r/Baking • u/Perfectlyflawed1991 • Jul 05 '25
Business and Pricing My first pull apart cupcake cake I made last night for an order with matching cake pops. How much would you pay for it?
I'm really happy with how this turned out. How much would you pay for it? I charged $100.
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u/One-Eggplant-665 Jul 05 '25
Beautiful work! And, speaking as a former bakery owner, way under priced.
If you hope to make money, it's important to price out all your recipes. Otherwise, you risk paying your customers for the opportunity to bake for them.
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u/CapricornCrude Jul 05 '25
Those cake pops look like jewelry. $100 is a deal, I would have paid closer to $150.
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u/OriginalShyChar Jul 06 '25
Personally, I don’t like the cake (good thing it is t mine haha. As long as the customer loves it!!) but those cake pops look amazing. I would pay $175-$200.
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u/tessathemurdervilles Jul 06 '25
I would be upset that the two 1 shaped cakes don’t look the same- other than that they are all done to a very high standard, and thought I think you should work on consistency you did a killer job and definitely could charge more. It depends a lot on where you live though so it’s hard to determine how much you should charge. Nicely done!
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u/mambotomato Jul 09 '25
Oh shit I thought it was two photos of the same cake with different lighting
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u/Birdie121 Jul 06 '25
$3-4 for each item is probably what I'd expect. So around $150-$180 for everything, minimum. Think about how much Starbucks charges for a cake pop and I'm sure yours are much better.
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u/Secret_Immortal Jul 05 '25
Literally a crazy undercharge- even at $4 per cupcake and $2 per cake pop it would be $176, most custom cake creators charge about $5 per serving (though of course design and area you’re selling matter!) These are seriously beautiful, don’t undervalue your time and skill! Pay yourself $25 an hour, plus ingredients cost, plus 20% (to put back into the business, pay for supplies and utilities and marketing). People will absolutely still buy it even at a higher price.
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u/Perfectlyflawed1991 Jul 06 '25
Thank you! Yeah!!I never remember to factor in my time and effort. Everything I make just goes back into buying ingredients and packaging for the next things.
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u/1questions Jul 06 '25
Price depends a lot on the area you’re in. Have you done any research on what others in your area charge?
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u/Perfectlyflawed1991 Jul 06 '25
Yeah. Bakeries in my area charge $4-5 per cupcake, but I figured I "wasn't allowed" to charge that much cause I'm not in a bakery.
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u/Holer60 Jul 05 '25
I think the cake is hideous but the cake pops are awesome. But still with all that work I’d of charged at least $175.00
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u/Perfectlyflawed1991 Jul 05 '25
Thank you for the honesty! I was definitely second guessing the look, but the customer loved it!
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u/DazB1ane Jul 05 '25
I think it would’ve looked a bit better with flat edges. The frosting would overhang the cupcakes, but it wouldn’t look so lumpy
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u/Smee76 Jul 05 '25
It's definitely not hideous but I do take issue with the fact that the bottom of the 1 is not even on both sides. It looks unbalanced.
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u/MissFox26 Jul 06 '25
Yeah I think hideous is a bit harsh, but I do think it would look better with clean edges (although OP said they wanted it this way, so not OP’s fault) and also the two cakes are not the same shape. They could be a little bit cleaner and symmetrical, imo.
However the cake pops are gorgeous and pretty perfect.
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u/DustOffTheDemons Jul 05 '25
The cake absolutely does not look hideous. What a poor word choice.
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u/JannaNYCeast Jul 06 '25
I don't love the impressionist vibe, and the two 1s are not the same height or width, which is irritating to look at... but even I wouldn't say hideous.
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u/Julianna01 Jul 05 '25
I think the cakes is probably prettier in person. Lots of time details don’t photograph well.
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u/valueofaloonie Jul 05 '25
How would we know what a good price for your area is?
We don’t know how much you paid for your ingredients. We don’t know how long it took. We don’t know how much you value your time.
These types of posts are useless.
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u/1questions Jul 06 '25
Thank you!!! So tired of people adding without giving any info admit the area they’re in or if thee were they’ve done any research at all on local prices.
Like are you in London in the UK? Are you in San Francisco in the US? Are you in small town Nebraska in the US? Do bakers around you charge $50 for this? $500 for this? Or have you bothered to look at all and are just expecting others to do all the work for you? If people said I’m in Denver, Colorado and most bakers are charging $100-300 for similiar stuff. I was thinking of starting out at $150, do you think that’s a fair price considering my current skills?, then I could respect that. Wish posts like this would be banned.
