Selling cakes when you're not legal - Page 4  

omg...you cant actually believe thats what at home bakers are doing.....

I'd bet good money a majority of these home bakers are doing what they can for now UNTIL they can get legal....as Im sure you yourself did when you were on the "other" side of the fence...

I do not sell my cakes...mine are simply for seeing what i can do BEFORE I invest the money into "jumping through hoops".....but hobby or business...I can tell you baking them at home is far more difficult then going into a building away from your children and household daily chores to make a cake.....

i'd personally give anythig to go into a shop away from my screamin demons to bake, clean and decorate ......hell Id like to go into a room seperate from my children to do my bills...trust me I could get a lot more "wheelin and dealin" done....


so is your post offensive?? Id say so....

Come on now, she was just giving her opinion, Twinsline. I see more humor than insult in there.

I see both sides here! I would like to say that some of the home bakers do charge less, but I don't see this as undercutting the professional baker. A lot of people choose a home baker because they can't afford bakery prices.

I guess what I'm saying is that is seems to be two different markets. People who can go to a bakery and those who's only choice is home baker or grocery store. Coming from a rural area I understand that.

Also, the mods have been pretty lock happy lately so lets all play nice

And in all fairness, 90% of customers have NO IDEA that it's illegal to bake from home. I'm not condoning home baking- I spent $$ I didnt have to get "legal" but after all, the customer goes to the person with the best tasting, best decorated, best priced cake regardless of who's baking where.

Yes, RisqueBusiness was just giving her opinion, but so was Twinsline...and by the way I saw alot of humor in Twinsy's post too. Lets not all get our thongs in a twist...from what I can see the thread hasn't turned nasty...just people stating opinions from each side

I can understand how someone who has the expense of a bakery would be upset at the home baker, even if she used to do the same thing. It's just hard to see profits going elsewhere, especially if it's kind of a black market, meaning it's illegal to do it.

Similar to people hiring domestic/cleaning help or yard work, etc.

Now, imagine people here in Virginia. It's legal for me to be a home baker with license and some rules, so it's a bit trickier in those states and really, a bakery can't be mad at home bakers if they are following the law, you know?

Though, I do think most people buy from friends not only to buy cheaper, but for good relations, you know?

Melissa

Hi. I can definately see Risquebusiness point of view. Our family owned Moving company has to pay out the for D.O.T. licencing, Workmans Comp. ins., employee drug testing and back ground checks to be able to play by the rules. It really hurts ($$$) when someone who doesn't have that overhead or recruits homeless workers for a day comes buy and steals your business because they are able to under bid you.

The area I live in is small and most of the "home bakers" charge more than the bakeries do. Mainly because the only bakeries here are grocery store chains and don't do anything past sheet cakes and pre-designed wedding cakes. The employees that work at these places aren't "allowed" to sell cakes on the side, because it takes business away from them (As if Wal-Mart is suffering from lack of business ) So, many of them do it illegally. I couldn't imagine one of them ratting out someone else. But people do come in all flavors.

twinsline7... I am with you on the children issues... I would sell my self at the county fair for $.50 if I got to go to the bathroom by myself..

You know what would be great? If we just had the same rules nationwide instead of state by state - then it would seem at least a little more fair to everyone - I hate the fact that some people can bake out of their homes if they live in a certain state - yet others can't simply because they live in a different state. I mean doesn't food safety seem like the kind of thing that there should be NATIONAL laws for? I wonder if restaurants have national laws..... hmmm I don't know.

I totally understand business people being upset about "losing" business to a homebaker.... although I don't think home bakers should always charge less - we have big expenses too b/c we can't buy stuff at wholesale or deduct things for taxes. And I do think you gotta start somewhere....

Anyway - I think this forum is about done, isn't it? We've discussed basically everything.......... and there is NO happy answer to it all. Anyway just my opinion.

Oh my gosh..... I totally understand! I was just telling DH yesterday that he is so lucky. At work he can go to the bathroom whenever he wants and doesn't have people following him in there asking where the head to the blue power ranger is!

