I know this has been discussed before but thought I share what I found on Ebay...
http://cgi.ebay.com/Designer-Faux-Fake-3-Tier-Custom-Wedding-Cake_W0QQitemZ270145025560QQihZ017QQcategoryZ60096QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

How tacky why would I want to have a gorgeous cake that tastes like a grocery store cake, at least my local grocery store's cakes are not good, can't speak for everyone, but if there is a bride out there that even likes this design then she must have good taste and she should also have class. This is tacky and against any cake decorator's morals

This is just what I think, just not for me

that's like decorating a dummy and selling it!
the nerve of some people!

I had never actually seen a site for one on Ebay before!

And it starts at $100 dollars, I'm guessing no one will bid on it

Thats just unbelieveable... what misrepresentation you know they are getting much more than 100.00 dollars for any cake and who would order online thru EBAY give me a break...I think they are out of their mind...You have no idea what you are getting. ugh the thought is just scarey

As far as I'm concerned, anyone who would even consider buying something like this for their wedding just to save some money deserves what they would get. Our grocery store cakes don't taste that well either. I guess you get what you pay for.

Saw something like this on TV the other day. The woman rents out her dummy cakes to brides. In the back of the dummy cake there's a little door that's lifted. Inside is cake. The bride and groom cut that little slice for each other. I have no idea what they pass out to guests. Scary that this could be a trend.

Why be shocked although I have not seen this on Ebay, dummy and sheet cakes happen all the time at weddings.

I'm not saying it is right, but it is rather a unique way to make money......

I suppose many people have had the same reaction when anything faux has been introduced into our culture. I still gag on imitation crab meat!

I can just imagine what the cake and fondant bows would look like after being shipped worldwide... I don't think that "Fragile" on the side of the box makes a difference to the Fedex guys anymore!!

Doesn't really shock me. There are many many brides who cannot afford a beautiful wedding, but still *deserve* one. I have not seen this on ebay(don't really go there), but I amsure if you really researched this, there is MANY people who do this. My wedding cake 10yrs ago was over $700(it was real and buttercream!). I let the caterer handle all of everything. Not sure I'd ever gone for a "fake cake", but if I was in a bind....................hmmm. And our local supermarket makes ---insert numerous gasps and cringes---pretty decent tasting cakes. 'course Sara Lee Pound cake while pmsing used to be a mainstay with my college friends and I--lol

Not trying to offend anyone, but I see this as plan for some brides who want an elegant/pretty wedding but just do not have the means. $100--pretty simple.

Ummmm, yep. It's being done now. It was "featured" on The Today Show about a week ago. The lady just stop baking to make fake cakes. You have to give them credit though, it is a smart way to make money. A waste of money for the bride & groom if you ask me. Paying to have fake cake pics...a waste to me. But hey, if that's what they want?? Celebrities do it all the time. I really don't know why when there are other unique ways to serve your guest cake. I saw this bakery that had a cupcake buffet...so cute.
I used to work for UPS and Fed Ex....and if they want to take a chance getting a cake through them....HA HA HA HA HA.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
SORRY but that's toooooo funny. And to order it on Ebay, that's funny too!

"Wow, who did your cake?"....reply "Ebay??" yeah right.

I guess they figure they could sell the fake cake to someone else after the wedding. That would be even worse!!

i dont think there is anything wrong with dummy cakes. it cuts the cost of the cake and you can save more money..... i make them all the time.

whats wrong with an inexpensive sheet cake? no where in the ad did they say to get a grocery store cake .

and again....what is wrong if that is what people can afford??

I don't see anything wrong with it, I just paid for my wedding last year and I know that it is important to cut costs wherever possible. BUT I don't get it - it takes just as much time and supplies to decorate a FAKE cake. The only cost that the seller would save is the cake batter and the time it takes to bake the cake, which to me is the easiest and cheapest part. Am I wrong?

I agree it is just as expensive on my behalf to decorate a real cake as opposed to a fake one

I actually think its pretty smart. I think the seller would also benefit from not having the crunch time before the date to get the cake decorated since you're not dealing with a perishable cake or the hassle of delivery and set up.

I don't think it would take as much work -- especially looking at that design!

Think about it -- no worries about the cake falling or about icing not working, etc.

And then just making a few sheet cakes and slapping icing on the top -- no problem. Just not as many worries as with the real cakes.

I don't see a problem with this if the bride and groom are okay with it. It's fondant anyway -- that's real, so who cares. The pics will looks nice. The sheet cake could be just boxed cake -- no guest would probably mind that -- might even like it better than a genoise.

Not trying to put a crimp in my own cake making, but I don't think the couple need to be cut down for it. Just mho.

S.

OK I think this is a fad, Weddings are a day that some woman and men dream about most of their lives. Yes there might be some people out there that will buy this cake and do sheet cakes, those people already exist they are our nightmare clients. but most brides want the pretty cake that not only is gorgeous it taste good too. I really do not think that this is going to be a major deal. it is like the singing bass fish that everyone had to have the year it came out for Christmas , this too will pass.

Note: can you imagine a bride 25 years later saying to her daughter, Honey I saved my wedding dress for you to wear one day, and also my wedding cake.

