Frustrated

Business By mindy1204 Updated 27 Aug 2010 , 3:37am by leslieannec

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mindy1204 Posted 26 Aug 2010 , 12:43am
post #1 of 8

Twice today I have given a quote to only be told I am too expensive. What aggravates me the most about this situation is that I have it clearly on my website what the prices are. I did not charge extra at all for one cake and just a few dollars more on the other. I dont know if they are not reading my website ( I know they looked at it) or if they think I will lower the prices. Do any of you have this problem. Is there anyway you can handle this. I can not lower my prices. I charge $3 for buttercream and $4 for fondant which I have been told by a few people in the weddng industry these prices are awesome. These are both birthday cakes. And while I get that they cant afford the cake but why waste all this time.

Ok vent over!

7 replies
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LoveMeSomeCake615 Posted 26 Aug 2010 , 12:49am
post #2 of 8

We have had the same problem, people don't seem to pay any attention to the pricing on our website, and the whole point of putting it on our website is to weed out the cheapos! I don't know what to do to fix the problem, but I know how you feel!

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jason_kraft Posted 26 Aug 2010 , 12:52am
post #3 of 8

If you need the extra business you may want to look at offering lower-priced options such as sheet cakes with relatively simple decorations. People simply won't spend as much for birthday cakes as they do for wedding cakes, but there is considerable demand out there for something nicer than a grocery store cake that won't break the bank.

And I would estimate that only about 50% of customers who call or email us actually read our web site.

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mindy1204 Posted 26 Aug 2010 , 12:56am
post #4 of 8

They are very specific what they want. One wanted a 3d dino cake with cupcakes and the other wanted a black tiered cake with neon decoration that I had on my website. I could offer sheet cakes but I dont think they will be what they are looking for.

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jason_kraft Posted 26 Aug 2010 , 1:02am
post #5 of 8
Quote:
Originally Posted by mindy1204

They are very specific what they want. One wanted a 3d dino cake with cupcakes and the other wanted a black tiered cake with neon decoration that I had on my website. I could offer sheet cakes but I dont think they will be what they are looking for.



You'd be surprised...we get customers all the time looking for complex cake designs. We quote them the price, and they usually come back saying it's too high. We then offer simpler cakes at a lower price (for example, a picture of a dinosaur on a sheet cake instead of a 3D dino cake). More often than not they will go for the sheet cake.

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careylynn Posted 26 Aug 2010 , 1:08am
post #6 of 8

It seems they are looking for you to give them a deal. That's frustrating!! Don't give in, at all!!! If they REALLY want a 3d dino or a detailed tiered cake, they are going to have to pay for it. Either that or they are gonna have to change their desires. Another way around losing their business, though, is to ask them their budget (after they say your original price is too steep, which it isn't, btw) and show them what you can do at that price. If they want a $50 cake, you can make them a $50 2D dino or a pimping single tier black and neon decors, ya know??? lol

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indydebi Posted 26 Aug 2010 , 1:27am
post #7 of 8

Here's another thread on this topic with add'l comments and advice:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6928111-.html#6928111

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leslieannec Posted 27 Aug 2010 , 3:37am
post #8 of 8

I think people just don't know how much it really costs to make a cake. I had a colleague give me a hard time about a year ago when I told her that I can't make a cake to feed 100 people for $50. They just don't know. From that point on, I made it a point to stick to my guns.

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