I found a cake on here that I liked and am planning on using the general idea for a friends kids birthday cake. I am having a hard time figuring out how much to charge. Usually I start with the overall ingredient cost and add on the labor cost of how difficult it is to make and time it takes. Her limit is 40 and the cake materials I figured were 15-20. Should I just charge the 40, or is it worth less than that? Or would I be under charging. I am new to charging people for my cakes, I just recently found a kitchen i can rent from, got my business name and am ready to go

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1797694

IMHO you're vastly undercharging for that cake. It looks like it's a single layer 6" on a single layer 8" which is about 22 pieces. If you're ingredient costs are $15-20 you're saying that everything the remain $20-25 is covering your time and profit. Even if you're able to cover them lickety split with fondant, the piping of the spider web will take you time. You're losing money on this cake. I'd be charging $75-100 for that cake probably.

Wow that's a lot. I think I'll have to just make the top part and accept the $40 considering she is a friend but for a regular customer I need to price a bit higher. Thank you so much for the info wish I had know how to charge a long time ago. I made her a few cakes so far and for her wedding cake was only paid back the cost of the supplies. That then became her only wedding gift lol