Is My Pricing Right? I Want Your Opinion

Business By bischi Updated 27 Jan 2014 , 4:09pm by bischi

bischi Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
bischi Posted 26 Jan 2014 , 10:31pm
post #1 of 19

Hi! I love to decorate cakes, i put everything i have in my cakes, but even that i feel that i do not charge so much, i always have customers wanting custom cake at grocery pricing. I am doing my cake from home, i am making everythnig from scratch, and i use for fillings mousse: chocolate mousse, greek yogurt mousse,with fruits, cream cheese mousse...basically i do not work with buttercream for filling, just to cover the cake, and always use only real butter, real cream, milk, eggs. And i live in Hamilton, On, Canada.

 

i will attach some pictures and how much i charged...just give me your honest view.thanks!Diego cake

Diego cake- charged 100$ cad 6" and 8" cakes(vanilla sponge cake with berries greek yogurt mousse)

 

Vanilla sponge cake and yogurt peach mousse

Castle cake-8 " cake charged 63 $ cad( vanilla sponge cake with peach greek yogurt mousse)

 

Beer mug cake- carrot cake with cream cheese mousse

Beer mug cake - 66$ cad, it was two 6" cake( carrot cake with cream cheese mousse)

orange chiffon cake with white chocolate mousse and raspberry cream cheese  mousse.

Charged 90$ cad, (orange glow chiffon cake with raspberry mousse and white chocolate mousse)

 

 Charged 56 $ cad , was an 8" cake( vanilla sponge cake with vanilla custard cream)

was 6" cake and charged 28 $ cad( vanilla sponge cake with milk chocolate mousse)

18 replies
Dayti Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Dayti Posted 26 Jan 2014 , 10:45pm
post #2 of 19

STOP! Please stop selling your lovely cakes so low. People might want grocery store prices (who doesn't?), so let them get their cakes at the grocery store! You surely are only barely covering your costs. It would be more gratifying donating the cakes to the needy. 

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bischi Posted 26 Jan 2014 , 10:57pm
post #3 of 19

I know..you are so true, but even with this price i can have much clients. today a lady showed me a 3 tiered cake(superheroes theme) and when i told her the price.....she only needs a cake for 30 people, and i found her some small cakes idea to serve just so many, and still she felt that is to much to spend 100$for a cake.....so makes me feel so sad....Anyway thank you for your nice words:)

liz at sugar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
liz at sugar Posted 26 Jan 2014 , 10:59pm
post #4 of 19

Please check out this link for lots of pricing and business related information.  It was written by a former Cake Central member, and is very informative.

 

http://jasonkraftblog.wordpress.com/

 

Liz

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bischi Posted 26 Jan 2014 , 11:07pm
post #5 of 19

AThank you Liz

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liz at sugar Posted 26 Jan 2014 , 11:12pm
post #6 of 19

You are welcome - you do really nice work, and just need to find the market who will pay for your artistry.

 

Good luck!

 

Liz

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candyandcakeco Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 4:19am
post #7 of 19

Yes, you're definitely underpricing. Your work shows skill and a good quantity of time spent on it. The way you price your cakes for an adequate low price (if you still want to give out low prices) is to calculate everything you spent on making the cake to the last detail... even the drops of food coloring... and then see how many hours you spend in total to make the cake; figure out how much you wanna charge per an hour of work ( you cannot charge $8) you have to charge according to your skill level. In what I can see in the pictures you might not be able to charge as a Master Baker but you are very close to a Professional Baker. Just google how much a probaker makes an hour, decide what is a comfortable amount for you and then add the hours you worked to the material you used and the result will be the price of your cake, and its always preferable to round up.

 

An example would be:

 

If you spent $40 dollars to make a cake including packaging, details etc... and you spent 2 hours making that cake and you charge $20 dollars an hour then

your final price would be $80 dollars.  The amounts are up to you, and the effort you have to do to make the cakes. If you have a smart phone you can download a Cake Calculator which comes in real handy.

 

Hope I helped.... You're cakes look very nice, I'm a certified instructor and If I thought your work wasn't worth it... I wouldn't of even replied. Best of luck to you :)

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bischi Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 1:03pm
post #8 of 19

AThank you so much...every information helps me:)

Claire138 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Claire138 Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 1:14pm
post #9 of 19

You're cakes are really good but at such low prices are you showing a profit? 

I read on here somewhere (don't remember where) 'Cheap clients get cheap cakes' or something to that effect. Definitely up your prices, you will be way more appreciated. And, as my mum says (all the time - to me) "these cakes are a luxury item, no one HAS to have them" (therefore if someone wants one they have to be willing to pay.

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bischi Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 2:09pm
post #10 of 19

the thing is that i do not depend on those money , my problem was that more often i had requests to do a cake and they run away even with this price, i know how much effort and time a put in my cakes....but i will charge more for sure, and who really wants a custom cake will pay the price. Thank you Claire

LoveMeSomeCake615 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
LoveMeSomeCake615 Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 2:16pm
post #11 of 19

Quote:

Originally Posted by bischi 
 

I know..you are so true, but even with this price i can have much clients.

But what is the point of even having clients if you are not making any money or even losing money??? That's the problem, a lot of people jump into this business and start selling cakes without realizing how much it really costs to make a cake. Then they charge $50 bucks for a three tier cake, and think they are making money.

