Eeew.. that makes *me* upset.. Tell her flat out that you have NO desire to make cakes for re-sale. Tell her that if you find out that she has already done it you will take her to small claims court. Tell her from now on you will not be making anymore cakes for her in fear that she will be re-selling them to others. Tell her that you have NO desire to go into business with her and that is you final answer.
There are so many variables with this.. and none of them make me feel good. Possible food safety issues.. her putting her face on YOUR product.. customers not knowing where their product has been.. no thanks. Now if she wants to drum up some business for you.. that's another thing.. but those customers should meet with YOU.. not her. Ick.
well said!!! 
cocorum21
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I would go ahead and give her a GREAT deal on the three cakes....make them absolutely PERFECT!....let her sell them.
Laminate one of your business cards or wrap your cake board that your cake will sit on with clear paper so when the person that bought the cake from her will see your business cards and knows exactly where it came from.
Then don't ever make another cake for her again!
* that is perfect, i love this idea, this woman was not taught manners and that is just sad.
Coming in a little late on this, but love reading this thread...
Everyone wants to find a way to make some $$$, right? So she's giving you a great compliment by thinking you can both make $$$ on this. However, she's not listening to your "no," and that's worrisome.
Letting go of the irritating aspect of this, I agree with others who said you should ask yourself if this is something you want to do for more than friends and family. If yes, then she should help pony up the $$$ to get you legal. NO WAY should you do this if you're not legal -- NO WAY! You'll only open up a can of worms for yourself.
If she helps get you legal, then hire her under YOUR profit margin! NO WAY should you lower your prices to suit her.
It could be a great opportunity to get yourself legal and some great business since you'd have someone out there plugging your cakes.
That said, just remember that this is a compliment. She may not have any business tact, but she obviously feels you have talent.
S.
It would be an interesting opportunity if you can get what you want for YOUR cakes. I would not give her a WHOLESALE price. Does she want to buy supplies? Does she want to pay you for your time to bake and decorate only?
Also, putting your name or card on the box would not stop her from putting your cake into another cake box.
And if you are not legal, I would not touch it with a 100 foot stick.
Good luck!
Perhaps she went about it the wrong way... however, since they had previously discussed doing business together, it's not like this was completely out of the blue or uncalled for.
Sorry, not to be argumentative but, did they ever mutually discuss going into business together? Unless I missed it in the thread somewhere, each time this woman brought it up she was told no. I could see her following up on the idea if they had at some point both been interested but this woman sounds like a maniplator bent on getting her way. I say hold your ground and tell her to take a hike.
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-224531-.html[/quote]
My bad BlakesCakes, I didn't see that thread from April. I just picked up on the beginning of this one.
Well, Brandi, then we can agree to disagree.....
I recognize my need to have someone doing sales calls for me - and giving me good (free) word of mouth advertising. And for all of his hard work, I intend to compensate him as much as I can afford to. Fair is fair.
That's right--fair is fair. You want an employee, he wants to be your employee, and the two of you have what's called "a meeting of the minds" in legal terms. Unfortunately, that IS NOT the case with Susan and the woman who has taken it upon herself, unsolicited, to sell Susan's cake at her own price with no input from Susan. That type of "partnership" winds up on Judge Judy, weekdays at 4pm.
I don't see it that way at all. This woman obviously believes in the product. And she obviously wants to SELL the product. Why would she want to criticize the product or the "manufacturer"? I guess people who are looking for the negative will certainly see it... If it was just about extra money, she could sell Avon.
Yes, she wants to sell a product that she has been neither asked, nor authorized, to sell (and apparently at a price she prefers to set). She should contact Avon and see how they respond to her request that they lower their prices so that she can make a certain amount of money off of the product--I'm sure that they'll jump at the opportunity 
I doubt that your employee has TOLD you how to price your cakes, and I doubt that he is "buying" them from you and then re-selling them at whatever the market will bear.....
[quote="BrandisBaked"]
Why do so many of us (decorators) think that only OUR time is valuable? We're decorators, not divas... the world does not revolve around us /quote]
I certainly don't think the world revolves around me, and from the tone of Susan's posts, neither does she. She seems to just want to have some say in who is "selling" her cakes--and whether or not she even wants someone "selling" her cakes. Along with that, she doesn't want someone (who isn't an invited partner or employee) telling her how to manage her pricing or marketing of her cakes. Rings very humble and reasonable to me.
Rae
BlakesCakes, I think our differing opinions stem from our different points of view - you are seeing the glass as half-empty, and I am seeing it as half-full.
