ok so here the deal. ive been getting a lot of family and friends who want cakes from me. 1. i feel terrible about pricing them normally so i end up pricing way too low and breaking even almost. and 2. they expect me to charge less or even do free!! im way too nice and i dont know what to do anymore. should i not work with family anymore? charge regular price? discount? has anyone else dealt with this same problem? please help. im so stressed!! =(


-Hilda

Hilda,
I'd figure out what you charge your regular customers and then simply give the "family" discount to FAMILY! Figure the discount to be 10-20% off and let them know that starting on XX day this is the way the pricing will be. They will either order a cake and pay your price or not.

Now remember, if they choose not to order a cake you can't whine about not getting to do said cake for whatever the event is.

As for friends........they are regular customers. On a rare occasion you can give them a discount too, but don't do it too often.

My family won't take a discount. If I were you I would offer a small discount to your blood relatives. You are going to burn yourself out. Also, if you are doing all of your stuff for free you are going to end up passing up actual paying customers. Good luck with that one.

Oh Hilda, join the club! For my sisters/in laws and immediate family I only charge them the cost of th e cake. Then they usually throw in something extra if they want
For close friends, I give them a family discount of 25% off. And for all my other friends I give 10-15% off.
The only way I'll give a free cake if it's for a charity or benefit!
Trust me when I say this, I've struggled with it too! Now I'm not doing the "nice" girl act. Because shoot you pay $ out of your pocket for the ing and time y shouldn't your time be worth it! That's what the lovely ladies here on CC have guided me to do. Your worth is worth something! And if someone askes for a cake say eyes I can and for how many people so we can determine a price. that's it!
Good luck and stay strong gracey

i know EXACTLY how you feel. I went through the same thing. They expect way too much and don't understand how much work it really is. I do not discount anymore for anyone. I charge the same price regardless of who it is because family tries to take advantage and its not cool anymore. If they can't afford me, they can go to wal mart for all i care. I am a business and not a charity. I have done so many cakes for family who say they will pay me and never do. So enough was enough and i put my foot down. I felt bad in the beginning too, but they should understand that custom cakes are not cheap and the time put in to make the cake plus clean up is not just an hour or two. I would let them know that you can no longer afford to discount and that you will be pricing their cakes the same as your other customers.

you guys are totally right. i guess i needed other cake decorators to tell me. i also had a problem yesterday where a lady calls me the day shes gonna pick up the cake and says her purse got stolen in her car and dint have cash til friday (tomorrow) T_T so i also want to ask, i NEED to enforce deposits and upfront payments for my cakes, but how do you guys do that? have them come over and drop off money? check by mail? paypal? any suggestions would be great! thanks everyone! i can always count on CC!! <3

DEPOSIT:
50% is required to consider this an order and contract for services to be rendered on your behalf. The remaining balance is
due one week prior to the delivery date. Any changes to the order must be made no later than one week prior to delivery. If
the order is canceled up to one week prior to delivery, the deposit will not be refunded. If the order is canceled within one
week of delivery, no part of the deposit or payment will be refunded. Payment is cash, debit, or credit only, or contract will be
void for non-payment and the customer must make other arrangements.

thats my portion of contract for deposits and payments. i have an awesome app on my android phone (also available on apple products) called square up where i can either swipe their card if they are there with me, or input their card information if i take an order over the phone or email. it directly deposits the funds to my bank acct the next day up to $1000. you definitely need to enforce deposits and payments because you are turning down other business for the customer. i dont know about you, but i am in the business to MAKE money. i have bills to pay.

I do all family cakes for free. If it is a family gathering, it is my food contribution. If it is a wedding or shower, it is my gift. If a family member wants me to make a cake for one of their events, sister-in-law's sister's wedding, they bring the ingredients and they do it with me. They mix, wash dishes, clean, while I do the parts they can't do. It has always worked for us.

I also agree in not knowing what to do with this... I charged my sister in law $55 for a $67 cake... I wrote that on the ticket so she knew what I would have charged everyone else and wrote "family discount" on it. She still acted pissed that I charged her that much. She has yet to really talk to me. I think she was expecting me to give it for free. The cake cost me $25 to make not counting the 4+ hours I put into it and then we gave her son a graduation gift as well...

Another idea... When a family member asks me if I can do a certain cake that is pricey, I say, "You dont want me to do that cake. It is $XXX, and that is $XXX over what I would give you as a present." So up front I let them know the cost and what I am willing to give. They also realize that the cake was over the price they thought it would be. If they want me to do the cake for that price, ok.

SO glad I'm not alone....I heart CC!!!