I usually just make cakes for friends and acquaintances, and charge enough to cover my costs (ingredients, supplies, and one or two new tools)
A woman I do not know, but that was at a baby shower that I did a cake for, called me last week. She asked me if I could do a cake for a shower this weekend. At the time she called, it was almost two weeks out, so I said I'd be happy to.
She told me how many servings she needed and what she was looking for (two tiered cake, and she had pictures to email me. ) I told her it would be a base price of 65 dollars for the size cake she wanted, and that included filling and buttercream frosting. Depending on decoration, I'd let her know after I saw the pics.

So, she sent me an email with two photos. It got sent to my bulk bin, and so I did not get it until the next day, which was the day before Thanksgiving.
They were both two tiered cakes, but very different. One had fondant diamonds on it, and fondant ribbon roses for the border and booties on top and a custom cake board.
The other was just buttercream with buttercream polka dots and swiss dots and buttercream decoration on top.

I told her I could do the booties for 10 dollars extra, and 5 dollars for the custom cake board.
The other cake, I said would be 65 dollars, but I would do a board for 5 extra.
This is more than I have ever charged before, but I have a busy week this week and I don't know this woman. I still think for 30 servings and tiers, that is a steal.
She said she wanted "vanilla cake" and "vanilla icing" in her email. In my email back to her, I asked her if she wanted the same cake I had made for the shower that it was a white cake, but it was White Almond Sour Cream. I did not want her to think that was what she was getting when she said "vanilla". I asked her what type of filling she wanted and let me know which cake she wanted, and we could iron out the details of pick up, etc. ( She lives way across town, maybe 45 minutes away.)

So, anyway, I sent her an email Wed and called her and left a message (called first, left her a message telling her to look for an email with info.)
She never called me back or emailed me back.
I am assuming she was just calling around for info, and has another baker lined up, which is really a *phew* for me, because I really don't have time to do it....maybe if she had called me back Friday, but she did not. I did not tell her when to get back with me, though.

Would it sound passive aggressive (or desperate) for me to write her an email that says
"I did not hear back from you about your final cake design and flavor selections, so I am assuming you have another baker lined up for your cake needs for this weekend, maybe someone a little closer to you.
If I can be of service to you in the future, please don't hesitate to call."

Certainly, she was just calling around trying to gather info, right? Or do you think she is expecting a cake from me and thinks we are on?

I am new at this..it is her responsibility to follow up, right?
*If you actually read all of that, Thanks!!!!)

I like the way your response sounded. I would email her that and not worry about making the cake. If it was that important and she was serious she would have gotten back to you already.
Hope this helps!

I have had similar senarios in the past. Usually I will call and leave a message that says I was wondering if they were still interested the the cake we spoke about. Then I say "If you would like the cake, please call me by such and such time. If I don't hear from you by then, then I will just assume you don't need me to make it" I say all that sweetly of course. Usually they call right back.

I think a final email to confirm you will not be doing the cake is a good idea. If she was serious about the cake she should have gotten back to you by now. Don't let her bully you into doing the cake if she calls, just let her know you no longer have time to do her cake.

Yes definitely do one more follow-up just to be on the safe side. Otherwise, she'll be calling you the morning of to hammer out delivery

I can't stress this enough, I have said this samething in a few other posts. GET YOUR MONEY UPFRONT WITH THE ORDER! Then there is no question as to if they hired you or not...If you have money in hand you have an order, if not, then you don't.

My policy is all cakes under $400 the money is due at time of order. If they order via email or phone I use Paypal to collect, yes there is a service fee, but it definitely beats not getting paid at all.

If a person balks at this policy or tries to circumvent around it I tell them flat out that is my policy. If they truly want a cake from me then they will honor it, if not it doesn't bother me if they take their biz elsewhere because they more than likely will stiff that baker by either not picking up the cake or writing a bum check for it.

I have actually sent emails worded as you suggested. It's just nice and cut-n-dry.

And Angela gives excellent advice!

I have actually sent emails worded as you suggested. It's just nice and cut-n-dry.

And Angela gives excellent advice!

Thank you, ladies.
I did send the email assugested, and she sent a reply back saying she had not gotten another baker, she just was busy with the holiday.
I am glad I sent it!, or like was mentioned, I would have gotten a call Friday to set up pick up times!

I am not sure what to do at this point. I don't feel guilted, and I kind of want to do it, and DH wants me to do it, but at the same time, I was breathing a sigh of relief when I thought I would not have that extra task on my plate this week.

I agree with your husband. You should do the cake. If you bake it today, it will be fine for the weekend. Bake today, do anything that has to dry today, frost tomorrow, and decorate Friday. I'm cheering for you...

I just wanted to update....

I did do the cake for her. It was a french vanilla version of WASC with vanilla all butter buttercream filling and Indydebi's icing.
I did not think I would hear back from her about the cake, but she took the time to send me an email raving about it.
Some choice words from her email:

" The mom-to-be couldnt get over how delicious it was.. filling was unbelievable.... I was happy to pass your name on to my guests"

So, hooray, I am doing a happy dance!

Thanks so much for everyone that helped me with this cake!

Yay! I'm glad this turned out in your favor.

quote="candynumber1"]

LOL.
I am not 100 percent sure how to post pictures.
I will try...
Does this site allow clickable thumbnails? If not, then a moderator can delete them, or let me know and I will delete them.

Please be kind, I am really a beginner. I was not too happy with the icing job, it was too bulgy and you can see the filling layers, and I never write on cakes, so I did not like my writing, either. But, she said it was a hit, so that is all that matters.




Oh, I felt like I needed to say that the inspiration for the cake came from a picture she sent me from Martha Stewart's forum, but I do not remember the exact name of the person that posted it there. My cake looks pretty different, hers was like 4 tiers and different colors and a different carriage, border, and had swiss dots, but I thought I should mention it anyway.