Hello everyone! 

I am new to the whole at home cupcake business. I am located in Pennsylvania and only 16 years old, I was wondering if my cupcake prices are ok for amateur cupcakes? Also I need help picking out a name :) my first name is Emily, Emma, or Emmie if that helps. 

For Basic Cupcakes 1 dozen = $15.00    

Basic cupcakes are just a simple cake with vanilla buttercream frosting plus basic topper(sprinkles or edible beads)

For Custom Cupcakes 1 dozen = $21.50

Custom cupcakes are a simple cake with flavored and/or colored frosting, custom toppers and/or basic toppers.

I don't use fondant or pastes ect. , I do use chocolate designs and sculpting frosting though.

You help is Oh So Very Appreciated :D

Some pictures of cupcakes and cakes I have made below. Sorry for all the pictures I'm just over excited :)

you have a nice starting portfolio

the white chocolate heart cupcakes are especially pretty

welcome to cc!

i recommend that you peruse the business section for a lot of great information in addition to what you will learn in this thread--you can also do searches of course for specific subjects

good luck!!!

I am not a professional baker, at least not yet. However, from all the threads and research I have done. It appears that you need to take your area into consideration (i.e. what price point is average or acceptable in your area). Also you need to figure out your costs for the ingredients and also what hourly wage you would like to pay yourself. For example if your cost per cupcake is $.75 and you want to pay yourself $10 an hour. So 12 cupcakes at cost would be $9, and if you took 2 hours to make and decorate those cupcakes then you would charge $20 for your time. (If as an amateur baker you feel your time is worth less until you have more work under your belt you can obviously change the hourly rate. It is mostly up to you.) Under the above example 12 cupcakes would cost $29. I live in Iowa and the cupcake shop here that just opened their third store charges $2.00 a cupcake. 

As far as a name is concerned I would think about what you want your cupcakes to "say". What makes them special or unique? What makes you special or unique? Good luck. I hope this helps you out.

AYou'll probably want to start by reading up on the cottage food laws in PA, Penn State has a guide here: http://extension.psu.edu/food-safety/entrepreneurs/starting-a-business

Once you make sure you are compliant with the local laws you'll want to analyze your costs (the post above provides a good example) as well as what others are charging in your area. $15/dozen is a very low price, don't sell yourself short...once you start selling your products you are a professional, not an amateur.