A few days ago, I got my first "Are you crazy?! I can get a cake much cheaper at a grocery store! You charge too much, it's just a cake!" brush off. And I took it rather calmly, considering my personality LOL. Which is why I appreciate all of you on CC, who post advice and other support. Earlier, I read up on pricing, disappointment, and handling such comments, on here, and was able to handle this without much upset to self. I told the lady, she sure can find a cheaper cake at a store, and I am sure it would fit the occasion and leave memorable and lasting impression on the recipient. (the double-occasion was a baby shower/moving away permanently). Basically, the lady wanted me to work for free, pay all overhead costs, and buy half of the ingredients. I had a "standard" worksheet done for the pricing specific sizes, but I did not go as far as to show her why the cake costs as much as it does, because no point to continue arguing. Oh well. I kept in mind I am not alone, and the advice I read on here, I knew my price was not outrageous, but far more realistic for what she wanted, VS how much she was willing to pay. 

Hi five!  Great job!

Good for you!  :)

Way to go!! Most grocery stores cakes are yucky!!! They do not compare to the real thing!!!

She was right!  It's "just cake"!  That shows you right off that the quality of the product had no bearing on her decision as to where to get the cake....only the $$ mattered.

Sure....grocery stores and a lot of so called "bakeries" can do a cake much cheaper.  They buy their cakes from a factory, get them frozen off a truck, ice them from a bucket of "icing" that hardly has an ingredients you can recognize, and decorate them with a whole lot less precision and attention to detail than you'd offer.

So, let her go get her cake "way cheaper"....she'll be just as satisfied....and more importantly.....and you can invest your time and energy into a project where quality does matter.

I dont get it why people come to a custom cake decorator to have an amazing wow factors at their event and expect to pay grocery store prices where they can bake and iced for way less times. tsk tsk smh. I'm a hobby baker no near as professional but I know how custom cake bakers take so much time and passion onto their work creations. and way to go about telling her off :)

crisis averted -- you were polite, did not argue nor did you get offended, you did great i'm happy for you -- yes of course some clients are difficult and not everyone is going to get it -- that all comes with the turntable  territory --

smooth move, lb, the less the blood pressure rises the better --

i raise my coke to you -- cheers!

Congrats for handling that with such grace and class.  I've had some sticker shock but no one has ever yelled at me or gotten irate.  Not looking forward to that.

Thank you everyone. I guess to her really it was just a cake. 

I am just not certain why people come to a cake decorator, expecting something far fancier than at a grocery store, yet wanting to spend same (or less!) money as at a grocery store.I fail to see their logic. You come to me because you expect BETTER than grocery store, and I am willing to provide the aforementioned BETTER, but for a corresponding price. Is it just in cake decorating business that people fail to see/understand the difference?

Ugh. Oh well. Moving on )))

It's not just in the cake decorating business...Photographers, DJs, florists, etc all get the same responses. You handled it well, so good for you.

Plot twist: she came back to me, and asked for whatever I had available and ready to go, no questions about pricing at all. I guess being fairly polite pays off, and people feel they can return to you, after not finding better stuff. I wish though, instead of "whatever available", she'd given me a chance to do an original design at our first meeting. No, I don't feel I had to prove anything, I just think the occasion would be better suited with a different design. Oh well. 

I feel bad for the people who get shot down like this. I feel those who go into these services like professional photography, etc, they put a lot of heart in it, and are artists in their medium.  And sorry if any of you ever encounter a raised brow and an angry remark. 

Guess she looked around and found out you're not so crazy afterall!  High five for a sale for you :)