Lady calls me today, wants EIGHTY cupcakes for Sunday in a CIRCUS theme... what can I do? I tell her I'll call her back. I call my cake friends and we decide we can do primary colored polka dots, balloons, pipe elephants, lions, etc... and make some with popcorn using the mini marshmallows....
So I tell her it will be $2 each... $160 + cardboard cake stands at $4.25 each.
"WOW, $2 a cupcake..... let me call you back after I get my head around this"
I have 2 cakes for this week already, I totally don't need the stress of EIGHTY cupcakes (I'm a math teacher, I do this as a hobby) so if she decides that is too much, oh well.
Exactly how much does she think 80 custom cupcakes should cost less than a week in advance?!
Hmmm, If I am doing all of that that is a lot of different colors of frosting, how long would it take me to make all these cupcakes....
$20 worth of supplies,
About half an hour to make the mixes, and fill all of the cupcakes and not make a mess of them.
90 minutes of baking time since I'll do multiple batches
3 minutes decorating each cupcake (Need to color frosting, fill decorating bags, pipe them on...)
That alone is SIX HOURS of my time.
That comes out to only $20 an hour.
This doesn't include, the decorating of the cardboard with ribbon, delivery and gas.......
I am not backing down on this. I think that is more than reasonable.
Your prices are totally acceptable....people see cake mix for .79 and think 'Oh, that can make 24 cupcakes' so when you tell them $2.00 per cupcake, they just don't see it......which drives me nuts.
I don't understand why this is, but cake is so underrated (money-wise). 
here, Here!!!
Definitely do not back down on this. I had a topsy-turvy cake that I grossly underestimated on the time and gave away for $85 a couple of months ago. Told customer that was a SPECIAL price and it would be higher the next time.
Well, she orfered another one last week and was shocked when I quoted $150.00. She ordered it--griped the entire phone call about the price but I told her "It is what it is!" Stick to it!
Don't back down!
I sell my cupcakes for $2-4 each. I guess people think that because they are little they are not as much work and really sometimes they are more work because everything is smaller and you have more than one to do.
Good Luck!
Cheers,
ally
I think it's a very reasonable price, there is a cupcake shop near here that sells them for 4 bucks and they are average size and have only frosting and a few sprinkles on them, she's not going to get a better deal on custom decorated, last minute cupcakes, DON'T BACK DOWN!!! 
As I quietly shut the door behind this person... Remember, they weren't your customer in the first place, let them eat freezer burn 
Yea, sometimes you just need to tell yourself it's o.k. to move on from the annoying schmucks because you've got too much other stuff to do... OTOH, if they wanted an 6" circus tent cake with 70 plain, boring, white swirled top cupcakes with clown picks, THEN they've got something to negotiate with...
That is exactly what I charge for my cupcakes...Once you add everything up...it costs time and money!!!
The cupcake shop here which is busy all the time and oftens runs out of cupcakes by 1pm charges $2.65 a cupcake with swirled icing and nothing ontop...they boast that they are Fabulaous but I have tried them...honestly ...they weren't that great for the price!!!
Part of my Wedding Workshop info to brides is:
"Don't look at Walmart's $3.99/dozen cupcakes and think cupcakes will be cheaper than a regular wedding cake. Because chances are you don't WANT a $3.99/dozen cupcake for your wedding. Chances are you want a cupcake with MORE than a big swirl on the top. Chances are you want it specially designed in your wedding colors. Chances are you will want a flower made of icing or gumpaste or fondant on EACH AND EVERY ONE of those cupcakes. Chances are you will want the cupcakes delivered and set up at your reception, instead of sending your sister to walmart to throw 10 of these dozen-packs-of-cupcakes into her grocery cart.
Chances are you don't REALLY WANT a $3.99/dozen cupcake .... but you THINK that's the price you're going to pay.
And it's not."
