Have You Ever Thought Of Cheating?
Decorating By AKA_cupcakeshoppe Updated 2 May 2009 , 5:56am by ahuvas
I have. 
There's a local brand that makes delicious cupcakes and I was toying with the idea of just buying them then making frosting and then selling them.
That's not right, right? please tell me it's not right...
I've only cheated in an extreme emergency (one time got a frozen pepperidge farm cake to make up for some extra cake carving I needed) but generally I prefer my cakes to be my own reputation, in both look and flavor.
I bet you can come up with a cupcake that tastes as good or better!
LOL! That is soo wrong on soo many levels.
I have thought about it though! 
After baking all day for some reason my cakes would not come out right . I gave up and took a nap, wouldn't you know after I took that break they came out right. Guess it just wasn't my day, either that or I was just too tired (and frustrated) to realize what I was doing wrong.
That's not right, right? please tell me it's not right...[/quote]
I think you know the answer to your question already. If you are going to sell them as your own, no it would not be right and I can tell that you would feel pretty guilty about it. Make your own, you'll enjoy it so much more. There are sooooo many good cupcake recipes to be had that I'm sure you will find that they are as good or better than any you might buy.
shhh! yes.
Only to a **itchy customer. I use scratch and she called to order a white cake. She has had my cake before and is always pleased.
She called to order a cake for her mother.Which she said her mother made the best white cake ever and if I could make it as good as her mother and please don't use a box mix. yada yada yada. Her mother was celebrating her 85th. 
She made me so mad I used a box mix.
She later called to tell me how fantastic the cake was and that even made her mothers look bad I politly said thank you.
tripleD that's so awesome LOL
but they're good cupcakes... and they cost so little.... like barely 5 cents (in US dollars)... jury? anyone? LOL
Nope, cause I want them to taste what I make it & I can only replicate my cakes over & over again. 
shhh! yes.
Only to a **itchy customer. I use scratch and she called to order a white cake. She has had my cake before and is always pleased.
She called to order a cake for her mother.Which she said her mother made the best white cake ever and if I could make it as good as her mother and please don't use a box mix. yada yada yada. Her mother was celebrating her 85th.
She made me so mad I used a box mix. She later called to tell me how fantastic the cake was and that even made her mothers look bad
I politly said thank you.
LOL, good for you! 
. You know, LaBellaFlor is right, don't do it!
shhh! yes.
Only to a **itchy customer. I use scratch and she called to order a white cake. She has had my cake before and is always pleased.
She called to order a cake for her mother.Which she said her mother made the best white cake ever and if I could make it as good as her mother and please don't use a box mix. yada yada yada. Her mother was celebrating her 85th.
She made me so mad I used a box mix. She later called to tell me how fantastic the cake was and that even made her mothers look bad
I politly said thank you.
I do both box mixes and scratch, but often in tastings people rave over the doctored box yellow flavor. Its my most common flavor. People would freak, probably, if they knew it came from a box.
I have.
There's a local brand that makes delicious cupcakes and I was toying with the idea of just buying them then making frosting and then selling them.
That's not right, right? please tell me it's not right...
Ok let me start off by asking, please don't flame me!
I'm going to be a little bit hard here, but know I mean this with the upmost respect and love for a fellow cake decorator! This is definitely wrong in my opinion.
You said: "There's a local brand "
I say: This is all the more reason not to buy their cupcakes, decorate and sell them. We need to support our small business and not take advantage of them by letting their product pass as your own. In a way this is exploiting them if you think about it.
You said: "but they're good cupcakes... and they cost so little.... like barely 5 cents (in US dollars)... "
I say: this is all the more reason not to exploit them. They are making little profit and they may pay their people pittance to bake these cupcakes all day long only to have you go sell them for $2.00 + a piece when you paid $.05 for them. It would be the same, if not worse than buying dry-tasting thawed sheet cakes from Wal-mart and decorating them and selling them.
Your reputation is at stake as to the quality. I really think buying ready-made products and selling them decorated is as bad as a bride buying grocery-store sheet cakes to feed her guests after carving a $5 per slice "display" cake for the picture.
Do you know these are made? Are they good quality ingredients? Are they made with ingredients that are USDA approved, like US eggs? At $.05 a piece they could be cutting quality here. That's another reason not to use these.
I really advise you go to with the other posters and find a good recipe to use and work with it. The WASC is wonderful and light cake and makes great cupcakes!
Please don't do this. Hope you don't hate me now!
I have.
There's a local brand that makes delicious cupcakes and I was toying with the idea of just buying them then making frosting and then selling them.
That's not right, right? please tell me it's not right...
Ok let me start off by asking, please don't flame me!
I'm going to be a little bit hard here, but know I mean this with the upmost respect and love for a fellow cake decorator! This is definitely wrong in my opinion.
You said: "There's a local brand "
I say: This is all the more reason not to buy their cupcakes, decorate and sell them. We need to support our small business and not take advantage of them by letting their product pass as your own. In a way this is exploiting them if you think about it.
