A woman at my grandsons birthday just had to have a mario cake like I did for him. I told her there was no way I would do a cake like that for under $200 because of all the gumpaste figures and castle. Her reply was you have to be kidding? I told her of the time and expense in just the materials and she still wasn't impressed. So I offered to teach her how to make the figures and she said she could just use my grandsons figures. My response was ABsolutely not! I save all the figures for them as a keepsake. I guess what I am getting at is that I am soOOOOO tired of people wanting something for nothing. I have learned to say no,no, no.

Ughh, I know! I really get tired of having to explain why I charge so much!

Welcome to my world! I'm a grocery store decorator and everyday I have to tell someone, "sorry, I can't do that here, but take a look through our book, maybe you'll find something you like!".

I dislike it very much when they do that. I do this as a hobby. I do it for friends and family. I ask them to buy the materials. When I tell them how much they have to spend they look at me like I have 5 heads ! That is just for materials. I do not charge for my work. They just don't get it!

I get that all the time. A woman wanted a two tier communion cake, top tier had a bible and rosary and there were gumpaste flowers. I quoted her a price and she asked me if I could do it for $50-60 which was her budget. Um....no I can't. Some people just can't afford real decorators and should stick to Walmart or Costco. Or else plan ahead for a bigger cake budget if they want a nicer cake.

Edit: They want something like one of Duff's cakes. Refer them to the Charm City Bakery website. When they see they have a minimum of $1000, maybe they will appreciate your prices more.

OMG...your Mario cake is simply amazing!!!
She should have jumped at the chance for you to show her how (I would have).
What did Forrest Gump say??? "Stupid is as stupid does."

I totally hear ya all...I feel like I deal with this almost weekly...it has gotten to the point in the past I feel like I have to justify why I charge what I do...I no longer do that...tired of it...my time and work is worth what I charge. I tell them that if I am too expensive, that maybe they could come up with another idea that is more budget friendly for them, (although it is true they want a cake boss cake or ace of cakes for nothing) If there budget isn't reasonable, then I tell them thank you for your interest, and maybe I can work with you again in the future, and I am just not what you are looking for right now....I also hate when people think they can bargain with you....umm NO I obviously have a price for this reason(I am not ebay...yeah lets bid on my cakes...LOL) I had someone try to pull a fast one with cupcakes...people will try anything, and ALWAYS want something for nothing...I am glad I am not the only one out here though that has to deal with this....

Love the stupid is as stupid does comment. And a second thought, they never have a wedding or birthday without a cake, that would be unheard of . So why not budget for something you can have at your celebration and be very proud of. It's not like the cake is an after thought for any of these things. It is usually the 2nd center of attention (the bride or birthday person first) Maybe we need to start saying, you cant bargin with wal mart, home depot, sears etc.

Yup...delivered a shower cake a couple of months ago and the Aunt asked how much it costs...I referred her to the G'ma to be who told her it was $250. She looked at me shocked and said she always watches those "cake shows" but had no idea it was so expensive for a cake. I said, you wouldn't guess that you can't even get one of those cakes for under $1000, would you? She nearly fainted...somehow my $250 cake wasn't so bad! LOL!

im a biot the same. i only do cakes as a hobby and just ask for cost of ingredients, or else give it as a gift. Told a friend of mine that i would do her baby shower cake for $50 (cost of materials) and i would make a her daughters cake as a her birthday gift.

anyway, we have been deciding on designs for the last 4 weeks, for the baby shower she two tiers at least, fondant decorations, rich chocolate cake, gumpaste baby, gumpaste bow and whole lot of other little bit and bobs. ahhh. it was getting out of hand. her daughters cake, she wanted a castle and a little gumpaste princess fairy, as its a gift, ive just asked her what colours and i was going to design myself. then she starts telling me xactly how she wanted that as well! its free cake!!

anyway, i got fed up, and showed her planet cake website, australian equivelent to ppink cake box, where their castle cake is $850, and if you want the figure along with it, its an extra $150 = GST (goods and services tax).

lets just say, she has now quite happily told me to just do what i like because she knows it will look great either way.

so, in conclusion, lol, i reccomend sending price cutters to the extravagent expensive cake shops so that they can then see for themselves what a good deal they are getting. =)