Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi I am a new cake decorator and i am now being asked for cakes by friends of friends 🙂 I have been asked to create a 8inch cake and 40 cupcakes for a christening.  The cupcakes will be fondant topped and the main cake I plan to be simple with building blocks .

I really struggle to price as tho I know my cakes taste and look good I feel I cannot chage too much for them !!

I would greatlyappreciate everyone’s advice on how you started out how you started pricing, do you are deposits etc etc

Thank you so much :))

Well, that is the million dollar question.  What I do is work out how much it costs for ALL ingredients, including board, ribbon etc, even glitter – as this is quite costly – then how many hours  you think it will take to complete the cake  – remember to include time spent making decorations – then add on an hourly amount that you feel happy working for.  When I first started I didn’t charge very much at all as I felt that I was very new and my level of competancy not as good as local cake decorators.  Now, I have a bit more confidence I charge more.  I always look at other local cake decorator’s prices first though and take that in consideration.  I have lost a couple of orders because people have thought me too expensive, but I don’t really bother about it because it is hard work and I’ve decided that I’m not working for nothing.  Hope this helps.

It was mine that was deleted!  Here’s a shorter version.  Make sure you count absolutely everything.  Electricity, greaseproof, colours, a small portion for equipment used, boxes ribbon etc. You may want to factor in an amount towards going on courses (or subscribing ti this site, lol).  Don’t be too cheap in order to obtain orders.  It is hard to raise prices later.  Too much work for too little money can make you ill (from experience!).  Nicholas Lodge once gave me a very good piece of advice.  Ask the customer what they are prepared to pay and tell them what you could do for that.  I don’t charge family or friends but you may need to.  Perhaps give them a discount? As your competency grows you can charge more.  I think homemade cakes tastes nicer than shop bought anyway so even if you are not proficient at the moment they will get a nicer cake.  I totally agree with susansteele21’s comments.

Thank you that really does help.  I feel exactly like that about my competency, although people seem happy with the cakes they receive.  I don’t want to do myself a misjustice by charging too little !!

Hi all,

I ment to edit someones post to ad a link to a blog post about this topic http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/what-should-i-charge-for-cakes . but I managed to deleted it by accident 🙁 sorry about that!

Fantastic advice as always thank you 🙂 x

We have a detailed breakdown of costs to consider when thinking about your pricing. You need to consider everything from your start up costs, running costs, cost of sales (ingredients), depreciation (replacing equipment). Also need to put a price on your time – this should increase with experience. You also need to consider the local competition and price accordingly. Just remember though – McDonald’s are the most successful burger company in the world, but don’t make the best burgers!! A lot of its down to effective marketing, presentation and where possible provide assurances.

Much more like this will be included in the Pro membership coming soon.

Kind regards, David