Hi! I am new to this forum but I really love this website. I do have a question for bakers with more experiences than me. I will be baking a cake just like the one in Wilton magazine - Candy Land cake and I was wondering how much should I ask for it? I want to be fair to my customer and to be fair to me as well. I am not a baker yet, I am more of hobby baker. That cake should serve to about 70 people.Please let me know. Thanks for any help.

is it this cake? this one serves like 200 people...

http://www.babylovingmama.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Wilton-2012-Yearbook-Cake-1.jpg

Yes, it is.

In the wilton book I have it has how to make this cake, and im pretty sure it says it feeds at least 200.

There are a lot of supports you need to buy for this cake and the plates that go with it...so that's at least like $15-$20 or more just for the support system...

I'm not certain, but I would say anywhere in the $800 + area would be a good starting point for this cake.. I was going to make it for my daughters first birthday in October...but decided its just too big, and too much work w/ all the other stuff I have planned!
Hope That Helps!

Would your customer take components from the larger cake to make a small cake? I have had people send me pictures of tiered cakes that serve 70+ and only need 15 servings. We just talk to them to get what they really like about the cake and incorporate it a smaller version. Maybe 2 or 3 tiers in a smaller size? That cake here (small town, walmart prices) I would only be able to get 500. A couple of towns over, they would charge 800+. That is a ton of cake for 70 servings though.

Wow! I cannot believe that I could make so much on it in real world...But, in the area where I live, people do not get that making cake take time and that there is also lots of things you need to actually make it.
I was thinking about doing 10-8-6 plus 4 inch cupcake on the top. I used Earlene's serving chart so I did not think it will be tons of cake.
I was thinking about charging $2 per serving, but I was not sure if that is not too much.
It really frustrates me. I had a customer who told me that $85 is too much for 3 tier topsy turvy fondant cake.

I have learned the hard way. I set a price and if it is too much for their budget, I direct them to other options or just say no. I was at the point where I would agree to make a cake for what the customer wanted to pay and then I would spend hours, staying up all night, to do the cake. I would have no time for my family and received pennies for my time. I had to tell myself that I was worth more than that. I don't know how Earlene's chart is set up, but in the size that you gave with my size chart (wilton) it would be 64-78 servings, so that isn't too big. But, for all of that fondant, you should get more than 2.00. That is a ton of work.

Most custom cake bakers don't make that much in the real world. If you lived in New York City and had a customer base and were set up to make eye-popping cakes as custom orders, yes, you may get $$$$$ for a cake. However, if you are a hobby baker in a small town, chances are that your customer base will not expect to pay for than $50-$100 for any cake, regardless of size, servings, or complexity.

Read this excellent article about pricing cakes. If you are serious about selling cakes, purchase the software ($150 less 10% discount as a CakeCentral member). Do the homework of pricing your competition, pricing your cake ingredients, pricing the value of your time and overhead, etc. After doing the research, you will be able to see if selling cakes in your geographic location will be worthwhile/profitable.
http://www.cakeboss.com/PricingGuideline.aspx

Cake forums are chock-full of posts with exactly the same questions and the same frustration and dismay. "It really frustrates me. I had a customer who told me that $85 is too much for 3 tier topsy turvy fondant cake."

Unfortunately, nobody on a cake forum can answer your question. Too many variables. Your skill level, cost of your ingredients, etc.