Just Starting Out Tips From Seasoned Decorators
Decorating By dnrast Updated 1 Jul 2007 , 6:25pm by TexasSugar
I'm new to this site, but have been doing cakes for years...I started doing family cakes to save money and discovered a new passion. When I started taking orders from people, if they wanted a speciality pan, I would charge them the pan, plus supplies. Now I charge a lot differently. So my thinking this morning is...to ask all the "seasoned" decorators how they managed to expand their equipment when they first started...maybe some "fresh" decorators can benefit from your experience...so how about sharing...
Gina
O-Regina-L Cakes
Louisiana
Hi Gina!
I'm pretty new to all of this myself, but have found so many tips, ideas and help. It's amazing how much better all of my cakes have turned out.
Anyway, the way I get most of my supplies is from Michaels with the 40% off coupon in the newspapers. Sometimes, like this week there are 2! I ask my neighbors, co workers, family to save them for me too and usually give my kids cash to buy the stuff in line behind me so we can use them up. It's amazing how much you can save.
Now if they would only sell more brands instead of all Wilton stuff!
I'm sure some others on here can get you some great advice.
When it comes to character pans, I used to buy them whenever I needed them. Then my basement filled up with all these pans! Now I usually follow the picture in the Wilton yearbook and just draw the picture on the cake, you just have to change it slightly to avoid copyright problems. That saves money and space, plus you can make the cake in any size to accommodate your customer. The supply store I work at rents most of the novelty pans too. Check with your local store to see if they can do that. I hate buying those pans now. It seems like such a waste!
My local cake decorating store rents ALL kinds of pans, even novelty pans. They charge a dollar a pan and require you to leave a deposit for the price of the pan. On retired pans, I have had to leave as much as 60 dollars deposit, as the store thinks (and rightly so) that people will steal these pans and re-sell them on ebay. But it's a great gig!
I personally sold all my licensed pans on ebay a while back because I am opening shop and didn't want to pay a fine... but I have you know I just purchased another GREAT invention and I am itching to use it.. my KOPYKAKE projector! So now I can go online or grab DH's coloring books and just use that pic and alter it slightly. Grant it I dropped $200 for it, but after buying 20 pans at $10 a pop, it was worth it, plus I had some killer pricey pans like the Littler Mermaid and stuff so they went for some mega bucks so it was sorta free if you think of it! I like the idea of tracing the pan shape.... great idea!
In the beginning, I bought every pan needed for whatever cake was ordered. A mistake made by many of us. And yes, I consider it a mistake. I ended up with lots of pans that took up space and only got used once. Whatta waste!!
If I knew then what I know now, I would set it up with "That cake requires a special pan, so a special equipment charge of $xx.xx will also be charged." (And yes, I get to keep the pan).
Special equipment ..... special charge.
And like buying diamonds .... don't waste your money on getting a lot of little ones. Save up and get the valuable one that you really want. TO convert that to cake lingo: Don't waste your money on getting a lot of little pans. Save up and get the Kopykat projector you really want.
indydebi, hehehehehehehe! Oh and that will require special painting techniques, so it will be $$300 more for that airbrush 
I sold a lot of my pans to get the goodies and I don't regret it!
My local cake decorating store rents ALL kinds of pans, even novelty pans. They charge a dollar a pan and require you to leave a deposit for the price of the pan. On retired pans, I have had to leave as much as 60 dollars deposit, as the store thinks (and rightly so) that people will steal these pans and re-sell them on ebay. But it's a great gig!
I go to that same store as well! I rent pans all the time...it makes it so much easier when you don't have to invest a ton of $$ on pans. I really only have the basics and anything special, I just rent. It's wonderful!
I was collecting pans but now I don't get orders for the flat shaped ones anymore....
Alot of my profit went right back into buying "cake toys" and other things...eventually you get quite a stash of stuff to where you don't always have to be buying this or that. Now, I just have to buy my weekly stuff like whatever boards or ingredients I need or the occasional replacement of colors, dusts, etc...but I pretty much have all the basic pans I need, airbrush, extra fridge, mixers, etc so hopefully I'm good for awhile on cake supplies!
Now I usually follow the picture in the Wilton yearbook and just draw the picture on the cake, you just have to change it slightly to avoid copyright problems.
FYI: If you change something slightly you are still breaking copyright laws. This goes for cakes like Whinnie the Poo and TinkerBell and such. The ones that are liscenced characters are from home use only.
You can not legally put Mickey Mouse in a cake in any way shape or form and legally sell that cake to someone. This doesn't matter if you use the pan, make a transfer (color flow, fbct or chocolate) or freehand the picture. You can't bypass the lay by making a fondant figure either. You can also change his clothes from red to blue it doesn't make him any less Mickey Mouse.
The other cake pans that Wilton has, such as the little hero, the stand up bear, animal cracker and others like that are not copyrighted and you can do them exactly as they appear in the yearbooks.
The only ones that I know of that are not 'character' cake pans but are still liscenced cake pans are the flower power and the flower pot one. It is usually stamped on the pan, for home use, if they are liscenced pans.
Everyone goes out and buys lots of cake pans and other products that they may not really need in the future. It is the nature of the beast in starting any new hobby.
I bought tons of shaped pans, not the liscenced ones though, and never paid full price for them. Always buy when they are on sale or with coupons if you can. I also Ebay'd alot of them, and now 5 years later, many of them are still just boxed up.
Basic shaped pans are the best thing to start investing in. Rounds, squares, ovals, sheet cake pans. I also really like the hexagon pans. If you want some 'special' pans, I like the wondermold, full size and mini, the 3d ball pan and the mini ball pan. The stand up bear can be versalite.
Being able to use the pan for many differnet things is the key. If you can use it several times you will 'pay' for it. If you use it once and put it in a box, then it may be costing you money, rather than making you money.
What you get will depend on what you plan to do. We all use different mediums and like different styles of cakes.
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