I made the following for a client. It took me quite literally days to accomplish. It is a 10in round cake, covered in fondant. The bottle is fondant/candy clay (50/50) covered styrofoam. The glass is foam and dowel and wooden base covered in gumpaste and airbrushed. Not perfectly smooth or even close. (although the bottle I'm pleased with) The knife is gumpaste airbrushed silver. The food is RKT covered in fondant and painted. The board is 16x20in covered in marbleized fondant and imprinted with cobblestones.

I charged her $150, basing it in $5/serving for 30 servings (using Earlene's chart).

I'm just wondering if that price is out of line. She didn't complain, but it took me so long, I'm just trying to guage whether I charged adequately based on my skill level or if I shortchanged myself. (or her, really)

You can be honest....I know where my faults are and I won't accuse you of being nasty.

Here is the link:

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1370589

What are you talking abouit??? Your cake looks GREAT!!! I don't see any flaws. I'd say you are right on target with the money!

Definitely would not have charged ANY less!!! Nice work!

I am so new at pricing cakes and pretty horrible at it. I would think this is one you would charge by the hour and by the slice. Easily $200

Let me ask you this.....is this the first time you have done a cake this detailed and charged $150 or more for it? If it is, I know how you feel. We sometimes have a hard time justifying a price especially for a cake that isn't going to serve very many people. I always have it stuck in my head that if it has a lot of servings in the cake, then I don't get stuck with guilt or worry on the high price I quoted. After doing a few of those novelty type cakes though, and going through what it takes to actually produce all that great detail, then I have learned to get over that guilt of charging too much. I now have a minimum of $150 on all carved 3D cakes. Regardless of how many they serve. I don't care if it only serves 12! Because I can guarantee that most of the carved cakes I have to do take a full day, and I'm going to get compensated for my time. I just delivered a 3D race car yesterday for a groom's cake, and it was $150. They didn't even blink an eye. I also think it gets easier to comfortably quote your price , as time goes by. I used to freak out about quoting prices for sheet cakes! Now, I just blurt out the prices and let them either hang up, or stay on the line and tell me what they want! lol I would have charged $200 for all that detail, but I can see $150 being the safer price to offer. You did a lovely job by the way, and it is definitely worth the $150!!

What Mindy said ... beautifully put!

I absolutely love this cake! You did a great job! I think the price is more than fair.

Thanks, everyone. I was kind of going both ways, actually. I feel $5/serving is fair for 3D cakes, and quoted it without blinking. But after struggling with that stinkin' wine glass for literally 12 hours (cumulative), I started to wonder if maybe I was overcharging for my skill. (I couldn't smooth out that gumpaste covering the glass for lovin' or money. I should have used candy clay, but was worried the pearl dust wouldn't stick to it. )

But on the other hand, my DH was telling me I undercharged based on how much time I was spending on it. And it really did take a loooooong time. So I started to question whether I was undercharging her, too. Yep, I waffle a good deal some days. It really helps to be able to ask you guys, so thank you!

Yup, you grossly undercharged. Chalk it up to experience though.... we've all been there. Now you know what to do nest time someone wants a similar cake.

I would have charged about $350. The cake is not so large, but all that other stuff is so detailed and time-consuming that it definately justifies a high price.