I recently started "word of mouth" advertising that I decorate cakes. Keep in mind that because of health issues, I'm a stay at home wife. I'm doing this to help dear hubby make ends meet.
Along with the "word of mouth" advertising I agreed to do a select handful of "freebies" to showcase my work and hopefully pull in a few paying customers.
The last of which were two cakes done for a preschool graduation/end of the year party. A friend, who's daughter attends this preschool, asked me to do this.The cakes were a hit, although there were some complaints about the icing being too sweet It was nice though, that even though the cakes were donated- the parents still gave me a few dollars as a thank you. I appreciate that because it helped me replace materials.
Now this is where I start getting upset. The man in charge called and thanked me for the cakes. And then priced a graduation cake off of me. He asked for a sheet cake, which he had no idea of exactly how big that was. I told him at this time I only had 11x15 pans. Now keep in mind- my "sheet" cakes are two layers put together, they are not a single layer torted. And they are filled only with buttercream. I quoted him $40. This guy calls my friend, and scoffs at the price, saying he could get it at Walmart cheaper.
Ok, I'm not Walmart. They can buy their materials in bulk and at a discounted price. I can't, I have to pay more for materials. Secondly I have the luxury to take more time on a cake, and have more creative freedom. They have to meet a quota, and only have so many design options. And besides my cakes are bigger!
So, this guy is mad. And my friend has suggested that I find ways to buy in bulk AND change my buttercream recipe! PLUS, this guy had already spread it around that i do cheap cakes, WITHOUT even consulting me about my prices!!!!!!
I don't believe that I should have to compete with the local supermarket.
First of all, am I off my marker for charging $40.00 for a 11x15 that I actually took the time and thought into decorating?
I love decorating, but at this rate I'm ready to throw in the tip,the bag, and the buttercream!!!!

Feel free to tell him you know someone who charges $53 for an 11x15 (ME!).

You should "try to figure how to buy in bulk"?!!!! Tell your friend when she sends you enough orders to justify a weekly purchase of 100 lbs of flour and 30 dozen eggs (AND the place to store it!), you will be HAPPY to "buy in bulk"! (Don't ya just wanna smack the snot out of each and every one of em?)

You don't compete with supermarket cakes. When you run into these kind of people, who just smile and tell them, "Well, good. I'm glad you have a place that fits your budget." And walk away.

Thank you! I really needed that I'm glad someone shares my sentiments

If he thinks it is so easy and cheap, let him to his own cake.

Don't think you have to compete with Walmart, yuck

I agree with Indydebi, slap the snot out him.

Hey wait a minute!!! He told people you do cheep cakes?? Well let me tell you he is right! There is no way he would get that same cake from me for $40. You are cheep! You should be getting more then that.

Of course he can get a cake from Walmart for cheeper. So what? If that's the kind of cake he wants then tell him to go for it. Your cakes are custom made. Plus the quality is much higher. Put them side by side and there is no way he would still want WalMarts cakes. No one would.

That being said, maybe that's all he can afford. Or maybe cake isn't that important to him. I know a lot of people feel that way. I told one customer that I couldn't afford to pay for one of my cakes. I couldn't! But it doesn't mean they are not better then the one I could afford to buy.

You have to understand. We are cake people here. We LOVE everything about the cake and we know how costly they are and all the supplies are. We know how long a cake takes and how long it took for us to get to do cakes like we do now. Not everyone is like us. In fact there are some people who don't even care one bit about cake Can you believe that?

So let him say what he wants. You just stick to your guns and if your friend tells you to lower your prices again then you ask her if she could find a way to do her job faster so her boss wouldn't have pay her as much.

Don't let those "Non-cake" people get to you. Be happy there are many people out there who will buy your cakes. So stick to your guns and you will be ok. Can't please everyone.

