It may be your baking or it may be your portfolio. You have lots of awesome birthday cakes and very few wedding cakes. I wouldn't say your wedding cakes were old fashioned, but they do have a home baker look to it. Do some more dummy cakes and take pictures of them. If you are going to do piping on them, then you will need to perfect that.
Good luck

I so agree with mkbutterfly if you do not sell your cakes for what they are worth than your clientel will not be what you want. I myself want to make the best cake I can possibly make but I won't work for peanuts.

I agree with you that you should know your market SCP1127. My sticking to your guns comment wasn't about that though. It was meant more to say stick to your guns about your baking/product and not go with the advice to switch to a mix.

costumeczar, we were posting at the same time. Your business advice is one that should be heeded by those with less experience. I am relatively new to the baking industry, but I have vast experience in creating and running my own businesses over the years. The key to successful business runs across all industry lines. You and a few others have been a great help to me in the last year, shortening my learning curve by sharing your experience, and I thank you all for that.

If the OP's pricing is in line with her talent, then marketing or taste is where she needs to concentrate. Another place to look is cost of goods sold... reducing overhead to produce higher profit.

Sorry about that, mkolmar... your catchy wording probably stuck in my head. I was referring to the advice about sticking to the price. If the price isn't right to begin with, sticking to it doesn't help. As for sticking to her guns about her product, I agree. But she has to make sure the recipes are not reaching too narrow a taste preference.

I have to say keep your chin up, karateka, you're pretty brave to post this and let us all in on the free-for-all!

karateka, if you heed the business advice you have gotten here, you WILL be more successful. We all wish you well. Sometimes the topic becomes a debate, but out of that comes a wealth of information backed by the knowledge of those willing to share.

Good luck - whatever path you choose to try!

I am just starting my cake decorating business, and I just don't know how to price. I have made a few for family and friends, but i'm just nor sure. Would anyone please look at my cakes andlet me know what you would be willing to pay? Ihad a lady that needed a gag cake...it was the number 65 with 2 naked women coming out of it. I told her it would cost $65, which I didn't think was a lot at all. I probably would have made close to nothing if that. What do you think? I have no idea how to price.
Thanks!!

Chicadelux, start at the beginning, read this post, then ask what you don't understand.

I did read all posts and I'm still not sure wat to price them. I feel that I am asking for too much. I have one order for a baby shower cake for a friend, but we haven't discussed the details yet. Just not sure.

Also, Chikadelux, pricing depends on the number of servings you get from a cake (there are charts that will tell you this at several sites on the internet - try Wilton, for one), so the $65 figure depends on how large the cake was as to whether it was too much or too little. You should probably start out by checking out what other bakers in your area charge per serving and what other factors come into play (for example, do they charge extra for certain flavors or fillings or for certain kinds of decoration?). then look seriously at the level of your decorating skills compared to the competition (are you better than they are, about the same or do your skills still need a little work?) and THEN think about pricing. I definitely want to wish you the best in this effort you're making!