You said: "but they're good cupcakes... and they cost so little.... like barely 5 cents (in US dollars)... "
I say: this is all the more reason not to exploit them. They are making little profit and they may pay their people pittance to bake these cupcakes all day long only to have you go sell them for $2.00 + a piece when you paid $.05 for them. It would be the same, if not worse than buying dry-tasting thawed sheet cakes from Wal-mart and decorating them and selling them.
Your reputation is at stake as to the quality. I really think buying ready-made products and selling them decorated is as bad as a bride buying grocery-store sheet cakes to feed her guests after carving a $5 per slice "display" cake for the picture.
Do you know these are made? Are they good quality ingredients? Are they made with ingredients that are USDA approved, like US eggs? At $.05 a piece they could be cutting quality here. That's another reason not to use these.
I really advise you go to with the other posters and find a good recipe to use and work with it. The WASC is wonderful and light cake and makes great cupcakes!
Please don't do this. Hope you don't hate me now!
Gotta co-sign with that. Totally agree.
I have.
There's a local brand that makes delicious cupcakes and I was toying with the idea of just buying them then making frosting and then selling them.
That's not right, right? please tell me it's not right...
It's So Not Right on so many Not Right levels! Can we say Fraud? If you are caught you will either have to pay a huge fine, pay damages to the place you are stealing from, and possibly even do jail time. Worst case, you will have to do all three.
The only way you can halfway get away with it is if you state right up front where you got the cupcakes from and take zero credit for them, do a very minimal mark up, and do not sell them in a professional environment. (Like, selling them for $1 at a bake sale for a school fundraiser is ok, selling them for $50 a dozen for a wedding is not)
but they're good cupcakes... and they cost so little.... like barely 5 cents (in US dollars)... jury? anyone? LOL
As tempting as it might be to do the old switcheroo, if word EVER got out that you sold someone else's (store bought or not) cupcakes as your own your reputation is toast.
Don't do it - back away from the cupcakes!!
Ok let me start off by asking, please don't flame me!
I'm going to be a little bit hard here, but know I mean this with the upmost respect and love for a fellow cake decorator! This is definitely wrong in my opinion.
-- et al--
This!
(she beat me to the punch!)
That's not right, right? please tell me it's not right...
It's not right!! Do Not Do It!!! 
Well said, Kudos Loriana... 
"Have you ever thought of cheating" (quote)
sigh...............I really thought this was gonna be a juicy sex thread 
Anyway..........absolutely, positively no I wouldn't buy someone else's product, decorate it and pass it off as my own. To me the "baking" is the best part.
Ok just to play devil's advocate a tiny bit here.
A) I would not buy pre-made cupcakes from anywhere and pass them off as my own. I just couldn't stand behind the quality if I did that.
But here is my real question...how is this any different than people who buy the Sam's or other pre-made frosting and use that..it's a pre-produced product that is purchased and resold on your own items under your own name. Isn't it the same?
FYI, I'm not judging...I'm just asking.
Sillywabitz I do agree with you, that is why I do everything from scratch. I think when people buy a custom cake, they think it's a scratch cake. Now I don't think a cake mix is as bad as buying someone else's cupcakes, and I'm not 100% on how it would be for frostings.
I'm still trying to figure out how you go to jail for buying a wholesale product, adding your own touch to it, and then selling it retail.
This is pretty much the whole premise that Sysco and GFS have their businesses built on. And no, restaurants do NOT put out a big sign that says "This soup is a frozen product from Sysco ... we did NOT make it ourselves."
I had a friend that worked at Sysco & Sysco goes to institutions,schools,hospitals & places like that. Now, I'm sure there are some restaurants that use their stuff like most chain places. But I don't know of any quality restaurants that order food from them.
As a precursor to my post I will say that I am an all scratch baker and no I would would not personally "cheat" like that.
BUT BUT BUT you guys know how we're not getting rich off this cake thing? If you ever wanna then that is the way. I tell my 10 y/o DS I don't care what field he goes into just BE A MIDDLEMAN! Buy stuff cheap and sell it for more. It's everywhere and it's not wrong, it's enterprising. Of course don't lie about it, but as long as you keep it honest anything goes.
I'm still trying to figure out how you go to jail for buying a wholesale product, adding your own touch to it, and then selling it retail.
This is pretty much the whole premise that Sysco and GFS have their businesses built on. And no, restaurants do NOT put out a big sign that says "This soup is a frozen product from Sysco ... we did NOT make it ourselves."
I was sort of wondering the same thing.... if they taste good and you can get the base product cheaper at the store, then decorate them yourself, how is that different?
Some people sell cupcakes for $2.00 a piece and they are literally Betty Crocker cake mix with Sam's Club frosting....
I could see a moral dilemma if she was buying predecorated cupcakes at a local bakery and passing them off as her own but honestly, isn't that what restaraunt owners do when they buy baked goods for X amount of dollars and then mark them up to sell in their restaraunts?
