Do You Ever Turn Down A Customer??? If So, How?
Decorating By SarahsSweets2006 Updated 26 Jun 2007 , 10:33pm by indydebi
I have a problem... A guy my boyfriend works with is interested in me doing a cake for his son's military academy graduation. This guy's wife emailed me today and said:
I am interested in a 1/2 sheet cake (approx. 60 people) with Ryan's graduation picture transferred onto rice paper.
My problem, I don't have a 1/2 sheet pan (yes, I can buy one, that's not the main problem) but I don't have the equipment to do a photo transfer to rice paper.
Sooooooo, should I try to "sweet talk" some grocery store to do the rice paper transfer without buying the cake and then buy the 1/2 sheet pan and make the cake OR tell her I can't make what she wants.
-When my bf told me about this cake, the guy he works with was talking about putting the logo from the military academy on the cake, that would be fairly easy, could do a fbct or something. As for the cake, I have round pans from 6 inch up to 16 and could do a stacked cake instead of a flat 1/2 sheet. Should I suggest something else to the lady... I mean, the cake she wants she can get at a grocery store for like, $30 compared to the price that I would charge. It just seems to "typical" for me... meaning the usual sheet cake with their kid's photo it. Ya know???
Just tell her you are not ale to do images at this point if she asks why then just tell her you don't have the equipment for it and suggest something else.
This website www.icingimages.com will do the image for you. You can pass along the cost of having the image done to the customer, and simply add it to the cake. I don't have the equipment either, but I use this site for customers who request it. They have reasonable prices and images may be uploaded right on the computer. However, it may take up to a week to get the image unless you want to pay rediculous shipping charges.
Thanks for the web-site torysgirl87 but "Yow-za"... those images are NOT CHEAP. $16 for the image... hmmmm. I am going to swing by a shop today and just ask if they would be able to do an image but not put it on a cake for me. I don't know if they would or what they would charge but the most they can say is "no"... if they won't do it, I think I will go with the advice of notjustcake and tell her I don't have the equipment to do those images at this point in time, that I would be happy to design a cake that she would love but if she has her heart set on a flat sheet cake with her son's face on it, a supermarket bakery would love her business. (I think they are boring but that's just MY opinion). 
Oh, well that's 'reasonable' to me, not cheap, esp. if you just roll the cost over to the customer. Guess it depends on the market and individual. Best wishes.
Do you have a 9x13? Just do two of those to get a half sheet. That is what I do.
If you cannot swing, you just need to tell her that. Unless you want to use the cake to invest in the tools you need (that is what I do. I take on a cake, knowing that any profit will go the purchase of supplies that I have to buy, an investment!)
There is nothing wrong with that. Tell her what you can do, if she wants to alter the plan, then she'll go with you.
Stephanie
Well, you can always ask your local Alberston's Bakery to print an edible for you. That's what I do. So long as it's not a copyrighted picture, they will print it for you for about $6.00. You should be able to get at least a full size picture from it.
Just have your customer take them a picture and order it in your name. Then go and pick it up a day before you put the cake together. Vwala!! I do this all the time. Never had a problem yet, and no great expense on my part other than the printing costs. Add that into the price of the cake.
Walmart also will print an edible image for you. Here it costs $8. Just pass this cost onto your customer. If you have a 40% off coupon for Michaels or JoAnn's you could use that to purchase your cake pan.
Jacqui
I know that a Walmart Superstore will do it as well...and if you go during a time when its not super busy...(during the week or earlyish in the day) they will probably do it right on the spot...i know the one here does...(not that I'm advocating driving all the way to NY-heh and the one here charges $5-HTH
Thanks for all the great advise. What's funny is that before I even read all those comments, I stopped by my local grocery store after class and asked them if I could purchase JUST an edible image, sans the cake, and she said you CAN! ... 
for JUST $4!!!!! Whoo hoo!
And when I was looking at their cooler of oh-so-lovely cakes 
, I realized that a half sheet is just 2 9x13! Lucky for me, I already have two really nice ones (with straight 90 degree corners) and have used one of them only once. So, again... thanks for everyone's advise. 
Now I have to figure out how I am going to "spruce up" a flat sheet cake so it DOESN'T look like the typical grocery store one. If she(my customer) wants a sheet with her son's photo and it has my name attatched to it, it is going to look AMAZING. Haha. 
To answer your original question of have we ever turned down a customer. Yes, just yesterday. She called wanting a cupcake wedding cake and I just don't want to mess with those. I told her she would be better off contacting a grocery bakery for that, as they could offer better pricing since they had bigger oven capacity than I did.
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