you're doing is building a reputation that's based on a quality level that is below where you expect to be, and building a customer base that will never pay you what you're worth.

Yep Cheap prices attract cheap customers(I.e. The type that want something for nothing).

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webby2013 Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 5:05pm
post #14 of 18

AThe ingrediants didn't cost me anything they where what I had for the last cake a made so I didn't loose money I made the money for the ingrediants which maybe cost me about £15 plus profit off both cakes but I agree with what your saying I should charge more I have an angry bird cake to do this week aint agreed on a price yet I'm going to phone around and see what local shops would do it for and go from there but thanx for all your advice its a big help and I will keep it in mind

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Jenna1588 Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 5:07pm
post #15 of 18

Don't forget that even though they were left overs from previous cakes, you still paid out in the first place. 

 

Good luck, I'm sure you'll figure out whats best for you :)

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howsweet Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 6:30pm
post #16 of 18

I don't know where to start...the statements above that stuck out to me the most were suggestions that price would depend on how long it took you to make it. That's certainly not irrelevant, but if it took you three times longer than it would take a professional, then it doesn't really make sense to base the price on length of time. I recommend taking advice from other amateurs with a grain of salt and make it your business to find out what a professional would charge for similar work..

 

Another thing that stuck out to me is that there is no way to price out a cake with no clue as to its size. I think you can pretty much ignore any price given without this information.

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manddi Posted 29 Jun 2013 , 12:58pm
post #17 of 18

A

Original message sent by webby2013

The ingrediants didn't cost me anything they where what I had for the last cake a made so I didn't loose money I made the money for the ingrediants which maybe cost me about £15 plus profit off both cakes but I agree with what your saying I should charge more I have an angry bird cake to do this week aint agreed on a price yet I'm going to phone around and see what local shops would do it for and go from there but thanx for all your advice its a big help and I will keep it in mind

Even if you already had the ingredients in your pantry you still paid for them at one point

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kikiandkyle Posted 29 Jun 2013 , 2:50pm
post #18 of 18

AUnless you charged your previous client for a full bag of sugar, a full bag of flour, a whole lb box of butter, a whole dozen eggs etc...

It sounds like you're trying to do this to make money, do yourself a favor and start treating this as a business, cost things out properly and start charging a fair market price.

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