Hi Amycake...welcome to Cakecentral!
A fairly easy way to come up with a ball park price is to add up the cost of everything it takes to bake, decorate and package your cake. Then take that figure and multiply it by 3. That should give you a good idea of where to start with the price of your cake.
Another option would be to try the Price Matrix, which you can find here:
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-5711-price.html+matrix
I have never understood the matrix thingy! When we first started out, we kept our price low and it seemed to attract the kind of client that we really wanted, someone forgiving! Since we were just out of Wilton and just learning all the tricks and basics it was ideal to have that kind of Bride and Groom who were wonderful to work with and didnt expect a lot. We might have just lucked out in getting these people too! As time went on and our skills sharpened, we were able to raise the price and keep the client base in check. I think our starting out price was an unworldly price of $1.50 a slice and now after some years we are up at the $4.00 a serving mark and still really busy. And the local grocery store still charges more for some cakes, and they dont deliver!
Remember this above all else (sometimes)...
You are offering cakes, most likely, that most stores won't do. Most people here dont' like doing sheet cakes, because most of the Wal-Marts/Sam's and grocery stores sell only these kinds of cakes. Most home bakers or even small business bakers of cakes, do so much better than sheet cakes. (there's nothing wrong with people making sheet cakes, but people don't want to pay much for them).
Find something that you can make as a specialty and before you know it, you'll have little time for anything else.
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