A bakery owner wants to collaborate with me. She wants to bake the cake and have me ice it and decorate it...but how much do I charge her for the work alone? It's a Baptismal cake for a girl and it will feed about 50 people. She wants me to keep it simple with a bow and folds in the dress, but no heavy lace....I am just at a loss...I want to charge her $50, but I do not know if I am short changing myself...oh, also, she provided the fondant and the base...all other supplies I am would provide. HELP???

THANKS!

I would decide what hourly wage you want, then estimate number of hours and bid it like any contracting job.

How many hours will it take you to decorate the cake? Your calculation here should include any time spent making decorations (flowers figurines etc). Are you supplying your own tools? How much per hour do you want to make. If you are supplying your own tools your hourly rate should be higher. Unless it is a very simple cake, I would say that $50 is short changing yourself.

The only tools I am supplying are the cutters, ingredients for the buttercream, roller, etc...basically all the essential tools I will need. She wants a baptismal robe with flowing ribbon bow and "some lace". The tub of Satin Ice fondant she bought was $50. It will probably take me about 4 hours to make AT LEAST...I want to make it detailed (even on the "simple" cakes, there is a lot of detail) and I want it to be flawless. You can't do that in just a couple of hours. I tutor after school (I am a teacher) and I charge $20 per hour. Obviously it is not the same, but I was wondering if I should base it off of that...$20 per hour for 4 hours. And yes, I plan to make it contractual. This might lead to more projects with this bakery, so I want to be fair but without shortchanging myself either. Thanks for your advice. I hope others tune in too. THANKS SO MUCH!

Like what everyone else is suggesting, hourly wage would be the best way to go with that.

Some bakeries that I know of charge up to $75 per hour. I think you should come up with a price that you think is worth your time =)

GL!