see ohio always allowed cakers to work from home one way or another--so the extra competition of new cottage law is not a primary concern there for you and ohioans-- and come to think of it california does have cottage law now so the wilton teacher is actually out of danger of getting busted for being a meth lab--it's legal now--maybe not the exact way she is suggesting but it would be most difficult to turn her in now--which you decided not to anyhow but i'm just saying there's no cause after all --

I see the opposite end of this all the time at work.  We get a lot of customers asking for fondant, for example, or tiered cakes or something-or-other.  We're a supermarket.  We're your one-stop shop for basic cake, and that's it.  My guess is that these people have already gone around to the other bakeries in the area and have balked at the prices, so of course they're thinking they can get the same thing from us for less.  UM, NO (said professionally, of course).

Most customers will sigh and get all wishy-washy.  You can see it in their faces -- "Should I go back to X bakery and spend the $ or order here for something basic and not really what I want but it's less expensive here..."  It's 50-50 most of the time.

Then every so often there's a customer who will counter your professional NO and explanation why it's NO.  Sometimes they're so aghast they'll actually complain to upper management, who, of course, can't do anything but listen.  When they walk away we're all thinking, "Champagne taste on a beer budget but you CAN afford the champagne but you just don't want to spend the $" (our store is in a rather well-heeled area). 

I feel for those of you who have your own businesses and are trying to survive in this climate.

$60 LOL. I am from the UK, here too I get some idiotic ideas of pricing.  Some of them actually have me questioning myself until my partner reminds me we are not even expensive in the first place.  

AI get requests weekly on my business page for tutorials and step by step instructions on certain things, and really involved requests that would take a lot of time to explain. So the last couple ones, I asked them when they could set aside a few hours to dedicate to Skyping. Have two iced cakes ready to go, and some other supplies that I would tell them they need when they figured out a good time. They said yes, I can do it on blahblah day...great, I said! I can show you everything you need to know, and I'll be forwarding a PayPal invoice before we got started.

Why would you charge me?!? Why [B]wouldn't[/B] I charge you? Go away. I felt slightly bad the first time I did that, but seriously...people need to think about what they're asking before they open their mouths. I couldn't fathom asking someone for detailed instructions on something, for [B]free[/B], and yet it's just no big deal for others, and to even get huffy when turned down. Who is breeding and nurturing these gimme gimme people??

I appreciate the tutorials when I do find them, but I'd never expect or demand someone give me their trade secrets for nothing.  It's disheartening, really, that people think it's ok to blast people in public when they aren't given something for free.  So tacky. I've found free tutorials and I've paid for tutorials.  Living where I do, there are not a lot of classes to be found other than the ones online.  By following some people on facebook, I've found amazing classes offered in California, New York, Florida, and Arizona to name a few.  Oh, I wish I lived closer to take advantage of the offerings!  I've even thought about buying a plane ticket out to those places to take the class, have a couple days to explore the area, and then fly back home.  Maybe in a couple years it'll be a more feasible option for me. 

Well I think if you have training and are knowledgable in decorating..you can look at something and just know how they did it. People in the know, don't ask for free information, they look and study and figure it out, or they admire and don't try it.

Its people who have no idea about business or cake decorating that are doing the demanding (the youtube tutorial watchers and Wilton Method 1 grads)..they think it must be soo easy to pick up and iced cake and ruffle tool, and poof they will magically make a beautiful 3 thierd cake with a cascade of hand made ombre roses!

Turn on, tune in, drop out........Free love.......drugs, ***, rock and roll.........communes........ shared property..............the 60's revolution that was going to break down society and build utopia in it's place.    Isn't this just Timothy Leary's Utopia, why isn't everyone happy.   You have no right to possess anything and greedily prevent others from having it also................   ( maybe that was just a bad movie I saw on cable once )   Never mind.

i remember looking at cake deco catalogs not wilton but the ones that sold molds & stuff and i'd study those pictures and wonder, hmm, is that the picture of the mold or the finished product--do you fill it with fondant/gum paste or do you emboss something with it-- dumb as a rock -- no offense to rocks anywhere

AI did some research in my area.. One bakery charges $2.45/serving for buttercream and $3.50 for fondant.. I was actually shocked! It seems really low.. I don't even want to tell you guys how much they charge for a sheet cake.

We charge $5.50 for fondant, plus decorations. I just got an order for a 2 tiers cake, give the price and this person told me that was more than reasonable. Really? Can I hug u?

AI average out at $10 to $12 a serving, but I do a lot of smaller tiered cakes, and won't do one for less than $150. I don't start talking per serving price until it's about 40 servings and above. $150 for a beautiful customized tiered cake is easier to sell than $12 per serving, kwim? ;-)

Az You're not just selling a piece of cake, you're selling a beautiful personalized presentation - a piece of art.  This also has value to people with money to spend.

If a business is selling cakes at what appears to be a break even cost - or at a loss, then they are making their high profits from other products.  Perhaps the cakes are just a kind of 'give away' item. box mix, tub of icing, min. wager putting it together = happy customer  that keeps coming back and buying the profitable items.

{Decorated cakes seem to be one of the most emotionally infused food items.}

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZCouture 

I average out at $10 to $12 a serving, but I do a lot of smaller tiered cakes, and won't do one for less than $150. I don't start talking per serving price until it's about 40 servings and above. $150 for a beautiful customized tiered cake is easier to sell than $12 per serving, kwim?

I try to avoid ever giving a per serving price with customers. I find for a 6 in single tier cake I'm around $12-14 a serving, but the larger the cake gets, the price per serving goes down. My small 23 serving, two tier cake tends to be about $9. What I sell most of is around 32-36 servings, two tier and those tend to be $7.65-8.25.

Are you saying after the cake size gets to a certain amount talking more about a per serving price seems to keep customers more comfortable?

AI price by the cake, not by the serving, but you have to use a per-serving price at some point in your pricing to establish a price. If that makes sense. I'll sell you a cake and if you want to cut ninety servings out of it or two, I don't care. But I have to use a per-serving cost on an average serving amount at some point to set the price.

I have a $150 minimum and I'll be glad to sell you a 6" tier for that, but most people won't pay that much. Maybe one sucker, uh, I mean "discerning individuals" a year. If you want to have regular work it's a matter of finding the tipping point where people won't run screaming when you quote them a price but you still earn enough to make it worth your time. If there are too many undercutters or low-pricers in general in your area you won't be booking much unless you find that point. Part of that is finding the right customer base.

Jaded is obviously not the same as bitter. Lol.  Turning it into "bitter", which means "angry, hurt, or resentful because of one's bad experiences or a sense of unjust treatment" could be an honest mistake, I suppose. And who hasn't ever felt that way? There's nothing wrong with that.

But... the word bitter is often used to imply a more permanent state of being and to call someone bitter is usually a pretty nasty put down. And a bitter person is presumed to already be down, wouldn't calling them bitter be like kicking someone when they're down?

Not sure I'd be wanting to twist someone's words into something we tend to associate with something so negative. Even if we're just "asking".

That's good to hear.  Because it seems to me that calling someone bitter would just be recognizing someone is miserable and then kicking them when they're down.