I feel that I am not charging enough for my cakes. I would like your opinion on pricing for this cake I made last week...just wondering what the average pricing should be. I'm new to the baking cakes and selling them scene, and would like some input. This is a single layer, two tier buttercream and HM marsh. fondant cake with one chocolate and one yellow tier. Please help 
I'm so happy you asked this question! I've been wondering what to charge for my cakes too! Surely there's an average price people use. I mean all cakes cost about the same to produce don't they? Ingredients, location and skill, labor and overhead are equal for everyone right? I suppose I could do my own research...but hey this will be much easier! Especially since it's never been addressed on this site before--well maybe it has--but I don't want to look for it. Can't wait to hear what others tell me I should charge. 
APrice is determined by the market value of similar work. That means you look into what others are charging. The pitfall there is that lots of people are out there without a clue what to charge. Therefore, it's probably best to find storefront bakeries and see what their prices are. You have to do more than look at their website. For example, my site says my base price is $5 per serving, but typically after all is said and done, the price is at least $7.50.
It's counter intuitive apparently to not focus on your costs when pricing and you'll find most advice around here saying you figure your costs and add in a wage. But if you go onto a business web site, they will say to use market pricing and this is the best advice. If you use your costs to determine price, you will be ery likely to undervalue your cakes. Under valuing is like a rampant disease in this industry and has wreaked havoc on the viability of selling custom cakes. Don't fall into that hole.
You must know what your costs are, of course. That's what tells you if it's worthwhile to turn on the oven.
You'll work up your own pricing structure to help quote out cakes. The size of the cake is important when pricing.
(PM me if you get this reference!)
ALmaaaaaooooo the Mods are gonna get y'all! Y'all know they don't play this (insert laughing smiley face here)
AThis has been discussed thousands of times!!! do a search here on it and everyone is going to tell you to do your homework and look into your costs and labour...the rest of us have had to learn to do this. Every cake is different, are is the costs and work that's gone into each one. We can't just chuck out a blanket figure and expect it to apply for all cakes.
AI get people asking all the time for a regular size cake...so I usually do a 6" round. Then I hear it wasn't big enough! How do know what size to make?
Original message sent by pastrypet
I want to know too. I'm just a hobby baker, so I don't have a business, but I need to know what to charge for the cakes I sell, you know, the regular-sized ones.
I get people asking all the time for a regular size cake...so I usually do a 6" round. Then I hear it wasn't big enough! How do know what size to make?
Quote:
This has been discussed thousands (actually 100,000'S!) of times!!! do a search here on it and everyone is going to tell you to do your homework and look into your costs and labour...the rest of us have had to learn to do this. Every cake is different, are is the costs and work that's gone into each one. We can't just chuck out a blanket figure and expect it to apply for all cakes.
What she said.
Times like this I really wish CakeCentral had a "Like" button.
Quote:
I feel that I am not charging enough for my cakes. I would like your opinion on pricing for this cake I made last week...just wondering what the average pricing should be. I'm new to the baking cakes and selling them scene, and would like some input. This is a single layer, two tier buttercream and HM marsh. fondant cake with one chocolate and one yellow tier. Please help
Is there filling in a one layer cake?
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