I would love to slap the snot out of him! But I'm also having visions of sitting on him and filling his nasal passages with BC. It would be a much more excrutiating pain to have sugary burn up your nose than having the snot smacked out of you!

indydebi wrote:

Thank you. I love this - I'm not sure if it is a 'put-down' but it certainly sounds like one of the politest ways of having a dig - saving this one for future reference.

Edited to add:

Aimee: It's a shame you can't tell the knobhead (am I allowed to use that?) 'Thank you for spreading the word about my 'cheap cakes' are you going to make up the difference between what I would have charged and what you're telling people I do charge? If not, close your mouth and give your a*** a chance'.

I for one am up for a road trip to slap the snot or the whatever out of HIM. He sounds like a complete and advanced degree moron. There, take from your friends....keep up YOUR GREAT WORK!! People who don't do what we do dont' have a tiny clue what the cakery world is all about....kwim?

I have to agree, tell him good luck with walmarts.

I have to say that you are cheap though, if you are only getting $40 for a two layer 11x15, since i get $35 for a single layer, and i'll spilt and fill for another $5. Have i handed people the grocery stores number you bet i have, after all they are only 5 miles down the road. Best of luck to them.

I don't understand why some people think specialty bakers will cost as low as Wal-Mart prices. Just isn't going to happen! The cakes are so much nicer than what Wal-Mart offers and should be priced accordingly.

Ask him how much he would pay for ONE slice of cake at a resturant.....

I guess to keep with the "yes, I'm cheap" go with, for a custom cake, I charge pretty cheaply, but I've seen how wal-mart decorates, and there is no comparison to someone who takes the TIME to do a good job.

And, by the way, I charge $60 for a double layer (torted) 11x15, so there! You're far cheaper than me! LOL

melissa

I needed some cc'ers to come beat the snot out of some rich ladies at our fundraising event last Thursday night. Oh I was so mad.

I had made my first cowboy hat cake and a 2 tiered 'happy trails' cake for silent auction. There was a group of rich old ladies standing there when I happened to walk by and one of them said 'I'd never buy that because it isn't fresh'. 'Fresh'?@!? So, I stopped and said "You buy your bread from the local grocery store, don't you?" She said 'Yes', and I said you purchase chips, bagels, donuts, cookies, canned goods, etc. there too, right? She said 'yes'. Well those weren't baked the day you purchased them and they are all fresh and edible. Why do you think this cake isn't fresh? She said that it had been sitting out for 3 hours so it was ruined and stale.

It was a whopping 48 degrees here that night because we were outside in a barn. People were so cold that they left early to go home. By the way, my cowboy hat cake sold for $15 and the other one sold for $30. The lady who purchased the cowboy hat cake left it there (because it wasn't fresh) and then proceeded to tell my employer that she would be in touch with me when she was ready to get her 'fresh' cake made.

Yep, you guessed it, the 'fresh' lady bought it. I'm ready to send her the $15 and tell her to stick it.

I haven't been able to post several of my pics because they are too 'big' size wise for CC and I haven't been able to crop them down. The cowboy hat is on my website though. I can't even get the happy trails one on my website. Need to invest in some editing software apparently.

Just call me the cake nazi, like the soup nazi on seinfield. No cake for you. haha

Ummm... she bought the cake at the auction, not the right to another one... geez and only $15?!?!?!?!? That's crap.... sorry it was such a disaster! And DO NOT MAKE HER A CAKE REPLACEMENT!!!

