I received an inbox message on my FB page last night which read:

"How much do you cost for cakes?"

My reply:

"How long is a piece of string? It depends on the size of the cake, whether it is sponge or fruit, how many tiers are required, how complicated the modelling and/or decorating is.

Her reply:

"How much for a Hello Kitty cake?"

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!

My reply:

"It depends on the size of the cake, whether it is sponge or fruit, whether or not you want a model on the cake or a shaped cake."

Her reply:

"Can I just book it when I want one?"

My reply:

"Certainly, but as I get bookings in all the time I can not guarantee I will be able to do it as I can only produce a limited number of cakes in any one week!"

GIVE ME STRENGTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for allowing me to rant!

CP xx

"How long is a piece of string? "

this is cracking me up! great response!

Ditto on the 'cracking up' part! I'm going to be borrowing your "piece of string" analogy! That is perfect AND classic!

Glad I gave you all a giggle!

This person is decidedly rude and I have made up my mind to completely ignore her. I have just received another message which, like the previous ones, did not contain any form of greeting or closing and just said, "how much is your Micky Mouse cake?"

I just get the feeling I am being toyed with and really haven't got the patience to deal with it!

CP x

If you include prices on your web site you will probably cut down on these questions quite a bit, and when someone does ask you can just point them to your site and be done with it.

The piece of string line is clever, but it doesn't sound very professional in my opinion.

This is also why I don't conduct business on facebook, if customers want to contact me they can fill out a form on my web site (which prompts them for all the information they need to place an order) or they can call. I don't even publish my business's email address.

I just had an "old friend" from high school contact me on fb asking about how much I would charge for cakes for her daughters' birthdays. I said give me an idea of size/flavor/decoration and I'll let you know. Never heard from her again.

Oh well, her loss.

If you can figure out a cost per serving for your Hello Kitty (or your other cakes) , a price for say, vanilla and then one a bit higher for specialty types of cake) then at least you can give others an idea as to what it would cost them and you wouldn't have to keep asking questions. Most people have no idea how to order cakes and the easier you make it for them, the easier it will be on you! (BTW, loved the 'string' analogy!)

LOL!!! I get that on FB all the time. I continuelly tell them I don't charge, and I am not a business. I am just a person who likes to do cakes, FOR MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!! Then they ask, "Oh wow. Can you make me...such and such. I will pay you $50." I respond, "I'm sorry, these cakes are for my friends and family. Thank you so much for the compliment, but I will not be able to make that cake for you." Do they think I am rich???? I cannot make a free cake for all 283 FB friends!!! Your $50 doesn't even cover the ingredients, much less the 8 hours it will take me to make it. (I'm slow) UGGGG!!!!!

"How long is a piece of string" is a phrase used in England often, I'm actually surprised you haven't heard it over the pond.

I would say she's probably just digging around all her local cake shops for a price and she'll go with the lowest she finds.

Not a huge loss

Think you are correct Lisa and obviously Jason doesn't understand English humour, especially when it comes to dealing with rude, ignorant people! )))

She keeps asking for prices for different cakes and will not find it cheaper in my area. I really can't be bothered any more as I know she will never make a booking so as you say - no huge loss.

My basic prices are given but unfortunately people just ignore them and ask anyway. Think they are hoping I'll give them a cheaper cake!!!!! LOL!

CP xxx

Well, I'm german and even I get it!
I think it's hilarious!

Do you think this is someone thinking about starting her own cake decorating business and is bugging you to get various prices?

If that's a commonly used phrase in the UK then you are probably fine, I've just never heard it here in the US. It still sounds a bit off to me when used in business communication (customers are generally looking for information rather than humor), but you can probably chalk that up to cultural differences.

The inquiries sound like a regular customer to me...has she continued sending you messages on FB beyond what you've posted? I occasionally get inquiries from customers who only answer one question at a time and require a number of followups, if I ignored these inquiries I would lose business.

I do this as a paying hobby Jason and turn people away because I get too many orders for me to cope with. She keeps leaving compliments against pics of cakes but has stopped enquiring on prices.

CP x

I thought your reply started out rudely. Then I think you should've said that it's against copyright infringement laws for you to make a Hello Kitty. Unless the laws are different where you live.

I think the piece of string line is funny but I would only say that to a friend, not a potential customer. lol

I have a lot of my highschool friends from way back join my page and then ask me for pricing, on one photo of a big cupcake cake I had just done one girl asked me to do one for her daughter. I explained how many hours it would take to complete and the amount of servings she would have for that exact cake. At the time I would have charged $75.00, so I told her as much. (I felt it was pretty cheap for the details).

Anyway, she replied Holy s#$% that's way too expensive - right on the photo on my business page. Needless to say I quickly deleted it. A lot of people just don't realize the amount of time that goes into making a cake and how each one is different.

Once my new website is up and running I'll have pricing up under cakes to give people an idea of what they will cost. Hopefully it will cut down on the amount of people who ask 50 questions and then decide it's too expensive.

Had I made that inquiry and got the reply "how long is a piece of string" that would have been the end of the conversation. I have sold Real Estate for many years (and hopefully one day I can sell cakes), I know sarcasm doesn't get you too many sales. Believe me, sarcasm is my middle name (LOL!) and I come from a very sarcastic English family....but there is a place for it.....just my opinion.