Before I get yelled at, I looked on here and google and really did not get a good answer.  I do not charge per slice like most decorators rather by cake.  I am in communication with a lady that wants a pregnant belly cake not covered in fondant rather butter cream.  I am still a novice in my side business as a baker/decorator and I know I put more work into my cakes then I charge and I am working on charging what I am worth.  I originally charged $150 (pricing the size of the bowls I would use the same price I would charge a cake pan of the same size and the decorations we discussed) and she does not want to spend that.  I called the local Publix and they would charge $79.99 for a fondant one so maybe my price was high so I told her I would $100 cutting out some of the decorations previously discussed.  I guess my question is what would be a fair price for a pregnant belly cake covered in butter cream. I do not want to charge as cheap as the grocers and I explained to the lady my pricing is based on that my cakes are made from scratch and the labor that goes into it so decoration will factor into that.  I know I need to charge more for many of the cakes I do because I go above and beyond. 

At the end of the day she is used to her daughter making cakes but does not want her to do it for her own baby shower, getting super center cakes or a family friend that does it for free so I do feel my price will be too high regardless bu I want to know for the future.  I would appreciate any suggestions.

First of all without knowing the size of the cake, the costs of the ingredients,  overheads etc nobody will be able to give you a price.

I so a simple calculation for all my cakes which is:  ALL costs (incl electricity, boxes etc) plus hourly wage. Give or take. No discounts (officially :/)

Agree with Julia1812.  There is no fair price.  Everyone's prices will be different depending on location, ingredients, size, design, flavors, fillings, level of skill, etc.

If you've calculated your price based on those things then that's fair for your cake.  This woman is used to getting free cakes from her daughter.  She may just not be the client for you.

The only suggestion I would have is to not keep dropping your price because she is balking at it.   You do not want to be doing cakes for free just to have clients.   If she wants your cake, she'll be back otherwise...next!  You deserve to be paid for your product/service.  

Ok, I have one more suggestion, lol. When a client calls for a 3d/carved cake, let them know what your base price is:  "I'd love to do a cake for you! My 3d cakes start @ $xxx and go up depending on the design, do you have a budget in mind?"  You'll know right away, if they are not a client.  It saves you a lot of time.

I just started my biz recently and learned all these things by combing these forums for hours.  It works.  You win some, you lose some.  But, the ones I have, I enjoy doing because I am getting paid fairly. Let her go to Publix...

Julia 1812...I guess to better explain I was going to use my 3 pyrex bowls to make the boobs and the belly and then coat in butter cream and add a few royal icing cherry blossoms and that is it.  Very minimal carving if any carving at all.  I have yet to do a 3-D cake so that is a new realm for me.  I have already done research to see what people charge around my area including the grocers and the custom shops and I feel my prices are worth what I do but it is often hard for me to think of a fair price when doing a new technique I have not done.

Jinkies you make some valid points and trust me I am at the point that I am ok losing a client as opposed to charging barely anything to make a sale because this is a side business and not my full time job which keeps me hugely busy lol.  I have done that mistake when I first started and I decided no more because like you said I want to enjoy what I am doing and if I am not charging enough then I feel resentful the whole time and it is not worth it.

Thanks for the advice ladies but since 3-D cakes is new to me so I want to make sure I am charging a fair price.  :)