These are perfectly legitimate questions from somebody who has actually READ your website.
So: Update your website. Why on earth would you have old prices there???
My prices arent old. My cakes actually do start at $25.00 for a basic design. What she wants is NOT a basic design (due to the amount of icing used), thus the price difference. I have pricing all over my website, in a designated pricing section as well as in my photo gallery. Each cake in my photo gallery has a price on it, so it is VERY clear what I charge. So she did not actually READ the information on my website, which is a bit frustrating. What's the point of putting all that information in if people arent going to read it?
I don't charge a lot because the majority of baking I do is for friends and family and I really have no interest in doing this as a business. I have fun doing it and with the way I have it set up now there is no pressure for me to take work, bookings or bend over backwards for people. I work full time and this is my hobby....I bend over backwards for people all day long and don't want to feel like I have to do that during my hobby as well....lol! I have set designs I create with set prices....if someone wants that then I'll make it. I have no interest in dealing with picky people or Bridezillas....lol! A hobby is supposed to be fun, not stressful...lol! I hope that makes sense
AI hate it when I get a customer telling me that the cake they want will be really simple to make. I want to say, "Oh really? Well I guess that if it is that simple you can just make it yourself!"
But instead I try to be professional and reply with, "Yeah, sometimes the things that look really simple are the most difficult to do, so let's discuss what you're wanting and we'll go from there."
LOVE this post!!!
this is my story:
I had, not one, but two clients send me a drawing of a cake that they made....and they wanted me the recreate the EXACT same cake.
Euhhh!!! No
I bake and decorate cake's because i LOVE to come up with a design on my own....not to recreate a creation of someone else.
Am i exagerating??? Over reacting??? I don't think so
I sooo wanted to reply back and tell her the difference between the $25.00 pricing and the $40.00 pricing is $15.00!!!!!! And yes, the $1.50 pricing on the cupcakes is different than the $1.25 quoted on my site.....BY 25 CENTS!
I understand that a lot of people are on a budget but nickle and diming like this is just CHEAP! And I can't stand it when people complain about my pricing! Cupcakes in my area typically sell for around $2.50 or more. My prices are low and people still complain. I think I may have just conveniently booked someone else for this day! LOL!
Questioning pricing is something people should do if they need clarification in my opinion. I ask about pricing not to get it lower, but because I simply don't always understand. Now, if I ask you to lower your price, that's when I am nickel and diming you. At the end of the day $15.00 is still money. May not seem like a lot to some people, but it's still money.
I'm not trying to start at argument, I'm just replying with my perspective.
A
Original message sent by lesucreaufour
LOVE this post!!!
this is my story: I had, not one, but two clients send me a drawing of a cake that they made....and they wanted me the recreate the EXACT same cake. Euhhh!!! No
I bake and decorate cake's because i LOVE to come up with a design on my own....not to recreate a creation of someone else.
Am i exagerating??? Over reacting??? I don't think so
I agree! I don't mind if they bring in a picture of a cake, but I tell them that I will do MY interpretation of the picture. Then I give them a few ideas of what I have in mind. But I won't duplicate someone else's cake, not even my own! (unless it just for me and my family!) :)
A
Original message sent by JPepper
I don't charge a lot because the majority of baking I do is for friends and family and I really have no interest in doing this as a business.
LOVE this post!!!
this is my story:
I had, not one, but two clients send me a drawing of a cake that they made....and they wanted me the recreate the EXACT same cake.
Euhhh!!! No
I bake and decorate cake's because i LOVE to come up with a design on my own....not to recreate a creation of someone else.
Am i exagerating??? Over reacting??? I don't think so.
I do reproductions of other cakes all the time, who cares? I'm in business to make an income, not for my personal artistic gratification. However, if you don't want to do it then you're perfectly free to set limits. Just be prepared to piss some clients off. There's a baker in my area who tells clients what they can and can't have based on his own preference, and they come to me griping about how rude he is.
designers and marketers print/sell cake deco books telling us exactly how we can make the featured designs
of course the internet makes it even easier
cake deco is a repeating process just like fashion redoes itself year by year
you can find most all our 'new' design elements & techniques in old books
I get inspired from a lot of other cakes....like every other cake decorator. But sending me a drawing (made by the client) for me to replicate??? I guess i just like the idea for liberty in the design. I would never send a drawing of a design to a painter and ask i'm to recreate exactly the same thing...i would, instead, send him some colors, theme and style to get inspired from and maybe send him some picture's of painting that i like.