I'm still trying to figure out how you go to jail for buying a wholesale product, adding your own touch to it, and then selling it retail.
This is pretty much the whole premise that Sysco and GFS have their businesses built on. And no, restaurants do NOT put out a big sign that says "This soup is a frozen product from Sysco ... we did NOT make it ourselves."
Commercial businesses who sell pre-made cakes for the sole purpose of resell are the exception. Wal-Mart's icing has been legally cleared for resell purposes, so that's why it's ok to use it. For the most part anything bought at the store can be resold, unless it's otherwise noted on the package.
I was thinking the OP was talking about a private bakery. If the bakery she gets the from sells them and it's not made clear it's ok for her to re-sell them, it creates a murky legal quagmire if she is caught. Let's say that recipe for the cake batter is their own creation trademarked to them? She could be sued for theft of intellectual property. Not saying it'll be easy to prove in the case of cake, but it can happen.
It's the equivalent of someone buying a Barbie doll, changing the box, and then re-selling claiming they made the doll. You can bet your sweet bippy Mattell would send down the hurt big time if they caught on to someone doing that.
Then there's the whole legal mess that could arise if the cupcakes made someone sick or have a fatal allergic reaction. Who would be responsible? The bakery that made them or the person who altered them? (Ahhh...Law. Such a lovely, confusing, vicious Hydra spewing red tape all over...)
Even without the legal aspect, it's still just not a kosher thing to do.
yes I have thought about it. yes I have done it...twice when I was in a pinch and had a ton of other orders to do...and I'd do it again. I agree with debi and the others that I don't see how it's any different from buying samsclub icing (blech) or pastry pride or box mix. Sysco sells to restaurants everywhere, and there's a local bakery supply that sells frozen cookies and dough, as well as frozen muffins and muffin batters, to local bakeries everywhere - how is this any different?
{taking cover from the flame-throwers}
I would hardly call this cheating. The only problem I see is that these cupcakes might not be around forever. If you got a huge order and they went out of business, you would be in a world of hurt trying to make those!!!! I don't know why anyone would think this is fraud. If you can buy something cheaper than you can make it, do it! But if you feel on some level that this is wrong, don't do it.
People are comparing this to the wrong thing. This isn't like buying from a wholesaler or a grocery store. Those places and the companies that make the product have already gone through the legal clearances to allow people to use their product for resell without claiming rights to it. The person she is buying from has already gone through that process and used the stuff to make their own creation. Now the item has become the creator's original property, and that's where the problem lies.
Would you re-sell a Rembrant painting claiming it was your own, and then justify it by saying it's ok because you can buy oil paint and canvas at the store? No. THAT'S the situation this is.
Trust me, not flaming. Intellectual Property law is complex and as ugly (and vicious) as a junkyard dog. People tend to be mislead into thinking something very innocent is ok until someone gets sued.
I'm still trying to figure out how you go to jail for buying a wholesale product, adding your own touch to it, and then selling it retail.
This is pretty much the whole premise that Sysco and GFS have their businesses built on. And no, restaurants do NOT put out a big sign that says "This soup is a frozen product from Sysco ... we did NOT make it ourselves."
Commercial businesses who sell pre-made cakes for the sole purpose of resell are the exception. Wal-Mart's icing has been legally cleared for resell purposes, so that's why it's ok to use it. For the most part anything bought at the store can be resold, unless it's otherwise noted on the package.
I was thinking the OP was talking about a private bakery. If the bakery she gets the from sells them and it's not made clear it's ok for her to re-sell them, it creates a murky legal quagmire if she is caught. Let's say that recipe for the cake batter is their own creation trademarked to them? She could be sued for theft of intellectual property. Not saying it'll be easy to prove in the case of cake, but it can happen.
It's the equivalent of someone buying a Barbie doll, changing the box, and then re-selling claiming they made the doll. You can bet your sweet bippy Mattell would send down the hurt big time if they caught on to someone doing that.
Then there's the whole legal mess that could arise if the cupcakes made someone sick or have a fatal allergic reaction. Who would be responsible? The bakery that made them or the person who altered them? (Ahhh...Law. Such a lovely, confusing, vicious Hydra spewing red tape all over...)
Even without the legal aspect, it's still just not a kosher thing to do.
CeeTee: My turn to say "you beat me to it"! This is exactly right. The product must be cleared for wholesale use. The cupcakes you speak of are probably mean for consumption and not for wholesale use. That is the difference between buying a tub of icing at Sam's club and buying a box of Chips Ahoy cookies, decorating them with homemade buttercream and selling them. Forget how wrong that is on so many taste levels...
As for the Sysco thing, some people make excellent food with wholesale soups, etc... so it's very hard to judge. Many, many, many resturants use their products or like products with excellent results. We do have people on CC who are cake decorators AND caterers who use them....
Hey, did you know that when you "dine" at Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, Applebees, Chili's or even The Outback, you are dining on pre-made food, factory-sealed at plants and shipped to the resturants where they do more *assembly* than actual *cooking*.
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