Pricing Delivery & Set‑Up: The Conversation No One Has (But Every Baker Needs)
- Rebecca Cook
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Pricing Delivery & Set‑Up: The Conversation No One Has (But Every Baker Needs)
Delivery and set‑up is one of the most misunderstood — and most undervalued — parts of running a cake business. Every industry has its “unspoken truths,” and this is one of ours. So let’s say it plainly.
You are not Amazon Prime. You are not Evri. Or any other mass delivery service. You cannot deliver a fragile, hand‑crafted, premium product for free or £4.95.
Unless, of course, the customer wants their cake chucked over a hedge, left behind the wheelie bin, or handed to a neighbour who might eat it like Rachel and Chandler in The One with All the Cheesecakes. If not… delivery has a price.
Why Delivery Costs What It Costs
Delivery isn’t “just dropping something off.” It’s:
Time away from your kitchen, meaning you’re not baking, prepping, or earning elsewhere
Time away from your family, your downtime, your life
The responsibility of transporting something delicate, heavy, and irreplaceable
The emotional labour of navigating venues, parking, coordinators, and last‑minute changes
The physical labour of carrying, assembling, levelling, and troubleshooting on site
And then there’s set‑up — which is never a quick five minutes.
You’ll be escorted to the event room.
You’ll be stopped by staff or members of the wedding party who want to chat.
You’ll be adjusting stands, levelling tables, fixing lighting, and making sure the cake photographs beautifully.
You'll be laying cakes and other props out. Making sure that it looks just so.
You might be waiting for the florist to set up or give you the extra flowers for the cake.
You might be finishing off the cake with details that need adding after it's in position.
This is skilled work. It deserves to be priced like skilled work.
Everyone Else Charges for Their Time — Even When You’re Still Picking Hair Grips Out Days Later
And what about if you're asked to pick up the cake stand that you've loaned as part of the set up? Let’s be honest: your makeup artist isn’t coming back at 11pm to take your lashes off. Your hairstylist isn’t returning to remove the 73 grips welded into your skull (and the extra five you’ll still be finding days later). But you still paid their travel fees to be there for set up and preparation. Because that’s normal. Expected. Professional.
Florists do the same. They’ll happily loan you storm jars, lanterns, arches — but they will absolutely charge to come back and collect them. The hire might be free. The labour is not.
Hairdressers, florists, makeup artists, caterers — every single one of them charges for travel, time, and on‑site labour both before and after the event (if required). No one questions it.
Yet bakers hear “it’s just a cake” more than anyone else.
Whether it’s a birthday cake for a toddler or a five‑tier wedding showstopper, your time is a precious commodity. Your delivery and set‑up service is part of the professional experience you provide — and it deserves to be priced fairly, just like every other supplier in the room.
Hiring Stands? Expecting Collection? That’s Chargeable Too
If a customer hires stands, props, separators, or display items from you, and they expect you to return to the venue to collect them, that is additional travel and additional labour. It’s not “just popping back.” It’s time you’re not baking, resting, or living your life.
Collection is a service. Services are billable.
Your Professional Hourly Rate Applies Here Too
Delivery and set‑up aren’t random numbers. They’re part of your working day — and they’re charged using your professional hourly rate, the same one you use for baking, designing, admin, and everything else.
This is where so many bakers quietly undercharge. They’ll confidently price their time in the kitchen… but the moment they step into their car, they act like their time suddenly becomes free.
It isn’t.
Your hourly rate still applies when:
You’re loading the car
You’re driving to the venue
You’re waiting at reception
You’re setting up
You’re driving home
You’re returning to collect hired items
It’s all labour. It’s all time. It’s all billable.
And if you’ve never calculated your professional hourly rate properly — or you’re still using the one you picked out of thin air — you should check out my free mini pricing guide. It walks you through the maths step‑by‑step so you can price your time, your travel, and your labour sustainably.
A Simple, Sustainable Delivery Formula to help you cost your deliveries
A clean, universal structure bakers can use:
1. Travel Time
Use the fastest route on Google Maps. Charge for the time it takes you to get there. Plus you'll drive far slower with a cake on board than you would at any other time.
And don't forget to use the options to check what traffic is like on an average day that you'll travel. I know if I have to travel into Bristol at 1pm on a Saturday, it might only be eight miles, but it will take at least an hour. If you know, you know.
2. Mileage
Use the UK HMRC mileage rate: 45p per mile. This covers fuel, wear and tear, tyres, insurance, and the privilege of using your car as a mobile cake storage unit.
3. Set‑Up Time
Minimum 1 hour. Even if the set‑up takes 20 minutes, the waiting around rarely does.
4. Return Travel
Yes, you charge for the journey home. Your car doesn’t teleport.
5. Optional Lever: Delivery vs Collection
You can always offer the customer the choice to collect and set up themselves. Smaller weddings on a shoestring often will — and that’s absolutely fine. But if they want the professional finish and the guarantee that the cake arrives intact, delivery and set‑up is a paid service.
Transparency Isn’t Optional — It’s Professionalism
We advocate transparency. Not only because it’s fair, but because it protects you.
When you bury delivery, set‑up, or collection costs inside the cake price:
Customers don’t understand the value of the service
You lose the ability to adjust based on distance or complexity
You end up absorbing delays, waiting time, and extra trips
Transparent pricing is grown‑up, clear, and sustainable. And it belongs in your Terms & Conditions — not hidden, not apologised for, not softened.
Delivery is a service.
Set‑up is a service.
Collection is a service.
Services are paid for.
Why This Matters
If you want a sustainable business model — one that pays you fairly, protects your time, and keeps you in business long‑term — you must charge for delivery and set‑up. This isn’t greed. It’s boundaries. It’s professionalism. It’s the reality of running a service‑based business.
And when you price it properly, you stop resenting it.
You stop rushing.
You stop absorbing the cost.
You start valuing your time the way your customers already value your work. Want to Price Delivery & Set‑Up With Confidence?
If you’ve never calculated your professional hourly rate properly — or you’re still using the one you picked out of thin air — download my free mini pricing guide. It walks you through the exact formula so you can price your time, your travel, and your labour sustainably.
Download it here: Stop Guessing - A Mini Guide to Pricing Your Cakes
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