But maybe that's just me
Unfortunately this is one of those things you should not say to a baker who is in business. Fact is, you are running a business that is advertising to the general public via your web site, and undercutting competitors harms the entire market.
Totally agree with Jason If you're charging money it's a business.
$4? I would certainly do it, for the right amount of money, no less than $60, depending on where I had to drive, but, putting myself in the place of the girlfriend, why would I care if a (albeit fabulous
) baker delivers 2 beautiful and delicious cupcakes? I would be wondering what this person is doing walking up to my table, and in such a small box, I would be expecting something a bit more sparkly!It would be a lot cooler if it was a younger Richard Gere, or Chris Hemsworth...
LOL... I'd go for Richard Gere, as he looked on Pretty Woman... :-)
I get inspired from a lot of other cakes....like every other cake decorator. But sending me a drawing (made by the client) for me to replicate??? I guess i just like the idea for liberty in the design. I would never send a drawing of a design to a painter and ask i'm to recreate exactly the same thing...i would, instead, send him some colors, theme and style to get inspired from and maybe send him some picture's of painting that i like.
But maybe that's just me
It happens...I have clients who are graphic designers every now and then, so I just let them have at it. I figure that when I pay THEM to make their cake I can do whatever I want, but if they're paying then they get to decide.
Last week I had to refused an order for a wedding cake. I know the bride and I'll be to the wedding. She told me that she wanted two svanilla buttercream cakes with two fresh roses on it for 60 parts.
I said : euh....... we will be about 90 guests to the wedding... Have you tought about some other sweet things to complete the dessert table???
She answered : No, when cake will be over, people will just stop to eat it. ......
Can you imagine that everyone at the wedding knows me and my cakes? I'm I supposed to justify the lack of pieces of cake for the next 10 years??? 
I mean really, if I went to a furniture store and told them that I wanted to buy a green chair and they said that they just made a green chair and I should get a blue one instead, I'd go spend my money somewhere that would sell me a green chair. I offer clients suggestions but it's their decision as to the final design of their cake. I do my own designs 100% when I'm making display cakes, but it doesn't bother me to replicate something else if that's what the $$$ is buying.
Unfortunately this is one of those things you should not say to a baker who is in business. Fact is, you are running a business that is advertising to the general public via your web site, and undercutting competitors harms the entire market.
Jason_kraft, while I agree with you on some level, I also disagree on another. Just because I have a website doesn't mean I am advertising. And just because I charge a small fee doesn't mean I am doing this as a business. The fees I charge cover my costs...this would be an awfully expensive hobby if I didn't recoupe at least some of my expenses....lol! Websites have to be search engine optimized in order to show up in any searches, which mine is not so it will now show up in a search. I created it as a way of housing photos and prices for family, friends, friends of friends etc who may inquire whether or not I would bake a cake for them. It's much easier, and quicker, to give them a web address to review than me sending them a long email outlining everything and then attaching photos.
That said, if I actually did advertise which I don't, and I actually did profit which I don't, I would totally agree with your comment of undercutting competitors but I wanted to clarify that this is not the case here 
Now, your comment and me responding to it has totally gotten off topic of the thread....lol....hopefully I have clarified well enough and haven't ticked anyone off by getting off topic! LOL!
Jason_kraft, while I agree with you on some level, I also disagree on another. Just because I have a website doesn't mean I am advertising. And just because I charge a small fee doesn't mean I am doing this as a business. The fees I charge cover my costs...this would be an awfully expensive hobby if I didn't recoupe at least some of my expenses....lol! Websites have to be search engine optimized in order to show up in any searches, which mine is not so it will now show up in a search. I created it as a way of housing photos and prices for family, friends, friends of friends etc who may inquire whether or not I would bake a cake for them. It's much easier, and quicker, to give them a web address to review than me sending them a long email outlining everything and then attaching photos.
