She told you the truth.

Her husband told her "no".

It was her way of reinforcing that she wanted you to do the cake but hubby says it's not in the budget.

He truly probably doesn't care about the cake that much. I know it's hard reality to face, but cake isn't as important to most people as it is to some people here. (generally speaking...no hurt feelings please)

He knows how much a box mix costs, and flour, sugar, etc. You can't expect someone who doesn't do this and doesn't care to understand the work behind it.

He proabably thinks in terms of how long he has to work to pay for things. maybe a $24 cake is one, two, or 3 hrs of work.

And no. $24 is NOT too much for the cake.

Don't feel bad. She wanted your cake, she just can't get DH to agree.

My best friend asked if I can do her daughters 2nd birthday cake because of severe food allergies. When I asked how big? She told me just to make it for her daughter and everyone else can have the Real Cake she's getting from Sam's Club. What? She knows that there cakes are frozen for a while and doesn't care. they are her favorite cake place. She's also cheap. I am doing the cake as a side gift for her daughter, but never told her. funny thing is she never offered to pay either or ask how much? oh well, it takes all kinds in this world, however I find most of the kinds are really cheap. ( I don't even sell my cakes, just ask for the cost of ingrediants)

I'm also a SHAM and full time student, I understand people are on a budgit, but the cake is not the thing to skimp on. Skimp on those expensive decorations and goodie bags instead or cut back on the # of people to invite. But never skimp on the cake, people will remember that aweful cake forever at your party.

I'm glad to hear you're not upset anymore. If she calls back charge her more and tell her I'm not a real baker so I'm charging more so I can become one, this will go to my wearhouse fund!

So okay, I just added up the costs of everything I had to buy to get the edible image system going for me. For inks, printer, and frosting sheets I had to pay $167.00. Dividing that up by the amount of frosting sheets I bought (50), that would make it $3.34 per sheet (if the ink lasts 50 sheets). For me to make a profit on the edible image, I would charge no less than $8.00 per edible image, depending on the size. I know Baskin Robbins sells them for a lot more than that on their ridiculously priced ice cream cakes. Customers hubby needs a reality check big time! However, better not to deal with people like that.

What most people don't realize is that the cakes made in places like WalMart and most grocery stores are frozen.They just do the decorating there.And I wouldn't be afraid to bet that the cheap hubby pays more than that at a bar one time.What I'd like to know is where you got the supplies for the images for that price

Isn't it amazing how some people seem to think a speciality cake created in a "home business" should cost less than a "real bakery"! I had a potential customer call and insist I make her a cake for $15.00. I told that my smallest cake was $20.00. She insisted on $15.00, telling me she could get one at Shop & Save for $14.99. I exclaimed to her, "How wonderful that they have one to fit your budget. You should, by all means, get your cake there!". Needless to say, she never became a customer! But, I am grateful I dodged that bullet!! I could have been stuck with her dickering for prices for years!

I'm pretty new to all this cake decorating but I have to admit I was one of those people who thought some cakes were priced way to high. I never saw anything wrong with a Costco cake.

I think the reason is when people don't make cakes they have no idea what the cost or time it takes to make.

I have found that people who do not decorate cakes do not really notice how nice the cakes look. They see the over all look and that's it.

I never noticed how bad some cakes looked until I started to make my own. Now I wonder how I could have been so blind.

We have a wonderful bakery by me that I used to buy cakes at. They were and still are very yummy. I also thought they looked wonderful. They cost about $65 for a 1/4 sheet which I thought was super high. But since it was a special day I would spend it. I wanted a nice looking and good tasting cake.

I've been back to that bakery since I've started to decorate cakes and I have to say I would be so embarrased to serve on of those cakes now. They looked so bad.

As bad as my first roses were I still a better job then the roses on thier cakes. The writting was so bad. The boarders were a mess.

But the thing is I never noticed! Just as people don't notice all our mistakes we see in our own cakes. Only we see them or other decorators.

So to be fair to those "cheep" people I think it's just lack of knowledge and if you put your cake side by side with the Costco or Walmart cakes they too would be able to see the difference.

Maybe that's a good idea. For people who look at your cakes, have a picture of the cheep cakes. For a tasting have them taste your cake and the cheep cake. I bet if we did this we would never lose another sell.

Ironic followup to my original post...

Yesterday, I had a delivery to the SAME business where the lady that cancelled the order per her husband works. I knew that she worked with the lady that I delivered to yesterday, but did NOT know that they worked together in the same office. Long story short, she saw the cake (edible image of WCU in my photos) and had a fit. She commented on how she wished that she'd left her order as is. She didn't elude to wanting to REorder the cake or my availability to do the cake, and I didn't say anything either. I did leave the door open, and told her that I had included extra price sheets in "so-and-so's" order, so she could get a list from her. Everything is very detailed and laid out on my pricing sheets, so she could know ahead of time how much everything is, and that my prices were good through 2006, with no deviations. She thanked me and asked for a business card. We'll see what happens. Just wanted to share how ironic life can be. I just tried to be as nice as possible. My parents always encouraged me treat others like you'd have them treat you. Kindness goes a long way.

Amy

She'll be back. Funny how that works, isn't it?!

Honestly, I wouldn't take anything she said personally.

I would imagine the conversation between the lady and her husband had really little to do with the price of your cake. Probably having other issues over budget and spending.

Trust me, your cakes are worth every penny you charge and more!

Don't feel bad and don't worry...in the end you know that at least the lady will think of YOU AND WHAT SHE COULD HAVE HAD as she's trying to swallow that tasteless cake while watching her guests get strange looks on their faces as well while they're taking a bite of that "economical cake" only to throw it away. $$$ down the drain. The situation will take care of itself AND if she's any kind of a good wife she'll turn to her husband and say "See... I told you so...."
Sorry...I'm feeling a little fiesty today!