Well I got my laugh for the day. I recently got a call from a friend for her nieces wedding. She is wanting a 5 tier square cake 385 servings- no extra decorating just making and icing the cake with a buttercream filling. Her mom is going to add flowers or something to the cake so I cut them what "I thought" was a good deal. I said o.k. and since she didn't want a lot of decorating and her aunt is a good friend I said I would do the cake for $577 which is only $1.50 per slice. Mind you my normal charge is $2.25 for buttercream which could have cost her $866 for the 385 servings that she was getting.

So I get an email today that she found someone to do it cheaper, all I could do was laugh. 5 tiers and not to mention SQUARES and no borders to cover of the seams which is more work for me than if I had to add the borders. This stuff use to bother me but not anymore. I know what my time is worth. Will be very interesting to see what the cake looks like that she ends up with.

I have never in my life understood why anyone would choose a cake based on how "cheap" it is! I had a bride contact me a couple of years ago wanting a cheesecake wedding cake....for $1 per serving! I nearly laughed into the phone! I emailed her a quote and got a really snotty reply that she had found someone to do it for .85 per serving and wouldn't be needing my $4 per serv rip off! I often wonder how many of her guests got sick....what could that thing possibly have been made out of to only cost .85 per serv??? That's like ordering a T-Bone for .97 and think your getting a deal ...sorry but no thank you! I like my meat to come from a cow not a rodent!!!

haha - all I can figure is she must have found 'aunt sally' or someone like that to do her cake. Seriously you found a cake for less than $1.50 per serving.

Cheese cake for .85 per serving....I would have laughed at that one too.

i've had em calling me the day of the wedding(crying) when aunt sally's cake fell over....or looked like a 5 year old did it.

it's sad, some things you just need a pro.

This is hilarious! I got a call from my nephew that a friend of his was wanting me to do a 4 tier square cake all butter cream with black scroll work/dots etc on each tier to feed around 100 people. I told her I would have to sit down with her and talk with her about exactly what she wanted. She never called. Then a couple days later my nephew told me she got someone to do it for $100.
I told him to tell her to go for it!

Whenever I have someone balk at the price of a cake I explain to them that it is just not the time and materials I put into the cake, it is the money I loose turining people away that week because I am giving their cake my full attention and I do not have time for anyone else. For the most part that is BS, but it usually fluffs the bride and shuts her and her mom up!

I never understand why someone would get "snooty" when inquiring about someone's prices. I have called businesses for different quotes and if I thought it was too high, I just thanked them for their time and went on to another. Why the need to comment on "being too high?"
I have had this happen quite frequently lately...I don't know whether the economy is affecting people or people are just getting ruder. I don't haggle my prices-that is what it is-take it or leave it.

I just don't understand people. If you have a shop then obviously you are a proffesional (not belittling home bakers - I started there too, I am just saying in the eyes of the public). You do not go to a doctor, lawyer or a mechanic and haggle over prices - they say what it is and you pay it if you want their services. You don't get to haggle over a walmart cake either for that matter! I'm going to put a sign in my shop that says this is a dictatorship not a democracy and I do not negotiate! I already have one that says "We do not compare our pricing to others, they know what their cake is worth."

And what gives these people the expertise to KNOW the prices are too high? Are they in the industry? have they done extensive research in the area.

I think that when I go to the salon the price is too high when I have to pay $58 for a haircut--I have long straight hair, easy to cut in 15 minutes. Do I tell the stylist her price is too high and act snotty? NO! I can always go over to Great Clips and pay $8 for a haircut....but I certainly don't want to walk around sporting a nasty $8 haircut (sorry--no offense to anyone who works at a Great Clips and actually knows how to cut hair. I used to take my kids to the one in town and they butchered their hair there. It may not be like that everywhere!).

I had a "bride-to-be" come in for a taste testing... I didn't even charge her for the taste testing due to the fact that she was a 'friend' of one of my clients... One of the cakes at the testing was filled with strawberries, also... So, I gave her what I too thought was a break on price, and only charged her $2.75 per serving since the entire cake was to be filled, and she wanted gumpaste flowers.... Her mom wouldn't sign a contract... two days later, I get this email stating that she had found someone to do the cake for $1.50 per serving...

