Where Are These People Getting These Prices??
Business By BrandyCakes83 Updated 20 Nov 2014 , 9:38pm by smysha
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Original message sent by peppercorns
With so many people finding customized cakes too expensive, how can anyone in the business thrive?
I don't know that anyone in custom cakes was ever thriving, as opposed to making a living, other than maybe one or two super high end decorators. It's not the kind of career that you're going to be rich from doing.
I've been in business in one location for 15 years, so I've built up my referral network etc. I made a poverty-level living the first few years, then a decent living for the next decade, and last year i made more than in any other year. But I also see the writing on the wall, know that the market is oversaturated and undervalued by the general public and the people who have started doing cakes for fun who undercut established businesses. I diversified what i do and that helps maintain my income. I know people who have storefronts who are scrambling for business, and even though the look like they're doing well financially they're not. To maintain any kind of financial success in this business you need to be good at marketing, not just at decorating. In the next few yeqrs that's going to be what makes the difference between the people who stay in business and the ones who don't. I've already started to see a lot of people closing their businesses and saying straight out that there's not enough business available to stay open.
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Original message sent by costumeczar
I don't know that anyone in custom cakes was ever thriving, as opposed to making a living, other than maybe one or two super high end decorators. It's not the kind of career that you're going to be rich from doing.
I've been in business in one location for 15 years, so I've built up my referral network etc. I made a poverty-level living the first few years, then a decent living for the next decade, and last year i made more than in any other year. But I also see the writing on the wall, know that the market is oversaturated and undervalued by the general public and the people who have started doing cakes for fun who undercut established businesses. I diversified what i do and that helps maintain my income. I know people who have storefronts who are scrambling for business, and even though the look like they're doing well financially they're not. To maintain any kind of financial success in this business you need to be good at marketing, not just at decorating. In the next few yeqrs that's going to be what makes the difference between the people who stay in business and the ones who don't. I've already started to see a lot of people closing their businesses and saying straight out that there's not enough business available to stay open.
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Original message sent by mzteaze
I've never heard of them. What type of cakes can you expect from them - more like Walmart/Costco cake taste?
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Original message sent by mzteaze
I've never heard of them. What type of cakes can you expect from them - more like Walmart/Costco cake taste?
They only sell bundt cakes, mini bundts and large standard size bundts in a variety of flavors. The mini bundts are very popular down here in Dallas, I made a 3 tier bundt cake wedding cake for a friend and she also served their mini bundts on her desert table. I was told my bundts were much tastier :)
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Original message sent by peppercorns
there is a bakery chain in Australia with products comparable to what one may bake at home, I have tried their Black Forest Cake, esp. and it tasted scrumptious, they have a large variety of cakes and pastry to choose from the most expensive cake I bought there costs me only $40 for a 9 inch single layer cake. I have also tried Costcos cakes although the cake presentation is beautiful, the cakes do not taste good. I think Cake Chains will survive if the products are good and affordable to the public. When I go to Aus again I will buy my desserts from this chain as opposed to baking.
Peppercorns, do you mean The Cheesecake Shop? They are popular here. They do mainly cheesecakes with a couple of other celebration cakes thrown in like Black Forest, hummingbird and pavlova. But, while they will write Happy Birthday on your cake they don't do fondant or buttercream covered, tiered, themed cakes. That's a whole different market for those people wanting the wow factor.
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Original message sent by Nadiaa
Peppercorns, do you mean The Cheesecake Shop? They are popular here. They do mainly cheesecakes with a couple of other celebration cakes thrown in like Black Forest, hummingbird and pavlova. But, while they will write Happy Birthday on your cake they don't do fondant or buttercream covered, tiered, themed cakes. That's a whole different market for those people wanting the wow factor.
sorry dont know what happened to my aged comp it wont let me do caps.I was really gutted that no one could tell the difference between shop bought cakes from different stores, and this was a very smart wedding so it wasn't to save money more a bunch of girls "proving" they could learn anything in a few free tutorials. I feel really sorry for professional decoraters competing not just with cheap home bakers but TV shows and free tutorials.
