I just got off of the phone with a lady who....in my opinion...stinks with a capital S since I can't say too much bad language....She wants me to recreate a huge wedding cake of mine (orginally done for 250) down to feed 100 people for graduation.....Here's the deal...It would cost me $50.22 to make this cake in supplies only....Going by our rule of 3...I should charge her $150.66....right????? Well I have a special going on in May that if you book with us you get a 10% discount on graduation orders.......so I called her back with the specifics and said that it would be $135.66 after the 10% discount....She of course doesn't want to pay that much for JUST A CAKE!?!?!? I explained that going a different rount might be cheaper...doing a cupcake tower with an "anniversary" top of the original cake. The original cake was done in hot pink and black and white....The school colors which she wants it done in are black and orange....So she wants the cake.....but totally different....AHHHH!!!! I also said that doing sheet cakes with a small two tier version of the orinigal might look cute....Then she comes back and says why is it cheaper to do sheet cakes or cupcakes...."It's all just cake.".....I wanted to scream!!!!! I'm all ready giving her a discount on this monster of a cake (has swiss dots around the whole thing and a pearled bead border)....and she trys to tell me that it's all just cake?!??!?! I tried to explain that a lot more goes into a tiered and stacked cake than cupcakes or sheet cakes....She just didn't get it. I offered her to go to several websites business that I am affiliated with to get ideas of different options...But she wants THAT cake!!!! Because it just fits her daughter....well.....THAT cake is also a display cake where she saw it in the most upscale high priced Prom and Bridal store around......My guess is she spent to much on her daughters prom dress and now thinks oh crap.....so she is trying to con me into giving her a high-end look for cheap!?!??!?!?! GRRRRR!!!! She said that she would have to talk to her mother and get back with me sometime (to see if she would help pay for it????) anywho...thanks for the vent...and what would you do in this situation.....TIA

Stick firm with your prices. If you give an inch, she'll be on the phone telling everyone she knows where to get great looking cakes for grocery store prices. If she wants the cake, she'll pay what you've quoted. I read the following at briansbaker.net... this has stuck in my mind and I "quote" if often. It applies, here, too...

"Good cakes aren't cheap and cheap cakes aren't good."

Stand firm...

Amy

Oh yes, we have all been there before! Just dismiss her. Either she wants the cake and will pay for it or she can choose something else.
My dad just says.. she's not your potential market if she act like that so forget her!

I don't sell cakes, but 100 servings for 136.00 sounds pretty cheap to me. That's only 1.36 per serving. I certainly wouldn't do it for any less than that or you will be giving your time away!

Well, it seems to me you have HER by the shorthairs (technical industry term)

If her heart is set on having that cake because it is so her daughter, then she can hand over the very reasonable amount of money you've requested.

(IMHO, you've more than bent over backwards to accommodate this customer.)

If price is her major consideration, she can choose something else. (NOT your problem.)

Or she can make it herself:

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-98621-.html

HTH

I know this after 14 years making cakes
you shoud have hang up the phone after the firts " Is just cake".

Who goes by the "rule of 3"???? You'll never make any $$ that way! Ingredients costs are minimal in a cake....what costs so much is YOUR time and skill! You can't get a cake to feed 100 people from me for less than $275....and that's a simple cake.

As for this "customer"...she's obviously a walmart caker! Let her go there and get it!

Or ask her, "Look, lady, if it's "just cake" that you want, why aren't you calling walmart? I mean ..... it's "just cake", right?"

Just let her be and go on your merry way. You'll be a lot happier!

You don't have to do anything - you gave her a price (a very very cheap one actually) and she doesn't want it for that price - so she doesn't get her cake. End of story. Why do we give ourselves such angst about pricing - I can't imagine a clothing shop getting in a tizz because someone offers $5 for a $20 skirt.

So, true emma. I bet she never tried to negotiate the price of the Prom dress lol!!

And, as I said in another thread - If its just cake, she could make it herself surely :p

Ask her what she does for a living. Then ask her if she would tell her boss that she would so the same job 1/2 the pay. Of course not! So tell her it's your job and you only do your job for your set price.

Christapaloma it up in a nutshell.

"people have a hard time paying labor on traditional services that "Mom" did for eons for free..."

Let it go! If she is this bad now, imagine actually havng her as an customer.
Is there such a term as a promzilla?
LOL
Diane

Me I charge 2$ per serving for sheet cakes or simple cakes (buttercream), 3$ per serving for wedding cakes or more complicated design (still buttercream) and if they want fondant well it goes up to 5$ per serving.

I really love that saying that was post earlier:
Good cakes aren't cheap and cheap cakes aren't good!
thanks for posting that saying!

That would burn me if someone said - it's just a cake. Alright lady, you could ahead and give it a whirl... let me know how it turns out. Then she would come crawling back.

I agree - stand firm and if she really wants the cake she will pay the price. Bottomline.

As Indy said "if it's just cake, here's Walmart's number, their decorators do a great job with the limited time they're allowed to spend on the cake"... Now, if you want time dedicated to your design, I realized my quote was way low so you can have the cake for the price I quoted you or you can take my normal rate for this cake of $3/pp because my TIME is what you're paying for more than the ingredients.

I agree - your price is your price - I wouldnt budge!

I think that this order came from the same person who stole my photo of it........Please see my new topic "Free display gone bad..._ in the Cake Decorating business section of the forums and tell me what you would do now in this situation....They haven't even called back..Should I give a polite call just see if they want it still???? And what should I do about the store display....It hasn't given me any business and it has been their over a month.....Should I pull it??? Or what??? Read my other post and tell me. I would love your help.