How to price a custom cake
Add up what the cake costs you to make, pay yourself for every hour it takes, then add a margin for the business. That’s the price. The price per kg follows from it; it isn’t where you start.
Price = (ingredients + packaging + other costs + hours × your hourly rate) + margin, rounded up to the next ₹10.
What to count
- Ingredients, at what you paid. Everything in and on the cake, including the cream and chocolate for decorating and its share of a big pack. If a new design needs a test bake, count that too.
- Packaging. The box, the board under the cake, candles and toppers you include, the bag.
- Electricity and gas. An oven uses its power in kW for every hour it’s on, so a 1.5 kW oven on for an hour uses up to 1.5 units (less once it’s hot and the heating switches on and off); multiply by the rate per unit on your electricity bill. For gas, divide what a cylinder costs by roughly how many cakes it lasts.
- Hours, all of them. Not only baking: shopping, decorating, packing, cleaning up, and the time on WhatsApp agreeing the design. A cake that takes thirty messages to agree takes more than its baking time.
- Your hourly rate. If someone else did the work, you would pay them. Pay yourself at least that; a price that only covers ingredients means you work for free.
- A margin. Profit for the business, which pays for the cake that goes wrong, the quiet weeks, and new tins and tools.
Designs, add-ons and sizes
- Price add-ons once, then reuse them: a fondant figure, a photo print, an extra tier, a theme. Each with the same method.
- Eggless or sugar-free versions cost differently; price each from its own ingredients.
- Work out each size, rather than doubling the 1 kg price: a 2 kg cake doesn’t take twice as long to decorate.
Advances and cancellations
Ask for an advance of at least what the cake costs you to make before you buy anything for it, and say how late an order can be cancelled. A custom cake cancelled on the day can’t be sold to anyone else. Check every payment in your own account before you start: more in how to accept UPI payments on WhatsApp.
Delivery and GST
Charge delivery separately, by distance or area: it changes with every order, and the cake doesn’t. If your business is registered for GST, the GST goes on top of this price. Whether you need to register, state by state, is in selling food from home in India.
How the calculator works
- What the cake costs you is the ingredients, packaging and other costs added up.
- Your time is the hours multiplied by your hourly rate.
- The margin is a percentage of both together, added on top.
- The price is rounded up to the next ₹10, and so is the price per kg.
- What you keep is the price less what the cake costs you: your time, the margin and the rounding.
- The advance is what the cake costs you, rounded up to the next ₹10.
- Nothing you type is saved.
Questions
Should I price cakes per kg?
Show it, because it’s how customers compare. Work it out from the full price of each size, as this calculator does, rather than starting from a rate per kg: decorating time doesn’t grow with weight.
What if my price comes out higher than I expected?
Look at the hours first: set designs customers choose from, simpler finishes, or baking several at once all cut the time each cake takes. Your hourly rate is the last thing to cut, because it’s your pay.
How much advance should I ask for?
At least what the cake costs you to make, so a cancellation doesn’t cost you money. For big or unusual orders, ask for more.
Does it work for cupcakes, brownies or cookies?
Yes. Type the costs and hours for a whole batch, then divide the price by how many are in it.
Where Sellly fits
On Sellly, a custom cake comes in as a request with the occasion, size, flavour and the words for the cake. You reply with a price and an advance, valid for as many days as you choose; the customer accepts in the chat and pays the advance before you start. Set designs go in your menu at fixed prices, with their sizes. See how it works for home bakers.