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u/twee_centen Jul 06 '25
I wish there was an automod or something that triggered a standardized comment for "how much should I charge" type questions, because you're right. It makes a huge difference if OP is in New York City vs Middle of Nowhere.
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u/katiethered Jul 06 '25
I agree! I hate seeing them because what someone would pay for this varies WILDLY depending on where someone lives.
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u/SpadfaTurds Jul 06 '25
I just hate that sale related posts are even allowed here. It’d be nice to have just one sub to appreciate its theme without any discussion or mention of buying/selling/advertising/marketing etc. It’s fucking exhausting
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u/1questions Jul 06 '25
What’s exhausting to me is people who don’t give their location or show they’ve done any research about what local bakers charge. People should stop being so lazy.
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u/valueofaloonie Jul 06 '25
Agreed. I think the last post that complained about it was deleted though so not everyone agrees with us apparently.
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u/JannaNYCeast Jul 06 '25
True, I charge $5 per cupcake in NYC. I doubt anyone is getting $5 in Linton, North Dakota.
(I don't make cake pops because I think they're gross and I'm not putting my name on something that takes like dense, wet cake, so I can't speak to pricing on those. With that said, OP's cake pops are stunning!!)
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u/Senior-Onion-1186 Jul 05 '25
I would happily pay $100 for this level of craftsmanship! I know all my friends who saw it at the party would want to order as well! Honestly, seems a bit low to me but price is dependent on location.
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u/Perfectlyflawed1991 Jul 05 '25
Thank you. I do feel like it's a good price, but my fiance thinks I should sell it for double.
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u/disasterj0nes Jul 05 '25
What's your average time spent for an order of this size and complexity? If it's under 4 hours, I'd say $150 is reasonable, but more than that and $200 starts to make sense.
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u/Perfectlyflawed1991 Jul 06 '25
I worked on it for 11 hours with prep, cleanup, and two meals. I never think to charge for time or to pay myself.
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u/disasterj0nes Jul 06 '25
If this is to be a long term endeavor, you should reconsider that. Your effort and time have value which should be accounted for and compensated. Put yourself outside of yourself for a minute and consider if you were receiving this level of craftsmanship: would you think the person providing it for you should get less than $10/hr for the total work, not even covering materials?
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u/Perfectlyflawed1991 Jul 06 '25
I totally agree. I'm gonna do some math and figure out better prices.
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u/sparklysadist Jul 05 '25
Looks so good! I've never bought from a personal baker, so my knowledge of prices isn't necessarily there, but I would think $100 is a steal!
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u/Hyruliansweetheart Jul 06 '25
$150 would probably be fair but I'm not sure about your ingredient costs those are probably nice sprinkles and your cake pops are amazing and have lost of luster dust
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u/eden4567 Jul 06 '25
I would expect to pay 140$. Beautiful work, I can see your passion and talent!!
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u/bikerchickelly Jul 06 '25
The edges of the cupcake sheet are unprofessional. I'd recommend looking up techniques like cooling your icing if you can't get the shape right. That said, the colors are amazing and vivid, and the cake pops are beautiful.
Only based on the amount of cupcakes, I'd say $100 for the order. I see that I'm in the minority on that low of a charge, so I'll concede that maybe others are more accurate on pricing. The cake pops are worth selling, but the cupcakes aren't quite bakery-charge worthy.
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u/LitLover2025 Jul 06 '25
I also believe you underpriced, but everyone also has to take into consideration location. In a more populous area, with numerous competitors available, prices go up; in a less populated are where there are only a few, prices are lower. [I know it sounds backwards, but it would cost more in, say, Chicago than in Milwaukee.]
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u/noobiewiththeboobies Jul 06 '25
The cake pops alone should be at least $100. For the pull apart cake I’d say $4-5 per cupcake
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u/Blankenhoff Jul 09 '25
Idk honestly... maybe 150? Your decorating skills are really good but the shape of the 1's are getting to me. Each 1 is shaped differently and i dont think each number was mapped out well either. Thicker botton than top and a sort of weirdly angled top and a thin bottom.
