Just a thought...bill her for consultation and design fees...after all, you are working hard "for every penny" just like she has.

I wouldn't expect that she would pay, but you will have the satisfaction of letting her know how wrong this was and that "time is money", it is stealing, etc.

Whoops!

She was not ready to commit because she did not give a deposit. She was clearly still shopping. The checkbook story is an old one. Serious buyers put the money down. Sometimes people don't want to offend you by saying the price is too much or maybe they haven't finished shopping. If you sketched it out while she was there, that few minutes probably did not seem like a big investment. Many contractors submit designs as a courtesy, hoping that that little extra effort will swing the sale. It doesn't mean that the buyer is obligated. Throwing something together on a piece of paper looks to the customer as a sales incentive. She had not committed and she knew it.

In the future, a rough draft that you don't mind being possibly "shopped" could be given to the customer. A true design sketch should be saved for after the contract is signed and money exchanges hands.

We have all copied someone else's designs. Every time we are given a picture to copy, even if we change some of it, we still copied it. Even if we draw it from scratch, as much as we all look at every cake possible, we are drawing on something we have seen and wanted to do. Yes, some people are true, original artists. But most of the pictures on this site are similar to other cakes.

I'm sorry you feel bad. You thought it was a sale. In reality, it was not a sale. The baker who got the sale may have said she will do something similar. And nobody cares who bakes the cake first except you. In the end, customers will still shop for the taste, price, and design that suits them the most. They don't care about a cake war between bakers.

Totally feel from you on this as someone kept pressing me to have her wedding cake design I had sketched but I refused. Her wedding is this year and she still hasn't come back to me to order her cake. I was guessing she would actually use my design elsewhere. No consultation she just wanted me to email her the design. Wasn't doing it. Unfortunately it happens. It's happened to me and how do you draw the line on stopping people doing it? Has no-one here put a starburst on a cake? well someone out there came up with that idea are we all breaching copyright law for doing a starburst on a cake? This is an interesting article that came up http://theintellectable.blogspot.com/2010/09/cake-design-and-copyright-law.html and this http://pccoursedirector.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-of-cupcakes-self-confidence-and.html - from planet cake about how they deal with it all. Sorry this happened to you it makes you so mad!

In any business, there are gains and there are losses. You won't win over every potential client that you meet with, and that's ok. I would rather that the people who can't afford me move along on their merry way because it's more than likely that no matter how great the cake is, they will complain to all their friends and family about how much they had to pay. I want the kind of clients that are not only willing and able to pay, but will appreciate the time and artistry that went into making the cake, and tell everyone they know how amazing it was.

I know it's difficult right now, but try to be flattered that she liked your design enough to want to take it with her. She probably didn't have any bad intentions...more than likely just wanted to give her daughter a nice cake and couldn't afford you. Let some other baker make the cake...who cares. Trust your own talent and artistry to know that there will be many more unique and beautiful cakes you'll make over the years that will more than replace this one that was lost.

I had several different experiences with that as well. The tastings arent free and that gives you a head start "no pay - no interest". I sketched a cake and had tasting, they were happy but took the sketch someplace else and got their money worth. Ironically, I am making their anniversary cake Another situation, people shopped around before they met me, we had tasting and sketching - they signed on the spot. Or even, no tasting, no meeting, I sketched for them after a long emails and they booked and sent full payment right away. There are many different ways to take it, but make sure there are no more freebies! IT is YOUR time and YOU are the only one know how much that worth!

You mean she wants you to do the cake now, or you mean you're going to do it first just for the heck of it? If the cake is that specific to that particular girl (her life story) wont that be a bit odd for you to do it just because for no real client?

This girl is graduating from high school, a once in a lifetime event. Just let the girl have her moment, let her have her cake and eat it too. Take the high road and move on. Being angry about it and seeking revenge is only going to make YOU look bad.

Unless, of course I am totally misunderstanding your last post...

Perhaps drawing the sketch on paper that's already been printed with the statement "This sketch is the sole property and material of________and may not be used without written consent" or words to that effect. This might be a deterrent. And of course the design will never be the same come out the same as the original designer intended!

I have only done sketches at tastings, and since I charge $50 for a tasting (which they get credit for if they book with me) - I figure they can keep the sketch, what am I going to do with it anyway? Try to convince some other customer to buy the same cake someone else wanted?

I can see being a little miffed by the fact that someone else is charging a lower price for your same design, but other than that, I think I'd just let it go and look to see how the cake turned out (if the baker posts pics).

If this concerns you in the future, charge for the tasting/meeting or a flat fee for the sketch. For most cakes though, I take orders via email or the phone, so I'm just given an idea/theme and I'm trusted to "run with it" - no sketch required. BTW, I HATE doing sketches anyway... because when you actually make the cake, it always looks different than it does on paper, and you might want to add or remove some design elements. If you have a sketch, the customer can come back and complain that "It didn't have the pink daisy on the bottom tier like it does in the sketch! I want a refund!!!" LOL!

Sucks I know, thats why I dont give them the sketch until I get a deposit.

I have a section describing the different parts of the cake on the contract, and I write everythng down. Topper, design on sides, borders, etc. No sketching needed unless something's really tricky, then I keep it in case the client doesn't send it back to me (or tries to shop it around.)

There really aren't very many original ideas around, so if someone wants to copy my note about putting a border at the base ot the tier that's fine. I completely see the aggravation of having someone take your design and shop it around, though.

I don't sketch anything...besides the fact I can't draw....I have never had to present a sketch to a customer...I guess I am lucky..They see my work on my website and say"I trust your creative talent"

That's too bad. Looks like it happened to many of us. It happened to me way back when I was just a hobby baker. Bride and her Mother came for a consult and spent almost 2 freakin' hours there working out a cake design (we used my pans for a 'visual' aide)! The Mother kept saying she doesn't see how a 16" square cake can serve that many people...ggrrrr. Hubby wasn't home, but said that if he had been, he would have escorted them out the door! To add insult to injury, they never booked -and I learned they took the sketch elsewhere.

After that I learned my lesson....and soon was able to determine if the client was still "just looking" (sob stories are a dead give away) or was seriouly ready to book. For the "Lucy Lookie's" I didn't even make a sketch - they got a simple invoice with a price quote and 2 weeks to make a decision before I booked their date with another client. I'd wish them well and say when they were ready to make a deposit to schedule another appointment to sign the contract and go over details.

I know you are upset, but as Indydeb says: "NEXT!"