Alright, my question is this. I had a tasting with a bride today that wants 225 cupcakes, no filling, no special decorations. What would you charge. I gave her my price and I am wondering if it is even close to anything other decorators would charge.

Why am I wondering. I was charging $2.00/cupcake = $400. Another cake decorator she went to (that does not have the expenses I have because she is not licensed) is charging a total of $214.00. That is only $1.05/cupcake. That is almost the cost of our grocery store cupcakes.

How can I compete with someone that is not licensed but still advertising.

Thank you for listening to my "tantrum" I just hate the fact that I am being undersold by someone that does not have my expenses....

there's really not much you can do!!! I mean technically if the other person is not licensed they shouldn't be advertising but unless you feel like being malicious and report her for advertising......there's probably not much else you can do except maybe explain to the person that you have higher overhead than this person.....in the end it will be up to the bride/groom......for all you know they might want yours and be trying to get you to come down in price! Some people aren't comfortable buying baked goods out of someone's home.

let your product speak for yourself. If they are delicous and way better then the other person they may go with you. Do not sell your self short, stay with the price - believe in yourself and your product will sell. Who knows the un-licensed person can take the order and change her mind right before hand what does she have to lose. She has no business license and maybe her goods are not as good as yours.

Like they say you get what you pay for.

Good luck

I think that you shouldn't worry about it. I think $2 for plain cupcakes without any elaborate decorations, especially at the volume of this particular order, is a little pricey but it is still a competitive price. Maybe you could knock $.25 off the price and see if she comes around. I agree with the other post and think that she might be trying to get you to lower your price. If not then don't worry about it.

Reporting your competition is in poor taste. We all started out unlicensed and many of us still are. I think it would be really nasty of you to report your competition just becasue you lost out. Bottom line is if you are offering superior goods then you should have very little real competition. Either this person wants quality or not. If you are offering quality and she doesn't see that then who cares. This person is probably not someone who you would want to cultivate as a client anyway.

Thank you for the replies. By no means am I planning on turning anyone in. I am just so irritated with the situation. The coffee shop owner has mentioned something about turning people in, but I can't. I know he turned in someone else before. So anyway, thank you for listening to me complain and whine and cry. I just get frustrated because she truly is selling her product at the grocery store level price. I just have to remember quality over cost, right?

There is really nothing you can do about someone baking from their home. At some point they might get caught, but until then you'll just have to rock on. Are you baking a standard size cup or larger one? The person that quoted the lower price might be making the smaller cup. I bake a muffin size cup which is larger then the grocery stores or most home bakers. I get 1.50 for them. I like them better then the smaller ones. Just keep on working your quality angle, they'll come eventually.