AThis comment is a great opportunity to educate your audience about what is really involved in making a cake (in a polite and professional manner of course). I would reply with a very high level overview of how you arrived at that price, including the cost of ingredients and overhead, how much labor was required, and your hourly wage. You can also compare the cost per serving against how much you would pay for a serving of dessert at a restaurant.

I agree, you could either delete it or explain why it costs that much.

People think of cake and they think $2 for a can of frosting and $1.50 for a box mix.

There was another post about a nasty facebook comment the other day, and one lady posted a link to her cost explanation on her FB business page.

I'd search for that, she gave people permission to copy it to their own pages, it was good stuff!

I usually PM people when they ask about pricing, simply because every cake is different.

AI haven't had that happen (yet) but I did see it on a competitor's Facebook. They posted a picture of a rainbow cake with rainbow insides and someone asked how much it was. It was an 8" for $150 and my eyes bugged out, but then I read the next comment and was irritated because the woman says," surely people in Cincinnati aren't stupid enough to pay $150 for an 8" cake" or something to that effect... Wow! The bakery did respond in a very professional manner that they make gourmet cakes from scratch and each layer was a different flavor... It still makes me mad to think of it, and there's no way I would pay that much! But it is the same with anything, people are allowed to charge whatever they want, and if people are willing to pay it, then others should keep their mouths shut, and they don't have to buy it! I'd never buy a Lamborghini, even if I was a billionaire, but I'm not going to besmirch the makers, dealers or buyers for doing it! (I do happen to think they look d-baggy, though!)

yep, Facebook fun! I had someone post last week (and yeah, i whined about it! LOL) that she could make one of my cakes and then proceeded to say how...

good times! 

i would respond as jason suggested. even if she doesn't really care, at least she'll know that somebody was watching.

I never discuss price openly...It's always in a private message, or even better, over the phone. Truth is, you don't know who is watching and willing to undercut you.

Just delete that crap.

I never discuss pricing on FB, or even tell how much a certain cake was. It's just unprofessional.

The comment was definitely rude, but I would steer clear of ever mentioning price on FB, especially for a specific cake already sold. You can always say cakes range from "$ to $$ per serving".

And I'm thinking of it from the customer's angle (not your business, competition, etc). If I was the one who had purchased that cake I would be offended that you posted the price. They probably don't want the entire FB public knowing how much they spent.

If you are really new to the area/Maritimes, you will notice that a majority of people get their hackles up over "custom cakes", the smaller the community, the higher the hackles are raised.  Up until the last 5-10 years, custom cakes were unheard off and Sobey's or Superstore were the only places to get wedding and celebration cakes if they weren't made at home in smaller communities.  

I personally would just delete the offending comments and just respond via private messages when people ask about cost.  

This is great advice that I'll be taking to heart now that I've decided to set up a Facebook account for my cake business. Yeah, I know, I'm really late to the party - and to think I used to be a total tech geek =).

Thanks all,

We typically don't answer on the FB page itself but we thought, just this once~!

The comment is deleted, we don't like to do this either because people would think that we delete what we don't want there and only keep what we want. But for this one, we did delete it.

I agree that posting the price of a previous customer's cake is not right...

Lesson learned, if it does come up again (which it won't), we'll educate them instead.

I actually had answered an online question comparing a Vachon cake (or twinkies) to a real bakery piece of cake and the work that goes into both... wish I could find that again!

I would delete anything I wanted to off of my facebook page without guilt. There's no reason to let idiots post rude things on your page. Just don't discuss prices of specific cakes on there anymore, people don't get it if they're used to eating walmart cake.

If I were a bride and someone posted how much my wedding cake cost, I may be slightly (or a Lot) irritated. If I were a bride and someone posted how much my wedding cake cost and then someone else made FUN of me for spending that much, I'd be spitting nails. Probably at the baker, not the rude poster. I don't think I'd want Aunt Susie or Grandma Jane knowing how much I spent on ANYTHING for the wedding.

Glad you deleted it- even a well thought out response would have done little to convince someone so rude that a custom cake costs what it does for a reason. 

Had a couple ladies tag team me with FB messages the other day. A lady friend of theirs posted a pic of the cake I made for her, a two tier, sort of plain just fondant dots and some stars coming out the top, and she asked for the smash cake to be placed on top "for looks" so I obliged. No biggie right?