ROFL Debi! That is hilarious! BTW your Walmart must have better prices than mine, cause 12 cupcake with just a swirl of icing here is like $11.99. They charge a $1 a cupcake here. I am sure yours are way better and custom! And dont even get me started on gas prices. She is getting a steal!
I can totally relate. I had a lady call me last week wanting cupcakes with little shoes and handbags on them and thought $2 each was too much!
"That is more than I want to spend so I guess I will make them myself"
I say- have at it lady! I ain't working for free. I betcha when she sees how much goes into it, she'll understand why they cost $2! And I think that was low balling it on my end!
Stand your ground honey! 
But check out what I found that they make.... Do they get that from decopac? I know a lot of their stuff comes from decopac...
Part of my Wedding Workshop info to brides is:
"Don't look at Walmart's $3.99/dozen cupcakes and think cupcakes will be cheaper than a regular wedding cake. Because chances are you don't WANT a $3.99/dozen cupcake for your wedding. Chances are you want a cupcake with MORE than a big swirl on the top. Chances are you want it specially designed in your wedding colors. Chances are you will want a flower made of icing or gumpaste or fondant on EACH AND EVERY ONE of those cupcakes. Chances are you will want the cupcakes delivered and set up at your reception, instead of sending your sister to walmart to throw 10 of these dozen-packs-of-cupcakes into her grocery cart.
Chances are you don't REALLY WANT a $3.99/dozen cupcake .... but you THINK that's the price you're going to pay.
And it's not."
People just don't realize the time and energy that is invested in doing cakes and cupcakes it is more then just throwing a box of cake mix and icing together
haha even walmarts $3.99 a doz price has went up around here 
Didn't ever think about what I would charge for cupcakes, just started making them so thanks for the insight!
Will people ever stop to think that our 'time' is worth something to us?
You can bet if I'm going to take time away from my family then by God I WILL have something to show for it when I'm done. HUM like 'take me out to dinner money' so that we can spend some family time together.
Stick to your price - 
Now you guys are going to force me to look at those cupcake things again to confirm my pricing! I think I'm just seeing the clearance table by the entrance!!
I did see at sam's the other day, they had a 6" round plus 12 cupcakes for $11.99.
Oh.... and I also noticed that most of my walmart's cakes appear to be 3" cakes, single layer or maybe 3" and torted, and some were just flat out 2" single layer rounds ..... NOT the 4" tall cakes I make.
I also throw in how I can make a 3-tier wedding cake using just 12, 15 or maybe 20 BC roses..... but 125 cupcakes would require 125 roses. More labor = more in cost.
My basic cupcakes with buttercream only start at $1.50/ea. With buttercream roses, or other decoration, they are $2.00. Add on fondant embellishments, and they start at $2.50 and can go as high as $4/ea.
Tell the next person to call me for a price comparison - and they'll realize they are getting a bargain at $2 apiece. LOL!
I took a look at the famed Magnolia Bakery's website (New York City, www.magnoliacupcakes.com). Baking everything from scratch, they charge $2.25 for their plain chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, and $3+ for their specialty cupcakes.
If you're offering a quality product, charge accordingly and unapologetically. In my (short) experience as a decorator, I have found that good people will happily pay what the product is worth, and those are the customers that you want to keep! Don't let Little Miss Short Notice get under your skin.
But check out what I found that they make.... Do they get that from decopac? I know a lot of their stuff comes from decopac...
This is from Decopac it's called babybud
Check out this website http://www.chicagocupcakes.com/. I'm still in shock over the price for 2 dozen even if it does include delivery !!!
I've been turned down on charging $2/cupcake for 40 to look like Mickey (at least the ears w/ red icing too). Oh well, I didn't have to slave! And cake mixes aren't .78 anymore here--they are $1.08 + our almost 10% sales tax.
Alicegop, Sam's sells those cupcakes? And what is decopac?
Suzie757... Love the site though ! If you click on the top where it says PRESS a beautiful cuppy tower shows to your right !
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