That said, if I actually did advertise which I don't, and I actually did profit which I don't, I would totally agree with your comment of undercutting competitors but I wanted to clarify that this is not the case here
Now, your comment and me responding to it has totally gotten off topic of the thread....lol....hopefully I have clarified well enough and haven't ticked anyone off by getting off topic! LOL!
I hate to tell you this because I'm not trying to start something, but this is totally wrong. If you take money for cakes you're doing business. You don't have to be making a lot of money to be in business, there are plenty of businesses that aren't making any money. Putting a website up makes it accessible to everyone, so it will be considered advertising if the IRS comes a'knocking. I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, please read it: http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2013/02/weird-undercutting-practices.html
A
Original message sent by JPepper
Just because I have a website doesn't mean I am advertising.
If your web site says "hey, look at these cool cakes I made" and people send you unsolicited messages asking to buy your cakes that's one thing, but by your own admission you list prices on your web site, so it's tough to argue that it's not a business.
BTW you may want to read up on hobby income, it turns out you may owe income tax on your gross income even if it is offset with expenses. http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-you-deduct-your-expenses-from-hobby.html
It is an expensive hobby, but many other hobbies are. I just did a 3 tier cake that cost me $45 in supplies alone this weekend and gave it away. Don't tell my husband it cost that much!
Your local health department may also have a different opinion to you on what constitutes a hobby and what is business.
You don't know from expensive hobbies. Have you seen what model railroad products are going for these days? Plastic HO-scale diesel locomotives over $100 apiece. $80 for a car. Plastic steam locomotives for what hand-made brass ones used to cost, 30 years ago. I'd suspect that even simple stuff, like Hydrocal and molding plaster for your scenery (assuming you haven't gone to styrofoam insulation board) is probably more than twice what it was back then.
A
Original message sent by hbquikcomjamesl
You don't know from expensive hobbies. Have you seen what model railroad products are going for these days? Plastic HO-scale diesel locomotives over $100 apiece. $80 for a car. Plastic steam locomotives for what hand-made brass ones used to cost, 30 years ago. I'd suspect that even simple stuff, like Hydrocal and molding plaster for your scenery (assuming you haven't gone to styrofoam insulation board) is probably more than twice what it was back then.
Please get back on topic. If you want to discuss business vs. hobby there is already another thread for that.
This thread is for light humor regarding things not to say to a baker.
You don't know from expensive hobbies. Have you seen what model railroad products are going for these days? Plastic HO-scale diesel locomotives over $100 apiece. $80 for a car. Plastic steam locomotives for what hand-made brass ones used to cost, 30 years ago. I'd suspect that even simple stuff, like Hydrocal and molding plaster for your scenery (assuming you haven't gone to styrofoam insulation board) is probably more than twice what it was back then.
My dad is so model train obsessed that he 'gave' me a train set for my first ever Christmas gift, I was 2 months old at the time. I spent a significant portion of my childhood at train shows, including the one he managed which was one of the largest in the country back then. I know what model trains cost!
But back to topic - I made a birthday cake for a friend the other night and at the party her husband says "this cake looks great. like you got it at Costco or something" - my friend and her sisters quickly set him straight!
You don't know from expensive hobbies. Have you seen what model railroad products are going for these days? Plastic HO-scale diesel locomotives over $100 apiece. $80 for a car. Plastic steam locomotives for what hand-made brass ones used to cost, 30 years ago. I'd suspect that even simple stuff, like Hydrocal and molding plaster for your scenery (assuming you haven't gone to styrofoam insulation board) is probably more than twice what it was back then.
LOL..my husband has a 'Model railway' in our attic,(I call it his Train set to annoy him) and he thinks nothing of ordering carriages at £15-£30..or a new loco (engine) at well in to 3 figures.....plus all the wires, soldering wires, soldering tools, exhibitions he attends....
Mind you he's VERY easy to buy for at birthdays/Christmas...
(I see from your pic you are into organs...my husband sings Alto/bass and Conducts and plays.....)
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%