What do cakes cost

If you get a cake order solely because your rate is cheaper, you might not be gaining the clientele you want. The type of person who shops around for the cheapest custom cake they can find are usually not someone you want to be a repeat customer.

Trust me on that! You also can devalue custom baking in your area if you set your prices too low, which hurts everyone in the end.

In the beginning of my cake journey, I naively saw other bakers as competition. In reality, each cake maker has their own unique style and offerings. It might take a bit of time to develop your style, but you naturally will the more cakes you make. I found that I loved working with American buttercream, and enjoyed colorful, playful cake designs! They returned the favor when the same thing happened to them, and it created a great relationship between all of us.

Another rookie mistake I made in the beginning? I cringe saying that out loud. Always charge a fee if someone wants you to deliver a cake. You can choose to have a fixed rate for deliveries within a certain radius, or you can charge based on the distance. Either way, be sure to consider the cost of gas, the wear and tear on your car, and the value of the time it takes you to deliver the cake.

Now you know how to price a cake for clients, but what do you do when friends and family ask for cakes?? Whatever strategy you choose, make it very clear in the beginning. When you explain how much money and time go into making a cake, most people are very understanding.

They never asked or expected me to bake for them, so I never felt any pressure around it. However, a lot of people are in a different situation. If you have demanding relatives or friends who expect you to drop everything and make elaborate cakes for them, I recommend setting ground rules upfront.

Hello Chels. I am a Cake Artist in the UK. My name is MarinaI just found your website. I love it. I have been baking and decorating cakes since I like you term cake artist. Can I adopt Cake Artist? Your website is great. Thank you so much. Thank you somkuch for this article.

Iam a home based business baker based in Zimbabwe. All the tips in your article are so helpful and I can relate to all of what you said. I was telling one of my baking students yesterday to not look down upon the most minimal skill level she is at.. Also checking the market prices constantly is important.

Compare your prices to fellow bakers serving your area as a guide, I noticed it helps too. App Developers. Home Maintenance. Cost Guides. Project Guides. Questions and Answers. Get the App. These cakes are as much about presentation as they are about taste—and many professionals know how to satisfy both of those cravings. Costs are based on the number of people the cake needs to serve, number of tiers, flavor s , how complex the design is and delivery distance.

Many bakers base their cake pricing on how many people will be at an event and how many slices are needed for each guest. The per-slice price can be affected by other factors, however, such as the ingredients used and the complexity of the cake design. Common flavors such as vanilla generally cost less than exotic flavors such as red velvet. Multiflavor cakes also cost more, as do organic cakes. The two most common frostings are buttercream and fondant—buttercream is slightly less expensive.

The more ornate and challenging the cake design, the higher the cost. Sugar flowers, unusual shapes and special colors all take more time to create. Also, the taller the cake, the more difficult the task for the baker, so costs will also be higher for these cakes. These fees usually increase the farther the baker is from the venue. Some bakers offer a tasting in advance so that customers can try samples.

Go for a basic or templated design; a high degree of customization costs more. Choose the least expensive standard flavor. Ask for fewer slices based on the number of guests. Consider a square cake rather than a circular one; they are easier to cut and can feed more guests.

Millions of people ask Thumbtack for help with their projects every year. We track the estimates they get from local professionals, then we share those prices with you. Browse profiles, see prices and use filters to find pros who match your project. Thanks for all you do, your site is the first I go to for ideas and tutorials. That's how I started too. Hi Rose, Thanks so much for this post! I don't feel bad, because I value my time, as baking is something I do on the side when I'm not at my 'real' job.

Good for you!! You won't regret valuing your work - even if you do lose some orders. Just today I lost an order because of what I charge but I know without a doubt I'd have regretted doing that cake for what the client wanted to spend - and I don't like regrets so I backed out!

Thank you so much!! I needed to see what I am charging is correct! Hubby keeps telling me I need to make it worth the time taken away from our family and home! You hit the nail on the head, girl! I have developed the same attitude,"If you want a cheaper cake then go to the mass produced box store and get what you pay for. If cake decorators really charged what their time, expertise, skill and attention to detail was worth, then only a select demographic of cliental would be able to afford it.

Let's face it, most of us do not have those kind of wealthy customers. But I love seeing a child's face when they see their special cake that you've created just for them. Wow, thank you so much I'm killing myself with cake orders I'm a full time teacher doing this on the side and I'm making very little money. I have a good friend who also does cakes in her home and she said "If they are looking for a Cake Boss cake on a Walmart budget then I'm not the person for them".

