I like to reuse plastic cake decorations, examples are; graduation hat, baby bottles, cars, figures, some silk flowers and such that I add to the cake at no extra cost but ask for them back. Do others do this?? I just had a customer get mad that I asked for the graduation hat and paper diploma and plastic doves that I used on her kids graduation cake. I swear I told her I needed them back but of couse she says I did not mention this. She then states that if she had gotten a cake from Walmart she would not need to return the decorations.

Any thoughts on this.
I am asking her to replace thoes items or give the old ones back.

Usually for plastic decorations I charge extra so I don't worry for them to get back. You can always tell them they'll get some refund if they bring it back, so at least you get money to buy some more if they want to keep them as a memory thing. (I still have the baby decorations from my now 12 y-o boy's baptism cake)

hth
Lorris

I kind of agree with Pootchi. I always include the price for the decorations in the price of the cake. I don't let the customer know that. I recently lost a graduation cake because I mentioned that the diploma, cap and figurine were extra. I just kind of give a total price with a invoice that includes everything spelled out that is included in the price - but not individual prices on these items. Make sense?

well even walmart charges for those little "plastic" decorations. 5 bucks for the set if you want to buy it alone or 4 bucks if it's with a cake

I agree w/ everyone else, plus before I did cakes I would always save the plastic decorations as a keepsake (ex. my son's 1st b-day tigger and pooh). Bakeries just charge you for the cake kit (which are the decorations).

I always ask for plastic decorations to be returned, but then i live in China and it's easy to explain to the people, that I have a hard time getting them in the first place. If they want to keep them they would have to pay so much extra, cause I have to slap shipping costs to them as well as the basic price.

Too much work to get them back. I just add it in the cost and if they return them great! I have clients who save my wood boards for me. I use them sometimes but some are not reusable.

I always ask for my stuff to be returned.

Only once in all my years of doing cakes has anyone complained about having to return my stuff. She was so tacky about it she said I was harrassing her by asking for the decorations back, even though I told her when she placed the order, and I only reminded her once. She never returned the computer keyboard which went with the pan, and I had to order a whole package of 12 from the company to replace it. Needless to say she never ordered another cake from me, and I would have turned her down if she had tried.

So, yes, I ask for the decors back, and (almost always) get them back without complaint. A few times, things have gotten lost or broken, and the client has paid to replace them. I also use some very special, one of a kind decors, like my Wizard of Oz characters, and the clients know to tell their kids the toys are only on loan from me.

It also helps that I have been doing cakes for some families since the baby shower 18 years ago all the way through to a high school graduation cake for the same "baby"

Never a problem. Well ...ALMOST never...