You all check out the e-mail I got today from an acquatanance. I cannot stop laughing long enough to come up with properly frazed POLITE response. Any ideas?

I'm having his party at Brantley farms and I'm doing a John deere theme with a little bit farm animals thrown in there. If you're able to do it, I'm thinkin some kind of tractor..maybe a cow with... it?? not really sure..but I thought I could see what ideas you have and what you're able to do. I'm thinkin it would need to feed between 50-70 ppl. And I wanna keep the price under $40 if possible.

Cake muggles. Always entertaining.

And I'm thinkin that's like 50 cents a person... Honestly!! Even Happy Meals cost more than that!!

Sounds like she missed a zero!!!!! ha.

"Sounds like a fun party theme! My prices start at $x.xx per person, so I'm not sure I'd be the best fit for your budget. The best I could do is an 13x9 sheet cake in buttercream for ($125) to serve 50 and you'd be able to place some animal toys on top for the birthday boy to keep and play with later. You may like to check out pricing at (grocery store) if this is still out of budget. Wishing (Billy) a happy birthday!

-Me"

You probably can't even buy a plastic tractor and farm animal set for $40, let alone edible ones!

Yeah, that was a real burst-out-loud-laughing moment at this end!

Things you'd like to say:

"Um, what part of your body did you pull THAT price out of?"

Thank you for contacting me regarding your order, I make your special day a very special one with attention to detail in every cake taking time till it excedes your expectations you are more than welcome to stop by for a tasting and talk over the design of the cake please contact me @ 111111111 to make an appointment
* We required 50% downpayment on ALL orders Thank you your bussines is appreciated

when she get there show her your price list base price 3.00 a piece or whatever you charge, here are some templates, they have some good ones you can copy Good luck

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1628609

I like Kitagrl's comment, and you can use that in your response. You could say something to the effect of, I got your email, and it sounds like a great cake, but I'm sure you realize you had a typo in the price because I know you realize this cake, with this detail and work, would cost $400.

My beautician emailed me about doing her soon to be 16 year old daughter's birthday cake. Three tiers, fondant covered, and fondant accents. I quoted her 44 servings-8, 6 and 4 inch: a little over $130.00 and told her to let me know by tomorrow, Tuesday. Silence! But, she doesn't mind to charge me $+++++ dollars to cut my hair!
This cake would take part of 3 days to do. Go figure!

My options were:

How about I pay YOU $40.00 to save myself some time and give you a fighting chance on getting a cake to feed that many?

Twinkies should fit in that budget nicely and kids looooooooooooove them

I believe even Publix charges $49.99 for their sheetcakes

and my mind went from there...
Thank you all for suggestions, my husband said I should sleep on it to make sure my response is proper and ...hopefully I will not be laughing by then

I guess she didnt mention she was thinking of her making the cake and spending $40 in the materials
Edna

Thanks for the belly laugh!! I've been needing one lol!!

Thats is LOL moment. Don't feel bad thu,,,,,,at least you didn't laugh right in her face like I did not to long ago. Customer showed me a cake (very similar to Edna's gold cake) and the mother of the bride thought it was going to get done for less then 300bucks . I started laughing and I couldn't stop.

People never cease to amaze me.

My mind is just going wild with the cake muggles right now, but what really gets me is how they say these things with a STRAIGHT face!!

this sounds so much like an email i received recently..

the lady was wanting a cake for her 1 yr old daughter.. here are the requirements she listed:

-needed it 3 days from date email was sent
-full body 3D Elmo all made of cake sitting on a sheet cake with another cake sitting in front of Elmo carved to look like a sand castle.
-icing that is not too sweet, but please no cream cheese.
-needs to feed between 20 and 30 people
-can you deliver it to atlanta (50 minutes away from me)


"thanks so much. hope to hear from you soon"
.................

"p.s. I would like to keep this under $60."




made me laugh out loud for a good minute...

Oh Xk,
your request beats mine How did you respond?

nothing like a good laugh

oh my......

that happens to me all the time here in El Paso I recieved a email asking if I could do a 3tierd cake covered in fondant red and white RED SOXS themed with a baseball cap and glove IN 3 DAYS another lady canceled on her at the last minute oh and the other baker was gona charge her $45 LOL LOL LOL I EMAILED HER BACK AFTER I GOT OFF THE FLOOR AND CALLED ALL MY FRIENDS LOL LOL LOL !!!!! I explained to her that 3 days was short notice that I have a rush fee. I then explained to her that I would love to do the cake for her but MY cakes start at $150.00 she never replied back lol I ALSO HAVE CLIENTS THAT AFTER I TELL THEM HOW MUCH i Charge THEY LOL AND TELL ME HOW HARD CAN IT BE!!!!and if i think they could make it!!!!!

The other day someone asked if they could bake the cake and have me decorate it. It was a face to face question and I was so startled that I said "no one has ever asked me that I'll have to think about it." When I started think about it I really got a little outraged. Why should I attach my decorating skills to a cake that someone else baked, not to mention would it even be possible to get the cake iced? I take special care to bake in good pans, treat the pans and the cake so that the cake comes out in one piece without lots of crumbs, and bake a cake that can be torted and filled nicely. Why would anyone even suggest this? Later I found out that the potential customer's mother used to bake and she wanted a "thick" moist cake. I'm not sure what she means by thick but whatever, she caught me a couple days later and said she realized that it was crazy to suggest baking her own cake.

I needed a good laugh!!! thanks, Ladies!!! ~~~~~

you know at first it makes you laugh out loud then you have this reaction like 'what the heck'!!! isn;t it time we started to educate these people, how can we do that?? Perhaps someone should set up a blog about cake prices or something. Its time these cake muggles got educated...

[quote="sweetcakes"]you know at first it makes you laugh out loud then you have this reaction like 'what the heck'!!! isn;t it time we started to educate these people, how can we do that?? Perhaps someone should set up a blog about cake prices or something. Its time these cake muggles got educated...[/quote]

That is why I like the new show Fantastic Cakes that gives prices. All others should follow that model.

This thread was such a funny read. Lots of cake muggles in Mobile, AL

I had to read this one to dh b/c I was belly laughing - thanks! and Ditto about educating people - I had a friend say she thought I shouldn't start a business b/c I could never compete with Costco - and that if I did do it, I should never charge more than $40 for a cake because that'd be outrageous. Will they ever understand?

Is it just me, or does anyone else on here ever notice that the ones giving us business advice are the ones NOT running a business?

"Those who say it cannot be done, should stop interrupting those of us who are doing it."

(attributed to many, including Ancient Chinese Proverb and Ralph Waldo Emerson)