I thought that was well said! Thanks again for the info! Thank you for this guideline I worked 33 years at a retail grocery store in small town Several years of experience and talent should not go out cheap!!

Very encouraging words! Thank you so much for this information, you have been very helpful. My last cake, I charged way too little, I think I shocked myself out ot charging too little, funny enough. Hi Rose, thanks so kuch for this! This is all i need. I am using cost a cake app but i didnt realized it only worked on my iphone and cant open the paid apps on my computer.

It will be a bit of a hazzle when my phone doent work sometimes;. I think My pricing is fair compare to other home bakers in my area. I dont charge my time and followed the proper pricing in my website as customers always compares prices and ended up not ordering ;.

One flavor per one dozen regular sized cupcakes. Rose thank you for the information on this topic! I notice u say you charge for both fondant and buttercream Servings the same, But doesnt the fondant require you to purchase the fondant? Which would be an extra cost? Can you let me know more on this please. However, if you buy fondant, you could certainly justify charging more! Ditto on the thanks for this article! Two weeks in a row I have gotten 14 hours of sleep over a day period, all because I'm killing myself for orders.

My work does, most definitely, speak for itself, I just need to be confident enough in the fact that the RIGHT customers will come and return and refer others. I also will establish a per slice price and stick to it. All this to say, thanks again for your words of experience! We have a storefront and with the additional cost of rent, utilities and payroll,. This will come with simple decorations. We do a lot of party cakes and they are very time consuming. I sometimes think wedding cakes are easier!

We also do everything homemade No buckets and mixes and our tiers are approximately " tall. Your story is exactly what I went Thur and burnt my self out! I real enjoyed ur story and honesty thank for sharing! Thank you for posting this! I always seem to struggle with pricing. I like very much the idea of having a set per slice price, that makes it so much more easier. I've lost quite a bit of customers because of my pricing and I have to be completely honest—it's very discouraging.

My prices are very close to yours and I find it's very true that ppl want the look, but don't want to pay the price. I had a customer ask me once for a Wreck it Ralph Cake—a sheet cake on bottom with a 8x8 cake on top, all the decor I will not be discouraged, I will value my time I will respect my talent Thank you so much for sending this information to me!!!

Love , Maritza. I really needed someone to break this subject down on a "real" level for a home baker. I have found out that I've been way undercharging for my cakes, in fear of not getting business. I'm trying to understand, that if they really want a quality cake from me, they will come. I shouldn't have to run after them.

Some people just don't get how much driving is involved when you live in a rural area, or how much toll a dirt road can take, even on cupcakes. Thanks again. You are a true inspiration. I had to pull it up today and read it again after I posted a pic of the latest cake I made and had a number of people ask about it. I normally stick with cupcakes and have recently began branching out, but it is extremely frustrating to be told that my prices are 'too expensive' and yet they are comparable to the grocery store.

Thank you for the confirmation that I am doing the right thing with my prices! Thank you so much for this. You helped me to know that I am on the right track but I do still need to increase a bit in a few areas. I will give you an example, and would love it if you could give me an idea of what we should charge.

An 8' two layer round cake surrounded with Pirouette cookies and ribbon, with blue homemade gel as water, three rubber ducks on top plastic and handmade fondant bubbles. As well 12 cupcakes iced and decorated with a homemade chocolate duck, and 12 cupcakes iced and decorated with silver balls and glitter. I really can't tell you what you should charge because I don't know your market, your competition, your skill level and experience, your ingredients costs, etc. Per serving, or set price and if set price how much per sheet cake?

Are your sheet cakes single tier or double? I price them per serving like all of my other cakes and I do some single layer, some 2 layer Rose, do you use Wilton's party cake servings and wedding cake servings charts seperately, or do you use one list for both categories? If you use one, which do you use? Is your price per serving the same for wedding and party cakes? Do you charge more per slice for fondant covered cakes?

I know this is a lot of questions, but I've been "in business" since June and you are one of my on-line mentors. I get about one order per week and lose about two per week. I struggle with this. I used to use separate charts depending on the type of order, but that didn't seem fair for wedding customers to pay more for the same amount of cake.

For now, I'm pricing based on the number of birthday servings, but I tell my wedding customers that their cake will serve a larger range, depending on serving size say servings, depending on size served.

