Prior to having a legit business I have made for family and friends cakes for FREE. And at any gathering they all want me to bring dessert or CAKE. My friend whom I made a cake for last year (FOR FREE) asked me to make a cake for my daughter. She didn't ask me What would I charge her to make a cake. She just asked me to bring a birthday cake as if it was pot luck or something. I know this will come up again w/ others. Particularly when they are friends of my children.

Be up front with people. If the event is a "potluck" and the other guests will be bringing things, then a free cake is appropriate. You don't have to bring one that you spent a ton of time or money on. I still give free cakes to certain friends, but they usually reciprocate by paying me back sometime with free babysitting or something. If you are the only one bringing something, like to a birthday party, let your friend know you won't charge, but that will be the child's birthday present. When people start getting specific about what they want their cake to be, you can start being specific about how much you will charge. I usually give a break in prices to "friends" but if you at all feel like you are being taken advantage of, up your prices.

I guess my question is...How do I go there.

Hello I just joined, And I have the same problem.Everyone want's a free cake.My sister want's me to make one for her daughter,and I never tell her know. Becouse she is a single mom of three,

Tammy

My problem its not the BBQ, or pot luck dinners. Its when my daughter is invited to a birthday party and they want me to bring a birthday cake. My daughter doesn't understand that we can give them a gift and elaborate themed birthday cake as well

This is a necessary evil , I guess. You need them in the begining so you can build up your portfolio. But now that you have a business. you need to charge for it. Maybe I'll give them coupons allowing one free birthday cake per year per family. LOL

Okay, I just had an experience with friends and cakes and all of that, so let me give my two cents and I hope you will snatch it up like it is a million bucks...... when it comes to cake, there are no such things as friends. Byinvitation, youaskyour 'friend' straight out if that cake is going to be paid for or is it a present to the child from your family, and if you are invited! If you are not invited, turn and walk away! If she says a present from you, walk away, you're only good for cakes! If she says she's willing to pay for it, tell her how much!

Pinky, when it comes to your sister, you didn't cause her to be a single mother of three, so you shouldn't be afraid to tell her that you don't have the time or desire to be used. However, coming from a family of five who was raised by a single mother, I'm sure your neice/nephew would appreciate your doing for him/her. Just don't allow yourself to be taken advantage of. My mother never asked her siblings for anything, but then again she was an only child.

I started giving family and friends free cakes as well. Then at one point, I felt I might be taken advantage of. So, when asked to make a free cake, I started telling everyone, "so very sorry but I'm booked that day", and every chance I got, I talked about my sideline cake business. I got business cards and passed those around with a small brochure----they got the idea really fast. On occasion I will still do a small cake at cost, but not very often. More likely I will give away a cake for a charity function.

I have to chime in on this. If it is for family, like my sister asks me to make my niece's cake, I do it for free, and then I'm cool Aunt Stacie. But if my kids are invited to a party, and mom asks me to bring the cake as a present....NO. That's blatant advantage taking. Soon your kids will be invited to every birthday in town, just so mom gets a free cake. Put the brakes on that right now. If they invite your kid to a party and ask you to bring a free cake as a present, just politely tell them that you can't do that, as that is your business, and if you do it for them, it sets a precedent. Those who care about you will get it. Those who don't, you don't care if they get it. It's not being mean, or snotty, or uppity. It's business. You have a right to be paid for your work.

Naturally, if it's pot luck, and everyone is bringing something, and they ask if you'll do cake, that would seem ok to me. Just don't do an elegant $250 number.....something simple will be fine in that case.

Just my opinion....

All very good advice, Thankyou

Yes this is very much excellent. I'm new to cake decorating and I've been wondering about this stuff.

If you've agreed to do this cake, then I would do it. I would also invite this friend over and talk about it in a very polite non-confrontational manner. I greatly appreciate my friends and family helping me get to this point. I couldn't have done it without you and I hope you realize how grateful I am. With business starting to take off, I'm not able to do cakes at no charge anymore. doing a free cake may take time away from me being able to accept a paying job. of course I'll still offer a generous discount for you, but I've got to at least cover supplies. I also may surprise you with a cake every once in a while if I want to experiment or have some free time. Thanks for understanding. HTH

Hello everyone!!

I am pretty new to all of this but as a way to kind of get the word out and show people what I can do I told everyone ( friends/family) that I would make the first cake for them for free but after that I would charge! It has seemed to work out well.

By using what the person wanted for the free cake as a practice I no longer have an excess of cake that dosnt get eaten and they get a onetime free cake.

So far everyone seems to think that it is fair way to do it and they are not hurt when I tell them no free cake because they knew upfront that they were going to have to pay for the next one.

My stepmother is a doctor and we are a fairly close family. When I need medical advice, I go to her and pay an office visit. When she needs cake, cookies, etc. she calls us and pays for it. Business is business!

I HAVE ONE FRIEND WHO PAYS SO FAR BUT I NEVER CHARGE MORE THAN A DOLLAR OR TWO ABOVE THE COST, BECAUSE SHE IS MY BEST FRIEND...NEVER FAILS, IF I TELL HER $20, SHE PAYS ME $30. THAT'S WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE APPRECIATED. AS FOR MY NEICES AND NEPHEWS...ALL (BIRTHDAY) CAKES ARE FREE UNTILL THEY ARE 18. NO GIFTS OTHER THAN THE CAKE. I USUALLY LET THEM GIVE ME IDEAS OR TELL ME WHAT THE WANT OFF OF THIS SITE OR FROM THE WILTON BOOKS! ANYWAY, I GUESS I HAVEN'T BUILT UP ENOUGH SUCESS TO START CHARGING AND HAVE A CUSTOMER BASE!