OMGosh! She must have announced to all of her friends that I sell three tier cakes for (the two tier price)  So this mom and her daughter simultaneously messaged me about a three tier cake, with candy and suckers (36 rainbow swirl suckers to be exact) and a smash cake besides. I quoted the price and they both came unglued! Separately and at the same time! "Why is this so expensive?? You did a three tier cake for so and so for (THAT) price!" I wanted to ask  "So you're demanding ..What Exactly?"  holy freakin frejoles! (sp) Even Walmart won't sell a three tier cake for what these women wanted to pay for this one. So FB, is it a blessing or a curse? Some of each!

It would be NICE to have a copy of that thread explaining costs etc! I would post it for a couple days to just let folks know what goes into their cake.

I count on my FB page for chatting with other decorators and posting pics. Sure it's a useful tool somewhat for customers, but I'm more interested in my Google ranking and people that know how to use Google, and word of mouth.

And I turned off the message option on my page the day it went live. No. Way.

For those customers I do favors for, or give discounts to, I make clear to keep the price hush hush...So far they have all obliged me...I think they know if they blab, that's the end of the favors LOL

I also only discuss price through private messages. Personally I would completely ignore these types of comments. I would want to respond but the people who make ignorant comments like this really are not worth your time and effort in replying. If you are running a business you will always have 50 other tasks to be done which are much more worthy of your time.

It is hard sometimes when people are so stupid but you have to get a thick skin and if their comments become offensive you can block them or report them.

Amanda xx

Venuscakes, I love how the filtering software on this site has censored out the offensive name of where you live. I don't think that my virgin eyes could stand to see "E S S E X" written out!

i agree that facebook is not the place to talk to customers. Send them to your email and go from there.

Just saw your reply - can't believe there is a filter system that has censored that! There is a town in Ireland called Effin which was removed from Facebook and caused an uproar amongst residents!

What's crazy is they complain about cake prices of unknown bakers...but then they go to well known cake bakers/designers and they openly pay 4 to 5 figures. Imagine having a cake made by Sylvia Weinstock, Ron Ben Israel, etc. and trying to get it priced for less than $100!

I'm new but going to chime in here. :) 

I try not to post costs on FB but have occasionally. I tell the customer, "Please email or MSG me with any pricing inquiries, thank you."  I have learned my lesson though because I found out that a customer saw the one post of what I charged on a specific cake and took my exact design I made previously to someone else and had it made cheaper than what I posted. :(  Lesson learned.  I do post cupcake/cake pop prices though.

AYup I posted the exact same thing on post #6

Some of these same people probably pay $4 everyday for a cup of starbucks coffee. Then ***** about gas being $3.85 a gallon .

I just had a woman ask for a Doc Mcstuffins cake, 2 tiers with 4 gum paste characters, & a gum paste stethoscope. I sent her 2 sketches which in the sketches I put a picket fence around the cake, doc's house not a 3D figure but 2D on side of cake, along with trees and bushes, and a tree with a tire swing. All this from the cartoon. I put these in the sketches b/c w/o the cake would be blah. She comes back with I've decide to have my cousin (who is a baker) & in Ga make the cake then she was having relatives bring it in. Wtf?? Who does that?  She proceeds to say I've made fondant cakes before and know how much time goes into them but "we never charged $85 for fondant decorations". If anything I was probably undercharging her. I sent her an email and said I take pride in my work and feel my prices are fair. I don't spend all this time on my cakes just to give them away. Then I said I guess that's the difference between a novice/hobbyist and an actual cake decorator. Why did she even ask me do it in the first place is beyond me. I should have known something was up when she said "my cousin is a baker". I've heard that several times before. It's almost like they are trying to say, If you can't do it I know someone who can but I'm asking you b/c....they were busy, or they live far away, etc. I emailed another decorator  b/c she lives just across the border and asked if she gets people like this she was like yes, they expect you to do "suck time, no money" cakes. She said she sets a minimum price and plasters all over her site, but of course she still gets those who still ask for prices. She said plastering her min. price weeds out the lookie loos, cheapos, etc. And this decorator who has been on Katie Couric, and in a number of magazines said, don't give up, they will come and they will pay. Loved her advice. 

Thought this rather apt for some to keep..  Bluehue

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"I'm sorry, I don't share specific customer's invoices, however if you are interested in a similar cake, please PM me to set up a consultation."  Should make the situation awkward enough for the offender to scamper away.