Cake Pricing
Can anyone give me some assistance on what I should charge for this cake. It was a 9" vanilla & chocolate cake with strawberry filling. The hat was a 6" cake with 40 cupcakes. I'm trying to get an idea of the pricing because I've been told that I'm selling myself short.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Armijo on
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Vee you are so right. Do you think it would be proper to ask for payment up front in full or do you let them pay at time of delivery
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Permalink Reply by Jean Moore on
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Hi June,
That is so true. I have been stuck with many a cake. She should get a down payment, and if the person don't have the balance, they don't get a cake. At least the down payment would take care of part of the lost. I just finish my business degree from the University of Phoenix, and I learned so much about contracts, business plans, and setting your payments. You have to market what you feel you are worth with your product. You have to calculate your time, ingredients, gas and electric, and if you have to deliver it, the mileage.
June Kowalczyk said:OMG!!!!
I just about passed out when I read this thread!!!! I don't know where you live, because prices vary greatly based on this. You can only charge what your market can bear. My advice I continue to give is to contact at least 5-10 bakeries...online/shops in your area and see what they would charge. Doesn't matter what advice we give about a price because unfortunately, we don't live in your area. Although it does give you a rough idea of what we think your cake craft is worth. In my area I would have charged $150 for the cake, $2.50 for each cupcake. 50% down, the rest 5-3 days before....NO EXCEPTIONS!! I can honestly say I have never been "had". Sob story indeed!! If a cutomer I didn't know came to pick up a cake without any $$$$....sorry...NO CAKE. I guess Heaven Scent it is because I dealt with bills & payments in a large office for so long....I heard every story & excuse going....and sorry to say 95% were lying. Put this down to a learning experience. It is a good teacher. Be proud of your work....your cake was lovely. Think how hard you worked, the supplies you used, your time, ...YOUR TALENT. You earned every penny. You can't run your car without gas...can you??? Don't know too many gas stations who give gas for next to nothing. :o)
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Permalink Reply by vee vazquez on
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I say lets discuss the cake details so we can figure out cost and once I am done, I walk over to my register I have at home and say will that be cash check or charge ...just like that and they pay me...... I use to be a photographer and sales trainer and this is the techique I taught others to use and it worked like a charm for the most part. Now I applied this techique to my cake sales to avoide problems. Most pay up front and the others pay half and 3 weeks before cake is done the remainder is pay'd. the key to this techique is to look in the persons eyes with a great big smile as you say this.
Elizabeth Armijo said:Vee you are so right. Do you think it would be proper to ask for payment up front in full or do you let them pay at time of delivery
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Permalink Reply by June Kowalczyk on
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Hey Jean
Don't have a business degree, but handled accounts at dental offices. Enough to know I heard every story in the book why they COULDN'T pay. We had, back in the old days, what we called a Promisary Note. It was as good as a contract. You signed it as an agreement to pay. All the $$ and particulars were spelled out.
Now I make a contract with everything, $$, style of cake expected, colours, embellishments, etc. Include delivery date, charge for, if doing, date of FINAL payment. Anything & everything pertaining to the cake. Once they sign, initial, authorize a email, they can't say they "didn't know". Called: cover your "B". I have never had a difficult customer or a no pay. But that is because it is just a hobby for me.
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sorry I did not answer your question. the answer is yes why not....we have to pay for the products we use before we make the cake, right? so yes it is ok. now with that said I recommend to use common sense when dealing with the public. Most people are honest yet they want something for free this applies to people from all walks of life. Its a fact that no matter how talented you are if you apply brut force (no tact) you will soon find your self out of business. I use several different sales techiques to make sure I get paid.
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Hi I am not an expert at cake decorating. However, since i started doing this I did several promo's for free to test my skill level and timming. lets say a person wanted a cake with a dog and a cat and several other animal as their theme. I would get a clock (timmer) and see just how long it took to make. I would do this with everything I had to do to complete the cake to their request plus my actual cost. once done i took into account of my ability to deliver as the pro's do than adjust my bill to fit. Now that people are seeing what I can (achieve/skill) they call me out of the blue so my prices have increased according to my skill level.
Dee Miller said:Well, I am still new at this myself and pricing is always a problem for me but, personally, I wouldn't sell that cake for anything less than $100 and probably closer to $150. The cake alone should conservatively feed 30, plus when you add the 40 cupcakes, at $100 you would be charging less than $1.50 per serving. Way too low, IMHO, but other bakers here might think $!50 is way too high. Like I said, I am still relatively new at this myself. However, I can't think of anywhere on earth you can get a yummy dessert for $1.50!!!
