Fucking 70 quid for a cake????

[Hairwizard]

As title says. Quoted 'from' 70 quid for a Christening cake. This was based on a 6" square cake with 4 sponge layers. Not tiers. Buttercream icing. Any decs toppers etc would be extra and from 8 - 15 quid!
Am i missing something?? How the f does a cake cost that much?

Usual suspects who don't understand hourly rate doesn't = take home pay.

I wouldn't pay £35 for the M&S one. Supermarket sponge cake is horrible and no-one over the age of five will want to eat it. You could easily make one similar. The decoration is nothing special.

Loving the cakes on this thread especially the Keith from prodigy cake.

To serve 16? That's a reasonable price.

I'm kind of fascinated as to what you would think was reasonable for several hours of someone's time along with all the actual costs. Why would anyone bother baking cakes if they were only going to make £20 from it.

It's the same with knitted/crochet/sewn items.
People are so used to paying child labour prices on the high street, that they don't want to pay for a handmade item

It seems that handmade means cheap

Considering all the "Just go to Cosco, M&S, Tesco, Sainsburys etc, they're just as good" comments despite these only being so cheap because supermarkets have hundreds of stores and the ingredients are bulked brought and mass produced in a factory off a conveyor belt, with loads of 'natural' preservatives, it would seem you are right @MumW

Way, way back, when I was a child and I'm 70+ now my mother would make wedding cakes as a paying hobby, she had always baked beautiful cakes and later trained in decoration. We're talking about much fancier cakes than now, she hand made filigree cones for the edges, sugar flowers etc., she would sit for hours making the delicately traced topping yet when she was asked to quote for a cake many were horrified, it was even dearer than M and S fruit cakes! She once counted up the hours she spent and factoring in the cake ingrediants and her time she was getting about as much as the paper boy per hour.

Waitrose do nice cakes too

There's a saying amongst
us bakers..
GOOD CAKE AIN'T CHEAP AND CHEAP CAKE AIN'T GOOD!!

THIS!

@Hairwizard would you complain about a solicitors prices if you needed one.?

Every person who has a trade/skill/career have invested personal time and money Into it. I went to catering college, gained my nvq 1, 2 and 3 I then went to various schools and seminars on my days and weekends off which cost me my own money to improve and gain extra skills as well as paying for a cheap b&b while there.. I pay every year for insurances equipment and I dont take annual leave... i spend my money on flights abroad to other countries to attend classes there... last year I went to Bali the year before that france the year before that italy this year poland so I am always learning and improving my skills and knowledge so I can provide a better service to my customer... I put my staff through all the necessary training courses such a coshh, health and safety food hygiene first aid to comply with regulations when you are buying from legit business you are paying into it all its not just a cake your paying for quality and assurance also

@anotherlittlechicken unless you want those eggs, butter, sugar, cake board etc handed back to you in their packets at cost price, you should probably pay for everything that you're getting. This would include time spent liaising with the customer, time spent designing what the cake will look like, making the mix, baking it, decorating it, towards the hundreds of pounds that bakers spend on equipment, the insurance and registration as a business with the local council, the cost of utilities ie gas and electric etc. Along with the time and money spent delivering it.

Would you go to the hairdressers and expect them to dye your hair for £8, the cost price of a box of dye from boots? If not, why not?

Yes that is a standard price. Professional cake, standard professional price.

If you want a cheap cake go and buy a supermarket one. They taste ok. No one is going to object to a supermarket cake.

You sound charming! I think the baker has had a lucky escape. You get what you pay for - clearly in your eyes this person wasn’t worth of being paid a decent hourly rate for their skills.

Also they probably have to pay what, nearly a third of what they make, in tax and NI. So they aren't getting the full amount that you give them for the cake.

@Mlou32

Nah I will just buy a cake from M & S for £15 ta. Just as good as a home made one. No way will I pay 5 times more from a 'self proclaimed professional baker' who claims theirs are soooooooo much better!

As for the hairdressers. Also ludicrously overpriced, and that is why I have been dying my own hair for 20 years. Just pay £15 for a cut 3-4 times a year. No WAY am I paying £75 for what I can do at home for £7.

Can't believe some people are daft enough to still pay these prices.

You are being laughed at behind your back. By the people you pay the exorbitant amounts of money to, and everyone you know.

Well not quite a third, but a decent amount. God I hate how you can't edit your posts on mumsnet!

Wow, as a friend/ family Baker I've always under charged 😥 I could be richer than I am!

I laid $100 for this - bottom cake is 10" and each cake had 4 layers, we only managed to eat the top tier among 15 people so it was good value. I wouldn't pay £100 for one small tier.

You want a cheap cake, go to the supermarket. Don't try to devalue the time, effort, equipment, insurance, premises etc... Of small businesses. People really wind me up with this nonsense.

The baker is providing a service...and trying to make a profit and a living!! Make and decorate the cake yourself...and breathe!!

@anotherlittlechicken and that's fine if you'd rather save money. I don't blame you, hairdressers are really expensive and I generally dye my hair at home with box dye as well as it can be 60+ quid for a dye alone in a decent salon where I am, which to be quite honest, I've got better uses for that kind of money.

But the fact that I don't want to pay these amounts doesn't mean that I don't appreciate why small businesses ie cake makers charge what they charge; not only for their own time spent making the cake (which usually equates to not much more than NMW) but also for everything else involved from the designing of the cake right through to delivery.

Don't really look at the ingredients list for a cake, or care if it's made in a factory... Costco cake is delicious and i won't hear otherwise!

It’s fine if people can’t afford/don’t respect or understand professions I suppose, but its not ok to expect professional services, or many hours of labour by a hobbyist for fuck all. Anyone who has a hobby/skill gets vacant comments like ‘why don’t you make it your job’, why yes, Brenda, labouring for £1 an hour will be a fantastic way to end up homeless. 😄
A days work, plus resources for less than the bare legal minimum wage to produce this cake and the OP cannot comprehend why she should get it for poverty wages. A packet of sparklers from the £1 shop will do fine, or some stinkin supermarket cake plastered in disgusting ‘fondant’ dyed gloop for a tenner.

I know a few people who have made cakes for occasions and it literally takes them hours, costs a lot for ingredients plus they need insurance and the pressure of producing a perfect & tasty cake.
When you factor the actual effort that is involved, not to mention the skills, it's actually not expensive at all.

I don't eat cake, but I make amazing ones (so I'm told) i charged less than i should as it cost me to make them.. i stopped after making a laced royal iced crib (as a topper) and no one bothered about their kids bumping it, kids mother (my best friend) smashed it!!! And couldn't care!!!

OK PRICE HERE