I have no problems doing cakes for family members, as long as they don't just "expect" me to!

I do give free cakes if I offer them as a gift, but that will end as far as neighbors go. From now on all my experiments go to school or church!

I guess I have the opposite problem. I have some friends and relatives who will not order a cake from me UNLESS I let them pay for it. I guess that's a good thing, because no one is expecting free cake.

Alton you are right,And they do take advantage,I am just starting outin baking and I got supply's to pay for.nothing will get paid if I give away.
I love your show I learn a lot from it. Tammy

My family and friends know my simple rule. If you ask me to make a cake, you pay for it. If I offer to make a cake, then it's free.

I do cakes for family (my grandma, parents, brothers, nephew, and SIL) birthday's for free. But other than that if I get asked to do a cake, someone is paying me something.

I charge family for the cost of ingredients (including board). Friends get a good deal too.

I charge because I can't afford to make that many freebies. I give them a good break because they are some of my best advertisers. Without them I wouldn't be as far as I am.

I would never charge my family. That's just how we are. Anything we do be it work or fun we don't charge if it's family. We don't sell to each other we give stuff.

Friends I would give a break to. I would tell them "since this is the first cake I've done at your request I will only charge you for the cost of the cake." That way they know the next one is at full cost.

Excpt for my one good friend. I told her I would not charge her above the cost of the cake because she in turn will get me many orders.

Neighbors, well they got several free cakes while I took classes. When I know I'm ready to charge them I will send them my business card and a note thanking them for being my "taster" while I worked on learning. Now I'm ready to start selling cakes and hope they will remember me when they are ready to order a cake for any reason. That way they know they are no longer my "taster" and cakes are no longer free.

Now that being said. I am new to all this. So anyone who wants my cakes makes me very happy. I feel honored.

I would not bring a cake as a gift unless it was my idea. I don't think it is fair for the kid who is having a party to get a cake. Heck, if you didn't make it his mom would buy him one or make him one. Kids would rather have a present. An adult is different.

If I go to a shower, wedding or adult party I would ask if they would rather I bring a present or do their cake. So they know I won't be doing both.

It's hard to bring up the subject of paying to someone but the way I feel about it is they don't feel bad asking I shouldn't mind being honest and saying sure but I have to charge you.

Joanne

I think it all really depends on the attitude of your friends and family. Nobody in my family would ever "expect" a person to bring a certain item. Of course I don't have any family members close enough to even make a cake for. If I did I would love to do it free of charge, but they're the type that would insist on paying me. I made a cake for dh's coworker who has become a good friend and told her it was our gift to her, but next day at work she gave my dh a check for $30 (more than I would have ever charged her).

So, now the question is, you've been making cakes and bringing them for free and you want to stop. Decide exactly when you want to stop and say so. For example, "I've decided since I've been making so many cakes that I'm going to start charging for cakes now (starting when school starts, starting in the new year)." If you want to give a break to friends and family you can add, "but I'll be happy to give you the X% friends and family discount."

I also loved the idea of coupons. If you're not ready or worried about cutting people off right away, why not make up "one free cake" coupons and give them to your friends and family for Christmas. Or you could make 50% coupons or whatever works for you.

You could also say that you would be happy to make their (the friend or family member) personal birthday cake for free, but anything beyond that you'll have to charge.

If they start asking why or make a fuss, just say, "you know when I started I had no idea it took X hours to bake and make icing and decorate a cake, I'm just trying to recoup a little of my own $ spent and the time I put into it, you should be glad I don't charge plumber's rates (ha ha - insert whatever profession you like)."

I use to bake birthday cakes for my co-workers birthdays each month then it got to the point where some would say...well I didn't get my cake ....when I had baked a cake for them but they had taken the day off or something. They started expecting me to do a cake and that is when I stopped.

I had one lady ask me to do a birthday cake for her husband...she wanted a boob cake with specific marks on it too. I told her it would be 25.00 but when she paid me she only gave me 20.00. Well I thought if I don't say something then it is my own dang fault. So I told her that the cake was 25 not 20. I should have charged more but it was my first boob cake so it was an experiment but it was still cheap.
Last year I did 3 birthday cakes for my niece and nephews . My one sister did not offer to pay me at all but my other sister asked if she had paid I said no she did not even ask. Later she did ask if she owed me anything and I said no not this year. The other sister asked first and I said no..again...not this year.
I put a lot of thought and hard work into their cakes so this year it will be paid for or they will get one from the wallyworld....lol

compromise - some of them might be free if you want them to be, but at the very least people should be paying for the cost of ingredients. Most people don't realize how much some cakes can cost to make.

If you are related to me or my children by blood and it is for you then you get it for free, otherwise you get charged.

Just want to say I didn't read all of the posts.

But I have a friend and family base as well that completely recognize that this is a business and not something I am doing for fun (you know what I mean).

And when I get the cake call for whatever it is, cookout, birthdays, etc. they always ask how much is this one going to cost me. So they don't take it for granted that I am just going to be the resident cake baker.

If you all are having these problems, my suggestion would be to let them know, this is a business. I am doing this to make money.

If you are good enough and they want a cake from you instead of the cardboard from the store, they will pay. I'm not saying charge them top dollar because I do discount my cakes for family and friends, but best believe. I make it worth my while.

just my measly .02.