Customer Said $2.00 Is Too Much - Long
Decorating By playingwithsugar Updated 25 Mar 2007 , 1:58pm by Crimsicle
My niece was one of my first students when I started teaching. A co-worker of hers recently requested a price on a wedding cake - 150 servings, basic decorations.
She does a scratch cake with an all-butter BC with PS recipe, similar to the Crisco type. When she asked me how much to charge, I called independent bakeries in the area, and inquired about their rock bottom servings price on wedding cakes, the lowest I could get was $2.50. And that was for an onsite baked cake (mix - not scratch) with icing from a bucket. So I told her to quote a price of $2.00 per serving.
The potential client told her that she was charging too much, and that they can get a wedding cake at the supermarket for $1.25 per slice. She asked me what to do, and I told her to let them go to the market for their cake. I went to the market they said they were quoted this price from - they will be getting a 3" tall cake, with a half-inch of icing on top and 1/4 inch in between the layers, and a huge shell border on top that will take it to 4" tall.
She has 4 children and a stay-at-home husband, works two jobs and goes to college for nursing full-time; not only does she not have the time to negotiate a price with these people, she cannot afford to absorb the added cost for this cake for the sake of getting her name out. I reminded her that this person is a co-worker, most of the guests will be staff and their families, and the staff already knows what her cakes taste like, so there will be little new opportunity availed to her at this event.
Thanks for reading. Whew - I feel better.
Theresa 
Ya did the right thing!! Hopefully she will heed your advice!! That supermarket cake sounds GROSS!! 
You give a customer the price they can take it or leave. Your price was fair, let your niece know that she will come across people like this. If she lowers her price they will think she has no confindent in baking and decorating a cake. Their will all ways be someone out their to buy from her maybe not now but in time. Tell her not too sell her self short.
Everyone wants a bargain. Is she wants a bargain then your niece will need to bring down her quality of product. Is it worth it.
Since this person already knows how good her cakes are, I wouldn't worry about losing future business. I would suggest to her to go where she could pay $1.25. she will be the one sorry in the end! Usually, when the deal starts like this, you can bet this customer will be a real pain in the neck before it is over!!! I say good ridance!!!
I have seen this quote on her and some other sites and i think it explains the situation perfectly:
When pricing cake, remember my Mom's rule: Try taking 150 guests in formal wedding attire to a nice restaurant for dessert, and see if you can get them all a piece of fresh, decadent, custom-designed cake for less than $4.00 a serving...!
The one thing that bothers ME is that this is a co-worker who knows your niece; knows the quality of her cakes and knows that she is trying to actually MAKE MONEY with her cakes.
I thank God every day for my friends. They are the ones that I charge $30.00 for a cake and they give me $40.00 because it's "worth more than this!".
So sorry she had to deal with this. But, trust me....she can still hold her head high when her co-worker cannot because of a "less than stellar" wedding cake!
Beth in KY
You did the right thing!!! Don't feel bad about a thing!!
People also need to realize that when they buy a cake from wal mart, wal mart is paying hardly anything for ingredients because they order so much for all of their stores. A cake made from home will naturally cost more because of the ingredients, just to start off with, not even considering the better taste and look of the cake. If she starts making wedding cakes so cheap everyone will want one and expect the price.
Tiptop's top tip for the day...... 
Tell your niece to walk away shaking her head from side-to-side while making the Tsk, Tsk disapproval sound.
On this site, we need to reaffirm to each other and ourselves no matter if we are professional or amateur, first paid cake or billionth cake sold that we make beautiful hand-designed custom cakes. Not yesterday's day old, dirt cheap, burnt cast-offs for less than market value!
grocery store cake yuk, i bought a slice of grocery store cake the other day for my nephew who only wanted it because it was Oreo cookie cake and he didn't even like it i gave it a taste and it tasted like Band aids YUK 
OK so I have to add my 2 cents. My brother is getting married in May of 08. He asked me if I would do his wedding cake. Now I have NEVER done a wedding cake. I bake all the time I love it. But all the cakes I make are for free, for family. He says that He knows how I bake and he loves the tastes of my cakes. He will pay me full price for one of my cakes, as long as he "doesn't have to eat one of those disgusting concoctions they make in stores."
I had to laugh. Be prepared CCer's for tons of questions from me.LOL
Your niece does not need to make this cake for that little money. Your advice was spot on. They're wanting to pay $200 for a wedding cake. This is a wedding. If they can pay $200, they can come up with $300.
Have your niece counter, if she wants, with a type of cake that will allow her to make more profit off of the $200 they are willing to spend.
Or, have her gently remind them that they're buying a cake for their most special day at the same place they can buy tampons and moth balls. 
You gave your neice good advice. I bet the $1.25 was for a sheet cake not the wedding cakes. When this person finds this out they may come crawling back to her.
Jacqui
Or, have her gently remind them that they're buying a cake for their most special day at the same place they can buy tampons and moth balls.
I am dying........... rotflmao
Or, have her gently remind them that they're buying a cake for their most special day at the same place they can buy tampons and moth balls.
I am dying........... rotflmao
That is the best I have heard! Did they buy the wedding dress there too? A friend of mine wanted a specific cake at her wedding. The caterer swore the could duplicate it. She was willing to order it separately and pay for it, but they said no they could do it and it was included in her price. The cake was GOD AWFUL, stale and had pudding filling that was bitter. She was in tears and threw such a fit, they reimbursed her some money. A wedding cake is special, and you gave your niece the right advice. You get what you pay for and they will get Walmart. Her co-workers will only enjoy her cakes more in the future!
Why undercut the bakery? If the lowest price you could find was $2.50 then why is her cake only worth $2? The worst thing, IMO, you can do is undercut the local bakery and piss them off....
As for the potential customers....they should have taken the good deal when it was in front of them! Paying a little over a $1 for a cake...they get what they deserve....twinkies dipped in almond bark.
My mom has decorated cakes since I was about 3. I grew up on home decorated cakes--Thank God!!! Some people tell me store bought cake is just as good that it is all in my head that Moms is better. Well she put me to the test. She bought some bakery icing and put on one of her cakes. all it took was one bite. I asked her what on earth she had done to her cake, she asked why and I told her it didn't taste as good as it usually does. Then she told me. I would rather starve than eat a store bought cake. So this customer will be very dissappointed in their cake if they don't get a homemade one from your niece. People want something for nothing.
As Risque would say ... "NO CAKE FO YOU!"...
I agree, even $2/slice is a steel! I think the thing I find entertaining is that people NEVER ask "what size slice are you getting for $1.00/slice??".. I noticed this looking through the walmart brochure this weekend where it says a 10" and 12" will serve 115 
Uh... yea, if you're a 2-yo having a sliver of cake...
All I know is that honestly, if they put in a bakery at the Walmart expansion near me, I honestly don't care about "losing" any business because brides going there were not going to be my customers in the first place. They're going to get what they pay for.
One more tip:
If you haven't done this already, do yourself a favor and get yourself a good "per slice" pricing guide. There is on the CC somewhere, which shows different sizes and shapes of cakes, and how many servings it will make. I don't think that guide has prices, but find one that lists price per slice per style and size of cake.
If you have that, it's the same as going armed to a battle...and let's face it no one sane would go into a battle unarmed! That's just silly!! That may sound a little extreme for cake, but darn it, it fits!!
Arm yourself with knowledge, and you will be doing yourself a great favor, and you customers, and potential ones will view you as the professional you are. Just sayin......... 
Lisa
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