Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi, Anyone know how much to charge for the tatty teddy? I have been asked to make one but have no idea what to charge !

Hello Dreamtimecakes

The teddy cake is made from a 10″ square cake and once carved down will serve 40 people. I think you’ll have to base your price according to how much you’d normally charge for a decorated 10″ cake then take into account how much time the sculpting has taken. Teddy isn’t difficult to make but it’s pretty time consuming if you take all the elements into consideration. I had a feeling Paul said somewhere that he used to retail that cake for £80.00, that was ages ago and I can’t find where he made that statement, it isn’t in the tutorial unless I’ve missed it. If I was selling that cake I’d probably charge £85.00 (although I have a feeling it’s worth more), because the price of ingredients has gone up since the bear was first made. You would have to judge your own skills and what other people charge for cakes in your area. Don’t under price yourself, if you do, the expectation will always be there, on the other hand don’t price yourself out of the market either. Tell us in Q&A how much you think you might charge, I’m sure there will more advice to come from other members.

I wish I could help I am so bad at costing cakes. I will be looking for any answers you may have as it will help me also 🙂

Hi thank you for both your replies, I used the cake-o-meter and the price of the ingredients, cake drum etc works out about £35 – £40. I dont have my own business so cant charge as such but will have to charge something for my time but have no idea what to charge ! Any suggestions ?

Hi dream time

you need to cover your costs that you said are £35-40,the rest will depend on how much and where you want to go with the cake making. Are you trying to build a portfolio for a future business or is it a hobby that you enjoy. When i first started out and wanted to build my portfolio i used to charge to cover my expenses then add say £10-£15, which wasn’t a lot, but gained me lots of experience, as i got better and more people asked for cakes, I added to the price. i now charge costs plus aprox £10 per hour. hope this helps a bit.
Sharon

Hi, I’m sure Paul says that it retails at £98 x

Thanks everyone, and thanks Sharon for you advise I think that sounds the right amount to charge for my time. I am trying to build a portfolio with the view to starting a small business I have all my certs but need the EHO cert but some one has told me you have to have two sinks in the kitchen so I am stuck for the moment.

Sandra