I’m far from an expert on pricing. But over time I’ve learnt from my mistakes, so here’s the advice I can offer you.
Do not charge for the amount of servings they want. Charge for the amount the cake serves. If they want the look of a two tier cake but are only having twenty people at their party, they have to pay for extra servings. Or compromise on the design. Even if they ended up throwing out half of the cake, you still had to pay for the ingredients and take the time to decorate it. I usually do 6’ and 8’ for two tiers, though, so that would offer less servings. Perhaps that could help you. I also prefer the look of a smaller top tier.
As for pricing just off serving… I try and get as much information as possible before quoting a price. (Or I stress that it’s a starting rate and details will affect the price.) back when I was just starting selling I priced a cake on the fact that it was a two tier cake for a woman who loves shoes. This was over the phone and I quoted her for a cake with a sugar shoe. But later when she emailed me the picture I realized it had two large shoes and multiple smaller ones all around the cake, plus roses. I was new and awkward and left it at the same price because I was afraid to change it on her… And ended up stressing myself out over details and making hardly any money. So now I try and iron out details before pricing. (Not always possible, though.)
As for hourly wage, I think it is marginally different depending on where you are from, as currency and minion wages are all different. I for one don’t have a set wage – I’m a young student and do cakes around that, so sometimes I take much longer than it should. In the long run I will have to figure it out but for the time being I’m trying to develop my skills and hope to open a shop one day.
Hope I helped even a little. :)
