you are not going to believe this!! i had a customer who called for two cakes this past tuesday. i normally ask customers to give me at least a weeks notice. well, she wanted a cake for her 7 yr. old and her 1 yr. old.
i charge $35 for a 1/4 sheet and $25 for a 10", but i started this new thing...if you have a child that's having their first birthday, you get a 1/4 sheet for the regular price and a 6" round for free!!...just for the little one to do what he/she wills. now i think that's pretty nice of me. well, she comes to pick up the cake late, and when she arrives she looks at the cakes and loves them, and then turns around and says, "i thought it was $25.00 for both?" i said no, it's $35.00. she leaves to go out to her car and my daughter overhears her saying, "I THOUGHT IT WAS $25.00!!!" CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!! she expected me to sell two cakes for $25.00! i told my husband that i hope she never calls me for a cake again, because if she does i will certainly turn her down and tell her to try the commissary!..btw, you have to give 10 days notice for a cake, and the cakes arrive frozen!!!!!!!!!!! oooooh, i'm sooo mad!!! you try and bend over backwards for people and this is what you get!!!

Some people have a thing called convenient listening. Maybe now is a good time to consider having a contract for everyone to sign no matter how small the cake is. I know cali4dawn does this and it helps resolve a lot of you said she/he said issues.

what is that?

Someone has on their avatar on another board I am also a member of....

Poor planning on your part does not constitute and Emergency on my part!!!

I would have told her no!!!

I was going to also mention the contract AND I require being paid up front unless I really really know you very very well. Get it? You want a $40 birthday cake? OK, cash, please! If they pay by check, I go to their bank and cash it. I want to know it's not going to bounce before I bust open the first ingredient. Yes, I'm harsh... but I never get burned.

m0use- we always call it "selective hearing"- all my children suffered from that- and Joan does too at times!

Kiddiekakes- that's my favorite motto- I use it in all walks of life. hahahahahaha

Diane...breathe......one......two......three....
I am sure she is over it now....as I tell my kids..."shake it off" I am sure 35 is even MUCHMUCH cheaper then an italian bakery. I have a friend here that is Italian, she looked at me one day when someone came to pick up a cake about dropped to the ground when the lady gave me 25 for a one layer (9x13) cake decorated with a small cartoon character. I was just going to give the lady the cake as my gift to the little one (she was a friend too). Anyway, my friend that was here (Lena) said in Italy a small cake like that would sell for (in a small mom and pop bakery)
80 That is of course Euro! That would cost you and I, 104 american dollar!!! Thats today, tomorrow it may be more... people! I swear!!!! You deserve all you get for those cakes you are awesome!

from now on i am going to ask for the money up front, but for those trustworthy and loyal customers, i'll just ask for a deposit of a certain amount. btw, i have a website that i'm starting. i hope to be finished with it by this weekend. i am going to put this information about pricing on there so i won't have this problem again!

You go girl.... PM me or let us all know your site.... which site you using? I have a Tripod one...

since i have a yahoo account, i went with them. i've had no problems with yahoo. i am working on my site right now. i'll let you all know the address when i'm finished.

Oh, Diane. That was a terrible thing that happened to you. And I know all about the commissary's cake prices and advance notice. I work at the bakery/deli in the commissary here. And sometimes when those people come in I just want to tell them to not do it! But since I have just gotten here, I am wanting to not get into trouble. I figure that I will be doing cakes for my 3 kids, hubby's promotion, friend's daughter's birthday and that will be a start in advertising the fact that I do cakes myself. Just the plain Jane happy birthday(which I have done on several cakes) costs 12.95. And when the want the Kopykakes, the start out at 25.00 and we have to fax them away to another commissary in Germany. For the faxed cakes we need at least 1 week's notice. And for the plain ones that we do we need 72hrs. I love my job, don't get me wrong. But I know that I can do better (not trying to brag). I am just hoping that everything will happen like I want it to and get the free advertising of my upcoming events! Just stay focused on what you do. We all know what it takes to make a cake just as a customer ordered. And we know what it takes out of us to make these wonderful creations. I think that you gave the lady a gift. And I know that I just love the way your cakes look1 So keep on baking!!
Tanya

Suggestion: Charge extra for emergency cake with less than 5 days notice. At least an extra $20 for that inconvenience is reasonable for any size cake, but more for bigger ones or ones that require more work. It sounds very frustrating!

Hugs,
~AngelWendy

Diane, I even have my friends pay me up front!! They are the worst ones when it comes to paying me! They think I'll just let them off the hook but I don't. They still order every cake the need from me but they know they have to pay up front. I do give them a discount but I don't do it free!