Ok--all of you who are being taken advantage of....1st thing on your Christmas list this year had better be a "backbone".

The only way that people can step all over you is if you lay down first!
Stand up to these people. A choo-choo cake??? In addition to a castle cake??? Tough love that family member...tell her a castle cake is all you have time for--take it or leave it!

Sorry to be so harsh, but come on! As long as you keep allowing these people to do this to you, they will!

Mac, you are right..... totally!! and I guess what it is for me is that I know my cakes are not professional quality so I feel I don't have the right to charge. I see all of you amazing creators and I think "I'm so far from that." I'm self taught and feel very self conscious about my work.

And you are right about the choo choo cake too....I was so blown away at the nerve and I could hear my niece saying "choo choo" yeah.... shes only turning 3 so I feel terrible saying no.

"She wants a choo-choo cake this year."
"Sounds great! Who are you going to get to make it?"

"We don't have much money ... can you do it free or discounted?"
"We don't have much money either ... that's why we don't discount."

"I can't afford to actual, like you know, PAY for this cake. Gosh, everything costs so dang much these days!"
"You're right .. that's why I can't afford to buy the very same things YOU'D have to buy and GIVE it to you for free!"

And I swear to god I had this conversation just this weekend. A young lady asked me if my birthday cakes were cheaper than wedding cakes and I was giving her my speech on why they were the same price. (she wasn't a customer... just a friend). I get to the part about "And you know ... when I buy eggs from my supplier, if I tell them I'm using them for a birthday cake, they don't give me a discount because I'm NOT using them for a wedding cake!"

Her mom was there and said, (I SWEAR I'm not making this up), she actually said, "Well, can't you just not tell them you're using them for a wedding cake?"

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If you put a small value upon youself, rest assured that the world will
not raise your price.
---Unknown
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If no one complains that your price is too high, then you're not charging enough.
----- CC'er classiccakes
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Well Debi, you know those good for nothing WalMart cashiers, alwasy jacking up the price of your eggs when they find out you're doing a wedding cake. Beeeyotches!

Indydebi,
You just made me laugh out loud!!! Thanks! BTW, my football I posted today has your BC on it! I played around with it some and my previous problems are taken care of.

Anyway, like I said, I'm not a master like you all BUT due to all of your guys' nudging, i did call my GF a bit ago and told her that if she wants the cake for her son(a race car) it will cost $40 and they will have to meet me 1/2 way...I'm not driving an hour to drop off a cake and then go home again.

Know what she said??????? This:
"oh, I'll just go to Sam's then. I can get it for 1/2 that."

And there ya go!!!!!!!

Oh I forgot to add one of my top-of-the-list peeves. When people want it for free under the heading of "look at all the advertising you'll get by so many people seeing/eating your food/cake!"

Those very same people will see/eat my food/cake whether it's free or paid for, so I vote for paid for!

And Melvira, I guess when *I* buy *my* eggs, the price of those don't go up every single day like the eggs everyone else is buying, huh?

I had one friend of a friend ask me to do a topsy turvy cake for 40-50 guests. With all the fancy stuff hanging off it...really cool...totally decked out..lots of colors....oh and they didn't want to spend more than $80-100. They had one other lady they were going to call, but wanted to give me first crack at it. Huh...thanks I guess.

I was nice, I'm always nice. If I'm not willing to do it, then I just say so, no reason to make anyone feel bad. I told her it wasn't really worth my time to do it at that price because it was going to take so many hours....so much for scratch ingredients, but if she wanted a much simpler cake I could probably work it in. She decided to call the other lady. (No problem, I soooo done with doing discounted friend of a friend cakes).

A couple of weeks later I ran into her. "So, how did everything go with the cake?" I ask. "Oh it was ok, the other lady did a topsy turvy SHEET cake." "Really, how did she do that?" I was pretty curious how you do a topsy turvy sheet cake at all, let alone for under $100. "Oh....well, it was just a regular sheet cake, just with topsy turvy colors." (Smile, I didn't know there were "topsy turvy colors".)

[quote="Mac"]If I offer a cake--it's free! If you call me to ask for a cake--it's an order/business transaction! Plain and simple! [\\quote]

Plain and simple! Advice worth it's weight in gold.

[quote="lolobell"]Mac, you are right..... totally!! and I guess what it is for me is that I know my cakes are not professional quality so I feel I don't have the right to charge. I see all of you amazing creators and I think "I'm so far from that." I'm self taught and feel very self conscious about my work. quote]

I think this is the problem I've been having too!!! Although my cakes always taste good, I know they don't always look professional, and that makes me not want to charge what it would be worth if one of you did it sometimes, but I guess I'll never get my business off the ground if I don't charge for my ingredients and time. I'm self taught too, which is the biggest reason why I try to give a break on the price, but I got super frustrated with this lady adding all those extras!!! Thanks for all the advice, and I'm over here LMAO at some of these posts. No matter the situation, I can always rely on you guys to make me feel better!!!

All y'all who are grossly undercharging and then actually COMPLAINING about it, step right up.