I dont see whats wrong with it I've seen quite a few people on here suggest to other cc'ers to make a dummy cake for a bride and then sheet cakes to serve. I think it's a great idea I got married 20 yrs ago and had a supermarket wedding cake for $65 (all I could afford and I wanted a tiered cake) and it tasted great. Hey some of those super market black forest cakes as well as cheese cakes are great so just think $100 for the dummy for lovely pics and say another $100 for 3 or 4 different flavours and icings for serving sounds good to me lots of variety and no yucky fondant to peel off ( fondant that no one eats and decorators charge more for now thats a waste of money ) or if the bride or her family have time to do sheet cakes that dont need fancy decorating well the possibilites of saving money are endless. You all have to remember that if you're not a cake baker or decorator then your probably used to boxed cakes mixes anyway lol I say hey if you can make a living from it go for it. Besides we all know how small those wedding slices are lol so they wont get to taste much anyway.

I can see why some brides would rather pay less money to get a really cool fake cake (and then sheet cakes in the back) rather than put out hundreds and hundreds of dollars for the "real thing".

However I don't see it becoming widespread as I think most brides really want real, traditional wedding cake on their special day, so it doesn't bother me a bit.

Am I the only one who thinks this "cake" is ridiculously expensive?!?

3 tiers for $100.....but it doesn't say what the dimensions are...

I sent them a question asking for the dimensions of the cake dummy...

Everyone is assuming that this cake is $100. The starting bid is $100. I put it on my watch list to see what it ends up bringing. These people have just started this as their seller number is "0".

Darcat, I'm not a professional baker and decorator but do a few cakes and my customers must be "used to box cake mixes" as I don't get any complaints on them.

I kinda thought having part of the cake (like the bottom tier) be dummy cakes was weird. Having the whole cake be a dummy cake seems really weird to me. To each his own. As LauraS said...the bride can save the cake along with her wedding dress.

Diane

Fake cakes only bug me when a bride wants me to do them for next to nothing, and then wants Costco-cheap sheet cakes too. And her dress is $1500.
I don't do fake cakes and I price my sheet cakes nearly the same as my wedding cakes because they are 4-5" high, same as the cake. I costs me more to buy styrofoam tiers than to make a stinking cake!
Since DH and my wedding cost a whopping $600, with real cake, I have a soft spot for brides on a really tight budget.
There is making the budget work, and there's just plain greedy.
And the sheet cake bride will most likely be the one to complain to me about the "quality" of the cakes or some other such nonsense. That is my experience.

Ok... am I the only one that doesnt care that this women is trying to make some extra cash. This type of post really bothers me. who care.... why would someone post a form about whats she doing ( why make fun or her) People that make fun of other people have low self of esteem to me . if its meant to be then it meant to be. Some time it best to keep things to ourselves and move on. How do we know that shes not a part of CC.. If so dont u think her feelings mighe be hurt. I know we can say what we want but sometime its best to keep our mouth close.. People have feeling.. If you do not have nothing nice to say or type then do not say or type anything...With that being said.. I hope I did not offend anyone....If so I wasnt trying to....

Honestly, I think it's a waste of money for the bride and groom to get a fake cake but it is their decision. Really doesn't matter to me. I'm going to charge what I charge fake or not. It's deceptive but then some think making a cake from a box mix is too. If it's profitable, someone will milk it. If someone asks me for a partial dummy cake, I will do it but I am going to charge accordingly. It doesn't threaten me because I do more sculpted cakes than wedding cakes....weddings are not my only biz. But I do completely understand how it cheapens what real wedding decorators do. And selling it on Ebay is hilarious to me. I mean really. I wouldn't sell a fake cake on Ebay. But hey, I'm not going to knock someone elses hustle....or someone on a budget. To each his own.

Okay, but for a "real" cake--you do have the batter--mixing it, baking, leveling, icing, hoping it doesn't fall, taste like yuk etc. Plus NOT major clean up. A big plus when making cakes. Would you even need to dowel the thing? Just superglue the dummis together and whhhalla!

Plus, you would not have cake scraps starring at you and screaming, "EATTTTTTTTTTTTT ME, I dare you"--lol

And would you have to be licensed to do this if you wanted to do this from your home? Hmmmmmm maybe that is where I could go. What about fake cookies. Fake cakeballs hmmmmmmm seeing a market for this stuff afterall.

Hey you could use that "Great Stuff" foam insulation for the buttercream.

Hmmmm what is the website address for ebay--I want in on this--lol

First of all, I have no problem with people making artificial cakes. Secondly, I am looking at this one from the bride's point of view. Imagine that you have ordered your cake through ebay and paid minimum $100 for it...it arrives a month before your wedding, and you have a few slabs ordered to feed your guests.

Chances are, the fake cake will arrive just fine, and your wedding photos will be wonderful with you cutting your "cake". But, what if...the fake cake arrives all banged up (Fedex is not what it used to be - the Fragile sticker doesn't mean squat sometimes!), and you now don't have your wedding cake for your photos. You now have to try to return the fake cake through ebay and get a new one, or try to order a real cake at one of the local bakeries, or go without on your special day.

I have gotten many calls from brides in a panic the week before their weddings. Something had gone wrong with their cake, and could I help?

I have nothing against people trying to start new business ventures - good luck to them - I am waiting to see how mailorder fake cakes will work before I pass my judgement.

Sorry, done with my rant! P.S. Up here in Canada, where this lady is making her ebay cakes, home bakeries don't have the same licencing as most of the States south of the border.