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

I've only ever bought a professionally made cake twice. Once for my wedding (can't remember how much it was) and once for my 40th birthday a few years ago and on that basis I would estimate 80-100

I think its really hard to make a decent profit on cakes because the cost of the ingredients + gas/electric for cooking + time means even with no profit they are more expensive than the supermarket or Costco. (Even though its 10 times nicer than shop bought!)

They do don't they? They're no-nonsense, tell it like it is people.

You know, the ones that most people can't stand

In fairness there are some usefully critical posts too

People do object to paying high call out fees for plumbers and the like. But often it's a fairly urgent situation that needs resolving like no heating, no hot water, a leak etc etc. Whereas a bespoke cake is obviously a totally optional purchase with many cheaper alternatives.

I don’t mean this to sound mean because it’s an absolutely amazing cake for an amateur home baker, I’m sure your family loved it and I’d honestly be thrilled if a relative did that for me, but it doesn’t look like a professional cake maker job so for that reason I’d only be willing to cover the cost of the ingredients. I would and have paid £100+ to a professional in the past but I’d expect more in terms of finish for that.

This. No point asking a load of strangers- most people don’t buy bespoke cakes and aren’t your target market so what they’d pay isn’t relevant.

Work out how much you’d need to charge to make this a viable business. As well as all of the above you need to include things like marketing costs, insurance, any certifications you need. See what other businesses charge in your area- are you in the same ballpark? If it’s £100, what will you need to change to make this a cake people will pay £100 for?

Probably around £60 - £80, and if the flowers werw sugarcraft, bearing in mind the skill and time taken, £120. My adult dd has dabbled in cake decorating & sugarcraft, so I've how much time and effort these things take. There really isn't a lot of money in it. You're lucky if you can recover the cost of ingredients and the energy cost of having the oven on, let alone charge for your time as well.

If the flowers were sugar paste about £120. Otherwise about £70. You need to factor in the cost of the ingredients, electricity, contribution to equipment wear and tear, your salary (at least minimum wage), plus a profit margin. The problem is that shop bought cakes look so good these days, and if you’re not that bothered about cake (like me) I’d just buy one for £25 from M&S.

I'm a cake maker, I'd charge at least £85 for that. My basic cake, so a basic sponge with buttercream icing and a drip starts at £65 then I add on for any decoration they want. Value yourself and your skill. I own a coffeeshop so the celebration cakes are an extra, if people don't want to pay my prices that's fine but I'm busy with cakes so plenty of people do.

There's a great fb page that helps with pricing www.facebook.com/groups/707003116016317/?ref=share

Now, I really am on your side. My Nana's job was to make wedding cakes so I know how much time and effort goes into them, weeks often making petals for each cake.
However, that would have taken an hour to bake and an hour maybe an hour and a half to decorate. Still worth £65 of anyone's money.

My local cake shop has something very similar for $205 (in Aus) so I'd say £160.

Maybe lots on here are much better at cakes than me but no way could I make something like OP.

My favourite Violet Cakes charges £58 for a 6” cake, which I’d be willing to pay – but I love the flavour and aesthetic. Edible flowers but not sugarpaste ones. (They do have the benefit of economies of scale so you’d probably need to charge more.) I don’t think yours looks like a £58 cake, I’m sorry: the colours, the board, the letters, the balls, the arrangement of flowers, all slightly off together – it’s clearly been done well and I know how hard it is (I worked in sugarcraft for years), but it’s not quite there yet on a professional level to charge the amount you’d need to charge to cover costs and turn a profit. The style you’re going for needs to be precise and perfect.

I've been quoted £95 for a cake to feed 25 - 8inch high.
It's a lot......but.. skill and time cost.

Well that's why it's such a hard business to make a profit. Why on earth would I pay for a plainly iced cake with flowers plonked on top? I can do that myself! What's the skill you're selling? I can't see it?

I think it looks lovely and I appreciate the time and work it took but, as PP said, you can buy beautiful cakes from M&S for under £20 which is what I do now as I'm sure many others do. Bespoke are so expensive, rightly so, but not worth it for something that's going to be on display for a couple of hours.....and then eaten.
A friend of mine makes absolutely stunning and delicious cakes but she's given to her business as it just wasn't profitable.

@heldinadream wow 😂 brutal, why don't you give it a go? My skills have taken years to master! I wish I could post pictures of my other cakes but It for some stupid reason will not let me! As I said this cake was made within 11 hours so I didn't have the time I'd of liked to get everything perfect but this is still a 60/ £70 cake regardless of how you feel..

Round my way people pay £70-£80 for cakes like that.
I never do but there's definitely a market for cakes that price

There is definitely a market for cakes like this that are at the cheaper end of celebration cakes, say £40-£50 as they will taste delicious and can be used as pudding but will not have intricate made decorations on.
I see them all the time advertised with bought cake topper names and sweets, flowers, mini bottles , kids toys etc used as decoration.
I used to make cakes and did a mixture. If I was making Sugarcraft flowers or paw patrol figures from icing then I'd reflect much extra in the cost
They have their place , your cake icing is crisp and lovely , you'd just need to sharpen your lettering up , get some flick out stamps and use petal paste and cornflour. And cover cake drum and supply new cake box

Id pay £45

£50 but i could make one ( 3 layer 6inch) for circa £10 - 12 excluding the flowers, fresh edible flowers (well not poisonous!) another £10 if I didn't have plenty in the garden (I'm swimming roses!)

No idea why the ingredients were so expensive for you, admittedly I shop in lidl, but basic cake ingredients aren't expensive, you pay for the expertise (fruit cake obviously costs more)

Oh and do listen to strangers who buy things, not friends and family who love you and won't be honest
Forgot to say on my post. With inedible items it's ok to charge extra for the cost of the items as they will be keeping them. Or they can supply them. I once used a massive crystal paperweight for a cake where it was a huge diamond ring, the client obviously paid for that, same as one with kids toy figures on

It's for the people who can't! I wouldn't be able to ice a cake that smoothly

What makes me laugh is people wouldn't question paying a plumber £80 just to come to your house to just give a quote

Hmm. I think it's the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending.

If I'd called a plumber, the chances are I really need one and it's not something I can do myself to a lesser standard and get away with it.

Cakes are different. I can make a cake myself. It'll just look a lot worse than yours.

Therefore, spending £100 on something that will soon be all gone and eaten, might not be something I want to do.

Especially right now. I think lots of discretionary spending is going to get cut back to the bone for a lot of people. Sadly.

@Quitelikeacatslife I do have 40+ reviews from old customers all 5*s, happy with the look and taste of the cakes and have never had any negative feedback.

Apart from undervaluing practical or creative skills, I think a lot of people overlook certain costs or equate someone charging eg £80 for something with them earning £80

With cakes I think people vastly underestimate the cost of ingredients and the time it takes to make and ice a good cake.
Every other poster here claims they could probably do similar themselves but even if they could it couldn't be done in a couple of hours ....so if we assumed £20 for ingredients what is your time worth? Some estimates wouldn't even cover £10/hr and that's without accounting for gas/electric etc