OK this has just been eating at me all day my friend asked me to make her a christening cake for 60 people she wanted a the wilton cross on top of a sheet cake. The cross decorated with cornelli lace and roses. Chocolate and vanilla layer with canolli cream filling. And to charge her for this cake (I made her an Elmo cake in my photos for free). When I asked her what her budget for the cake is, she told me no more than $50. What??????!!!!! I said you can't buy a cake anywhere for $50 for 60ppl. What are people thinking????? And worst of all she's a friend she knows what goes into the cakes I make. People look at the cakes I made and say those are great.can you make me one but then don't want to spend more than $30.Really are thay kidding you can't buy a simple cake in the bakery for that let alone a specially designed one. Sorry just had to vent.

Oooh, that's a tough one....don't know what to say!

For 60 people, yeah that's a big cake. I think the only way people will ever know how much time and energy we put into these cake is if they're in the kitchen with us.
Are you going to make it?

I feel for you. It's a hard situation. Did you agree to make the cake? This is definitely a tough one.

Angie

Yes, I am still going to make the cake. She said just charge me what I think is fair. Now how much should I charge her???!!??

[/quote]P.S. If all else fails print this thread out and have her read it. And as punishment make her give herself 3 lashes with wet noodles.[/quote]

LOL. You are hilarious. And you have offered great advice.

Angie

If I were you I wouldn't make it. Some friends take advantage of friends, just because they are friends,they think that it is ok to ask a favor, then pay so little. If you had offered to give it as a gift, then cost won't be an issue. I don;t do cakes as a business, that's why when people ask me how much it is to make a pretty cake, then followed by :"oh I'm so poor" look, then I just tell them Costco have good deals in cakes.
But that's entirely up to you now.. relax, take a deep breathe..

Well gosh, now that you know her budget was only $50 its' hard to go from there. I'm new myself. I'm doing a sheet cake this weekend w/ fresh fruit and I'm charging $60. Everyone told me I dumb for charging so little. I know better now, I'll make it up on the next order.(hopefully)
Good luck!

I agree with cake_princess.

Or, you know, another idea, would be to get her to help you make the cake.

If she's a true friend, she's gonna respect you and your talent enough to pay you enough. What kind of friend would take advantage or want a freebie? I have a friend who tells me I charge her too little.

Good Luck! I hope you get to make the cake, get paid well for it, and still have your friendship on good terms!

I'm afraid I"m with Prettycake. I'd just tell her that if she's got a source for a cake for that many people at that price she should take advantage of it. Better than her taking advantage of YOU...which is what's going on here.

There is nothing more frustrating than making a cake, taking the time away from your day or family, spending the money on ingredients and time and effort spent decorating... because you want it to be special "for a friend" - then not get paid! Best way to handle it is up front, be honest... if they are requesting "specific" details (i.e., your filling and decor!) tell them up front the approx cost... or say, "how much do you want to spend..." - Then YOU can tell them what they can have for "$X". Whether you decide to give them a "friend" discount, is up to you (I have maybe 2 people I do this for), they know it, and appreciate it.

On this cake, you may have to bite the bullet - call her and say, "ya know, for what your requesting, I've figured the cost on supply and time, and this is going to run more than a $50 cake..." be prepared to tell her what it's going to cost. You can give her the "friend discount", but let her know that! Otherwise, take the $50 bucks and chalk it up to experience!

I'm just going to offer a different view here. I don't think she was trying to take advantage of you...you asked her about her budget & she told you. It sounds like she was okay with you charging whatever you felt comfortable with. Sometimes we have to remember that even though they know how much goes into it, they might not know how much to pay for the cake. There are times when I don't know myself what to charge for a certain cake. I hope everything works out for you.

I would let her know that alot of that $50 is going to go towards supplies to make it, and that doesn't include your time to do all of that work! Or like cake_princess suggested, give her a list of all the things your going to need just to make it, but then charge her the $50 for the finished product itself! I mean really, what good friend would expect all of that for practically nothing?

prettycake LOL , that's hilarious, you just tell them that costco has good deals on cakes! I may have to use that line sometime lol

Alot of the cakes I've done have been for co-workers of my husbands. Which was alright at first, but now I have to get on track with the prices because I heard him tell someone the other day who was asking what I charge that I was cheaper then Kroger! I had to set him straight on that real fast lol, I told him don't be telling people that! I'm not doing all of that work to sell it for less then krogers, you can get a 1/4 sheet cake there for like $16.99!!! Of course they aren't as good though lol but still, that would mean I would have to sell them for LESS then that. MEN!!!

I like the idea of seeing if she'd be willing to help you out with making it. Then she could get a hands on view of everything and would leave with a better understanding of why bakers charge what they do and she'd value your talents more & also value the discounts you'll give her LOTS more! lol If she went anywhere other than the grocery or a big box store, she'd have to pay a substantial amount more than $50 for cake to serve that many, even if that's her budget; and most likely would not get what she's wanting for $50. And sometimes people realize that they can budget more for the cake if they know the difference between the grocery store cakes and a really good, CUSTOM cake...it just takes pointing out those differences in a tactful way sometimes.

Hello,
I'm new to this forum but I've had the same thing happen to me.
I would not do the cake bcz if it bothers you this much now, it is only going to get worse. People who only want to pay $50 for a custom cake disregard your worth...PERIOD! And while I don't know the person you're speaking of I would bet money on the fact that she IS going to want that cake to be as elaborate as a gothic cathedral, meaning she is going to keep asking you to do more and more changes/upgrades. My philosophy after going thru that is "I'd rather not have the business, than to give my time away for nothing and be aggrivated in return"
lisabug

And for something entirely different - does your friend bake at all. Perhaps she could bake some sheet cakes and you could decorate them for her (charge by the hour), so she could stay within her budget.

Also Cakesbgood, I loved the comments about your husband promoting your cakes - so much so I sprayed my computer screen with coke I was laughing/choking so hard!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the things I try to do with ALL my customers, and I haven't had many yet, is to find out what their budget is for the cake up front, before they tell me what it is they want.

If her budget is $50, tell her what she can have for that money, and explain that what she's asking for is a far more expensive cake.

I had a customer recently ask me to do a christening cake. they wanted a two tiered cake with handmade decorations and garrett frills on the cake sides. I told them the price and I was $70 over their budget. I came up with a design that would feed that same amount of people in a single tier for just over thier budget, but they were adament they wanted the 2 tier.

I stood my ground. I didn't get the order, but I was proud of myself, anyway. Plus I was an ugly design they wanted and I didn't really want to do it



Cheers,
Fran

Has anyone else ever noticed that "friends" that want you to charge other people the most are they themselves the ones that think they should pay the least?
I've found it's the same old story when it comes to some friends.

I suppose that could be that could be true. But after my ordeal, I've religously follwed the advice that Earlene Moore gives on her business pages.

Quote:

Quote:

" Even if you give away a cake to a friend , let them know how much that cake would cost if they paid for it...Then it's YOUR choice."
She is competely right. You have a BUSINESS! I always marvel when people say to me "oh you just do cakes out of you home" Like I'm doing nothign at all. These are the same folks that would go probably go into Mc Donald's and sugguest a lower price for a burger would be if they take off the bun! LOL