It is a beautiful cake and I would be interested to know what price you ultimately decide on! : )
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You may not have a degree but according to the law that is how its done. So well done.
June Kowalczyk said:Hey Jean
Don't have a business degree, but handled accounts at dental offices. Enough to know I heard every story in the book why they COULDN'T pay. We had, back in the old days, what we called a Promisary Note. It was as good as a contract. You signed it as an agreement to pay. All the $$ and particulars were spelled out.
Now I make a contract with everything, $$, style of cake expected, colours, embellishments, etc. Include delivery date, charge for, if doing, date of FINAL payment. Anything & everything pertaining to the cake. Once they sign, initial, authorize a email, they can't say they "didn't know". Called: cover your "B". I have never had a difficult customer or a no pay. But that is because it is just a hobby for me.
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Permalink Reply by California Cake Company (Sandra) on
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Here in Fresno CA the higher end bakeries charge up to $26.50-$35.00 per dozen for cupcakes, not specialty decorated just frosted. Most of them won't even do them at all because they don't fit their image of French Pastries or whatever their image is. The run of the mill bakeries charge between $20.00-$24.00 per dozen for plain frosted. The specialty decorated ones go for as much as $5.00-$6.00 each! They are all even higher in trendy cities like LA, Sac, San Diego and San Fran...My husband and his nephew just paid $3.75 for a plain frosted chocolate cupcake in LA at a hole in the wall, very small bakeshop near the Amtrak Depot! That's freaking $45.00 per dozen! Geography is definitely a factor in pricing.
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I do agree
California Cake Company (Sandra) said:Here in Fresno CA the higher end bakeries charge up to $26.50-$35.00 per dozen for cupcakes, not specialty decorated just frosted. Most of them won't even do them at all because they don't fit their image of French Pastries or whatever their image is. The run of the mill bakeries charge between $20.00-$24.00 per dozen for plain frosted. The specialty decorated ones go for as much as $5.00-$6.00 each! They are all even higher in trendy cities like LA, Sac, San Diego and San Fran...My husband and his nephew just paid $3.75 for a plain frosted chocolate cupcake in LA at a hole in the wall, very small bakeshop near the Amtrak Depot! That's freaking $45.00 per dozen! Geography is definitely a factor in pricing.
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Permalink Reply by Heaven Sent Cakes & Treats on
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Wow I'm in Florida. Our highend cupcake bakeries charge $1.25 for the MINI cupcake with just frosting
vee vazquez said:I do agree
California Cake Company (Sandra) said:Here in Fresno CA the higher end bakeries charge up to $26.50-$35.00 per dozen for cupcakes, not specialty decorated just frosted. Most of them won't even do them at all because they don't fit their image of French Pastries or whatever their image is. The run of the mill bakeries charge between $20.00-$24.00 per dozen for plain frosted. The specialty decorated ones go for as much as $5.00-$6.00 each! They are all even higher in trendy cities like LA, Sac, San Diego and San Fran...My husband and his nephew just paid $3.75 for a plain frosted chocolate cupcake in LA at a hole in the wall, very small bakeshop near the Amtrak Depot! That's freaking $45.00 per dozen! Geography is definitely a factor in pricing.
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The minis are high here too, I guess it's because they are tedious to handle.
Heaven Sent Cakes & Treats said:Wow I'm in Florida. Our highend cupcake bakeries charge $1.25 for the MINI cupcake with just frosting
vee vazquez said:I do agree
California Cake Company (Sandra) said:Here in Fresno CA the higher end bakeries charge up to $26.50-$35.00 per dozen for cupcakes, not specialty decorated just frosted. Most of them won't even do them at all because they don't fit their image of French Pastries or whatever their image is. The run of the mill bakeries charge between $20.00-$24.00 per dozen for plain frosted. The specialty decorated ones go for as much as $5.00-$6.00 each! They are all even higher in trendy cities like LA, Sac, San Diego and San Fran...My husband and his nephew just paid $3.75 for a plain frosted chocolate cupcake in LA at a hole in the wall, very small bakeshop near the Amtrak Depot! That's freaking $45.00 per dozen! Geography is definitely a factor in pricing.
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Permalink Reply by Carol Saiki on
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After watching Restaurant Impossible, I am convinced that I am doing an okay job of pricing my decorated baked goods. Add up all of the ingredients, supplies, etc, multiply this number x 3 and add $ 1.00. If it is 12 cupcakes, then divide by 12. This usually is a reasonable dollar value. Don't forget you are using electricity or gas for your oven. Depending on the area where you live, cupcakes can sell for $ 2.50 each to $ 5.00, this also depends on the time spent on decorating. Also, don't forget your time is valuable.
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