WHAT!! I have made a belly cake now twice and she saw this cake and wanted it too. So, I quoted her $125 and that's even cheaper than I would like and she says that's too high! What is up with people?? This kind of cake has taken me many hours of prep work and hours to decorate. Can't they see the detail?? I need this vent!!
Here's the pics for reference!

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1290306.html http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1211440.html

Hold firm on our price and say"Thank you very much" "Take it or leave it"

Great cakes! Love the idea! Definitely worth more than $125.

Ya know we can't please them all! If she's ordered and paid for this same cake in the past, she should have known the price, right? Sounds like she's looking for a discount. If you feel comfortable with your price, than stick to it. Not everyone will be able to afford your cakes and you don't have to lower your prices for those that can't.

Nice cake BTW!

P.S. Don't you wish you could answer her with a "make it yourself then"! Than maybe she'd understand the work and skill it takes to turn flour and sugar into a beautiful creation!

"I'm sorry you feel that way. Good luck in your search."

Your price is NOT too high...if she wants a belly cake badly enough, then she needs to realize that $125 is a very good deal!

Your pictures are great by the way!

Tell her do it her ownself, and to be sure and let you know how it comes out....

My husband & I have several tattoos & we choose to get them done at a higher priced tattoo shop b/c you get what you pay for, ya know?! Okay, not exactly cake related, but pricing works the same. Our artist has to figure in the cost of materials, the cost of rent for his spot in the shop & the amount of time he has to put into each job. The longer it takes him to do 1 tattoo, the chance he has to take of losing another job. On the other hand, if he rushes & doesn't do a quality job, he gets a bad reputation & loses customers. Cake/tattoos, tattoos/cake. See anything similar?

wow! beautiful cake!

Very nice cakes!

I'm currently making a cake for a friends baby shower. I told her $100.00 to cover the cost of materials! I have yet to hear back from her. I don't think most people understand the amount the supplies cost. This is more than a $1.00 cake mix and $1.50 jar of frosting People!!!! I know I didn't when I took this on as a hobby! I'm thinking of going back to scrapbooking!!

Great cake!
Don't underbid yourself! Tell her to look around. I know I would charge more.

i can understand exactally what you mean when customer asked for a price then give you this look like R U SERIOUS , lol well like others have said stick to your prices other places would charge more , i get 10 orders and 3 would be cancel becuz i over charge lol someone has to pay to replace the supplies Happy baking

Ugh...

I explain that it is a custom cake, fresh ingredients, baked to order, and carved cakes are a little more because it takes more cake to carve out scraps that will be tossed (and more hours, increased level of difficulty...).

I heard it explained here once as a comparison to cars: You can't buy a Mercedes for the price of a Honda.

I have had this happen also. Price out a cake and they crinkle up there face and say that much? I say If you want a walmart cake Ican do that for the price they charge but you will get only what walmart will do border and a few flowers. I say if you want to price around go ahead.
But then most of the time they call back. But then the price is five dollars higher. they crinkle there nose but they pay it. My flyer says prices subject to change without notice. works all the time..I have satisfaction that way

I finally got an order via email. A friend of mine recomended me to somebody. She wants a price quote for a hello kitty cake. So I get all excited and tell her that I need to know for how many people the cake will be for, plus wether or not she wants it in fondant or butter cream, because fondant is more expensive.
She emails me back that it's for 10 people and butter cream please. I quoted her $40 and have yet to hear from her back. It's really not worth my time and energy to make a cake for any thing less. Did I price it too high?

Malishka, $40 is not too much at all....many of us have a minimum order amount and many others won't do copywrited characters such as Hello Kitty. She's getting a deal, and too bad for her if she doesn't recognize that!

many people on here are worried about the price we give people who ask us to do cakes... Your price is good and it always has to be based on the difficulty. Who wants to get paid min wage for a cake we pour our heart and soul into... people think we just whip thes things up and it is no effort but if you truely do not love what you are doing the cake looks and taste horrid... you get what you pay for. I would love to see her cake if she bought a mix and tried to do it herself...LOL

Back to the original post, I think when someone says that it's too expensive that it should mean THEY can't afford it - not that you are charging too much.

With that thought in mind, I always just say, "well, I can make a smaller cake.... or, I can change the flavor/filling to some simpler....or, if I do the image of a pregnant woman on the cake instead of a 3D carving of one, the price wouuld be $----, which is may help you with your budget."

Sometimes that brings them down to earth! And then they usually end up going with the higher priced one anyway, ha ha.

My minimum price is $4 per serving and my minimum order is $40. Because, no, it isn't worth it to create a cake for less.

Sorry, didn't mean to steal the post.

BakerzJoy, your price is way too low for that kind of a cake. The cake is beautiful by the way.
arosstx is right. In today's economy, people are less prone to jump and spend.

Duplicate post

What I have done when someone thinks I am too expensive (and might not really want to do the cake anyway), I give them a couple of places to go that are more expensive than I am. Then they can realize that my prices are not that expensive for a custom cake made to order.

First of all thanks for the compliments! I feel pretty good about the price I gave her. Infact I stunned myself, because before, I found myself coming down on my prices because I didn't want people to not order from me.
I got cheated alot and my family and friends kept saying "you are crazy when we see you hard at work all day on a cake and you hardly make anything".
So, I stunned myself because when she said it was too much, I simply said well I'm sorry and good luck with your search. She said she'd call, but never heard back. Oh, well!
I'm just to the point now, where I realize that my cakes are slowly getting better and no one will get a cake for next to nothing when "I "know what it's worth. I have a good clientel that pay and are fine because of the quality and they know I put everything into it.
Infact I should go up to $150 on this one. I think I may just do that!!!