I just did my first wedding cake and I am not sure if I overcharged or undercharged...I charged the client $230 for a 14", 10", 6" round, all white cake with IMBC filling and BC iced. Since there wasn't any time to make sugar flowers, I used silk magnolias at the request of the client.

I figured the price at $2.00 per slice (116) according to Wiltons cake chart.

It took me about 16 hrs to do everything.

She came to me a week before the wedding and said her original decorator flaked out on her. Of course I felt bad and offered to make the cake for her despite my busy schedule.

So is $230 too much or too little? What do you think?

The best thing you can do is figure out how much you spent on supplies and how much your time is worth.

If you figure your time was worth 10 an hour, then $160 of what you made goes to that. That only leaves $70 to cover your supplies and any profit.

Im new to the business and not sure what kind of profit to expect to make.

If you are baking from home, have you made sure it is OK to sell baked goods from home in Indiana? IIRC I believe it's only legal for home-based businesses to sell at roadside stands and farmer's markets.

EDIT: Sounds like you're probably OK, so if you're baking from home the only overhead costs you would need to take into account would be liability insurance (and if you don't have liability insurance I strongly recommend getting some, it typically costs less than $500/year). Divide your annual insurance costs (and any other overhead) by the estimated number of cakes you'll make per year for an estimate of the overhead cost per cake.

It appears that many HD's in Indiana are applying a very liberal interpretation to the new law, allowing direct-to-consumer sales. I even read that one CC'er's HD Rep told her that her house counted as a "roadside stand".

In pricing a cake, you need to look at three things: ingredients, labor, and overhead. My question went directly to the third component of pricing, which had not yet been discussed in this thread.

I probably should have prefaced my original question with "If you are baking from home", so that point is taken. I have gone ahead and made that edit.

However, I will continue to bring up overhead costs in discussions regarding cake pricing, and I make no apologies for discussing legal issues related to the business of cake decorating in the Cake Decorating Business forum. If you want to continue to bash me for doing so, please send me a private message so we can avoid taking this thread any farther off-topic.

This forum is not just for people who already have a legal business, it is also a great place for people who are just getting started to learn about the business side of things. Part of running a successful cake business is operating within the laws of your state/county/city, and when you price your products you need to take legal compliance costs (if any) into account. Some people who are just starting out have no idea what their local laws are (or even that local food safety laws exist), and it's important that they are aware of all aspects of their operating environment.

I'm not bashing you, just stating an obvious fact. I would love to do you a favor and petition the mods to change the forum name to "For legal bakers only" so we could free up a little time for you.

I agree! the question at hand had nothing to do with legalities so it shouldn't have been brought up, it was an out of place reply and i'm only offering my 2 cents because i'm sick and tired of so many people arguing and judging on the matter of legalities. it's not your business (literally) so it shouldnt be of concern to you.

Ok, so I am going to ignore most of what has been talked about & answer the OP's question.

$2 is really low, but I think it really depends on where you are located. There seems to be a really big difference in areas.

There is a caker in MI who charges less than Walmart & would put my whole town out of business in a week. She swears that is what everyone charges & that she has done the research, so there is no comparing prices with her because they are about 1/3 of what a cake is in my area.

Working out of your home definitely lowers your overhead, but it is also easier to ignore actual overhead costs because you pay those bills anyway.

Electricity, water, etc....Just a thought I have had reading alot of posts. An extra $20 or $30 + a month in cost might not be noticed in a household budget.

When you pay for a retail space you have to include those costs in your business plan & they are impossible to ignore.

Another big difference in costs can be how do your structure. Do you use SPS?

If you were in my area I would hope you would charge at least $2.50 per serving for a basic cake like the one you described.

I think the kindest thing cakers can do for each other is check out your town competitors pricing & stay in the range. It takes a bit to do the research, but if you find out what everyone in your area charges that would help you too.

Guess this is always a hot button topic for the forums. Keep asking & don't be discouraged by some negativity.

Thank you Kaylani. You were very helpful!

What is SPS?

Wow! ! Is it just me or did this one go WAYY off topic!! Geesh, guys! These forums are to HELP each other. I really think if you need to have an argument or verbally beat each other up, you may want to do it privately.