No worries. I just prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt. Not everyone is a jerk, and I will give them a chance to redeem themselves of their a$$holery... just as I would hope someone wouldn't jump to the wrong conclusion if I said or did something stupid (and believe me, I have).
I tried to point out the potential benefits of this situation and give LS something to consider - while everyone else seemed to want to condemn the other woman.
Yes back in April I posted a thread about this woman wanting to go in to business with me and due to all the fabulous advice I received from everyone here, I told her NO! I'm sure if anyone has ever told their child "NO" that they couldn't have something and then that child figured out a way to get it anyway, it would upset you (to say the least). Now I told her no and no means no. No doesn't mean to tell me to lower my prices because she is going to start her own business using my product and she needs to make a profit. Plus when she asked me to lower my prices she had a little snickering smile on her face like she was joking but not really... know what I mean? Either way, I do not now nor do I ever want to do business with this woman. So what if she is trying to start her own business... don't use me against my wishes to do it.
Plus, if you read my thread from April you will clearly see that I decided not to go into business with her. Read down to the end. It's not a long thread.
http://www.cakecentral.com/mod.....c&&start=0
I am so proud of you for standing up to her and telling her.
It must feel amazing to have that done and over with!
You Go, Girl!
Here comes stalker-Lynda 
I've been reading your thread without any input, thus far... Now I will (put in hehehe). You are right in being upset and you're doing right by not giving in to her requests. If you have absolutely no interest in doing business w/ her, don't discuss anything w/ her about it. If she brings it up, just walk away. Don't sell her cake anymore, either.... You are busy when you say you're busy. I have enough business w/ word of mouth and there are people that I don't sell to anymore after their display of a$$holiness in writing bad checks or constantly complaining about prices 
You bake on your terms
I can't believe what I'm reading! 
Why are you even wasting breath on this person? Obviously, you are a polite and considerate person and don't want to cause any unpleasantness, but she has definitely overstepped the boundaries. Treat her with the utter contempt that she deserves - tell her, once and for all, that you are NOT INTERESTED!
So what I'm reading of the OP is that this woman is offering to be your PR/Agent?
If you ever run into someone offering to do business FOR you I would suggest the following.
Do not let your ego get in the way of a possible good business set-up. A decorated cake is just like a kid, you cannot hang onto it forever.
If you would like to build your business then I would suggest taking the PR/Agent route. If you'd rather stay under the radar then ignore my suggestion.
So what I'm reading of the OP is that this woman is offering to be your PR/Agent?
If you ever run into someone offering to do business FOR you I would suggest the following.
Do not let your ego get in the way of a possible good business set-up. A decorated cake is just like a kid, you cannot hang onto it forever.
If you would like to build your business then I would suggest taking the PR/Agent route. If you'd rather stay under the radar then ignore my suggestion.
I really don't think some of you understand. This woman wants her own business of selling my cakes. That is it plain and simple. In April she wanted us to go into business together and I told her no. So she has evidently decided to do the business thing against my wishes using my cakes . She has not offered to be my PR person or sales person or anything of the sort. The only thing she has offered to me is for me to lower my prices so that when she sells my cake she can make a profit. I'm sorry but I see something very very wrong with this! I don't see it as a business opportunity for anyone except this "nurse" that I work with that wants to sell my cakes to make herself some money.
That being the case, the only thing that will prevent her from doing this (whether your name is on the box, board, or whatever) is NOT TO SELL ANY CAKES TO HER! EVER!
In the future, any time she asks you for a cake (no matter who she says it's for) your answer should be "Sorry, I am not available to make that cake for you." Any time the word "cake" comes out of her mouth, immediately (and obviously) change the subject.
This is a hard situation for you! Good luck!
I really don't think some of you understand. This woman wants her own business of selling my cakes. That is it plain and simple. In April she wanted us to go into business together and I told her no. So she has evidently decided to do the business thing against my wishes using my cakes . She has not offered to be my PR person or sales person or anything of the sort. The only thing she has offered to me is for me to lower my prices so that when she sells my cake she can make a profit. I'm sorry but I see something very very wrong with this! I don't see it as a business opportunity for anyone except this "nurse" that I work with that wants to sell my cakes to make herself some money.
Sounds like the perfect description of a Cake Pimp.
I like the idea of selling the 3 cakes but putting the business card (with the price you would charge so customer knows how much was the markup) on the cake board under the cake. Maybe even print it up like a receipt instead of a business card. Very covert operative! But here is my concern: If she is this persistent on selling, what is she capable of when or if the relationship goes sour? Go with your gut - stay away.
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