I took my final class in the Wilton Fondant and gumpaste class and brought the cake in to work. This is after bringing leftover cupcakes yesterday and a birthday cake last week.

When I sent out the email that we had cake, within 20 seconds, there was a herd of people at my office. Someone even took the cake plate to eat the crumbs that were left!

Now, 4 people have asked me today about buying a cake from me and I'm freaking out and thinking I can't charge very much. I'm not ready to do this now. I'm afraid to say no and afraid to charge and I KNOW better than this. I've read too much CC not to know.

sorry. Just venting about myself and I can't believe I'm letting myself feel this way. Fear! I'm too old to be afraid these days. I want to be Indydebi and strong.

Then just do what everyone else does here - ask for help on each individual cake. Give us a description of what decorations they have chosen, then the number of servings.

Remember, though, that most of the people who respond will not be in your market area, and all we can give you is ballpark figures, which may not apply in your locale. We will be quoting you what would be a competitive price where we live, but not necessarily what you can charge where you are.

A suggestion - take notes of how long it took you, and what your expenses were, to see if you charged what you feel is enough. Then take a photo of the finished cake, and put the photo and the notes in a page protector.

Then, the next time someone asks you for a cake which, although not the same, has the same amount of time or work involved, you will know how much to charge.

Theresa

You need to figure your cost of ingredients, you really don't want to be doing a whole crap load of cakes to end up finding out that you are giving them away.

Tracy,

First, congratulations! The demand for your cakes means they're beautiful *and* delicious.

Second, you could have a brief consult with each person who wants to order one, and explain that you're just starting out so you can't give him/her an estimate yet, until you've calculated costs. Calculate your costs per cake, come on here, and get some advice, just like PP said. Also figure out what you want your contract to say, and once you've written that, insert the estimated cost and hand to them.

But be forewarned: Charge too little and IndyDebi or Chutspah will give you a cyber-slap upside the head! Only until you realize how much you're worth, then they'll quit.

Good luck to you. Success is a little stressful, no?

Thanks everyone! Success is stressful and a lot of work.

I had done some pricing research previously as I was going to do a groom's cake but the couple decided to elope instead of deal with the brides parents. I was comfortable with what I was charging after comparing some local prices and what they wanted.

This afternoon, I looked at pricing at some local bakeries and decided to charge $3 per slice for an 8" cake covered in fondant. I'm going to keep track of supplies and costs and probably go up eventually but it looks like I'm in line with local bakeries - not Wal-Mart or Kroger.

On this cake, they don't care about the decorations and his favorite color is blue so I have free reign and that will be fun. My hubby is pretty excited, I think. I heard him talking to his sister this evening and every time I walked through the room, he was talking about the cakes.

I appreciate this site sooo much. There is so much information that I never had access to before. Where were you guys 17 years ago when I needed you then?!