I took an order 2 months ago for this Minnie Mouse cake & the girl just canceled on me at the last minute. She lied to me saying she didn't need the cake because the kids dad wouldn't be home. I went to her Facebook page & seen her making fun of me to her husband & friends, saying "I'm sure not going to pay that much for a cake" then she posted a photo of a cake she made & it looked nothing like what she asked me to make. I'm trying not to get mad, but it's hard. I lost this order & I had to turn down several people for this weekend so I could have time to do this one & my other cakes. I told them I would charge $175 for this cake iced in fondant with fondant decorations, just like it is except she wanted to add an extra name on one of the tiers (it was for twin girls). Do you think I over charged for this cake? What should I have charged? This cake looks like it will take several hours to complete & there is a lot of fondant on it, I just can't see myself charging way less for a cake like this.

Did you take a non-refundable deposit or retainer fee?

Otherwise, I don't think you should have considered it ordered and on the books...

Hopefully you didn't start working on it yet and lost money...

I am not sure of the number of servings of that cake, but with all the copyright, I wouldn't have done it...

Bakeries here would have probably charged more than you were going to anyhow since I am sure that is more than 50 servings... but I am not sure of your location...

You didn't have an order if she didn't pay you, so in the future get the payment before you turn down other work.

Also, it's illegal to sell the mouse ears cakes, Disney trademarked those.

And for a three-tiered fondant cake, I would have charged way more then $175. That doesn't mean that the customer would have paid for that either, but it costs what it costs.

Watch this video, I'm just going to post this link every time this situation comes up from now on. 

I'm new at this and my very first order went something like that, except i Had to buy cake pan and all that was needed. I end up making the cake for my family and of couse send a picture to the person so she can see what she missed.

I don't think you over charged for the cake. A three tier like that serves way more than 50. Hopefully you didn't have to buy many materials exclusively for that cake and the fondant you can use it in another orders. 

I didn't tell her anything, but I think it is very ugly & childish of her to go on FB & make fun of my price just because she can't afford the cake. Thankfully I didn't start on it yet. No I didn't get a deposit. I only get deposits on wedding & grooms cakes, but after this happening I'm going to take them for every order from now on. Thank y'all for the help & the video was also very helpful!  In my area people act like they can't spend more than $50-$75 on a cake & they expect these three + tiered cakes to be cheap no matter how it is decorated.

Then it's your job to educate them instead of dropping your prices to their expectations 

now sams club displays 3 tier cake (simple decorations) for $50....

Well, now I know where to send people who call and ask me for a cake for 150 people for $150. "You might find what you're looking for at Sam's Club. Enjoy."

Oh gross...BUTT-r-creme icing. No dairy in that. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/2-tiered-white-cake-wht-choc-butrcreme/prod14100058.ip?navAction=push

What is butt-r-Creme?? Sounds like  bottom paste for babies with a diaper rash not something you put on a cake and in your mouth lol. I clicked on the link but didn't find a description for what butt-r-Creme is. I'll pass on that :)

Webake2gether- Fake buttercream that requires no refrigeration and is chock full of junk.  Here are the ingredients: sugar, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (soybean and/or palm oil), water, corn starch, mono & diglycerides, polysorbate 60, salt, polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, artificial flavor, potassium sorbate and sorbic acid (as preservatives), citric acid, propylene glycol, dextrose.

Sounds super yummy doesn't it? Mine is organic unsalted Butter, Organic Powdered sugar, my homemade Bourbon Vanilla (Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla beans, Absolut) , local dairy cream, and a little salt. I have restrictions on being able to use more artisional buttercreams, but I could never server but-r-creme or the like.

It's really spelled "but'r'creme," I just add the extra "t" on the "butt" part because it's more descriptive.

Yeah... I was surprised when I saw the tiered cakes, decorated "party" (as opposed to "wedding") for super low price. 

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/2-tiered-chocolate-cake-chlt-butrcreme/prod14090421.ip?sprodId=prod14090421&selectedTab=allProducts&_requestid=804023