A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3259706/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

I was asked to make this cake for a friend and said it would cost £50 for vanilla and £55 for chocolate. She said she thought my prices were to high despite the fact that my cakes are always made to a high quality.

Do you think I am overcharging?

Vicky, your friend isn't in a position to tell you how overpriced your cakes are. She doesn't know how many hours you put in to bake the cake, torte it, fill it, cover in buttercream, make the buttercream, knead the fondant (in my case, I make the fondant from scratch too), colour it, roll it, place it on a cake, make fondant decorations. She doesn't know you have to buy the ingredients, tools, supplies. You have to prepare, tidy up, clean up. You have to market yourself, buy business cards, a website. You take classes, watch tons of youtube, practice. 

Your friend won't be the only one to think custom cakes are expensive but that's because most people don't know how how much work is involved, how much cakes, fondant, cake boards, cake drums, ribbon etc etc cost. They don't know that they are also meant to be paying for the labour and expertise. 

Just take it on the chin, don't be offended. If she harps on about it and you think the friendship is worth it, then explain why your cakes are priced as they are. Tell her to shop around the bakeries to get an idea of prices. Otherwise I'd just ignore your friend. 

Lots of pricing threads on this site, just search them and you'll get a ton of information to help you price your cake. 

AThanks so much. That's exactly what I thought, I don't even make the minimum wage at the price I sell my cakes currently but as I'm pretty new to it, I have been pricey keenly. In my opinion, the price was pretty cheap. Thanks x

You should ask her does she wants a semi machine made cake or a homemade one from scratch with quality ingredients.

Store bought cakes are made in factories, mass produced by machines, stored in freezers and shipped all over the country to sit in another freezer until needed. How many chemicals do you think it takes for these cakes to survive and stay fresh AFTER they are thawed and iced? Machine labor is cheap compared to human labor.

vickey764 YOU ARE NOT A MACHINE so don't price yourself and your work like one. You are not cheap neither are your ingredients and time.

Next time anyone says your prices are too high, tell them to go to the grocery store for a cake because they can afford to sell cheap cakes and that unfortunately for them,  YOU can not.

My overhead+my ingredients+my labor+my time=Your $$$

A

I see so many people say this and I don't get it. Why work for less than minimum wage? If you feel like your skills aren't to where you can charge a fair, decent amount then you are not ready to go into business must yet. Best to wait until you are confident enough to charge appropriately. Not to mention you do other cakers a disservice by charging that low.

A^^^Yep

AI suppose it's a lack of confidence, but I think the cakes I have made so far are great and have been told as much. I'm not in an area where I can charge a huge amount for cakes either. I have a full time job, I'm doing this to make extra money but yes it is hard work for little profit.

AVicky, I was asked for a quote last week for a 6 tier wedding cake last week 4 cakes, 2 dummies, I to include fruit, she wanted every other cake with cake lace around and cascading roses, around 40 in all.

She emailed me today to say she couldn't afford it and is thinking of changing her design for it to be cheaper, my quote to her was £750, I personally thought that wa a fair price!

ASounds fair to me, wedding cakes do cost a lot of money. I don't think people understand at all, how much work goes into it. I'm still using your recipe by the way and it works great, no more doming cakes and they bake so quickly! Thanks again for that :) xx

AThats good to hear, you wont ever change that hopefully, if your like me when I find something that works I stick with it, it always turns out so well.

AVicky are you in the UK?

AI am yes in london

AWhy dont you join the UK thread, go into cupcakes, its in there. Honestly you'll have some fun oh yes and some advice, join!!

AI didn't realise there was one. Thanks x

Enga, LOL very true, very true! The UK bunch can't stop talking 

Haaa haa, I know, but it's so fun catching up!

AYes enga I know you have a chuckle or two when reading us, why not, your always welcome to chip in with our chats!!

A

Not just wedding cakes! A cake doesn't cost more just because it has an extra word in front of it.

People are just generally more willing to pay properly for a wedding cake than they are for little johnny's birthday cake, but that doesn't mean you should try and price low to get their business.

However low your prices, I can guarantee someone will tell you you're too expensive so there really is absolutely no point working at less than minimum wage. It really does no one any favours. You may as well price yourself at a point that makes sense now, because if you price low now you will have a really hard time trying to increase it later.

Nanny's cake is a case in point. My price for that came in at about £830. That price is fine for me where I am, but even if I'd dropped it by nearly £100 the bride still wouldn't have gone for it. Better to keep prices at a point that is fair for your market, skill and will earn you money rather than kill yourself working for nothing trying to please people who will think any amount is too much :-)