I've been a creeper on these boards, soaking up all of the advice and wonderful, absolutely beautiful cakes that everyone throws out. I've dove in with both feet into the cake world because of several people as well as my dream of one day opening up my own store front. (My little girl dream)

The problem I am running into is that I seem to be breaking even or losing money on all of the cakes/cupcakes etc that I have done.

I purchased Cake Boss Cloud which was the greatest thing ever invented! But my problem is that the total it gives me after I put in my hourly wage seems extremely high and I can't see anybody paying that price.

For ex.

1 8 inch cake with hulk hand smashing through (fondant covered)

&

2 dozen marvel figure character cupcakes

+ my hourly wage

=

close to $400 dollars

I charged the woman $150 and now I am losing money but $400 dollars for all of that wouldn't fly.

Maybe somewhere in New York or California but not Oklahoma...

I know that several people say that you have to call around to get pricing but everyone I've encountered would charge around the same...so I don't see how anyone is making money.

Does it come down to buying in bulk?

Do I need to buy stuff over a span of time and start again?

I'm losing my mind and my boyfriend wants me to come back and work for him if I'm not making anything doing it...PLEASE HELP!! Thanks, Madi.

Madi...

When you say "everyone I've encountered"... Do you mean other home bakers (I make the presumption that you are a home baker) or store front bakeries (not of the in the grocery store variety)? Many (not all) home bakers don't charge enough...

Honestly, I wouldn't be doing Marvel comic characters without permission anyhow... the possible copyright fine wouldn't be worth it to me... but I would imagine that those items with all the appropriate detail would be at least somewhere between $250-$350 (depending on location)...

If you are loosing money, then you are definitely undercharging... Either charge what will make you money and loose some customers (who wouldn't be your target market then) or continue to dig a hole for yourself and undervalue the market more...

I am sorry if what I say comes off as rude... My friends tell me that I am rather blunt most of the time...

No! That is exactly what I needed! My boyfriend is the same way, blunt and to the point, the way I like it :)

Thank you! I can be a pushover anyway, so I guess that doesn't help lol

I didn't think about copyright laws...I see so many Disney or nickelodeon cakes or cakes with television characters that I guess I figured it must be alright. The way I saw it was that I'm helping promote sales by advertising their stuff on my cakes...but I understand what you mean!

Thanks again! I'm going to stick to the prices and charge what I think I'm worth :)

Here are some links for cake central copyright discussions if you should feel the need to get caught up on that topic...

http://cakecentral.com/t/689728/warning-about-licensed-characters-and-copyrighted-material

http://cakecentral.com/t/749268/copyright-infringement-for-cake-decorations

http://cakecentral.com/t/755664/for-those-that-sell-disney-hello-kitty-and-other-copyrighted-cakes

http://cakecentral.com/t/740378/copyright-laws-questions

http://cakecentral.com/t/768587/character-cakes-and-copyright

Suffice it to say, it isn't a good idea... even better... If your customer wants it, tell them to get the permission for it so that they get mad at the copyright holder and not you... ;)

AYou may want to check this first: http://cakecentral.com/t/764720/policies-for-posting-the-cake-decorating-business-forum

Advice given.  Thank you for participating.