Cake Price List for Home Bakers: Seven Things to Include

A good list is short. Here are seven entries in the order a customer reads them, each with what to write and what to watch for.

A price list is a promise, so every line on it should be one you are happy to bake.

1. Sizes: name the pan and what the customer receives

Write the pan size, such as 6-inch, 9-inch or a 9x13 sheet, and say what comes in the box. A customer cannot compare an 8-inch with a 9-inch unless you tell them what each one is. Offer the sizes you already bake and box, two or three to start. Each one is a row you have to cost.

To list servings, cut one cake the way you cut for customers and count the slices. Write it as "serves" followed by your count. Do not borrow a serving count from a chart.

2. Flavors: list only the ones you have costed

Every flavor on the list should have a cost behind it. A fruit filling or a premium chocolate costs more than a plain sponge, so give it its own line and its own price.

In the example list, brown butter pecan, lemon olive oil and dark cocoa are three lines, not one flavor with three prices. Three flavors is enough to start with. Add a fourth only once you know its cost.

Should every flavor cost the same to the customer? Only if it costs you the same. When a flavor costs you more, the dearer flavor carries a higher price on its own line, or a clearly labelled upcharge line.

3. Prices: one exact price per size and flavor

Give each row one exact price. The customer reads across a row, so it must stand alone. Here is the customer's view of three rows from the example sheet.

In the working sheet, the same three rows also show costs of $15, $12 and $24, which stay off the list. Each row is a 40 percent margin.

The margin check is the part worth building. Penn State Extension counts ingredients, labor and packaging as variable costs, and the margin tells you whether the price covers all three. The Cake Price List workbook holds the cake, size, cost and price in a row and works out the margin and an OK or Under cost word.

4. Add-ons: price each one on its own line

Extra layers, fondant, a topper or a special filling each take time and materials. Cost each one and give it a line. A topper that takes 20 minutes at $18 an hour is $6.00 of labor before materials. Say the materials are $2.00. The cost is $8.00, and at a 40 percent margin the line is $8.00 ÷ 0.60 = $13.33.

For a pay rate, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists median pay for bakers at $17.86 an hour in May 2025. Use your own rate, and use the same one for every add-on.

5. Minimum order and deposit: say the smallest order you will take

A minimum order protects your setup time. Whatever you set, write it as a number, not as "ask me". The same goes for a deposit. State it as an amount or a share of the price, and say when it is due.

Setup time does not shrink for a small order, which is why a very small order can lose money. Work out your own setup minutes once and set the minimum so a small order still pays for them.

Example wording, with your own numbers in the brackets: "Smallest order: [one cake of any size]. A deposit of [amount or share of the price] holds your date. The balance is due at [pickup or delivery]."

6. Lead time: say how many days you need

Count your real week. How many days between a confirmed order and delivery do you need, given the cakes already booked? Write that number on the list.

Taking rush orders? Price the rush as its own line, like an add-on. Then a short-notice customer sees the cost of short notice and you are not negotiating it by text.

Use this wording. "I need [your number] days' notice. Orders inside that window add the rush line." Put the same deposit rule here that you wrote in entry 5.

7. Terms: say what the price covers

Say whether the price includes a box, whether it is pickup or delivery, and whether there is a delivery charge. Add the rules you want customers to know in advance, such as an allergen note or a cancellation rule.

Leave off anything the customer does not need: your cost, your margin, and your supplier prices. Those stay on the working sheet.

How to choose what goes on a cake price list for home bakers

Ask of every line, does the customer need this to order? If yes, put it on the list. If it is only for you, keep it on the working sheet.

When a price list sheet is the wrong tool

The Cake Price List holds twelve cakes on one sheet, with a Cake, Size, Cost and Price column. It has no columns for add-ons, a minimum order or lead time. Those go in the note you send with the list.

More than twelve cake and size combinations need two files or a different tool. Without a cost for each cake, work that out first.

Using the sheet behind entries 1 to 3

• Will it open in my app? The file is an .xlsx. It opens in Excel. For Google Sheets, upload it to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets. Google's help page says an Excel file opened from Drive can be edited in Sheets.
• Why pay when free calculators and documents exist? You can type a list in a document, and that is fine for entries 4 to 7. Many free calculators price one cake at a time, so check whether yours holds a list of cakes with a margin on every row. What $5.99 buys for entries 1 to 3 is the margin and check formulas, locked so a stray click cannot overwrite them. There is no free sample.
• What do I get? One workbook, by email after checkout. It has the cake, size, cost and price columns, and the margin and check fill in. It does not hold add-ons, minimums or lead time.
• What if I get stuck? The first tab, How to use, is three short sections. The margin sum is (price − cost) ÷ price, so you can check any row by hand.

To get entries 1 to 3 in one place, the Cake Price List workbook is a sheet of exactly those rows.