HOW? I sit here and add up my cost on the cake... NOT adding in time, and I still come up with more than $1.50 per serving...

That "bride-to-be" is the maid of honor of the bride that I'm signed on with for this weekend, and she also threw my bride a bridal shower... My bride begged her to get the cake from me, but she wouldn't... Some people really amaze me...

I understand trying to save a dollar, but when you start cutting corners on the Bride's Cake..... That's a definite "RED FLAG" in my opinion.

I, too, have been called whenever a wedding cake was leaning.. or whenever a wedding cake had cracked right down the middle and was falling off on each side.... I just smile and say... "Who made this cake? and where are THEY?"

People come to our print shop and do this stuff all the time. We had one guy last week come in for a quote on some invioces. We gave him the price and then, I kid you not, said "Okay now what kinda deal can you give me on that?" Ummm, excuse me? That is the deal, the real deal. No there is no magic phrase in retail that when uttered will make the sales person drop the price 50% just because you said it. People are dumb, rude, and just flat out worthless at times.

edit to include:

85 cents a serving? I dont think I could do that with frozen cheese cake from Kroger.

i used to get offended when people said i charged too much....
now? i say, 'oh i realize i'm expensive,i would NEVER claim to be cheap; however, i strive to make sure you STILL feel like you got a bargain...even at the price i charge....(i'm $2 per serving, more if i use fondant). It is my desire that you say, 'wow, that was completely worth it.!"

i call it 'knowing my target customer.' i don't want to work for someone who bargain shops for cake....isn't that why God gave us WalMart? i try to get pricing out of the way ASAP, because it can save both of us a lot of time if we find out we aren't a good match.

heck, i bargain shop for clothes...and i have a friend who ONLY buys name brands/IN style things....it's okay...we keep various stores in business....

sally

I had a phone call yesterday after I was on the local radio show... and they asked for a gourmet cake... they wanted this cake to be filled with peach & passion fruit... 4 layers... topped with fresh fruit... etc, etc, etc... PLUS wanted me to come to the party to cut/serve the cake....

When I told them the price they started wanting to "bargain" on the price.... I simply said, "Listen, if you're wanting to 'bargain'... there's a big flea market down on 3rd street in Memphis... about 20 minutes away... I'm sure they will have someone there you can bargain with. I'm not a flea market... so let me know if you want this cake."

I take a LOT of pride in my product... these are my mama's recipes and I'm not gonna 'give' this stuff away... I've got to pay my utilities and Lord knows... I've got to buy gas at the gas pump and there is definitely NO bargaining there...

Well i agree with all of you. We are giving all our attention for this business. People must keep in mind that if they want something unique, they have to pay for the cake, the design, the labour, the one to one service etc...

Or they can go the market and pick a cake that has been standing there for many days..

When people say that you're prices are too high, just tack on "For my budget" in your head. It's not a slam on you, it's just that they're either cheap bargain hunters or they really can't afford it. No big deal...Now if they're obnoxious about it, then that's more a reflection on them and their own personality problems. Let them enjoy their bargain cake. They might also think that you'll match whatever price they claim to have gotten from another source if they mention it.

One of the problems that we all face is that people have been trained to look for bargains, it's the "never pay retail" mentality. With the economy the way it is now, I've also been seeing more shows and magazine articles than usual about how to haggle at stores to save money, so it isn't going to get any better any time soon. I hate the wedding magazine articles that give all kinds of "helpful" tips about how to negotiate prices with your vendors. I don't know of any wedding vendors who negotiate, but maybe some of them do and don't admit it! Just stand firm on your prices, we deserve what we're worth!

I did a 9x13 sheet cake for a friend and charged her $30 about a month ago. It was for her oldest daughters birthday.

Her youngest daughter is having a party this weekend and we received our invitation but no order for a cake.

It doesn't bother me at all. I will not spend hours on a cake for nothing. Sorry people.