Gonna try to keep this under 4 paragraphs, lol. I like to talk Anyway, a friend of mine needed a baby shower cake. She found that out about 4 days before she needed it. I told her I'd do it. She lives about an hour and a half away, but would be coming here for the shower, so I told her she could pay me when she picked up the cake. (I completely trust this girl, that is the ONLY reason I would allow COD. Otherwise that is a huge no no)

Anyway, the morning of the shower comes and she calls, really upset. Her sister just had a baby a few weeks ago, and they were having to put him in the hospital. Needless to say, she wasn't going to the shower. I told her the cake was the least of her worries. I would take it to the venue (which was only a couple of miles from my kitchen). She told me that one of the girls there would pay me. So I show up at the venue with the cake. Everyone loves it. One of the girls there asked me what the balance on the cake was. I told her $155, and she laughed at me Laughed like she was waiting for me to say, "Just kidding, it's $20." I had to run back to my car to get another piece for the cake, and when I came back, she handed me the money, but was not pleased about it at all. Sorry hun, I'm not selling Wal-Mart cakes here

literally laughed at you? thats horrible, but atleast you got paid in full!

Don't you wish you would have laughed back at her and said, "Oh, what was I thinking - it's actually $50 more!"... don't feel badly about it, you went out of your way to deliver a great cake and the mom-to-be must have LOVED it!... this does have lots of potential to be the cake soap opera thread of the week though so hope you keep us posted with any new developments.

Did your friend know how much the cake was?

I've laughed at some and been laughed at some. For me its probably karma but most people don't know how much went into the cake. And furthermore would probably claim that they "could've done that". Ignore it and do what you do. They'll come around once they see that your prices don't waver.

That's so sad! Some people just don't understand the work and experience it takes to produce the cakes they are asking for.

I haven't had that experience yet. Of course, I am just learning to decorate. My family and friends know how good my cakes taste, so that helps.

Don't get discouraged!

I would've LOL'd also. Glad you got paid.

Mike

I would have laughed as well with "So you got the money right?" And now your laughing all the way to the bank!

I can't believe she laughed at you!! It's definitely discouraging when people don't appreciate the time/effort that goes into our work. I just had a person pick up an order for someone else this weekend....I already had the 50% deposit so the friend was just paying the balance. When the friend came, he said "WOW....those are expensive cookies! Is there anything "special" in there?" I said..."No.....just sugar, butter, flour...."

But, the great part is that he called me back about 30 minutes later. He must have called the person who placed the order to tell her that he picked them up....and probably said something about the price as well! She apparently "authorized" him to try a couple, and he called back and told me they were totally worth the price and that he'd order some at some point in the future! It completely made my day

I have learned a lot from all of you on this forum about staying firm on pricing, not wavering in the face of "WHOA, that's WAY out of my budget" and making sure we're getting appropriately compensated for our art...so Thank you!

Yeh, she literally laughed at me And yes, my friend knew how much the cake cost, and she had no problem. It was this girl at the shower that didn't seem to like it. I even told the girl, "If it is going to put you out having to pay me, then I will gladly get it from my friend. I trust her." She just said, "No, I want the cake paid for. We will split it later."

I would hate to hear what they said after I left.. but at least I got paid

I can't believe she had the nerve to laugh but don't let it bother you. Custom cakes aren't Walmart cakes and some people just don't get it. I've even had to educate my hubby.

We've talked many times about pricing as I was getting ready to open the business and I thought my hubby was 'educated'. However, we went to drop off a cake to our insurance agent, an 8" square and it was $80. After we left, my hubby said "how much was that cake?! I wouldn't pay that much." I just told him that I guess he isn't my customer.