 

If you just want to charge enough to cover your costs so you can enjoy your hobby, fine, but make sure you realize what your costs actually are.

 

As others have said, you have to sit down and figure out your costs. No one can tell you how much it costs you, how long it takes you, etc. You need to include:

Materials cost (Flour, sugar, butter, eggs, milk, fondant, etc.)

Labor (That's your hourly wage)

Overhead (Electricity used, water used, paper towels, soap, etc.)

Profit

 

That will tell you your price. You make beautiful cakes, and it's easy to see you put a lot of work into it. Please don't sell yourself short!

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Norasmom Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 2:19pm
post #12 of 19

You aren't charging enough, as everyone has stated.  

LoveMeSomeCake615 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
LoveMeSomeCake615 Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 2:19pm
post #13 of 19

One more thing, (and this is not to say this is what you should charge, I don't know your costs) to give you an idea: I would charge roughly $300 for that Diego cake.

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nancylee61 Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 2:33pm
post #14 of 19

Hi,

And no one else has said it, but by charging such ridiculously low prices for such BEAUTIFUL work (and your work is awesome!!!) you are teaching customers to disrespect what you do. And driving prices down for other bakers in  your area. Even if you don't need the money, other bakers do this for money, and your customers will expect all bakers to charge such a low price. Please value your skill. Your work is excellent. Ten years ago, in poor, rural NY, I paid $100 for a flat sheet cake with Barbie piped on and $90 for a crucifix shaped cake. Value your work, and the art of cake decorating!!! People get what they pay for and they know that. If they want a cake for $60, nicely direct them to the supermarket. 

Best wishes,

Nancy

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costumeczar Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 2:47pm
post #15 of 19

Right now you're running a cake charity, not a business. If you add up your expenses I doubt that you're making any money after the cost of your ingredients, utilities and the gas it took you to get to the store to shop.

 

You need to stop selling cakes entirely until you figure out how much you need to make to have a real business and figure out how to price them the right way. The cost of your ingredients shouldn't be more than anywhere between 10-20% of the price of your cake. If you spend 15$ on ingredients you should be charging around $100. Aht that's the base price before you start doing extra modeling work with figures and that kind of hting.

 

Also, you can't sell trademarked and copyrighted characters and logos, so the cakes that you've shown here would all need written permission from the trademark holder to sell them. You can get into some real trouble for using a traemarked character on a cake. It doesn't matter if the customer wants it or not, it's the responsibility of the person selling it (you) to know what's legal and what isn't and tell the customer you can't do it.

 

If people don't want to pay for your cakes when you have them priced correctly, you need to move on and find different customers, or cut back severely on what you're making for them so that you are making a profit. if you can't say "no" to people you sholdn't try to run a business.

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bischi Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 2:52pm
post #16 of 19

Thank you ladies....i do not intend to drive  prices down for other bakers at all, i am new to this, i just decorate for money for almost 1 year, i think i just cover my material cost...but the rest is FREE:( i will do some calculating and change my prices.... thank you !!!

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BeesKnees578 Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 3:30pm
post #17 of 19

Quote:

Originally Posted by costumeczar 
 

Right now you're running a cake charity, not a business. If you add up your expenses I doubt that you're making any money after the cost of your ingredients, utilities and the gas it took you to get to the store to shop.

 

You need to stop selling cakes entirely until you figure out how much you need to make to have a real business and figure out how to price them the right way. The cost of your ingredients shouldn't be more than anywhere between 10-20% of the price of your cake. If you spend 15$ on ingredients you should be charging around $100. Aht that's the base price before you start doing extra modeling work with figures and that kind of hting.

 

Also, you can't sell trademarked and copyrighted characters and logos, so the cakes that you've shown here would all need written permission from the trademark holder to sell them. You can get into some real trouble for using a traemarked character on a cake. It doesn't matter if the customer wants it or not, it's the responsibility of the person selling it (you) to know what's legal and what isn't and tell the customer you can't do it.

 

If people don't want to pay for your cakes when you have them priced correctly, you need to move on and find different customers, or cut back severely on what you're making for them so that you are making a profit. if you can't say "no" to people you sholdn't try to run a business.

 

And by selling your cakes for such a ridiculously LOW price, AND doing illegal copyright work.....you are BEGGING for another local baker to turn you in! 

 

Good luck recalculating your prices.  DON'T take on copyrighted characters, use your OWN creativity, stand out from the others and make your own mark.  I believe you have the skills to do this.  STOP feeling bad for giving your time and talents value!

 

If you aren't "doing this for money", you won't mind saying no to people who aren't willing to pay your new prices!  It's more time you will be able to spend with your family.  And take all of our words for it, YOU WILL COME TO HATE CAKE when you do not get paid what you are worth.  May seem like an impossibility now, but it WILL HAPPEN.  Heck, I hate it sometimes and I AM getting paid a fair price!

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Claire138 Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 3:40pm
post #18 of 19

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeesKnees578 
 

And take all of our words for it, YOU WILL COME TO HATE CAKE when you do not get paid what you are worth.  May seem like an impossibility now, but it WILL HAPPEN.  Heck, I hate it sometimes and I AM getting paid a fair price!

 

 

Couldn't have put it better myself BeesKnees!

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bischi Posted 27 Jan 2014 , 4:09pm
post #19 of 19

you are right:)thanks

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