What you bake
Name a Type of Cake Decoration: 5 Types and How to Price
Choose one name for the decoration, then cost it so the price covers your time and the monthly fee.
On this page
What to remember
- Name the decoration by what the buyer sees, not by the technique you used.
- The name decides what you can charge, so choose it before you quote.
- Use the same three words on the quote, the label, and the listing.
- Cost ingredients, your time, and the $20 monthly fee before you send a price.
Naming is the step that gets skipped. Once you can name a type of cake decoration in three words, you can list it, quote it, and hand the order to someone else. This guide shows how to choose the name and how to cost it.
What Counts as a Type of Cake Decoration
A decoration is anything on the cake that is not the cake itself. That covers what you pipe, roll, cut, write, or stand on top. Buyers sort decorations by what they see, so name them the same way.
Five names cover most home shop work. Piped covers a swirl, border, or flower squeezed from a bag. Rolled covers a smooth cover laid over the cake. Written covers lettering in icing. A topper is a shaped piece placed on top. A cutout is a flat shape cut and set in place. For styles and a cost sheet, see cake name topper ideas.
The name you pick also decides the photo. A buyer who reads piped buttercream expects to see a swirl in the listing shot. If the photo shows something else, you will spend the order explaining, and the next message is usually about the price.
Name It by What the Buyer Sees
Your name for a decoration is not the buyer’s name for it. You may think of it as brush embroidery. She thinks of it as the flower that matches the napkins. Use her words in the listing and keep yours in your notes.
Short names are easier to repeat. Three words fit on a box label, in a text reply, and under a photo. If the name needs a comma and a bracket, it is too long for a phone screen.
Put the name near the front of the listing title. A buyer scrolling on her phone reads the first few words and stops. Piped buttercream name, six inch is easier to scan than a long description of the cake.
How to Name Your Decoration in 5 Steps
Look at the photo
Open the shot you would post and list the three things a buyer would point at first.
Start with the material
Buttercream, fondant, icing, or a topper. The material goes first because it tells the buyer what they are eating.
Add the shape or the word
Swirl, border, lettering, cutout, or the name on the cake. Keep it to one shape per name.
Test it on a box label
Type the full name at the size you will print. If it wraps to a third line, shorten it before you order stickers.
Use it everywhere
Put the same words on the quote, the invoice, the label, and the photo caption.
Price the Decoration, Not Just the Cake
A named decoration is a cost, not a gift. Cost it in three parts: ingredients, your time, and a share of your monthly overhead. Then decide if it sits inside the cake price or on its own line.
For example, a six inch cake with a piped name. Cake and icing ingredients come to $6. Your time is 1.5 hours at $18 an hour, which is $27. Your $20 monthly Brevl fee spread over 10 orders is $2 an order. Total cost is $35. At $50 the cake returns $15, a 30 percent margin before card fees. These are example numbers, so swap in yours.
Now split the decoration out. If the piped name adds 15 minutes, that is $4.50 of time at the same rate. Quote the cake at $35 and the name at $12, and the buyer sees exactly what the extra money buys.
The $20 monthly Brevl fee stays the same whether you sell two cakes or twenty, and there is no cut of your sales. At 0 percent commission, that $50 order keeps the full $50 before card fees. The fee belongs in overhead, not in the price of one cake.
One more check before you commit. Work out the price per serving with the decoration and without it. If the gap is wider than the time the decoration takes, you have priced the name, not the work.
Mistakes That Cost You Money
A second mistake is changing the name between the quote and the invoice. The buyer agreed to a piped name, not to hand painted lettering. Keep the words identical on every document and you skip the argument.
A third is ordering box labels or a name board before the words are final. Print one test sheet at home first. A long name then costs you a sheet of paper instead of a whole roll of stickers. Read cake labels with a name before you order.
The last one is quoting a decoration you have never made. Say you will check and come back with a name and a price. Then cost the materials and the time before you answer, not after.
Keep the Name the Same on the Cake, the Label, and the Listing
A buyer meets your decoration name three times: on the listing, on the box, and on the cake. Every change costs you a question. Write the name once in a note on your phone and copy it each time.
The name of the decoration and the name on the cake are two different jobs. For lettering that reads cleanly at the size you sell, use cake name writing ideas. Then check the spelling against the order before the cake goes in the box.
- Birthday Cake With Name: Price the Add-On and Avoid Smudges
- Cake Name Design Ideas: 6 Styles, 5 Steps, a Price
Work out the cost before you quote
Free, no signup.
Common questions
What is the simplest name for a decoration that is only a name?
Call it a written name or piped lettering. Put the material first and the word second. That tells the buyer what it is made of and what it does, which is enough for a listing and a quote. You do not need a technique name for a home shop order.
Should the decoration be a separate line on the quote?
Yes when it adds time or a bought item. A piped border that takes five minutes can sit inside the cake price. Lettering that takes twenty minutes deserves its own line, so the buyer sees why the total moved. Name the line the same as the decoration.
Do I need a different name for each cake size?
No. Keep one name and let the size sit in the price. A written name on a six inch cake and on a ten inch cake is the same decoration at two prices. Changing the name for each size confuses the buyer and doubles your label order.
What if a buyer asks for a decoration I have never made?
Say you will check and come back with a name and a price. Then cost the materials and the time before you answer. Quoting a decoration you have not costed is how a good week turns into an unpaid one.
General information on pricing your own work, not tax or financial advice.