I got my first inquiry for a paid cake. So excited!
So we exchange a few emails and she tells me its for her grandfathers 80th birthday. She wants a three tiered cake with 60 cupcakes surrounding the cake on the bottom. She also tells me it has to be a diabetic cake because he is diabetic, but she doesnt want it to taste diabetic.
Ok fine.
So I say no problem. I ask her if she would like to schedule a tasting and did she have a particular idea in mind for the decoration of the cake.
She just emailed me back.
Let me tell you again what she needs.
Three tiered cake.
60 cupcakes
All diabetic.

She wants the cake for 50$ or less.

Then she says "I know I can go to Publix and get it cheaper, but I wanted something nicer".
Plus she lives in Tampa so I would have to drive an hour to deliver it.

What the heck? I cannot do this cake and cupcakes for 50$. I cant see it working. To make my daughters Shrek cake cost almost 40$.

How do I politely say no? Should I even say no?
Oh Im so confused. My first paid order.......

Well, first off, she's WRONG! I used to work at Publix and the cheapest tiered cake they do is a 2 tier cake that starts at $97! The cupcakes alone would run her $70. So she's off her rocker if she thinks that she should be able to get all of that for $50. How many people does she want the 3 tier cake to serve? Sounds like she's planning on having an insane number of guests if she needs that much cake. I'd decline the order, letting her know that the ingredients alone would cost more than $50. Let her go to Publix. When she finds out that what she wants is gonna cost about $200 from them, she might come back to you and be willing to pay the $250-$300 to get something nicer.

Politely decline. You don't need your first paid order to leave you bitter that it didn't even cover the cost of ingredients. Tell her you cannot do it for less than $$ (work out what you would be prepared to accept for this job). She will probably throw her hands up in horror and back away. She'll then shop around and find that you're actually quite reasonable!

Thanks ladies.
She wants the cake to feed all 60 guests, but Im not sure why she would need the cupcakes. I havent even replied to her yet, I was at a loss of words.
I put an ad up on craigslist and to entice people, I said I would do a 10% discount if they booked me through craigslist so I told her I would charge her $2.00 per slice. Which, IMO, is pretty reasonable.
After that is when she told me about the cupcakes and the 50$.
Thanks again!

I would politely email her back with a quote for the 3 tiered cake and 60 cupcakes and state that the quote "covers basic decorations (ie borders and rose BUDS)" and explain what buds are if needed.... I wouldn't touch that for less that $80.~ or more... I charged my best friend/should be sister lol, $45.~ for a sheet cake and 24 matching cupcakes..... and she wants a 3 tier and 60 cupcakes for 5 bucks more then that... I think not!

I would explain to her that yes she is getting a better quality and probably a better tasting cake then she would at Publix or the like, and for which she needs to pay that price. Publix wouldn't charge her that little of an amount so why should you???

I would explain to her if needed that Publix like all other grocery store bakeries, uses pre-made frozen cakes and thaws as needed and you are making something fresh PLUS deliver it to her home/reception site.... She's asking way too much for $50.~. I'd also tell her that if $50.~ is her LIMIT then you can work things out for a smaller cake and such but you can't fill THAT order for THAT amount.... Good luck!

you know what? it probably is something you're even considering because it's your first one. You're going into business to be a cake artist, not a cheap prostitute- not for you to take that the wrong way. But that is basically what you'd be doing if you said yes, just to say yes. As someone here said, the lady wouldnt even get a deal like that at Publix. Tell her to march down to the 2nd handstore, they might have some used ones down there for that price, SHEESH.
For every potential order that comes your way like that one, many more will come your way that are willing to pay the right price.
There's probably nothing more exciting than having completed the very first paid order- I wouldnt know- well I did last month but it was for a friend and it wasnt really 'official' with invoice or anything yet. The problem is she takes advantage of you and that's going to be the memory you look back on as your first business order. Plus she'll go and tell all her friends and then you have to ward off a bunch of loonies who give you a hard time for trying to explain that's not your price.
It's very hard to start low and then bring up your price. Start at the price you want to to make (and above cost most of all- since 50 bucks wouldnt even cover your costs). Good luck- your first opportunity to grow thick skin

Heck, most places would charge her $50 just to deliver it an hour away!