Melissa

Hang in there, we've all been through it.
I was asked to do a cake for work, a large department store for St. Patricks's day. A full size sheet. Sigh, I work there part time and full time midnights elsewhere, but this is what I really love to do so I said yes, the thing was I was supposed to keep my receipts and they would pay the costs. Alright, not much profit there, but it would help get my name out.
So I do 1/2 White Almond Sour Cream and 1/2 Darn Good Chocolate Cake. I dressed it up with hand piped grass (on a whole sheet! It took FOREVER!) and a candy melt rainbow with gold coins, and shamrocks.
Everyone loved it, by the end of the day there were no leftover pieces of cake, people were going out of their way to come to my department to compliment me.
So I then handed in my recipts and it was just over $50 for it. VERY CHEAP for what the cake was.
Next shift the managers come over and start telling me that I shouldn't have charged them for the box (had to bring it in somehow) because I could have reused that (which I couldn't because it was thrown out) and that I could reuse the $10 paper cakeboard (which I told them was the same as reusing a paper plate at a picnic for someone else and that I wouldn't!). So they were trying to get the price down to the $20 at Costco for the same size. Cheapskates! I finally got my money just the other week, like 3 months later!
And since then, our store had a "birthday" and they went and got a 1/2 sheet from Zehrs, by the end of the day there was still at least 1/2 the cake left, and everyone was asking me if I had done it! No! I hadn't been asked. And they were all asking why!
People obviously understand the quality, but are rarely willing to pay for it.
I just shrug my shoulders and mention that Zehrs is down the road if people aren't willing to pay. After my experience, I'm not putting myself out anymore, if you want to pay, you'll get a quality cake.
Hang in there, it'll take time.

I agree with peg 818 -- I also charge $35 minimum for a half sheet -- although I use 12X16 -- and that is for basic buttercream with minimal decorations. Let them go to Wal Mart or any grocery store. Their decorations are very limited and they all use mass produced, frozen cake -- that comes from some one who used to work at one of these "bakeries" and I am doing her wedding and groom's cake it two weeks!

When you say sheet cake. Is it always double layered? I'm confused. I thought they were just a huge one layer cake. Please clarify. Because if it is double layer. Than I think I'm cheaper that Walmart!!!!! lol.

Lu

All I want to say is that for the first time yesterday when I was discusing cake with my DH, I told him how Walmart operates (from what I learned on CC). His comment... well that explains a lot. I cant believe I had never ranted about that one to him. The look of discuss was great too!

He said no wonder people are willing to pay for a good cake.

I just think it's too bad that people who know nothing about cake think they can equate our cakes with Walmarts. How sad.

Don't try to compete with Walmart, remember that their motto is to take out the little guy everytime. Just remember your cake's taste and quality are uncomparable.
So if this tastebudless human wants Walmart pricing, tell him where Walmart is. Maybe we should all mapquest or google map from our cake address to the nearest Walmart and give it to those who insult us like that. Then you dont have to say anything else just point to the direction. You could embelish the map with "Really Cheap Cake --- REALLY REALLY CHEAP CAKE and want to know why"

As far as pricing goes, I think you are very fair.

So dont worry about these people we can always put them down right here, we know better!

As far as the icing being too sweet, if most people like your icing, dont mess with it.
If you want to try something else, I found that flavoring with lemon juice, vanilla and almond takes away a lot of the sweetness.

Good Luck

I'm with everyone else. Turn the guy around, steer him in the direction of the nearest Walmart, and slap him on his arse on his way out your door!
He wants to pay Walmart prices.....go to friggin Walmart then, dude!

Aimeestrange~

that guy is crazy!!! and i do think you can charge more though.... my "sheet" cake is 12x18, i use my 9x13 pan and stick them next to each other, but they are also two layers (LOTS of cake! ) and i charge $60! ...and i'm in canton...which is VERY close to where you are. i think you could definitely up your prices. that guy got a great deal on his cake, which was really cute btw! nice job!

~erica

I dont see any reason for him to be mad! If he doesnt want it, so be it. If he wants a cheaper cake, let him go get a cheaper cake. But I am atonished that someone would actually be mad!

What! That's a man for you--no sense whatsoever! Hey too bad about him and anyone else that doesn't understand quality. I charge $50 for my 12x18 and if they want two layers it's another $20. The cakes are tailored to the customer and if they don't want that they can go buy a cake that tastes like it's been frozen for years from their grocery store--good luck to them.

