I posted something like this a week or so ago but my post was deleted somehow.
I am terrible at pricing. I have no idea what to charge for my cakes and I feel like if I quote a price people are going to think I'm crazy. Up until now I've been doing them pretty cheap just to get the practice in but I think I'm ready to start selling and getting my name out there more. If you have a minute take a look at my photos, pic a cake and tell me how much you'd charge or what you'd feel comfortable paying. I'm going to go back and put better descriptions with the pictures so you can tell what sizes, etc. This would be a tremendous help.
In a couple of days if I get some feedback I will post what I actually charged for a few of the cakes. 
Thank you all ... you are the best teachers out there!!
Hi mjsparkles2001,
Your thread was probably moved to another forum.
Good luck with your pricing 
The one thing about pricing is that alot of it depends on how much you spend making the cake, and where you are located. A person in a bigger city can usually charge more than a person in a little town.
The best thing for you to do is sit down and figure out how much you spend making a cake. Do you bake from scratch or mix? You need to make a list of the ingredients then next time you go to the store take that list with you and get some prices for those items. This goes for you icing and fillings as well.
Once you get those figures you have to do a little math. If eggs cost 1.00 for a dz and you use for eggs for the recipe then that is .33 for eggs.
Once you go through your list and figure out how much those items are costing you know how much you spend making a cake. Lets say you spend around 7 for a cake using one cake mix and two batches of icing. From there you want to add in a little for the extras. Extras are things like your decorating bags, toothpics, icing colors and those kinds of things. After that round it up to an even number. Don't forget to figure in the cost of the boards and boxes you use. If you use fondant you want to add that in as well.
So lets say our number is now $10 after we figure all of that in. The general rule of thumb is to take the cost times 3. Sometimes if you are in a small area that may seem like too much for you. If so then you can do 2.5 but never ever do less than x2.
Once you know how much you will spend doing a cake with one cake mix or recipe you can use that to figure out other size of cakes.
** Please note the price amounts were just numbers off the top of my head.
Thanks Stephanie ... I emailed Jackie and she said a lot of posts were deleted last week when the site was down for a bit. I think thats what happened to mine.
Texassugar ... I will have to make a point to keep track of what I'm spending next time. I used to work in my family owned florist and we tripled the price but I wasn't sure if cakes are the same way. I don't think mine look "professional" so I feel like I shouldn't charge so much. But we all know we are our own worst critic.
I think all of us struggle with what to charge. And wonder if people will pay what we ask.
Me personally, I have finally reached a point where if they want it from me, the price is the price. No bargaining. No...I can get it from Walmart cheaper. And I refuse to feel bad about my prices. I always ask first now what is their budget and then figure out what I can do in their budget.
I don't ever use the 3x the cost of ingredients. It just usually isn't enough. And depending on the cake and how much detail is on it, fondant, 3d or whatever, it really doesn't take that into account.
Usually what I will do is take an average of three things just to get a ball park figure in my head.
1) cost of ingredients times 3
2)cost per serving x number of servings + extras
3)cost per hour to make it (usually figured at $10 per hour)
Then I take the average of all three of those and see what I get. Then I will add some if it's 3d or fondant. I price all cakes individually btw. Not by the slice.
I do cakes only very part time and right now not at all while my stuff is all in storage. (we are moving and buying a new house) But when we get in our new house I will have a legal kitchen and this is how I plan on doing it. (and it's worked for me so far)
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