Amen to the turning down orders! I have styles/designs that I flat out will not do, some that just don't take much skill, and aren't artsy enough for me. And since I'm the one that makie the cakies, I decide which orders I want to take. Oh, and I will turn down a possible PITA (be it the client OR the cake) anyday! 
Mel-you are right about the bad mouthing. Those customers always will, no matter what. It took me a while in the beginning, but I realized to have a price list, and stick to it. In the beginning, I would always try to accomidate (sp?) people (the lady with the food stamps-I remember trying to work her in by making a fondant gift box cake with a tiara for $1/serving/ How stupid was that?) Not anymore. These are my prices. Period. They won't be lower, but they might be higher if you want extra stuff.
Mel-you are right about the bad mouthing. Those customers always will, no matter what. It took me a while in the beginning, but I realized to have a price list, and stick to it. In the beginning, I would always try to accomidate (sp?) people (the lady with the food stamps-I remember trying to work her in by making a fondant gift box cake with a tiara for $1/serving/ How stupid was that?) Not anymore. These are my prices. Period. They won't be lower, but they might be higher if you want extra stuff.
Sometimes, there are people who should be getting their cakes at Walmart. Nothing wrong with that either.
I have come to realize that there is a very fine line between being nice and being a patsy. My husband says I don't charge enough for the cakes that I do, but since I'm not unhappy with what I'm getting, I don't stress over it. The cookies, however, are a different story. The people who are willing to pay top dollar for a cake will not fork over the money for decorated sugar cookies...and those are far more time-consuming for me to do! Almost nobody gets decorated cookies from me, because I refuse to do them at grocery store prices. Which is a bummer, because I get a lot more joy out of doing cookies than cakes.
GeminiRJ--
Been there--one of the hospitals here is having a dinner this month and wanted 800 cookies.
I have made cookies for their Christmas party so they know how much I charge. Can't believe that they came back and told me they only wanted to pay .50 cents a cookie 
.
We have a restaurant here that will do them for $1.00 so I laughed and told them to go there. Believe me--they look like they should only charge .50 cents--Ha!
I think people believe that they can get top quality cookies for Wal-Mart prices. When you go to Wal-Mart, you pay for what you get. When you come to me, you pay for what you get. The only question would be do you want machine made stale cookies or do you want home made cookies decorated with time and love?!?!?! Same way with cakes. They are not individualized and don't have that special touch.
GeminiRJ--
Been there--one of the hospitals here is having a dinner this month and wanted 800 cookies.
I have made cookies for their Christmas party so they know how much I charge. Can't believe that they came back and told me they only wanted to pay .50 cents a cookie
.We have a restaurant here that will do them for $1.00 so I laughed and told them to go there. Believe me--they look like they should only charge .50 cents--Ha!
But...they're just...COOKIES. Surely .50 cents is reasonable? (I'm joking, of course).
You can't get thru to these people that they're asking for a custom decorated, individual dessert for practically nothing. They won't blink at $2 per serving for cake, but gasp at $2 for a decorated cookie.
GeminiRJ--
Been there--one of the hospitals here is having a dinner this month and wanted 800 cookies.
I have made cookies for their Christmas party so they know how much I charge. Can't believe that they came back and told me they only wanted to pay .50 cents a cookie
.We have a restaurant here that will do them for $1.00 so I laughed and told them to go there. Believe me--they look like they should only charge .50 cents--Ha!
A HOSPITAL???? Where you spend $250 for an aspirin??? They really thought you were too expensive?? And they wanted a PRICE CUT??? You should've told them to submit it to their insurance and see how much they could get reimbursed for.
I think people believe that they can get top quality cookies for Wal-Mart prices.
Not only that, but the pervasive attitude that seems to be growing in this country day by day which I not so unabashedly refer to as "entitlementisis". I mean, shouldn't everybody, regardless of the effort they put forth be entitled to drive a brand new Lexus??? Waaaaa!
Sorry...ahem! Had to get that off my chest!
A HOSPITAL???? Where you spend $250 for an aspirin??? They really thought you were too expensive?? And they wanted a PRICE CUT??? You should've told them to submit it to their insurance and see how much they could get reimbursed for.
