AHad my first person turn me down today. She wanted a two tier cake and my gut told me charge 150 but then I ended up telling her 200 she said no thanks she got offers for 160 I should have went with my gut and said 150 hurts getting turned down

You should charge what your standard is for the type of cake it is.  For the type of cake and the hours you would put in, did you quote your standard pricing?  If so, you should not let it get to you.  Remember, not everyone can afford you, and that is ok.

Describe a little more what the cake was going to be. Two tiers, ok, but for how many? What was it going to be decorated like?

AWell I never did a cake before but even if I did 150 I would still make a good profit. And I'm also just starting out in this business so the experience and the clients would help to spread the word. She inquired through my Facebook page, I ended up messaging her to work our a deal. I feel tremendously stupid for doing that but if starting out I need to not charge as much I will just to get that extra experience and to show "hey I can do cakes like this one" idk I hope I did the right thing lol

A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3249044/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

This is the design she wants to feed 60 people

I am confused a bit.  You have never done a cake before but you are starting a cake business?  Or never done this cake?  Have you set up your pricing matrix to price your cakes for potential customers? When you set up your business plan for your start up, did you research the pricing in your area?  I think we need a bit more information. 

AI started the business strictly as cupcakes. I've done cakes before but only for free for family so I've never sat down and figured out prices. I have my set prices for cupcakes but not cake. Like I said business is new I'm in NJ and the bill just got passed to bake from home so I'm working off a Facebook page literally started two weeks ago so I've been slowly getting into it. I should have set a base price for cakes but starting off I was doing cupcakes she's the first customer to inquire about a cake

If you have worked out a deal with the customer, you might have to let this one go.  The first thing I would do if I were you is to sit down and go over your pricing. This will prevent pricing issues in the future, because you will have a solid pricing matrix to work from. Pricing will be your materials cost for everything, your time, the cost of running your oven, electricity used to make everything, car wear/gas time spent obtaining all your materials..Just to name a few.  If you are a novice decorator, make sure you take on designs you know you can do, and then charge your pricing for them.  Practice on non-payed for cakes to learn higher level technique (cake dummies are good for this).  This allows you tor price fairly for you, your area, and your work.   Word of mouth is great!  But word of mouth of under priced cakes or overpriced for the cake provided will not help you. (think Cake Wrecks). The reason someone should order from you is the custom creation you provide, and that will spread your reputation.

AThank you for the advice. And I agree I definitely will sit and do the prices. This woman caught me so off guard. She wrote me in the evening and I literally said uhmm what do I charge because her request came out of the blue. I love doing cupcakes and I love making cakes but I'm more experienced doing cupcakes so I definitely want all the experience I can get and this definitely was a learning experience for me for sure!

If you continue in the cake business and you price appropriately, you will have this happen sometimes.  Cheap people exist.  Don't feel badly, you have to charge enough to make a profit and not go based on what a customer thinks she should pay.  Charge enough so you won't be desperate for business and you won't burn out.  Also, even if you are trying to make a name for yourself, if you start at a certain price point, you may get stuck there because it will be what people expect.

I would have charged about $200 for that cake as well.

AI've had people somewhat turn me down but since I'm doing my business through Facebook and not face to face people just don't respond back. I had one woman I mad those high heel cupcakes (which I got so many responses) and I had to charge a little more money for them than normal because the price of materials and she just never responded after I told her the price. But this woman said sorry too much I was offered 160 and who knows she might have been playing games with me just to get me to drop the price and it worked because I offered a lower price. But before I even wrote to her it was my gut instinct to choose 150 and the profit is 50 dollars less than if I were to charge 200 but now I'm just like eh it's OK because if she accepts my offer its one more cake I can add to my portfolio and one more learning experience

AWell turns out she wants to order from me :)

And who said you have to charge less? You can either do it nicely, or you can't, being new has no bearing whatsoever if you have the skill. Good luck.

I turn down business every single day, and not everyone who calls me can afford what I charge. If you're going to run a business you can't take it personally when you don't book every customer. So what, who cares. You need to figure out what you have to charge to make a profit, then stick to those prices.

OMG $150 for that cake?! 

I would charge $225...

don't lower your price so much because people might start thinking you make prices depending on their faces! $50 is way too much discount..