to ask how much you would pay for homemade Christmas cake

[TheHopefulBaker]

I am looking into ways to easily earn a bit of extra cash. I make a christmas cake every year just for myself and family as I love doing it, so I'll be putting in the money and time regardless. Every year I get feedback that my Christmas cake is lovely and I should sell them.

I'm wondering if it would be worth it to invest a bit more time and effort to make a few more, and maybe make a bit of money. I was thinking I could take them along to my local car boot sale in October and November.

I'm just wondering how much to ask. I usually make medium round cakes and decorate them with marzipan and royal icing. Then add a few simple decorations on top. Nothing fancy.

I'll try add a photo of last year's

How much do you think people would pay for a cake like this at a car boot sale?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

I will be very honest.

It's charm is how homemade it looks, but it's downfall is the same.

If I want a cake made, it's for one of two reasons. I want something that well surpasses anything I can attempt, in which case I'm happy to shell out plenty. Or, I can't be arsed and want something convenient, in which case, Aldi or Lidl do tasty cakes for a couple of quid.

Your cake isn't professional standard, so it falls into the latter category for me, and then you're competing on price.

I think you'd sell them fairly easily for £10 a go, but much more than £15, I don't think people would buy, as you can get a very nice tasting one from the shops for less.

How much does ingredients cost per unit/cake?
M&S will be selling them for £8-10, so probably less than that?
however i wouldn't buy a Christmas cake off a car boot personally as I cant guarantee the food hygiene in preparation!

@FortnumsWeddingBreakfastTeaPlease i think the ingredients for a Christmas cake will probably set your back £10-15 (if not more!).

I’d never buy a homemade cake, Christmas or otherwise, due to the ick factor. But I’d guess £10 max?

Maybe £20? IDK really, you would need to tot up ingredients cost, fuel cost, time cost. Then see if you could make a decent profit.

If you're in the UK you need to be registered with Environmental Health to sell cakes . Christmas cakes are a big cost to buy ingredients, most people will just buy them out of the supermarket.

Have you considered labelling your cake with all the ingredients, allergens etc? I’m not sure you can sell food to the public without this. Check with your local Environmental Health Department or Trading Standards. Personally, I would never buy a homemade cake from anywhere because of hygiene issues.

It looks like a lovely cake OP! What sort of icing do you use? I tried fondant last year and it wasn’t quite right due to a round cake / my lack of skill (probably).

I think given the cost of making a Christmas cake, it would be difficult to make a profit on it, particularly given the price points suggested above.

I’d probably expect to pay £30-50 for a cake made by someone else - but yes, it would need to be perfect.

Honestly, and I’m going to be honest, so I’m sorry. Ingredients for a Christmas cake are not cheap and so I don’t think you could sell them for enough to make a profit.

i can make one myself that probably looks more professional (if i can be arsed to put the effort in) and tastes good. So I wouldn’t buy one.

it’s a lovely home made cake that I’m sure you and your family and friends all really enjoy. But maybe just leave it at that.

Honestly? I doubt the people who tell you you should sell them will pay £40 plus, which is probably what you’d have to charge to make a profit.

P.S. Do you use the packet royal icing? If you make it yourself it’s much thicker and glossier. Which might help to make it look more professional.

Honestly? I'm not sure this is a goer. Like pp, if I'm buying a professional cake it's because I want something of a much higher standard than I could do. Otherwise I'd make it myself or buy one from a supermarket. I'm sure your cake is delicious but it doesn't look like a professional cake, so you will be competing on price with the supermarkets and I doubt very much you could even cover your costs. You will also need to register with the council and be insured. And I fear a lot of people simply won't want to risk buying a Christmas cake at a car boot sale.

I'm sure your cake is lovely though. You could always try taking paid orders from friends and family who know how good it is- you'll still need to be registered etc but at least people who have tried it might be willing to pay a premium.

I wouldn’t buy a home made cake either. Sorry. I would take one off my mum that she had made but otherwise no. I get mine from M&S.

Personally you'd have to pay me to eat Christmas cake! But the village shop near me sells homemade cakes all year round, they are beautiful and go for around £6 each but I'd probably pay more.

I wouldn't buy a cake at a car boot sale. Could you perhaps make them as gifts instead?

Honestly OP, I wouldn’t take the “you should sell them” comments too seriously. I also bake for family and friends, and get a constant stream of “you should go into business “ and “you should go on bake-off”. People are just being nice, I’m a good baker and they enjoy my cakes because they’re tasty and fresh and have no nasties in them*. But in reality they’re not that special and I’d certainly never make any money as a professional given the cost of ingredients.

*By nasties I mean UPFs, preservatives, artificial flavouring ect. There are plenty of good naughty things like chocolate and cream and butter 😛

I think this post sums it up perfectly.

Would it be an option to give them as Christmas gifts? (Not sure who you buy for and how much you spend but it could be an option? If you spend say £20 on each of your siblings but could make them a cake each for £10 then you could make a saving that way?)

Sorry OP, but i don't think your cakes (based off your photo) are aesthetically pleasing enough to sell.

Well, I wouldn't buy a cake from a stall at a car boot sake. You only have to be in MN 5 minutes to know other people's hygiene standards vary wildly. It's properly put me off buying homemade food at any kind of fair/fundraiser etc there's a woman near me who sells cakes/bakes from home & they look lovely. But I just can't bring myself to buy them...

However, if I knew you & especially if I'd tried your cake before I'd pay up to about £30 as a homemade Christmas Cake is a treat & they're expensive to make.

In my experience, people want something for nothing at car boot sales, and given the cost of ingredients, the cost of fuel (gas/elec) to cook, your time, and the cost to do a car boot (lots of organisers charge sellers to set up a pitch) it wouldn't be worth the effort. Realistically, it’s unlikely you’d even cover your expenses, let alone make a profit.

Many years ago I made cakes. The cost of ingredients for a rich fruit cake make them almost impossible to to make any profit.

But I found small Christmas cakes sold very well, as people would buy them as small presents. I used to sell them for around £10 -£15 each, and the actual cake, inside the box, fondant icing and marzipan was only about 3" diameter. However they did look very professional, with homemade decorations, piping round the base etc. You need to factor in the price of boards, boxes, ribbon as well as the ingredients. Practice piping and getting a food finish.

As someone who has done it, there is a world of difference between making cakes for friends and family and making them
professionally - the stress is much higher for a start. If you calculate how much the ingredients and gas/electricity cost and then a decent hourly rate for you (because you could be using the time for paid work), you’ll be horrified at what you’d need to sell each cake for. I made a very simple cake for a small birthday gathering at the weekend, and I’d guess at £20 ingredients etc and three hours of my time, which even at minimum wage would be £36, so if I was selling it’d need to be good enough to charge at a minimum £60 for, and I doubt many people want to pay that for (sorry to be blunt) a fairly bog-standard Christmas cake.

Quite a lot of people don’t like marzipan or royal icing, and lots more don’t want a fruit cake, so your pool of buyers may be smaller than you’d think, too.

Absolutely nothing, I hate Christmas cake! I think people are just being polite and there isn't actually a market for this.

That's just mean. They look lovingly home made.

and you're not 'sorry' so don't dress it up.

I think you might do better taking orders on your local Facebook page rather than a car boot. You could offer different sizes and see if any takers and would remove the risk of making cakes that didn’t sell.