My question is this- when you price a cake to someone, do you get your money before the cake is made or upon delivery. I have a person I did a cake for and they gave me partial payment, but I haven't seen the rest of the money. I am afraid I am not going to get it. It is a young couple who are friends of the family. I don't want this to happen again. What should I do. How do you handle the exchange of money? I am sure they want to pay for it on delivery, but I think we should be gauranteed some sort of money ahead of time so that we don't lose out if they a. cancel, b. just does not pay. I am new to this so I really don't know how to do this with proper etiquette. Help!

what did you tell them about final payment?
(you DID mention it, didn't you?)

My basic rule of thumb, and this is pretty relaxed because I live in a small town... if it's just a simple sheet cake or small cake I take payment on delivery. If it's expensive such as a wedding, I prefer it paid in advance. Not sure what my exact $ cutoff would be between the two.

There is a similar thread on this right now. But, here goes.

Any cake that is under $399 must be paid for in full when order is placed. Cakes over that are $300 or 50% which ever is more non refundable deposit at time of order with balance due 2 weeks before event date. Also I do not accept checks. Cash or Credit card only.

I just re-read your post. It is confusing...at the beginning of the post it says you "did" a cake and they paid you a partial payment. But the end of your post sounds as if you haven't yet done the cake and that the couple may be expecting to pay upon delivery. Can you clarify?

cakesdivine, the way I read that was she did the cake, was partially paid and doesn't think she will get any more $. She doesn't want this to happen again but knows *future customers* probably want to pay on delivery. That's just how I took it.

I usually do small cakes so I take payment when they come to pick it up..I don't deliver.If it is a wedding cookie order or a larger anniversary cake I may collect a deposit with final payment due at time of pickup.

While I might take orders over the phone I follow up with an e-mail that includes payment instructions. This gives me a clear thinking process and in print everything I want the client to know about the order.
For smaller cakes ($125) I take payment upon delivery/pick up.
For wedding cakes it's $200 "non-refundable retainer fee" & then final payment 3 weeks before the wedding date.

Oh & I hand them the bill at time of delivery so there is no misunderstanding that I expect to get paid.

Problem with COD method especially with weddings is you end up not getting to speak with the person who actually placed the order. If you deliver 9 times out of 10 the person who placed the order will not be around to pay you, they always magically disappear. A teen or other relative ends up accepting the cake and saying Oh so & so isn't here, they said to just leave the cake. Then when you inquire about payment again they have no clue and can you call the person later. ALWAYS get your money up front unless they are a regular customer whom you know will pay you without question!

The "etiquette" is that unless the cake is paid for in full, the person DOESN'T GET THE CAKE until they pay the balance.

Never deliver a cake, or allow a cake to leave your hands, until you have ALL OF THE MONEY FOR IT.

If you get a sob story or the person tries to tell you that they'll pay you later, then tell them that they can have the cake WHEN THEY PAY FOR IT!

You're not a charity. A cake not fully paid for BELONGS TO YOU! You can eat it, freeze it, or donate it to a non-profit organization.

I have never had any luck getting the grocery store to let me take my bags of groceries to the car without HAVING PAID IN FULL. If I pull away from the gas pump without paying in full, the cops will show up at my door.

Hound these people until you get the rest of your money---AND DON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!

Rae

I've always done a COD with smaller cakes (I do a lot of bday cakes). But weddings are always paid in advance. You will hardly ever be able to get with the bride or groom on the day of delivery. If you require a partial payment up front, you should have asked for the balance when they got the cake. NEVER let ANYONE leave with a cake they haven't paid for. Believe me, sometimes even your friends and family will leave you hanging for months......no balance paid......no cake to repo! lol

We just opened our storefront early March and learned some quick lessons. At first, we let people pay when they picked up there order and twice in the same week, we had 2 cakes not picked up or paid for!!! We ended up selling them for a little less just to get rid of them, but it was so aggravating. Our new policy is this. They must pay a 25.00 deposit to hold the date for specialty cakes and the payment on ALL cakes must be paid for in full one week in advanced, if not, their cake isn't made and they lose their deposit. Wedding cakes require a 30% deposit to hold the date and the wedding cake must be paid for 3 weeks in advance to give time for checks to clear, etc. NO EXCEPTIONS at all anymore! I know you want to trust people, but you just can't which is really sad. We work way to hard to not get paid for our time and effort, not to mention the orders we turned down for that week because we were booked!

For me ALL NEW CUSTOMERS pay before the cake will even be made. no money.... no baking. Wedding cakes require a deposit. I DO NOT deliver BD cakes.