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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how much you would expect to pay for this cake?

228 replies

Badger84 · 24/01/2017 21:25

So I've started up a cake business and I'm struggling with pricing. There is quite a lot of competition in my area so want to price competitively but also want to make a profit! Some of the people I've quoted have been fine with my prices, others have scoffed and said far too expensive. I've attached a picture. Can you tell me how much you would expect to pay? I won't tell you how much I would charge to influence you

To ask how much you would expect to pay for this cake?
OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
TinselTwins · 24/01/2017 23:53

I don't think it's necessarily that people don't appreciate how much time and effort is put into baking cakes, I bake myself, it's whether or not you would pay such a large sum for a child's birthday cake

no. that's not true

I usually can't afford more than a supermarket cake or a bodged up home-made monstrosity Grin , but that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate the value of a professionally made fresh custom cake.

Paying £60 for a custom fresh made cake isn't a high priority for me even when I have that budget, however, I wouldn't dream of asking a cake maker to do a fresh custom cake for me for much less than that, and I don't think they should.

Just because I'm rarely in the market for a £60 cake, doesn't mean I can't tell the difference between a cake worth £60, and a supermarket or shoddy "that'll do" DIY job!

CommonFramework · 24/01/2017 23:54

Meiya?? What a yooneek spelling.

ohtheholidays · 24/01/2017 23:54

Bloody hell I've just seen what you've charged for it,that's really low anyone who's getting that for only £40 should be really pleased.

Ellieboolou27 · 24/01/2017 23:56

No more than £30 as it's quite plain and looks like a shop brought plain iced cake (Fiona cairns from Waitrose) with some icing letters, pretty but no way would I pay more than £30 for it, homemade or not

WyfOfBathe · 24/01/2017 23:56

However, you price it, some people will balk at the price. Until coming across cake threads on Mumsnet, I'd have said £20 max because that's what a birthday cake costs in my head. I still wouldn't personally pay much more than that, because I'd rather spend it on other stuff, but I expect you could sell a good number of those for £50-ish.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 24/01/2017 23:57

It's hard to make absimolencake look so good I agree with whoever said that.

It's really good OP.

How does ingredients x3 compare to what you charge?

TinselTwins · 24/01/2017 23:59

Please don't charge £40

Please don't, it's not fair on the other cake makers who try to pay themselves at least min wage per hour work on top of expenses.

That's not running a business, that's just making your materials back for your hobby.

And you know what? If you charge £60 youll get people asking you to do it for £40. Charge £40 and you'll have people offering £20.

IMO for a cake like that, if you're doing it as a business, £45 is the bare minimum for a "special offer starting out price"

Grilledaubergines · 25/01/2017 00:01

Way too cheap OP. That's £60 worth of cake there. By the time you work out every single cost it's £20-£25 alone.

Charging £40 gives you an hourly rate of what, £5?

Hands up who will happily work for £5.00 per hour? Anyone?

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 25/01/2017 00:06

Go to Waitrose and see what they charge for a basic 8inch sponge with a bit of icing slapped on it- about £25!

Grilledaubergines · 25/01/2017 00:07

So true Tinsel.

At the end of the day, some people want a personalised, handmade cake and appreciate the time, patience and late nights involved. For others who won't/can't justify that expense there's nothing wrong with a supermarket cake. It's the same as face cream or going to the hairdressers versus a box dye and simple trim.

Don't be known as the 'woman who knocks up cheap cake'. It'll be very difficult to put up your prices doing that. You want to be known as 'she's not cheap but it's so worth the money' or 'she charges reasonably and you'll get something beautifully finished'.

fallenempires · 25/01/2017 00:10

I work in the food/hospitality industry both as employed & also self employed.I am concerned that you haven't thought this through properly,hence why you are asking MN for a pricing opinion.Of course you will receive some silly responses,not many can appreciate the time or cost of products spent on a cake to a high standard.
Please do properly look at everything from scratch and then you may be able to see if it's at all viable to run as a business or to just turn into a hobby with little or no return.

notgivingin789 · 25/01/2017 00:11

At least £50.00 op !!

The people who are saying they would pay £20.00 or less. Are you on glue ? Shop brought cake does not taste as good as home-baked cake !

5OBalesofHay · 25/01/2017 00:14

If that was to me notgivingin don't be so fucking rude.

thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter · 25/01/2017 00:20

Love threads like these where PPs state they wouldn't pay more than £x peanuts for a cake, fine that's your budget. It would be like walking into a Chanel store, take one look at the handbags then declaring you only spend £30 on a handbag so theirs are overpriced.

Jux · 25/01/2017 00:50

I think some people have only tasted supermarket cakes so they have no idea what a home made cake tastes like.

I recently bought a cake from Tesco (I don't know what had come over me), and apart from NO FLAVOUR AT ALL you don't even get proper crumbs! I told people at work how disappointed I'd been, and the next day they'd made me a proper cake!! I'm very lucky, and they're lovely people.

Your cake will be worth the cost and is beautiful.

YouHadMeAtCake · 25/01/2017 02:14

thatwould spot on and jux too.

londonrach · 25/01/2017 03:37

Jux.....ive eaten both home cooked and shop bought cake and had good and bad of both. I also make my own cake using my great granmothers receipe. Its very easy and tastes fab and being a child of the 80s all my birthday cakes were home baked hence why i love a shop bought matks one now as its special. I think the worse cake i ever eat was a home cooked one thst looked pretty on the outside but was heavy and dry instead. In fact it was awful so was binned and the cake baker was normally very good. However whether or not you pay more than £10 for a childs cake when in my experience they tend to leave most of it is up to you. Personally i wouldnt especially as colin the caterpillar is so tasty as is that star one in marks. I wouldnt eat a tesco and the worse one being waitrose cake as the ones ive eaten have always been dry.

Op needs to work out how much it costs to make the cake and see if its worth it.

EmeraldScorn · 25/01/2017 03:49

If you search on FB (just put in things like "handmade cakes" etc etc) loads of pages will come up and it will give you an idea of what people baking cakes are selling them for.)

I'd pay around £45 for the one that you've made but it may differ depending on location.

PyongyangKipperbang · 25/01/2017 04:07

OP dont forget to specify your ingredients. Free range/organic ingredients cost a premium and should be reflected in your costings.

Anyone who says "I wouldnt pay £50 for that!" has never ever tried to make a birthday cake to that standard. I cant afford to pay £50 for a cake which is why I taught myself to decorate them, and how I know how much a good cake has cost the baker in time and expertise.

PollytheDolly · 25/01/2017 04:42

That's a £50 cake easy. We are paying £35 for a fruit wedding cake for two people!! But to us, a bespoke cake designed especially for us is worth it.

Mominatrix · 25/01/2017 06:22

I agree with £50. Lovely cake!

soontobemrsmckeown · 25/01/2017 07:25

I got charged 78 for this one. Served about 95.

To ask how much you would expect to pay for this cake?
soontobemrsmckeown · 25/01/2017 07:26

35 for this 9 inch cake

To ask how much you would expect to pay for this cake?
soontobemrsmckeown · 25/01/2017 07:26

20 for this 6 inch cake

To ask how much you would expect to pay for this cake?
flumpybear · 25/01/2017 07:30

Wow! What amazing cakes!!!
OP yours is beautiful I'd pay £50 for such a cake
Love the superhero cake too!! My son would love this lol!!