I. Love. You.
A HOSPITAL???? Where you spend $250 for an aspirin??? They really thought you were too expensive?? And they wanted a PRICE CUT??? You should've told them to submit it to their insurance and see how much they could get reimbursed for.
I. Love. You.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! Yeah, toooooo funny! 
A HOSPITAL???? Where you spend $250 for an aspirin??? They really thought you were too expensive?? And they wanted a PRICE CUT??? You should've told them to submit it to their insurance and see how much they could get reimbursed for.
I. Love. You.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! Yeah, toooooo funny!
Hey, I'm just sayin'... if you're looking for overpriced stuff, that's your first stop!
And I love you guys too!
I was also asked to donate to a Law Firm I used to work at. And this was after I was "let go". As a way to "advertise".
I smiled and said sure. Now how about your lawyers "donating" their services for a Job related Lawsuit I'm planning? It's great promotion.
Of course I never heard from them again.
I deal with a hospital regularly for meetings and holiday parties, graduation parties for their residents, etc, and almost always some drug co. sponsors the party. I bet the hospital wasn't even paying for the cookies anyway!
I was also asked to donate to a Law Firm I used to work at. And this was after I was "let go". As a way to "advertise".
I smiled and said sure. Now how about your lawyers "donating" their services for a Job related Lawsuit I'm planning? It's great promotion.
Of course I never heard from them again.
Or how about a family member that works for the electric company.....well, I would be happy to donate a cake to your cause....can you please return the favor someday and donate a couple weeks worth of electricity to me? I mean, it's only electrons flying along a circuit...doesn't cost thaaaat much! 
Niquie : I just had a similar situation & thought I would share, even though I know you've already handled yours. 
A co-worker of my dad's (we'll call him ... Joe) asked him about me making a cake for his daughters B-day, so my dad called to relay "Joe's" request. I said yes (of course!) I never turn down a cake with good advance notice. The most my daddy could tell me was that it needed to feed about 6-8 kids & be a Tom & Jerry cake. Daddy wanted to know what my starting price was, I told him and also told him an estimated price range should "Joe" decide to go more elaborate. Dad said he would give "Joe" my email address, cell number & website address & we left it at that.
I got an email from "Joe" saying that he loved all of the cakes on my site & wanted to go ahead & order a custom carved cake (like my Dragon or my Scooby Doo). Great! No problem! I replied to his email stating :
"A Custom Carved cake will run you $xx & will include blahblahblah. Or for $xx I could do just their heads in 3-D (think Debbie Brown) ... oooor for $xx I could do a simple sheet cake or 8" round with pics/logos/FBCT. Whatever you decide is great by me. Just let me know!"
Sure enough, "Joe" came back with an order for a 1/4 sheet cake. Naturally. I find it hard to believe that people think they can get a custom carved cake for the same base price as a simple sheet cake! 
On the other hand though, I absolutely positively will ALWAYS make anything & everything for my beloved niece & nephews. They are 4 (oldest nephew) & twin 2 year olds & they know & love cake. We are a very close knit family & I spends loads of time with the kids, so whatever they want I will give them. I know! I spoil them too much. But if this is something I can do for them that I love to do & am good at & they will remember for the rest of thier lives, so be it.
OH! I just thought of another good one! I have a regular customer ... Becky ... who always orders ncie, modest cakes for my base price. She calls me at my J.O.B. one Friday asking for a cake for that Sunday. Okay. Sure. What do you need? ".... Welll ..." (oh crap) "Could you do a snowy mountian ski slope with evergreen trees & a little boy skiing down the mountian?" sigh. Sure! Why not! Bring it on! I only had 3 other cakes to do that weekend. 
I made the cake, the gumpaste trees & wound up purchasing a Christmas tree ornament for the skiier (50% off) & she LOVED it. I also charged her more for the extra work, time & supplies.
Next time she ordered from me (yes she did return for her next cake) she specified that she wanted to keep it around the base price. This helped us both to get ideas & create a cake for her ocassion that suited her & stayed within her budget.
They will learn, the hard way if necessary. Always be up front about your pricing & be firm. Remember, you get what you pay for & that may or may not be a good thing!
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