I do price the same based on difficulty. A simple wedding cake will be less per serving than a carved intricate birthday cake Thank you so much! That does help and give me some direction , especially concerning the wedding cakes. I sincerely appreciate your help. Thank you so much for your helpful advice, this give some direction of how appreciate my work and my time. Your webpage and designs are wonderful. Again, thank you so much.

God bless you and bless all that you do. Thank you for posting this!!! What do you think? It's a 3 layer cake with cheesecake as the middle layer frosted with cream cheese icing and topped with shaved white chocolate.

It's rather large and beautiful and I haven't really figured out how many servings but it's more than the average home made cake. This was so heartwarming to know all over the world we as home bakers sit with the same dilemmas and do not think that our work is worthy of charging. I have been doing cakes as a hobby for over 20 yrs and then when I lost my job, I started to make cakes hoping to get a decent income.

But oh did I undercharge for cakes. I made a "Last Supper" cake with Jesus and the 12 disciples and it took me 16 hours to assemble.

I never wanted to make the cake again, because of the amount of work it required and the money that I charged was not worth it. The problem was that everyone who saw it, wanted one. I had more than doubled my price, and people are still paying for me to make it. I have managed to cut my hours down to 8. Oh by the way, I'm from South Africa. Oh WOW - that's amazing Alta! Can you send me a picture of it to [email protected]? I did not, but one is not required in my state.

You really need to check with your local health department or small business administration to determine the requirements for where you live. Hi Rose. Reading what you have to say gave me a little more confidence to charge clients a reasonable price. I too undercharge. I find myself losing out a lot of times. How do you charge for cakes made with fondant?

Thank you sooo much. I have been doing this a little over a year and haven't been able to figure out how much to charge. And have seriously been way under charging. Thank you for the information this really opens up my mind now..

Thanks so much for this. I know I under change but always feel guilty charging more. Especially in our tiny town. My main question is how do u determine servings?

I have a serving chart but the numbers are less than what I saw on your pics. I am interesting in knowing how people can cakes in the USA.. If the answer is yes, For doing this in your house, do you need any permission or health checks I don' t know if it is the right definition? In Italy it is not permitted to bake and sell cakes in our house The laws and requirements vary from state-to-state, but yes, in many states you can bake and sell cakes from home.

Great article. I am wondering if your prices had changed since your publication. Also, I am curious as to what part of the country you live and does that have an impact on prices.

Thanks for the great advice! I'm curious how your pricing changes based on what is covering the cake. I always charge my customers less for frosting only covered cakes and then more for fondant covered cake. Are the prices per serving that you listed for frosting covered cakes and then how do you charge for fondant?

My prices for fondant vs. I just wanted to say for people who ask you to bring a cake instead of a gift - how much would you be willing to spend on a gift for this person? If they are asking for anything more than a 5" cake or a dozen cupcakes forget it!

I only give them to my immediate family as gifts and that's my choice - my offer - not their request.. Very informative and answered allot of questions I had. I want to offer cupcakes as well as cakes for my family and a few clients that have ordered cakes. That's very thought full of everyone here, it's so good to know that you are not alone in your thoughts. I live in Nigeria, west Africa. I also bake from my home, what I do is I go out to cake shops and price their cakes, then I use it as a guide line, I may decide to reduce a bit base on my relationship with the client, ve also lost some client cos I refuse to go way too low from what I charge.

Am really encouraged, to better my pricing skill. Rose am glad I know you. Thanks a million. I am so happy I found this, thank you for sharing! I opened my "from home" bakery in a tiny town last year, and have also struggled with pricing of cakes. Do you have recommendations for pricing cookies as well?

I feel like I spend more time on cookies than cakes or cupcakes. My cupcake pricing seems spot on. It has been a year of learning, and I'm so happy I have found you! I know I will be "visiting" quite often! Cookies are HARD. I like the pricing, but how about decorated half sheet cakes, and cupcakes. Your cakes are beautiful. My reason for asking is I have a sports theme cake and cupcake order. It is volleyball and basketball themed.

They want two half sheet cakes, and 85 cupcakes. How would I charge for that. I still use the same methods for sheet cakes. I'm becoming the cake maker in my family, and love making for them too. Lately it's been taken for granted that I will bake for extended family or friends of the extended family.