I'll admit up front that I tend to take the hard-a$$ approach to things, but I wouldn't worry one second on how to "politely" tell her no. If she is rude enough to think she can get that much cake for that much .......?

I had a customer like that. She tells me what she's looking for (this is for food, not just cake) and that she has $500 to spend. I ask her how many people and she tells me 150-175!! I very firmly tell her, "Honey, you can't get Happy Meals for everyone for that price! I'm sorry, I"m not going to be able to help you. Thanks for calling."

It's not personal .... it's business.

The local grocery store down the road from me charges $5/dozen for cupcakes alone. A 3-tier cake, not even decorated that well, starts at $95. She's NUTS if she thinks she can get that much food for that price. And diabetic cooking isn't cheap. I have a diabetic wedding shower cake for this weekend. I'm using the 50% less sugar mix and icing from Pillsbury, and that's going to run me some cash. So take that into consideration, as well. Special requests and dietary needs ALWAYS cost more. (this from the daughter of two diabetics, and granddaughter of 3. It's not cheap to eat right when you're diabetic!)

Stick to your guns, and charge what the job is worth. Don't cave because it's your first order... better to establish yourself as the artist and savvy business person you are, than to allow folks to railroad you into being bitter and giving this up. Your work is worth it, and anyone who matters will realize that, step up, and pay you what you're worth.

Thank you for all the replys! And Oceanspitfire, no I wasnt offended, it was pretty funny. I actually laughed out loud when I read it and got a weird look from my husband lol.
I emailed her back and told her that unfortunately, I cannot do a tiered cake and cupcakes with dietary restrictions for that price. I explained that I do not use boxed cakes, everything is from scratch as well as the frosting thats used for the cakes. I told her if all she had to spend was 50$ because of the budget, I could do a two layer sheet cake, but she would be responsible for pick-up, I would not deliver.
I havent gotten a response yet.

Good for you, you did the right thing.

good response. It's always a good idea to give them another option, so you're not just telling them NO. You're letting her know what she CAN get for $50 and she's responsible for the pick up. good job.

Good for you!

And btw, I checked Publix's site...a 3/4 sheet cake that would feed 60 (according to them) starts at $47. And that's their basic cake. You pay more for fillings, special icings, specialty cake flavors, decoration, etc.

$50 wouldn't even cover the cupcakes if she was asking me.

I double dog dare her to find all of that at her local Publix.

Thank you very much. I am also quite proud of myself for turning it down if you can believe it lol. I figured I would leave it up to her to either A) politely decline my services, B) raise her budget price and buy the cake for my price, or C) take the sheet cake.

I also looked at Publix's website and I found the same thing. I wanted to email her and say "have ya looked at Publix prices lately?" but decided against it.

can she even get a diabetic cake from Publix?

My standard cupcakes are $1.50 a piece so she wouldn't even get the cupcakes for her budget from me b/c I would be adding an additonal price onto each one for the specialty cake.

At an hour away you couldn't even get me to deliver for $50.00 either.

I won't even go into the pricing of the tierd cake =)

I am so glad to see you stood your ground, but you did a good job of customer service to offer what you can do for the $50.00. Very nicely put. I will be interested to see what her response is.

Publix does sell a sugar-free cake. 2 of them actually. A chocolate one and a yellow one. They are about 7-1/2" rounds and come in pre-made. They are in the "grab-and-go" cases. They can't be written on or changed in any way as the writing is done in the regular icing which is not sugar free. So, if she were to go to Publix, she could get 1 sugar free cake for 8 or 9 dollars and that will serve about 8 to 12 depending on how big of pieces she cuts. I'm guessing she'd get that 1 cake for those who can't have sugar and order regular cake for the rest of the guests. Oh, and I haven't eaten the sugar free cake because it contains aspertame (Nutra Sweet) and I'm allergic to it, but everyone I know who has tried it says it's gross, unless it's all you can have, and then I guess it's better than nothing.

