asked to make a acoustic guitar to feed 40...priced it at $120. She didn't place the order.I called a foo-foo- bakery in town and they quoted me $395 for an acoustic guitar cake to feed 30! I know i don't have the reputation this bakery has so I felt $120 was fair..am I way off base here?BTW- I do understand people don't realize the work and time that goes into these cakes but I don't want to cut myself short either...

I know exactly how you feel. No you weren't off base. Your price was very fair for a carved cake.

Today I gave a potential client a basic quote of $150-220 ($2.75/serving) for a buttercream 2 tier stacked cake to feed 65-70, dependent on which sizes she ultimately chose, and on final design.

She emailed back that my price was too high and she would be going back to the baker who made her child's cake last year, who charged her $80 (only a bit more than $1/serving) for the same sized cake.

She attached a picture of a very detailed 2 tier stacked fondant-covered cake with a fondant figure and stars on wires on top, stating that this was the design she had decided on and the price would still be $80 from the other baker.

I emailed back that I understood her issue with how expensive cakes can be, but it's good she had decided to go back to the other baker, because I would not have agreed to do that cake anyway, as I do only buttercream work. Additionally, if I did do fondant, I would have charged her $75 more than my basic quote.

Cake muggles will never understand. They just don't have the experience to appreciate what we do.

"Their eyes have seen the glory but their brains haven't caught up yet." ----Debi

People still have it in their minds that "it's just a birthday cake" and we all know that birthday cakes cost twenty bucks, right? so why shouldn't a cake like the one described above cost only twenty bucks? It's "just a birthday cake".

They haven't yet figured out that birthday cakes are no longer the little 9x13 slap-a-rose-on-the-corner grocery store sheet cake that they're used to buying. But even tho' they order the big ornate cakes, they haven't figured out that they cost more. Our of habit or out of their own historical personal exposure, they just dont' think about it.

I went to the movies for the first time in YEARS last weekend. $4.50 for a coke!!?? $5.50 for a small popcorn???? Are you freakin' kidding me??? Now those who have been going to the movies every weekend for the last 10 years are going to look at me like I'm from another planet and ask "Where the heck have YOU been?" Well, I haven't been going to the movies, so I haven't been exposed to what the cost really is.

Most cake civilians fall into this category.

No, your price wasn't out of whack. She just probably had no idea what those kind of cakes costs and she was just hit with her first case of reality-check and sticker-shock.

Your price was more then generous. And I am so happy to hear you stuck to your pricing & told her to go ahead and go with the other baker. I wouldn't be surprised if she told you that price to see if you would come down on the pricing.

I had the same thing happen with a guitar request. I quoted $4 per serving and she never called back. In the beginning (all of seven months ago..haha) it used to really bother me but now after COUNTLESS hours of practice, turning out some pretty amazing cakes and some well guided advice (dare I say "kicks in the pants?") from indydeb and I feel far more confident in my asking price. If they wish to go elsewhere then I bid them well. I know they aren't going to get the kind of cake I can do for a price better than mine so they are definitely going to get what they pay for. Don't undervalue the service you provide or everyone else will follow YOUR lead and do the same.

Don't worry about her. Let her have her $80 cake. Your buyers will come...

thanks so much for all the feedback the funny thing is, the reason i got into cakes 2 years ago was because my sister was pregnant and wanted a belly cake from a foo-foo bakery who wanted to charge $100 and i thought they were crazy!!So, I researched mainly on this site for guidance and made it myself. I was so impressed i've become addicted and keep striving for (near) perfection in all cakes since. So, my point is... I totally see clients shock when they are told a price, I was on that side of the fence not too long ago. But, now being on the baker side, I don't want to be underpaid for all the blood sweat and tears!I appreciate all the support I don't know what i would do without all of you..