Well, I just knew that by posting my "other" side would rattle someones knickers! lol

That's just the nature of the beast! and as long as no one is getting nasty...this is what a thread is supposed to look like, loads of points of view..right or wrong...just a POV.

It is correct that we all have to start someplace, and someone that is a hobby baker making cakes for kids and family and a few friends is NOT going to make a big dent in someone's business. really.

What burns my toast is that home baker, and we've all read the threads...that undercut, call receptions halls and underbid, so forth and so on.

There are sanitation rules that a lic. baker must follow and certifications that we have to renew annually. We have to learn food safety, basic sanitation, and have insurance.

How many home bakers take on more than they can handle? I read those threads all the time!!

How many brides have had their cakes, lean, fall and the young bride who posted about her cake being undercooked?

We also "spoil" our customers by being able to offer them a cheaper price, eighter by baking from home or letting them hire us when we REALLY don't have enough experience.

It is a catch-22 situation, I did start out as a friends and family baker, with a few referals. When I bought my house, I had a seperate cake studio and as soon as I got "big enough" I moved into a store front.

All that took a great deal of sacrifice and hard work, and getting over any and all fear of failing.

But, that's just me! I'm bullheaded...lol

All I have to say about this now....if you do it from home and it's NOT ALLOWED in your state...I don't care HOW nice, how clean and how loving you are, you ARE breaking the law, and it's a shame..because to get my degree I had to do 20 community hours and I chose to impliment a cake baking and decorating 8 week course for underprivilege women in my area.

Learning how to cake decorate helped me go from being a statistic...young, unmarried welfare mother, able to earn a living in less than 2 years and eventually to become, presently, a respected..( hahaha yeah right..lol) business owner.

God Bless free Enterpise!

Wow all this breaking the law talk....hmm wonder who drives over the speed limit? Wonder who doesn't come to a complete stop at stop signs etc, etc....

I live in a state that doesnt license home bakers, I don't sell my cakes (though I can't say I never will), I do them for family and friends who have only gotten cakes from WALMART or the grocery store in the past....

funny I sleep just fine at night.

well, I'm out....

It's been an interesting discussion, though.

i have a storefront bakery too....i sunk my lifesavings into it.

i'm in my 5th year now, sometimes i think i might have bit off more than i can chew.

it seems like everyone has thier hand out for a piece of the pie....

plus don't get me started on finding good help.

sometimes i envy the home decorators...they can spend hours on a cake....

due to the amount i gotta sell...time constraints just don't allow for it.

in fact, when customers come in with a wilton book in thier hand...i hand those customers off to a home decorator i know that can oblige them.

what i love (not)...is when they bring a pic of a "food network" cake in....and want it for grocery store prices.

but theres pluses and minuses to everything....

can you imagine trying to bake in one of those little home ovens?....or using a little kitchenaid mixer?

production would take forever.

i did a wedding cake in my home the year before i opened the shop.....geeze, it was like i was lucy ricardo....its just to small to work in...i even had icing on the ceiling!

back to the subject.....does anyone know of a home decorator that ever got busted?

there are several around here....and some of the people in government even buy from them....no one thinks a thing in the world about it.

I don't have a problem with either side of the issue, but feel better being legal and licensed in my state. Guess its just a personal choice for all of us??

Its always good to have both sides of the issue to discuss. I have a legal shop, but honestly I don't consider home bakers competition...not because i don't think they have a great product, but because i look at business different. I don't consider anyone competition...not the grocery stores...or the home bakers or the legal bakeries that do the same thing as me. The way I look at it is that there is enough business to go around. And if they like my cake they will buy it regardless of who else is making cakes. Plus, because I am legal I can advertise, and I get alot more foot traffic, etc....when you are a home baker word of mouth is usually the only way to get business.

Did I pay alot to open my shop? yes.....do i pay alot for licenses, etc? yes. But also alot of the people that bake from home have small children to support and for alot it is the only way for them to stay home with their children & work at the same time.

So I guess my point is that getting legal is a personal decision and the risks that home bakers take is their own & I believe that there is room for all of us in this business.

I'm sure alot of people will disagree with me, and thats ok...like I said I'm open to discussion. Its good to have everyone's point of view as long as we keep it a debate and not an argument.