How much would you pay for this cake?

[Younganddumb]

The header is pretty self explanatory 😂 I made a cake yesterday and was wondering how much you guys would pay? I tried my hand at a baking business just after having my son, the orders were rolling in but I wasn't charging enough so wasn't really making any profit. Looking to start it back up but want to know how much you'd pay? Tia

How much would I charge, or how much would I pay? The two don’t match up hence me giving up my cake biz 😄

I’d probably have to charge £120 ish (and that’s probably too little as I always under charged). People would be willing to pay £50 or less IME.

This isn't the best place to ask because you'll get answers from people who don't buy professionally made cakes for a range of reasons. You need to find a way to ask your market.

Looks about 8inch to me and buttercream? I'd say £60ish. Would be more if the flowers were edible.

I'm impressed by how sharp your edge is and your smoothing is very good. Anyone saying this is an easy cake to make is correct but it would not look anywhere close to as good as this without a LOT of practice and skill.

I would say that the lettering could be neater but I'm sure you know - also have you considered covering your board in fondant? I always think that makes the final product look lovely and polished. I can see this on a thin cake board but if you were selling to me I'd expect it to be on a thicker drum, boards are too flimsy for transporting

Best of luck to you 🙂

Wow, wasn't expecting such a big response 😂 so it was a two layer 6" cake, It was for my mums birthday which is Wednesday but my dad decided to tell me they are away for it on Friday at 9pm.. they came over at 11am on the Sunday 😂 I would usually do a bespoke fondant plaque with better font or a personalised cardboard topper... sadly time wasn't on my side! The flowers are artificial due to not being able to get them from the florist 🫶

Oh and it was a lemon cake with a lemon butter cream and home made lemon curd filling

The flowers are artificial due to not being able to get them from the florist
I take this to mean that the intention was real flowers and the actual was what, silk? Plastic?
If I bought a handmade occasion cake I'd expect the flowers to be sugar, OP. Not real. Not fake. But edible.

@Hillrunning has the only really relevant comment

"Work out costs of your materials, then work out how much time it takes you. Decide how much your time is worth. Add the two numbers together and multiply by the % of additional profit you want to make."

Whether people will pay for that depends very much on where you are, how you advertise, good reviews etc etc.

I'd give you 20 for it but I'm not your target market. It looks like it'd feed four people. Five quid a slice is enough for a bit of dessert.

@MassiveSalad22 I totally get you 😂 I would have to charge Atleast £70 for this due to the cost of ingredients ect.. the lettering would obviously be better and It would be on a cake drum rather than board but it was a rushed last minute cake for my mum.. I was left with 5mins to spare by the time I finished 🙉

I think it's beautiful and I would pay £50 👍

I think a lot of people undervalue creative or practical skills and expect people to work for nmw (or less)

I live in a town where every other person works in the city/finance or is a lawyer but on local fb pages, all asking for a "reasonably priced " cake maker/decorator/handyman etc as if charging more than £10/hour is unreasonable!!

£40

@heldinadream do you have any idea how much sugar paste flowers cost 😂 you're looking at over £100 for that amount

I would pay £50/60 for this - mostly because I love lemon cakes!

I do find the studs and lettering style a bit jarring though OP. It’s a bit of a mishmash of styles and feels a bit amateurish as a result. The actual cake and flowers look great though!

I wouldn't buy a cake decorated with plastic or real-but-inedible flowers.

It's perfectly nice as a family cake but I wouldn't pay for something like that.

If I did want to buy a cake with sugar flowers I would expect premium pricing.

At least £100. Maybe not too much more if the flowers are artificial. I know wedding cakes with edible flowers cost £500 upwards.

£60 without the lettering the lettering needs work sorry. I'm very impressed with the actual cake it looks very smooth and even.

I probably wouldn’t pay more than £10/£15 for a cake and that’s why I just get something from Tesco! I am not your target audience though.

So many of the ‘mums at school’ decided to start cake-making as a WAH business a few years ago but none of them do it now, so I
presume it’s just not financially viable.

Yes, it probably my takes hours of time and uses expensive equipment, but no, most people don’t generally want to pay that sort of money for something that’s just eaten in a few minutes.

I would expect to pay about £65-70 for that. Although, as many others if I was buying a cake I would want sugarcraft flowers and piped lettering so would be planing on spending £140 minimum.
I could stick some silk flowers and cut out letters on a cake I'd baked myself for the cost of butter and fondant.

It would cost that at least just for the ingredients!

I make cakes (just for friends/family) and don't charge but everyone is always surprised how much it actually costs to make!

£50

I was surprised how much cakes are but butter,sugar and eggs are expensive. So I have no idea but it's lovely and worth 50 pounds to me

And this is why cake making businesses often fail. People don't appreciate the cost (and time) it takes to make them and you can pick up a cake in M&S much cheaper, not bespoke but they are pretty good.

What makes me laugh is people wouldn't question paying a plumber £80 just to come to your house to just give a quote.. not including any work. Let's break it down how much this cake cost, about £25 in flowers/ingredients and 5+ hours of work.. people don't realise this isn't just something you can just slap together in an hour, this doesn't include electric costs/time washing up etc. To make this many sugar paste flowers would cost about £20 in ingredients and about 7 hours work

£40 but if the flowers were sugar craft about £100

I think you are wrong. Lots of pekoe object to paying call out fees.