I have a consultation tomorrow with a man who wants cake for 500 people, and his budget is up to $1000.00. Does this sound reasonable? I mean, to accomodate this, my price per serving would have to go down to about $1.50, which I am not willing to do. Would you guys do a cake for that many people for the same amount? Any creative ideas? Thanks

no way. I can't believe you even considered a consultation with him, let alone even think about LOWERING your prices.

You set your prices to give you a decent wage after all is said and done. What he wants would almost cut your prices in half, so you simply cannot do it.

He is a guy, most likely he is NID (not into details) so most likely, he either A. Does not want anything fancy or B. does not know the going rate for cake...

I would :
Find out what he was after....
Show him some cakes that would fit his needs, Tell him the price of the cake by explaining the serving size/price per serving

and if he:
Say's it's just cake, tell him he is more than able to get a frozen cake with assembly line icing at Walmart
or

If you offer sheet cakes:
He could get a nice cake for (how ever many people)
and finish off with sheet cakes. (if you do this -- if not don't go there -- you don't want to let the word out - if you do not do this type of thing normally.)

Do not sacrifice your prices/profit because someone already gives you a price they are interested in...

I would simply say for the amount of servings you are interested in, my price per serving for every cake is ($$$) that would mean for 500 servings your price would be ($$$)

It is then up to him if he wants your delictable custom made, master piece to show off at his party...

He probably has no idea what a cake costs. I'd find out what he wants and quote him my regular price and I would most likely explain this is how much cakes costs. If he starts trying to lower your base price (because you've already given him the least expensive design) just tell him he might wanna check Walmart for that special cake!

Jan saw the same thing I did ..... the phrase "up to". This flagged me that he first of all thinks he's doing you a favor by calling you for a cake. He uses the phrase "up to" to enhance his value, but trust me ... after years in purchasing and corporate sales, whenever I hear the word "up to" that means they have no intention of spending that much. Not even close.

To a non-food person (cake or catering .. I see it on both sides), they have a thousand dollars and they think "I have A THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" They never stop to think that if they are feeding 100 people, a thousand dollars is good. But if they are feeding 500 people, then it's not necessarily a lot of money. All they know is "I've got A THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!"

And ... men are notorious for not knowing the rates for cake stuff. When hubby and I got married, he honestly thought a 3-tier wedding cake to feed a hundred would cost "....about thirty bucks."

I'm with them--don't lower your prices, for cryin out loud. This is easy:

If this was me, I'd say this:

"Well, let's see (adjust glasses and reach for adding machine). If you need 500 servings...my servings start at $3.50/serving, so if you need 500 servings, in any traditional flavor with basic decoration, thatwould be a minimum of $1750.00. If you can only spend $1000.00 for cake for this event, then even if you bought sheet cakes at $3.00/serving, you'd only be getting about 333 servings. So...Would you like to plan for the right amount of cake to feed that many guests, order enough cake for 333 of your guests, or... you might try shopping around (i.e. WM) for a bakery that can help you." (bat eyelashes, pen poised over order form...)

More than likely that particular type of customer will probably say "Well, no way am I spending almost $2000 for cake!" or at best, "Can I get back to you?" and I just say, "Ok. Well, thanks for calling!" *click*

good answer homecook!!!