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sorry dont know what happened to my aged comp it wont let me do caps.I was really gutted that no one could tell the difference between shop bought cakes from different stores, and this was a very smart wedding so it wasn't to save money more a bunch of girls "proving" they could learn anything in a few free tutorials. I feel really sorry for professional decoraters competing not just with cheap home bakers but TV shows and free tutorials.
I know! Where I live there used to be fishmongers, butchers, greengrocers and a bakery - but now we just have the shop where "Every Little Helps". Seems that they won't stop until they have driven everyone out. I am waiting for them to corner the market on charity shops since that's what became of the aforementioned stores. I was hoping that there is room for all of us......maybe I was wrong. However, I agree with the poster about the flavour of Costco cake - the only one of their cakes that I like is the carrot cake! Peppercorns - I absolutely love the Cheesecake Factory! I always go there at least once when I go to Florida.
I know! Where I live there used to be fishmongers, butchers, greengrocers and a bakery - but now we just have the shop where "Every Little Helps". Seems that they won't stop until they have driven everyone out. I am waiting for them to corner the market on charity shops since that's what became of the aforementioned stores. I was hoping that there is room for all of us......maybe I was wrong. However, I agree with the poster about the flavour of Costco cake - the only one of their cakes that I like is the carrot cake! Peppercorns - I absolutely love the Cheesecake Factory! I always go there at least once when I go to Florida.
That is exactly what's going to happen. In the states there are almost no florists, bakeries, fish mongers, vegetable stands or butchers. That's pretty much all handled by the grocery store. To have a niche in the cake market, you have to have a specialty ...like high end custom cakes. And that is being ruined by home bakers who don't properly price.
Most home bakers don't understand, believe or care that they have the same effect as these big grocers. The big grocery stores went after cornering the market on these items as a conscious effort - that's just good business. How can you fault them for good business? But I have NO respect for people who have collectively contributed to putting cakers out of business. I find this mindless pretending at business and having no responsibility for their actions extremely nauseating.
The high streets of the UK are dying or dead thanks to the supermarkets as Daisycakes says, all the beautiful bespoke shops are gone and we have charity shops galore.
These shops sell junk as no one can afford to chuck stuff out anymore so even the tat is too crap to be "vintage gems".
Plastic hoardings cover beautiful Georgian facades where the speciality shops used to be.
We can only hope there are enough discerning customers willing to open the wallet for something truly unique and beautiful but the signs aren't good.
We have recently in the last week been enjoying programmes here called "Superscrimpers" and a programme congratulating savvy middle class shoppers for patronising German cut price supermarkets.
My own trade has been hit badly as flowers are a luxury item now.
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I had a bride ask me to make a 3tier dummy wedding cake and that she was going to go to Costco and buy sheet cakes and serve that to her guests. I said, thats fine, but dont tell the guests I made the sheet cakes! I do not want people thinking that I made those! She ended up ordering from someone else and told the guests that baker made the sheet cakes and the wedding cake. What is wrong with people!
What's the Big deal that because you wanted her to inform people that the sheet cakes didn't come from you, she decided to go with someone else??? Such an idiot! I don't understand....
AI think she didn't want to come off as cheap, and wanted people to think the wedding cake and what they were eating came from the same place. I know that if I had done the job, she would have passed the costco cake off as mine, I just got that feeling from her. She couldn't understand why I had a problem with it, lol
Apparently, the market where I live is a lucky one, because there are a number of bakeries in the area charging more than I do, and I am quite satisfied with my prices right now.
I live in a community of "competitive parents" and the majority of my work includes birthday and celebration cakes. I think that one thing the Duffs and Buddies have brought to the fore is a desire to have a custom cake, where that wasn't common when I was a kid. You got a cake with roses on it, Happy Birthday!
But I digress....
I had an exchange, via text, with a customer who didn't want Costco, but had a limited budget. I quoted her a price on a 10 inch cake and threw in a filling for free. She responded that she didnt see how you could get more than 20 slices out of a 10 inch and she was really disappointed that she couldn't get a cake in her budget.