Well, she actually emailed me back this morning. She didnt turn down anything I said. She asked me for some ideas that would work with her budget. I gave her my ideas again. I told her I could do either a rectangular or round two layer cake.
She said she wanted it to be tropical and wanted to know what I thought.
I asked her about her grandmothers (ooops, I thought it was for her grandfather) favorite flavors with cake and fruit, so we will see what happens.

Well how about that! lol She knew she was trying to get over and got knocked back to reality. Continue to stick your ground, sounds like she will continue to see what she can get. When she said tropical, did she mean flavor or the decor?

I would say hit the road or show me the money... she knows she can't get that from publix at that price... I would call publix and or go by there and ask them what they would charge for such and order and then relay that to her.... then she would change her mind.. don't undercut yourself just because it is your 1st paid order... she is trying to get something for nothing!

I was walking past the bakery case at Walmart a while back and saw these cute little 4" SUGAR FREE cakes for like 3 bucks. I figure, what the heck? I'll try one and see how it tastes!!

Now, anyone that READS LABELS knows that when you decrease the carb count USUALLY the fat count goes up. Two words for you ladies YUK-KY! I couldn't even swallow the first and ONLY bite I took....spit it in the trash and then felt like I needed Dawn Dishwashing Detergent to "cut the grease" in my mouth! It was BBAADDD!!!

Having said that...I have had some "ROCKIN'" Sugarfree Cheesecake from a "Little Old Church Lady" here in Madisonville KY! It's THE BOMB!!

I'm sure libraniki that YOUR cakes would taste MUCH MUCH better than that. But, you would have to spend some $$$ and therefore you should make some $$!

BEST OF LUCK!! POST A PIC!

Beth in KY

Ummm, OK. She wants me to do the cake.
How weird.
She wanted to make a date for some tastings. She said her grandmother likes mango, and two other fruits (stupid memory) and that she wants rectangular.
I seriously did not think she would say yes.
I really do have a feeling that shes trying to swindle some extravagant cake for nothing.
Im gonna pull my recipes and see what cakes I could bake as sample for diabetic, then Im going to Publix to price everything out.
Im not going broke just to do my first paid order.

OH! And we ARE signing a contract and I am getting the money upfront. No way am I going to do a deposit with no contract.
Knowing my luck, Ill get 25$ and buy everything and the day of the party she'll call to cancel. Then Ill be stuck with a cake I know I wont eat.

I don't really understand the concept of requiring the entire cake to be diabetic friendly just because the birthday person is diabetic. I think a small diabetic cake to serve the birthday person and few diabetics that may be at the party should be plenty, and the rest could be regular cake. I know that's not really what's up for discussion here, but for some reason that's what stuck out to me. (Not to mention that I'm really glad that you didn't cave to her unreasonable expectations! Good job!)

Ya know, I thought about that too.
I think I may make a suggestion about doing a regular rectangle cake and then maybe a smash type diabetic cake.
After she said she wanted the tiered cake and then cupcakes I thought maybe the cupcakes were for the other guests that werent diabetic, but then I thought that a three tiered cake was too much for one person.
I dont know.
And thank you!

I agree... do a separate diabetic cake for the person who needs it...that way your costs could be reduced and you would be more free to decorate and flavor at her choice. I hope it all works out for you. Please don't let her swindle a great cake out of your... you deserve to get paid... so get it!

I"m doing two cakes for a wedding shower this weekend... the bride is insulin dependent diabetic, but no one else on the guest list is, so I'm making her a mini-tier cake that will be a replica of the larger cake that the rest of us will share.

Way to go for sticking to your guns She sounds like a loon, and you are very smart for making sure she signs a contract and pays up front. The whole thing sounds so fishy. Good luck and don't forget to post pics

You might also want to have just one or two sample pieces of the diabetic cake out for this customer to taste, and keep the rest of it in the freezer in case you ever get another diabetic cake request. I can just see this person asking if she could take the leftover cake home

Is she paying for the tasting? I wouldn't go too far out of the way to prepare for a $50 sheet cake unless she's willing to pay for it. You'll eat up anything you might make on the sheet cake in ingredients for the tasing. Good for you for sticking to your guns though!

Debbie