Scratch Vs Mix - Just Curious ?...?
Baking By SUNSHINEMOLLY Updated 21 Jun 2011 , 10:30am by boonenati
I was raised on box cakes, and my mother (who has since passed) and I alway debated on which was better, scratch or box. I don't like the texture of scratch cakes/cupcakes, but that is only my personal preference. I "tip my hat" to the person who can make a really good tasting/textured scratch cake. I almost quit doing cupcakes because I couldn't make a scratch cake to save my life. You are right when you say it takes skill, one I don't have. I bake cakes and cupcakes. I prefer scratch batter for cakes. They seem to be denser, and can hold up to the weight of the top layers than mixes. I think there is less likely to be a "falling cake", but I do prefer mixes for cupcakes. Just my 2cent worth.
I'm new to this forum (and still fairly new to baking), so I won't answer as a baker but rather a customer. If I were to order cupcakes from a baker/bakery (and pay the going rate) I personally would expect from scratch. I could easily go to the grocery store myself and make cupcakes or a cake from a box and spend a lot less.
If I'm going to spend $2-$3+ per cupcake, I expect something more than a box. I think it's important to be up front with the customer, and my feeling is that most customers would assume it's from scratch.
I used to have a cake business a few years ago. I only baked from scratch.
But I can tell you that here in Australia, the regular run of the mill bakery uses cake mixes. Many home decorators here also use Bakels mud mix and a lot of the famous cake places have outside bakeries do their baking from mixes.
Having said that, all my friends that bake cakes, do it from scratch. Birds of a feather and all that eh? 
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