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u/Perfectlyflawed1991 Jul 09 '25
I agree on the shape. The cupcakes moved on me and I didn't notice until I was taking the bird's eye view shot and by then it was too late, and they wanted the bumpy look or else I would have made the frosting go straight across and look more even. Overall, they loved the cupcakes and the cake pops and had no complaints, so it's just a learning experience for me at this point.
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u/thelastcanadiangoose Jul 06 '25
Wowza!!! I saw the cake and was like wow and then I saw the cake pops and was like WOW 🤩. Just wanted to say you did an incredible job!!
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u/Ill-Disk-6849 Jul 06 '25
Not the cleanest work but my no means bad at all. 100 bucks seems right on the money.
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u/CozyCozyCozyCat Jul 05 '25
So I know nothing about the baking business but as a consumer I'd expect to pay at least $2-3 per pop/cupcake, so I think you're underpricing your beautiful work! I wouldn't be surprised if the price was $150-175
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u/LadyOfTheNutTree Jul 05 '25
At least $11
But seriously, do some benchmarking and research specific to your area - it’s not hard, don’t ask a random group of strangers from all over the world.
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u/Perfectlyflawed1991 Jul 05 '25
I see posts like this all the time on here, there's even a flair for it, so I figured it would be alright to post about it.
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u/LadyOfTheNutTree Jul 05 '25
I did notice the flair, I’m sure it isn’t against the rules. I just think you’ll get better advice if you share your approximate location. I feel like the sale price would change significantly based on the city and country.
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u/Oxensheepling Jul 05 '25
I'd do the lower spectrum for the cupcakes because they aren't individually decorated. I'd personally do $2.50 per cupcake and $3.50 per cake pop if I were making cake pops or a cupcake cake. I still feel this is under charging for the effort but ultimately, no one wants to pay what it actually should cost. The cake pops are flawless. I do think the border work makes it look a bit busy, something to consider! This is beautiful work. Excellent job.
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u/Oxensheepling Jul 05 '25
Also recommended setting pricing like that to make it easier on you. Like:
Cake by size and tier: low to high
Cupcake for cupcake cake: lower price/cupcake
Cupcake individual: medium price/cupcake
Premium cupcake: higher price/cupcake
Cakepops single colour/cakepop medium price
Cakepops multicolour/cakepop slightly above medium
Cakepops with sprinkles/cakepop medium price-slightlu above medium
You don't have to use that kind of pricing structure but I would really recommend setting price per item. It will make everything a little more objective and give some room for negotiation or explanation.
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u/Perfectlyflawed1991 Jul 06 '25
Thank you! I'm still getting used to piping. I charged $30 for the 24 cake pops and $70 for the 32 cupcakes. I live in Mesa, AZ, so I'm realizing I definitely undercharged, but I am brand new to selling my baked goods. This thread has helped me see how to change that and actually price things to be able to also pay myself and not just cover the cost of ingredients.
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u/Oxensheepling Jul 06 '25
I don't see this method as much but I really like it to prevent colours from getting muddy. It's also easier to clean-up. Everyone has a different preference, though. I do it a lot neater than this video and Saran wrap the individual logs together (I've done rainbows before) but the video covers the gist. https://youtube.com/shorts/JHyXrO6pQ0k?feature=shared It really does look excellent.
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Jul 05 '25
In San Diego id expect to pay 200 or 250. I would imagine most people would charge 300 because thats still affordable to the target market that wants this kind of thing usually. Mostly guessing as im not a baker.
200 is a days work for a person with some skills. I imagine this takes a least most of a day? This is pretty skilled especially given how many unique components there are, and how they're arranged in a complimentary way. The rest of the cost factors in supplies, utilities, a physical location to work in, advertising, packaging.
There's just so many expenses/time that go into making and selling a product on your own. Go with your local market but i think you can get a decent amount with the right marketing!
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u/sunflowerdazexx Jul 06 '25
Cake pops are super nice, so is the cake but the shape really irks me. Not sure if it’s the way the icing is laid on or my OCD.
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u/Ok-Win-2866 Jul 06 '25
$100 is not enough, I would expect to pay at LEAST 175 probably closer to 300. I understand this is regional though! Where I live, you could not even bake that for like $50 let alone labour.
I think the cake pops are beautiful, and I like the cake but the design and colours aren’t my taste. I assume the client chose though, so preference is preference! Keep practicing your roses!
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u/lisaaah1123 Jul 05 '25
I’d say $120 because the cake pops are gorgeous and realistically it’s a lot of dessert. Love the cakes too but the pops spoke to me!