In this post we’re going to tell you how to get the best price (more money) for your cakes and bakes. We’ll fully cover this subject and include:

• How to get the best price for your cakes
• What is a VIP cake client?
• How to retain your clients and get more like them
• Conclusion

How to get the best price for your cakes

Three things that will get you the best price for your cakes and bakes are:

Impeccable decoration – the cakes that command the most money are the cakes that are decorated the best.

I know it seems simple, but it’s like a lot of things in life, a Ferrari and a Skoda are both cars that get you from A to B, but people are willing to pay a lot more money for a Ferrari than a Skoda.

It’s the same with cakes, when they look fantastic, every single time, a customer will be willing to pay for them and if they won’t, then they are not your ideal client.

I know from personal experience and by speaking to a tonne of bakers that, the best bakers with the most impeccably decorated cakes get the best price per bake, sometimes by even double the average baker.

Plus, those bakers are usually booked throughout the year and can even turn away business as they have more than enough. Every single baker that I know that gets a very good price for their bakes have one thing in common and its that their eye for detail and decoration is of a different level.

Their decor is generally using acrylic cake toppers, acrylic name charms and decorations. Their buttercream or fondant finishes are immaculately finished and smooth and the extra touches are always there such as decorative balls or blooms.

That is the main difference between getting £50-60 a bake to £100 and over per bake.

Selling to Strangers – Now we’ve all done it, making cakes for friends and family and even friends of friends BUT you will get the most money from people you don’t know.

If you want to make the most money per cake, you must sell to people you don’t know, as friends and family always expect (or you may give them freely) ‘mates rates’ which is not the way to get the best price for your cakes.

People you don’t know are less likely to ask for a discount (not all, as we all know a few cheeky clients that try to push their luck) and pay your full asking price. You are also less likely to discount for someone you don’t know, as why should you, they haven’t done anything for you.

This is where you need a social media presence. You must show your best work on social media and show your level of skill and decoration. I’m not saying delete old pictures of work you may not be proud of, as that shows your progression, but you need to show the quality of your work and especially to those in your local area, as this is where you will attract people you may not know but potentially very good clients.

Your Clientele- The people that you call clients dictates your price. Now this goes without saying, but the price you are going to get for your bakes depends on the type of clients you have.

Some customers have small budgets and expect the world. Some clients have huge budgets and are ecstatic when you deliver your standard fabulously decorated and delicious bake. I know which client I would prefer, and I think you would prefer the same.

How do you get those clients though? Well, we both know we have a mix of these clients above. When you are dealing with the preferred clients, advertise yourself, leave business cards, ask that client for referrals, as in ask them if they have friends and family that want cakes soon.

Build your client portfolio and try to get as many of the good ones as you can and phase out the worse ones (top tip: up the price of your cakes and bakes for these clients, you can turn a bad client into a good client if the amount they pay is worth the hassle.)

The type of events you do cakes for also dictates the amount you can get for your bakes. For instance, weddings and corporate bakes are going to have a larger budget than children’s birthdays, but on the other hand birthdays and parties are more frequent than weddings and corporate events, openings etc.

Also, you need to bear in mind that corporate and wedding clients can have good and bad clients. Some will try to lower your price with the promise of social media shout outs or be super demanding and try to get money back or not pay.

These clients are everywhere in both the personal and business worlds, its identifying them early and sticking to your price, no matter the promise. I’ve never heard of a baker going viral for a small shout out on an influencers post, maybe it has happened, but I highly doubt it.

On the other hand, I have heard of bigger businesses and PR agencies pressuring bakers to do things for free/cheap with the promise of stardom and going viral. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say 99.9% of the time it doesn’t happen, and they’ve just conned you into working for free.

What is a VIP Cake Client?

There is a concept in the cake world and also the wider world that someone famous is automatically a VIP. In truth, its much like what I said on the ‘your clientele’ section of this post. Some are good and some are bad.