I sent her back the diagram of how to cut a tenner and get her slices, but she never responded. I actually felt badly about that, because she seemed sincere. Dont know what happened there. Maybe she wanted a huge sheet cake after all!
jen
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there is a bakery chain in Australia with products comparable to what one may bake at home, I have tried their Black Forest Cake, esp. and it tasted scrumptious, they have a large variety of cakes and pastry to choose from the most expensive cake I bought there costs me only $40 for a 9 inch single layer cake. I have also tried Costcos cakes although the cake presentation is beautiful, the cakes do not taste good. I think Cake Chains will survive if the products are good and affordable to the public. When I go to Aus again I will buy my desserts from this chain as opposed to baking.
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Peppercorns, do you mean The Cheesecake Shop? They are popular here. They do mainly cheesecakes with a couple of other celebration cakes thrown in like Black Forest, hummingbird and pavlova. But, while they will write Happy Birthday on your cake they don't do fondant or buttercream covered, tiered, themed cakes. That's a whole different market for those people wanting the wow factor.
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I'd been going to that shop in Smithsfield Mall, Smithsfield Qld. They have a variety of torte cakes, Struddels and they do Wedding Cakes, you, are right I have not seen any fondant covered cake, but what they had on display when I was there, was a three tier white chocolate covered cake. It was beautiful. And their prices are reasonable. A. Black Forest that is 16 inch is only 120Aus$, it may have gone up now I have not been back since March. Did you say there are some Cheesecake Shops here? I only had been to the Cheese Cake Factory.
Are you thinking of Michel's Patisserie? It's a coffee shop but you can buy cakes to take home or order ones for events. They are everywhere.
Ok, I've read thru most of the pages here and I must agree-and it's not just cakes.
I am a photographer and face the same battles. I charge $50 for a session and $200 for a CD with a print release, apx. 20-30 images. I get calls or see post all the time and talking about their friend is a photographer and they do 300 images on a CD for $20. Well go to them.
All these faux-tographers go to Wal-Mart and spend $50 on a digital camera and open a FaceBook page and call themselves a photographer.
I have a $3k camera, $2,500 in PhotoShop programs and spend time on my work. If you want a CD with 300 'pics' straight out of the camera, out of focus, poorly lit with weird awkward poses-then go to your friend.
I quit doing photography as a business about a year ago. I got tired of people calling and scheduling and not showing up or wanting something for free.
I bake cakes for my family and friends but never claim to be a pro. I don't ever offer to do stuff for others to earn money. I just really enjoy baking and decorating.
AIt's not just clients who are cheap, though. There was a dustup on here recently when a member decided to sell something instead of giving it away. I also get complained to for not handing info over for free. http://www.acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2014/07/stop-complaining-about-cheap-customers.html
I agree. Granted I too turn to the internet if I want to know how something is done but for my own use. I'm a do it yourself-er. But I don't use that is arsenal when hiring others for their services.
AThis is on a fellow local bakers front page of her website...... Bold and very true! [IMG ALT=""]http://www.cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3291936/width/350/height/700[/IMG]
Here's what we get at work:
~ Customer checks prices at the two area retail bakeries for X.
~ They come to us and ask "Do you do this?" and "How much?"
~ They get angry when we tell them that NO, we don't do tiers, NO, we don't do fancy pastry platters, NO we don't do mini cheesecakes, NO we're not equipped for fondant, etc.
~ Customer angrily goes to the store manager.
~ Store manager reminds them that we're a supermarket
~ Customer either rescales their expectations OR storms out muttering that IT'S ONLY PASTRY or CAKE or WHATEVER so why should s/he have to pay THAT MUCH for it?
Ohhhh...and then there are customers who only demand that X decorator does their cake because "it won't look like I got it from here.". That's a biggie. Unfortunately it limits what our decorators-in-training can do -- their cake are always the ones that don't sell.
I once had a customer ask me if I did cakes on the side because "I want X kind of cake but it'd be cheaper if you did it, wouldn't it?" I told her it wouldn't.
I said in another thread similar to this one that I have a lot of photographer/blogger friends as well as friends who are freelance writers...they have the same exact complaints as we do: Everyone wants something for nothing.
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