Why that old bat!! So you think she'll call you one day and expect you to make her a "fresh" cake to replace the one she left behind at the auction? Woo hoo, I'd like to hear THAT conversation. Good for you for speaking up. She'll have a face to go with what you'll have to say. LOL What nerve!

I've been charging $35 for my half sheet which is 11x15. I have recently started to tort and fill my sheet cakes. I can get another 20 servings that way so it's an option I'm going to offer for an additional $10-$15. I'll do a two layer sheet cake but I don't think they look as nice as one that's torted and filled. They look too out of proportion to me.

As I've said before, once someone mentions a better/cheaper deal at Wal Mart that's exactly where they can head. I'm not playing that game with anyone. I once had a good friend do that one time and I told her not to let the door hit her in the can on the way out the door to Wal Mart. She laughed but got my message. I've made several cakes for her, all sheets.

Something that I offer is a large oval sheet cake. It serves as many as the 11x15 I have and makes a lovely sheet cake you can't get at any of the store bakeries.

Now, first of all, no offence to wal mart decorators. I know there are a lot of talented people who work there, but they have to do things a certain way and if it were up to them and had the time, things would be done a lot differently. (although I don't know anyone who works there personaly.)
BUT, don't you dare compare your work to a chain store! Having said that, don't compare your prices with them. The size of cake your talking about is pretty much the norm with us I believe. Keep your great work up, and don't back down on your prices. If you do the math on an hourly schedule less materials, a lot of us aren't even making minimum wage if there is alot of detail and planning involved. I can spend weeks planning a cake. I've done some lately that I'm very proud of, unfortunaly, I have an apple computer and since the changes on CC, I cannot upload my photos anymore. Not complaining though since the changes are great!
Keep you chin and the health of your family up and just Do your thing Sweetie!
Amy

You should have asked the lady at the auction if she had every be to a wedding and eaten the cake, they sit there for over three hours at times and are very fresh. Hang in there your price is just what I charge.

I agree with everyone here!
I don't claim to have any wisedom (newbie and all )
but I wanted to share a little epifany that I had...

I was doing some cakes for my family (for free) and I knew they were probably $50 cakes. I know a lot of my family would scoff at that price and I would have too years ago.
but then I thought about a birthday gift that I had just purchased for my nephew, a plastic sand table for about $50.
seriously, a lousey piece of plasic for $50! with no really labor envolved compared to all the time and hand work that we put into the cakes, jepers!
that really put it into perspective for me and my DH.
I never hear anyone complain about paying for toys or other peices of plastic like that...

also, I want to say THANK YOU everyone here, I have been learning so much I would be so lost without this site!!!

Carrolann, what a great idea you have for using the oval pans! In all my time "trying" to be creative, I never thought of that. Mind if I adopt this as well?
Amy

First of all Aimeestrange: Is the man totally NUTZ? I usually only charge $30.00 for my 12x18 cakes and that is MY choice! I only sell to friends and family and in most cases they give me BIG tips...so I get a good price for them. Hey! I had a lady ask me if I would be willing to charge less than $1.00/serving (my recoup supplies cost) for a wedding cake to feed 200 people! I told her Nope, sorry. She said "Then what should I do?" I told her to call WalMart. She did, they were happy, they paid MORE than $1.00/serving! LOL

fourangelsmommie: HELLO from MADISONVILLE!!!
Now, THOSE are "snotty yankee ladies" aren't they? LOL WOW! NO CAKE FOR THEM!! I think if "Fresh Lady" were to call me I just politely say "I'm sorry, I wouldn't want you to waste your money on a cake that isn't fresh. Because, I WILL be charging you MUCH MORE than $15.00 for it my dear. NO CAKE FOR YOU!"

Edited to say: ABSOLUTELY NO OFFENSE INTENDED to the LOVELY YANKEE CCer's and relatives! LOL

Beth in Madisonville KY