Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi all..still relatively new to thisbusiness..set up on my own under a year ago..and I still feel uncomfortable when someone asks how much? I don’t want to undercharge or overcharge.  I have checked out my local cake makers too. As still new I dont feel at liberty to ask top dollar prices when I’m really still learning. I would rather under charge slightly and people be thrilled with the end result. Although sometimes when i see the end result i wish i had charged more!! What about you??

Don’t start too low as it’s hard to put prices up!  Ask customer how much they are prepared to pay and tell them what you can do for that.  I think you already know you should be pricing higher by your comment about ‘end result’.  Work out how much you are actually working for per hour.  I think you will  be surprised how little you make for your time.  You obviously enjoy your work but remember it’s a business.  It can become a chore if there isn’t enough profit.  Good luck in all you do and what you decide.

J x

Hi Gucci906, what you have to remember is that you are now in business. You obviously think your work is good enough so don’t under sell yourself. I’m not really qualified to give you this advice, but I know what you’re saying. I don’t charge for my cakes, I just ask for the ingredients money, but then this is my hobby. Sometimes when I see the end result and the hours of work which a cake has taken, I wish that I charged! You must work as a business, don’t let your heart rule your head. People pay silly prices for work which I’d be ashamed to sell, so do yourself a favour, make MONEY!

Thank you for your answers. I think I’ve been so excited to get the orders that I agreed pices that were too low just so I could get the experience of making a particularly tricky cake and then I’ve got that photo in my portfolio..but yes now agree should be charging more!!  Same goes for you “made it with love” it’s not just about the ingredients..it’s all those hours of work!! Shame we can’t upload photos on here

I’m in much the same boat.  Orders are now coming in alBrit not as much as I would like.  I just love to do the cake and often undercharge !! Photos and more in depth personal profiles and messaging would be great 🙂 x

Gucci906,  yesterday I delivered the LV style cake from the tutorial but I made it in deep pink leather look, all blinged up with pearls and gold trim. I added a fabric style iced cake board and hand made roses. The cake took me twelve hours to complete (I have arthritis so work quite slowly). The cake, an all butter madeira, steeped in Irish cream liquere and filled with raspberry syrup and raspberry white chocolate ganache. I crumb coated with white chocolate and then several layers of white chocolate ganache before icing with Satin ice fondant, and all the bling. Imagine how much that would cost if I was charging. I sent pictures to David Brice, and today he emailed to say that I could charge close to Paul’s prices for that cake. Last week I made the basque cake, same story again! and in April it was the bowling cake with my own twist of hand made bowlers and a host of other extras. My point is, I’m just a hobbist, you are earning a living. David just gave me some good advice. He said the difference between a cake decorator and a professional is confidence, and to some extent quality of work. He also said that our own Paul Bradford still questions his own confidence, but look at how great he is! Good luck with your business, be confident.

You actually have to beg me to make you a cake these days as there is so little money in it (I am slow too).  I try to do it only for family and friends whom I don’t charge and thus get pleasure from.  In these days of unemployment you might need whatever you can make.  Or you might be at home looking after children or a carer.  As madeitwithlove says be confident.  I have only ever been pleased with a couple of cakes I have made, always saying I could have done this or that better.  People are delighted with what I produce and think I am mad (they are most probably right).  Have a go at charging more it’s easier to reduce prices than raise them.

J x

Those cakes sound amazing!!

The 3 pointers sound good..but for instance the handbag cake..the ganache alone cost £6 to make the the fondant on top..the cake ingredients..an time! Should we be doubling our costs..or double and a half??

Hi Gucci906, The correct way to charge is ingredients cost plus 50%, plus your time at an hourly rate which you want to pay yourself (salary) and an establishment charge based on your overheads. This get complicated because if you are operating as a business you would have to factor into your price things like, business rates, insurance, any additional costs which you might incur, for instance, transportation, light heat etc. Your local council have a special package of information for people starting a home business. I also believe Paul or David will a be discussing this topic. (My hubby says he charges me £200.00 ph for spelling lessons!!!!). Hope some of this info has helped.

I’ve just been looking around on the site and in the blog section there is video of Paul giving guidance on how to charge for cakes. It can also be viewed on youtube .

I found Paul’s pricing info really helps me when dealing with enquiries. I give them the 3 options and let them choose. I am a business from home but I’ve cut down my orders now as I found doing 6/7 a week really sucked the fun out of it. I do 3 at most now. My basic price for an 8″ is £40. I don’t charge expensive prices for wedding cakes because they state wedding tho. I now go on design as most novelty cakes I’ve done have been far harder.

Forgot to add, advice from Paul in one of the tutorials about charging for cakes. He said he has a three tier rule, 1. is to offer a bog standard cake which will be cheap and cheerful, 2. something which is presentable but not overly priced or  3. one with WOW  factor which you have to charge a lot more money for. So lots of detail = lots of money, simples!!