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Honestly since this cake is going to cost you more to make than what’s she’s paying I would charge her more. She has to understand that there’s a big difference between the cake she posted and the one she showed you. You should be able to come to a compromise without losing her business. Some people like taking advantage.
For those who bake cakes- How much would you charge for this?
So I’m trying to get my name out there as someone who bakes cakes. I love baking, it’s mostly just for fun but I’d like to also make a little money while doing it. A girl posted an ad looking for someone to make her daughters cake smash cake for a photo shoot. It was a simple maybe 6” 3-4 layer cake with giant rosettes in purple on it. Very easy to do. I have all the materials I’d just be spending money on ingredients plus my time. So I quoted her $25. Now, I am not a professional. I do everything at home. So I didn’t feel the need to charge any more than that, I’m also just looking to build my portfolio as well and gain experience. So she private messaged me and then says she wants this cake; but the pink to be a darker pink. This cake is way different than the pic she had originally posted with the ad.
So, now I know this cake will take longer for me to make, I will also be using more cake since I have to go out and buy a giant cup cake cake pan ($35) where I am. No big deal considering I can use that cake pan over and over, but she also wants those little white flowers as well. I don’t have a problem taking a hit on this one, I know I’m going to be spending more on it than I will be making on it. But for future reference how do I price my cakes and even explain why the cake is going to be more than the other? I’m not going to ask for more than $25 since I had already told her that amount and honestly don’t want to loose the cake order. So for those who are crafters and bakers how do you charge? Do you do materials plus x amount per hour of your time?
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Ke
I’m not too worried about taking a loss on this cake, I just wanted to know for reference how much I should charge for this kind of cake. I know now for my next cakes to charge way more than I did for this one.
👰
I completely understand but if you want to make money you’re going to have to say something
Ke
I know, I’m just nervous to ask, I’ve already told her $25 and I don’t want to seem greedy. I’ve priced it out and fondant will be about $15, making the buttercream and cake itself will probably cost $10 in milk, eggs, flour, sugar, icing sugar, and cocoa powder. Plus I’m buying the white candy flowers ($8). Plus my time. I’m also investing in a specialty cake pan to make this cake ($35) ish.
I always paid $150-200, sometimes more for custom cakes, made at home from a girl.She does the cakes at home, but they are really really good and $150-200 isn’t bad to me. i had her to my gender reveal and babyshower.
Ke
Be fine. But I need to really calculate my costs and such before giving a price I guess.
Ke
Omg, I’ll defiantly be reevaluating my price points here. I’m going to see how this cake goes, I think itll
You need to take a Business 101 basics class online. Trust me .... It’s worth the $30-50 for an online course. You will make far more than that from what it will teach you
Ke
Okay awesome!! Thank you 😌😌
pu
My fiancé is the business boy.... I’ll ask him a good starter one as soon as he’s done working and recomment ☺️ He ALWAYS recommends Tai Lopez 67 steps but that is way more in depth than you would need I believe. And goes into detail about life and business not just basic business skills. To start, you could start watching Tai Lopez and Grant Cardone YouTube videos. They are super insanely smart business men!!!
Ke
I’m thinking of this! Do you recommend a website where you took one?
Im not a pro baker, but I know a well made/decorated cake takes time. I do freelance graphic design and I charge hourly. Your most valuable resource is your time, so you don’t want to sell yourself short. I would charge $25/h. And If I was to bake a cake for profit I would charge time spent not only on decorating, but also prepping, filling piping bags, tinting buttercream, etc. google says it can take like 4 hours to make and decorate a cake so that’s minimum $100.
Everytime I order a custom cake that is more than sheets with writing I paid a minimum of $100. I would probably pay $150 for this cake.
Ke
Okay thank you!! Even my boyfriend was like you should be charging more you’re barely charging for materials. I know for next time 😌😌
Mr
If you are in the early days than maybe half, $75. But don't under value your skill.
Ke
😳😳 holy! I wouldn’t be comfortable taking $150 for this, I mean I know it won’t look exactly like this cake but it’s going to be pretty close (hopefully) 🤞🏻
Just tell her the $25 was what you quoted for the original picture she asked about, if she wants this one tell her whatever you feel is fair. You'll at least want to break even, if building your portfolio is what is more important.
Ke
Me too! It’s unfortunate she wasn’t okay with it, I honestly don’t think anyone will make it cheaper. If they do they might go the cheap route and do box cake and tub frosting.
Ca
I'm happy she was ok with the honest answer!
Ke
I decided to tell her I needed to charge more. I did some shopping and realized I am losing a ton of money making this cake. She ended up not wanting to pay more ($75) so I’m returning the materials I bought for the cake! I’m not okay going that much into debt over this cake, she understood!
Don't undervalue your time. As far as materials goes, my mom does this. For the cake materials that will be consumed, she charges full cost of materials. For things she can reuse and keep such as piping tips or cake pans etc. That she has to purchase for the job, she charges half of their normal cost for time and materials. That way both parties win.
Tr
You have to remember that they have all the tools. They didn't have to buy them. They are mass-manufactured, so of course they're cheaper to make. But they also do much less custom work than you can. Don't let people bully you into lower prices by saying "well x sells cakes for $20!". To these people my mom has always said, then go ask them for this cake, but they're going to say no. Some people arent willing to spend money on art. Others are
Ke
Thank you! I just don’t get how grocery stores can charge $30-$40 for a basic cake. It must have taken more than that to make it. I’ve also ready they freeze cakes (not sure if that’s true) and of course they’re usually slab cakes with writing. I was trying to go by grocery store prices that way people don’t just say “well I can go to this place and get a cake for $10 less” but they don’t realize specialty cakes and way different than generic slabs. I’ll have to do some calculations and get base prices sorted out!
Tr
Figure out portions. So for something like flour, divide total cost by how many total cups are in the bag, then you find price per cup. If you have a go to cake recipe, you can do this for all ingredients (say its $.15 for 4 cups of flour) then you know how much to charge for a standard cake, and it gets easier to add and subtract from there. Just dont forget to add your time into it, and a little extra profit.
75$ is what i usually pay for its for about 50-60 people and its arpund that size
Ke
Wow I didn’t think a cake this size could feed that many, I’m really bad at portioning though. I’ve researched a lot on cake sizes and cutting to serve people but this cake is literally for a baby to smash for a photo shoot lol
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