It's presumed I will be making the celebration cake, as a gift, without being asked in person. Does anyone else have this problem and how do you tell them that these cakes take hours and I really don't want to make them outside of the family.

Some people just don't appreciate the time and effort you spend. You're just going to have to be honest. I wouldn't wait for them to ask - I would approach your closest family and friends and tell them that you need to discuss the cake situation and that you can no longer do them for free.

Thank youuuuu so muc, now I know I was doing it all wrong and I will make the proper corrections. I'm WAY undercharging! Thank you for this. I will stick to my prices for the orders that have already been made, but then my prices are gonna have to go up. I'm selling myself short I guess. What is the difference in prices between buttercream and fondant cakes?

Also, I need a high heel shoe what would something like that go for on top of the cake? I price buttercream and fondant the same. And I've never done a shoe like that - I'd base it on how many hours it took to make it. Love your cakes and the information is very helpful.

About how many cups of icing do you use when you make a 10" roses cake? I am making a 10" 3 layer cake and am trying to figure out how much frosting it will take so I can price it. I make cakes each week so I make huge batches of frosting in bulk and then just use it as I need it. This is great! Thanks so much for posting it. As I was reading I saw myself and heard everything friends and family have been telling me in your post.

It was like you were reading my diary. Everyone says I do a good job and am so cheap. I do up to six cakes a week and I work full time, and one part time job on top of the baking this leaves very little time for my kids let alone their extra activities.

I'm usually exhausted and don't always feel like I'm making enough money to continue it. Now I know I'm not alone and I really have been selling myself short.

I'm having a hard time pricing fondant flowers, I don't want to overcharge but I don't want to cheat myself. Any advice would be great. I'm sorry - I don't really make many sugar flowers so I wouldn't be much help there. I'd just charge by the hour, I suppose, plus the cost of materials. Oh my goodness Rose, I am so excited to find your site. Thank you for such great info. I have made a few cakes and had no idea what to charge. My husband tells me there isn't enough money to cover the time I put into my cakes.

He can't see how i could do this because I Love to decorate. I do them mainly for friends and bake sales. I am not professional and feel it would be wrong to charge very much. You are so right. It is alot of work and my time IS worth something especially since I work full time at my job outside of our home too. Thank you again for your help. Looking forward to more instruction. Just tried fondant for the first time last week. I like it.

I'm SO glad you found my site and it was helpful to you! I look forward to seeing you here more often! Thank you so much for this advice! I homeschool my children also and am a single mother with my baking business being my only source of income.

So this article helps me immensely:. Thank you so much for "my kick in the pants", as I did need it. Now I'm glad I did! I work with all types of cakes, mediums, and also teach the Wilton Method of cake decorating at our local store. This past 5 weeks I did 4 wedding cakes, am totally exhausted, and now am going to increase my prices. Our area doesn't warrant higher prices, so maybe I'll just hope to expand my area and have customers come to me to pick up their cakes. Thank you again!

I'm doing my first big set up for a community fair in my town. I'm going to be doing cakes and other goodies at a table but I'm totally lost for cupcakes. Can u help me out on prices! Thank you. What I'm getting is "can you do this instead of a gift" from people esp family.

I've also had people from church ask for discounts or question if I can charge a little less because I know them. It is awkward and upsetting to me so any input would be helpful. They sometimes try to pay me but I generally refuse. But everybody else pays. If someone asks, first ask yourself If so, how much would I budget for that? Then if you want to Maybe it's a friends' kids birthday The only downside to that is your kid would be showing up without a gift at the party and I know from personal experience that that can be uncomfortable too.

BUT, if you wouldn't normally be buying a gift in the first place say it's a distant cousin that you never see , explain that this is your business and if you take their order, you would be losing income on other paying orders you could be doing instead and you simply can't do that.

Oh my gosh! I never thought in a million years you'd respond haha! I'm flattered you were kind enough to take the time. Thanks for posting this - very informative. How much extra do you charge for fondant cakes and cost of moulding things like animals out of fondant? I don't charge extra for fondant - I actually prefer it to buttercream.

I base it on how long it'll take me to make it. It's easy to understand and right to the point!!! Thanks for the postings. As a home baker pricing is very difficult and I live in New York City where competition is fierce. My daughter always says I undercharge. The advice here is a tremendous help. I have been baking for almost 3 years and I started doing it for my daughters cake.

When my friends ask where I got my cake, I tell them I made them and they've been very lucky to have me make free cakes for them.