Y'all need a real good bitch-slap and a backbone.

HAVE TO????? I mean, who says you HAVE to? Seriously folks. If you continue to see yourselves as doormats so will everyone else.

Why are you choosing to have people treat you this way?

I'm really angry at y'all now.

I don't really see the 'bad publicity' argument here.

I'll ignore the fact that you grossly undercharged (and undercut your colleagues). BUt, if she wants an upgrade she needs to pay for an upgrade.

If I buy a new car and want fancy stuff on it, do I get it for free?

And a tasting? For a 10-6 cake? Hahahahahaha. No way.

Sheesh...These kind of situations were the reason that I gave up cake decorating several years ago, and have only come back to it in the last year and a half. (My sister was famous for "expecting" special cakes for her kids' birthdays, agreeing to pay for the ingredients, and then when I arrived at the party with cake in had saying, "it can be X's gift". Uhm, what do you think that d*#n Barbie doll is?)

Anyway, I now place an "invoice" of sorts with every cake that I make for friends or as donatations. It details the cost of ingredients, supplies, and my time...including the actual time that I spent on the cake. The final value of the cake is clearly stated, as well as that this cake is a gift/donation. It's gone a long way to helping people understand the expensive and time that I go to provide them with a nice cake. They have been appreciative, in an almost every case I have been reimbursed for the ingredients and have received a resonable tip.

Ok, so I took you guys' advice and emailed the lady back stating that I wouldn't do the tasting, and that the cost of the fillings and such would bring up the cost. "Ok, just do the bottom chocolate and the top vanilla!!!", is the response I got. Now I see what everyone else means.

Thanks for helping me get some "back-bone" as you would say!!! I now realize that being in this and any other business, people are always going to try to take advantage of you, and I guess I need to get used that and not feel bad for charging for my services. Thanks a lot guys, you really opened my eyes with this thread!!!

Ashley

Way to go Ashley! It gets easier every time

Well done!!!!

Doesn't it feel good?

Thanks everyone! I felt good about what I said to my GF, but then again, she's going to Sam's now for her cake!!!!!!!!! So, there goes that!!!!!!!! I know once she gets there and sees that the cake will only be a picture of a race car and not the actual car, she may call me again....but.........oh well if she doesn't I guess!!!

Thanks again.

Ok, I haven't done the 'gutless pricing' thing in a while, but Chutzpah, I'm in desperate need of a good bitch slap... could you hook me up anyway? I warn you, I'll follow you like a lost puppy afterward! Hehehehehe.

But seriously, It's true what everyone says about fairly pricing yourself will not make people bad mouth you *neccessarily*. Because, when it comes right down to it, someone who is going to badmouth you is going to do it whether you stand up for yourself or not... if you go against them on anything, you're going to get it... and if you don't, well, they're going to badmouth you on that. "Oh, SHE won't be in business very long! She just kept giving me everything for free!"

Oh and BTW, I get the "times are tough" line from everyone so having me do their cakes "helps"..................
Um, I'm a stay home Mom with MS and a 2 year old and my husbands a teacher. So, we get that times are tough. My hubby just cringes when he finds out I'm doing another cake for nothing but come home from Michael's with a bag of crap I needed for the cake and have spent 40-60 bucks easy each time. Since I'm starting out, I don't have much in the name of supplies, pans, boards, colors you name so each time I do a cake, I'm off to the store.
Not to mention the shortening, the PS, the flavorings etc...................
He's usually good about it but I think he's patience is wearing thin!!!

lolobell and Niquie--
I have looked at your cakes and they definitely warrant more than "Wal-mart" prices. If that's what your customers/friends want to pay...send them there.

And if you lose their so-called "business"--so be it! They will be back eventually or there will be another one to take their place.

10 years ago, I used to kill myself making inexpensive cakes for everybody and their brothers...ya know what...it feels good to sit on the couch making nothing (money-wise) than to make a cake that actually ends up costing ME to make and deliver. The first few "oh, I'll just go to Wal-mart" stung but hey, I got over it.

I can't remember the name of the CC member that made these awesome cakes and was closing her business because she couldn't keep up with the demand because her prices were so low. Anybody else remember her name?

I have taken the time to look at everyones cakes that has posted about this topic. I did not see even ONE cake that I thought did not look "professional enough" to charge. They ALL look great!! We are awesome at what we do and we need to remember that. Self included!! Because I too am one of those that has been taken advantage of and have caved into the "friend" request. But reading all these posts has made me realize that I am in charge and I need to stand up. So, CCers, let's all stand up together and price our cakes like we are worth it!!!

Well Said, Twopeasinapod!

Thats what I said coming into this New Year! I will standup for myself when it comes to my cakes!

I feel pretty fortunate. My friends have always offered to pay for cakes--even when I have offered to bring them. Also, I have lost some customers to the local mega mart. Some have been back--some not. One had to sit across from me at a party where I brought a cake and had to listen to many of the party guests rave on and on about how wonderful the cake was. (That was my fave--but I am a little petty that way)