I made this cake recently for a friend's daughter's 17th birthday. I am not charging for the cake as we are doing it in trade (she babysits my 5 children for me on occasion...but very infrequently).
Because I wasn't planning on putting a price value on this cake - I didn't track hours spent or dollars spent. (I know, bad business practice.) HOWEVER, I now have an order for a similar cake for a Halloween party in October...they just want to know pricing...
Any input?
I know I spent about 12 hours decorating, the pieces are made of chocolate (Wilton candymelt recipe) and the interior cake is chocolate and strawberry with strawberry buttercream.
I kinda thought it looked like a 6/10.
I don't get involved (in detail) in too many pricing threads, but I think this one is a little unique because of the design. I'll offer my thoughts on the thought processes *I* would go thru to get a price, but with any pricing, you'd have to know your costs, labor and expected rate of return for your area.
A 6" tall cake is 50% taller than a standard 4" tall cake, so right off the bat, my per-serving price is 50% higher. Being fondant-based cake, my fondant rate was $4.50/serving x 1.5 (to make it 50% higher to cover the 50% more cake per serving) = $6.75/serving.
A 6/10 square serves 18/50 = 68 servings x $6.75/serving = $459.
Before you gasp at $450 for a cake, remember ..... this cake is big enough to serve 68 people (that's a small reception!) with pieces of cake that are 50% BIGGER than what these 68 people would get at a reception.
On top of that, this cake might qualify for what I called my Design Fee. This fee was added on to any cake that had some minutely detailed work, such as the roof effects, etc. This could be anywhere from $75 to $300, depending on the size of the work, materials, etc.
Hope this gets your started out on the thinking process on setting pricing. 
indydebi -
Thank you! I was thinking along the 450.00 lines as well, and you are right, I was thinking that was a lot - but not out of line...it did afterall take me approximately 12 hours and that was AFTER baking.
I've read several threads on here about pricing - and responses from folks. I think that's just gotten me a little shy about setting a realistic price. For instance, I quoted $75.00 for a Tortise cake (serves 40 ish) carved but a bit larger than a half sheet (and a lot taller considering the dimensions) and the customer almost choked. I just don't want to second guess myself - I think it makes me sound unsure of my abilities.
Thank you again! I appreciate your thoughts on the topic!
Tamara
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%