I don’t think you can automatically associate a famous person with being a VIP client until you’ve dealt with them and see which category they fall into.

My definition of a VIP cake client is someone that comes to you regularly, is always willing to pay a decent price for the value that you provide and will refer you to other people. That’s it. No status, no fame or fortune. Those clients are the true VIP clients.

The amount of bakers that get pressured into doing something for a low budget because the person is ‘famous’ is alarmingly high. I’ve had so many times where I’ve been requested to make a cake topper or charm for someone who is a “VIP” and they want a super extravagant topper or cake charm and don’t have any budget to play with.

A true VIP client is willing to pay your price and will appreciate your work. It doesn’t matter their status in society, famous or not.

In the comment section of this post, I would love to hear some of your stories or thoughts on what a VIP client is or isn’t and some of the experiences you have had.

How to retain your cake clients and get more like them

To be able to charge more for your cakes and bakes, decoration and design is key. For retaining those clients and keep them coming back for more taste and quality of your cakes and bakes is the most important aspect.

I live in Plymouth and the city is blessed with a large amount of good restaurants. In a city of 250,000 there are 614 restaurants. That’s 1 restaurant for every 407 people. Competition is fierce and failures occur often. The restaurants that have been open the longest and have long reservation lists are the ones which have the best tasting food.

If you want to retain important clients, your food has to taste amazing, every time. That’s the most important thing in retention. Just like the restaurants I mentioned, the most successful ones have the best tasting food every time and queues of people coming back to them.

If retention is a problem for you or your finding people are not coming back, you need to do a taste test. You need you and people who are willing to tell you the truth (the brutal honest truth) to taste a sample of your bakes and take that feedback into account.

Is your bake stodgy, does it have no taste, is the filling your using bland, does your fondant or buttercream taste good or is it grainy. Get an honest assessment from people who won’t sugarcoat it for you and any issues, fix them.

Always taste your bake before you send it out to a client. Is it up to your standards, does it taste amazing? If not, it shouldn’t leave the door. Word of mouth is important and if your cake goes out tasting not great, that’s what people will say. You want everyone tasting your cake to say, that was delicious, amazing, light and fluffy.

This is how to get more clients, your product must be so fantastic, everyone else wants the same thing for their party. Parents and friends of your good clients are at the party, they are tasting your product. This is the best advertisement for you, it must look and taste fantastic otherwise your forgotten or even worse people are talking in a negative light about you.

Being easy to deal with, is another tip for retaining clients. I’m not saying be a walk over and bend to their every need, but if a client finds dealing with you a pleasant experience then they will come back again and again.

Another tip for getting more clients, is to put business cards with every one of your bakes. Even if your not setting it up on location, give your client some business cards and ask them if they can keep them on the table near your bake. This is your main advertising point and you need to take advantage of that. If your relying on the client to pass on your details, its something that can easily be forgotten and not followed up on. Make sure everyone tasting your cake knows who made it and where they can contact you.

Conclusion

The main two points of this article that I would love for you to take away from it are;

1. How a cake looks will determine the price you can charge for it and there is no getting away from that. That’s the way of the world and better decoration equals better prices.
2. Taste and being easy to deal with will allow you to retain these clients that pay a good price for your bakes.

My last point and bonus tip is that where your cake is displayed is your main advertising platform, this is the best way to get clients as it’s a free taste test for them and if it looks fantastic as well you now have someone who is interested.

Make sure they know how to get in touch with you, business cards are great and cheap when bought in bulk, get all your info on there and hand them out with every bake (or every bake where you want more of that type of business). If your going to be at the event all day or are going back to pick up an item consider having a sign made up with your logo, it could be acrylic or canvas but make sure you are advertising yourself.

If you want a helpful guide on pricing a cake with a free spreadsheet, we have a fantastic post for you here on how to price a cake.

I hope you have found this post helpful, I really would love to hear what you think in the comments and also some of your experiences.