O.k. I have the hardest time pricing 3d cakes.

I had a request today for a 3d convertible corvette with all the detailing on the inside and a 3d person driving the car.

I quoted her $150 - It will need to feed 15 people but I know that I'm going to have lots of carving and pre work if I do this cake no matter how many it has to feed.

Just wanted to make sure I wasn't being unreasonable.

For that much detail I would say around $8-$10 per serving. So I think your estimate was right on. Sounds like it will be fun to make!

I think your estimate is right on also!! People don't realize how much work a 3D cake is.

for that amount of work I would say $8-10 per slice also.

Remember that you will be baking more cake than you will be giving them. You need to make sure that you cover that cost. Also.. a car to actually feed 15 will be REALLY small. That's a little bigger than a 6" cake. I have a $250 minimum for 3-D cakes.. they start at $7/serving with a 35 serving minimum. I do make some exceptions for simple cakes like a gumball machine and the like that require little carving. I wouldn't think you could make a car big enough to do the detail work on the inside and only feed 15 ppl. You'd have to double that to give yourself the room for the details. A 9x13 single layer will feed 24 2x2x2 pieces.. I think you will find yourself cursing and thinking you undercharged if anything. Certainly not an unreasonable quote from the customer's POV.. from your POV though.. too low.

I, too, have a minimum amount of servings for 3-D..... about 40.

A cake for 15 peeps is only about 15cm.

I just finished my 1st carved, 3-D cake (a fin whale). I have a minimum of $75. This person only needed to feed 5, so I gave her a break & charged $50 instead. Well, the cake will feed about 10 (or it would have been a minnow) and believe me----from now on I'll stick to my minimum no matter what! Lot's of time & work! But I did get good on the job training experience!

Yep, I can't even imagine how to charge for carved and molded cakes. I hope you charged enough, frankly.

Man I have been burned SO many times on carved cakes and I have finally gotten to a point where I'm comfortable quoting 3D cakes ( I hope this isnt getting to you too late.. ). I'm not sure where you are located but in my area ( Northern NJ) I would charge $500 for cake like this HANDS DOWN. I dont charge per slice for a project like this.. I charge for the item as big as I plan on making it unless it needs to feed more than 30 people. My cars are usually 22 inches long. There is WAY more artwork involved on these than flour and sugar. Charge for your artistic talent. If they don't like the price, they dont have to order it. I do not make exceptions any more no matter how they try to wittle the price down. ( unless its family or friends... ).

Stick to you guns and learn from my MANY mistakes!

I charge by the cake and by the hour for all cakes. In the example of you car, I start with the amount of cake I'll need before I start carving, say 2 9X13 cakes - $120 plus $10 for fondant on each cake. Then I charge $20 an hour for design time , probably 5-ish hours, which makes the grand total......$240.