Hi everyone.. i've been doing cakes for awhile now but one thing I'm never sure of is a deposit. When should I be asking for one? The cakes I normally do are birthday/celebration cakes anywhere from $60-$150. Every once in awhile I'll get a big order for a $300+ cake...

Normally, I've only asked for a deposit for cakes over $200-$300... but I've gotten stiffed on 2 party cakes recently and wish I'd asked for a deposit.

Do any of you ALWAYS require a deposit? What are your guidelines? Any advice for me?

p.s.- I don't do wedding cakes. Not because I don't think I can do them.. I just can't stand brides! lol

i do 20% non-refundable when they sign the contract. the remaining balance is due 2 weeks before event. but that is just me. I saw a post around here somewhere where people were talking about this. they had a lot of helpful info on it.

I do this:

Party cakes 50% non-refundable deposit. Final 50% on delivery

Wedding cakes 30% non-refundable deposit. Final 70% due at least 2 weeks before the wedding date.

I tell clients that their booking is not secured until I receive a deposit so if I get booked up, they lose out. (it rarely happens but it gets them paying!)

HTH

I always require a signed contract and deposit (even when I do cakes for friends)

For weddings I require a 50% non-refundable deposit and the remaining balance is due 30 days before the reception.
For any other cake I still require 50% non-refundable deposit and the rest is due at the time of delivery or pick-up.

i require 100% paid within a week of the event for all cake/cookie orders totaling over $100.

If the order is time consuming and it's a new customer I require 100% at time of order and let them know "this is going to take me an entire week of work so I need to ensure I'll be compensated" nobody has ever had a problem with it!

for non wedding cake orders i require full payment at time of ordering or 7 days before pickup, most of my customers pay through paypal, its convenient for both of us. I do pay a little fee (comes out of what they pay me) but its easy and im not running to the bank all the time. Once i have all their cake details i send them an invoice that the cakeboss software makes and it has my details, cake details and payment instructions. love that feature.

Sheesh. I would never accept money on delivery day, ever. It's paid in full no later (and this is generous) a week prior to ever turning on the oven. What if the check bounces? What if you show up a the door and they say "ehhhhh, ummm, I only have $20 instead of the $40." How awkward would that be?

This ain't Dominos pizza delivery.

lol.. great posts everyone! This helps me put things into perspective...

And no, I don't always require a deposit. In those instances, it's payment in full.

_Jamie_, I'm guessing this may be a cultural difference, payment on delivery (for party cakes) seems to be fairly standard here (Australia). I've never had anyone not pay or even try to make it awkward. I can't imagine anyone not paying.

It reminds me of an American friend of mine who moved here for a few years (her husband was posted here to work in the embassy). She was having a baby and during her tour of the hospital she asked about electronic security tagging of the babies, alarms if they're removed etc. The midwife showing her around just looked at her blankly and said they didn't have that system. She said with a smile, "our security is that we tend not to have people who want to steal babies!"

(NB: I do not want to turn this into a debate about national differences - it's just a funny story!)

Lol sugar! Well, here we have lots of morons. Nuff said. I like to avoid morons at all cost.