Most of my family complain about not charging but friends never did offer to pay and I was embarrassed to charge since they're my friends and I'm also invited to the party i usually don't give gifts anymore when I make cakes for them. Now, I have some new acquaintances and was told that I should charge for my cakes even for friends.

They all like how I decorate my cakes and that they looked like a pro. I wish I can append a picture here. I wanted to ask if I low balled myself on a recent order my very first charged cake.

It was a 9 inch cake, fully decorated with fondant and added a toy topper. I don't use buttercream as a frosting, I use white and chocolate mousse for frosting and filling cake, chocolate mousse, white mousse then cake. I said I can work on her budget and as a gift to her daughter I would do fondant. Now, a lot of my facebook friends wanted to know how much I charge for a single layer fondant cake.

I still haven't responded as I have no idea really and I'm scared since I am just starting and want customers that if I give them a high price they might back down. Is there an e-mail address that I can send you the photo of the cake I made so you'd have an idea of what you think I should have charged for it? I would greatly appreciate your help.

I really like your article on cake pricing and have some questions that I would like to ask you on some of my cakes. At your convenience of course. Thanks Dorinda. Hi Dorinda! I get it, I really do. I know pricing is hard, but I'm not able to help with pricing on a cake-by-cake basis. I get too may requests and there are too many variables to consider for me to give accurate information. I just love your article. Its very helpful for us learning the business.

As I better my techniques I realize I need to increase my prices, but it's a struggle for me too. I've been emailing local bakeries trying to get their costs, but haven't got many responses. My question for you is: Are your prices for all cakes birthday vs.

Wedding or do you charge differently for wedding? Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. I'm also a beginner in baking and hardly charge anything for my cakes as I'm still learning new tricks but I also want to be making it worth my while as you can work for free.

Thank you for sharing this information. I do a good job, but obviously not nearly the best, and I always felt guilty for charging "too much" for my cakes. Well, no more! There is a lot of my time and supplies that go into my custom designer cakes, and, like you said, if customers don't want to pay for that, then they will have to be happy with a store bought cake.

If I lose some business, so be it. Awww, thank you so much for commenting Alexis! It makes my heart happy to know this is helping people! Thank you so much. I have just started my at home business. There are not a lot of people doing this other than Walmart or Publix so I feel like I have an edge. My biggest issue was what to charge. Your advice is very helpful. I have a cake coming up for a surprise birthday for at least people. Thanks again for the article. I wish you could talk about the fondant cakes.

Because I think they're more expensive than the buttercream cakes. I wanna know how to charge for the fondant cakes. Hi Rose, I came across your site today and I appreciate you setting us straight on cake pricing. I would feel an anxiety attack coming on when people would ask how much I would charge for a cake. As my confidence in my skills grow the more orders I take on and my biggest fear is not charging enough. You have given me a new outlook on my business and loads of info.

Thanks so much for all your wonderful advice. Thanks Again! I laughed a few times because i recognised myself so much in this article. Too often I tought if i wasn't to expensive. So thank you for this! That was very helpful! Thank you!

Is the pricing the same for square cakes and topsy turvy cakes? Also, what about cupcakes and mini cakes? Pls share. I am just starting out and my biggest queue from your notes is to pay myself. I charge by the serving and difficulty so the shape is not so much a factor.

Squares and rounds are the same price. I may charge a little more for topsy-turvy because of the difficulty. You really just have to work out what works for YOU! I have been an independent home cake designer for many years and remember struggling with the same issues that you mentioned. It wasn't until I moved from my small home town to the city 15 years ago that I finally began charging what I should.

My new clients commented on a regular basis how much better my cakes looked and tasted than many of the local bakeries and that my prices were much too cheap, again, like you mentioned.

I am now catering weddings specializing in their cake design and my business is growing each year. I am charging a fair price for my clients AND myself and living every minute of my job. Happy baking to you. Loved reading this! What I was wondering is, are these prices for homemade cakes? As in scratch? I know someone who is indecisive about cake prices but they buy box cake mix and add in flavors or other ingredients to give it more of a "home-made" cake flavor.

Would you still suggest these prices? This is just what I needed. Yo do not know how much your post just helped me. I'M New in this thing of baking and decorating cakes I felt awfull for charging so little but also for charging more!! Loved your post and I will follow your advice. Thank you from mexico!!!!!! Hi, i have two questions i have been baking for just a short period of time.