Cheap, Cheap, Cheap:::sam's Is Up The Road

Business By cakesbyamym Updated 21 Mar 2009 , 1:20am by LaBellaFlor

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cakesbyamym Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 8:32pm
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I had a lady contact me a few weeks back regarding a shower cake for a friend's upcoming baby shower. NO problem. She wanted a certain theme, so I pulled some ideas in the way of photos, as well as, gave her some thoughts of my own for the cake to make it totally unique and personal. So, she decides on a 1/2 sheet cake instead of the tiered cake option. No problem. I quoted her the price ($45 + tax). I didn't hear back, and followed up with her last night via e-mail. I woke up this morning to an e-mail that was full of icon_mad.gif evil! I won't quote her verbatim, but the jist was that...oh, yes, her "qualms" with me WERE numbered...

(1) My prices were absolutely outrageous.

(2) How much can a cake cost to bake and slap icing on?

(3) Why in the world would someone "splurge" on a sheet cake for $45 when they could go to Sam's and get one for half that?

(4) I ought to be ashamed of my prices. They're sinful.

OMG!!!! I did something that I normally don't do...I e-mailed her back with my own answers to her above questions...in BOLD, RED type. I haven't heard back from her the second time, and don't expect to, but I'm absolutely tired of the whole "highway robbery" comment. I'm VERY reasonable for my area, and have a great customer base, who doesn't mind paying my fees. Furthermore, do you go into a store, and HAGGLE them to give you a lesser price? NO. You pay what the price sticker says...no questions. I run a legal business from my home, and should be treated with the same respect as any other business.

Whew! I feel so much better getting that off of my chest! Anyone else having this situation come up more and more lately?

115 replies
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beck30 Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 8:37pm
post #2 of 116

I think this is crazy. If she can get a non-personal cake at sams, so be it. I would tell her where the bleep to go. Good luck and keep your head up, dont worry about it. People are ignorant.

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cakenista Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 9:14pm
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See the problem with people is they dont get that its not homemade at sams or any other store they are getting cake from cake mix. Thats what the price difference is and all that stuff is loaded with preservatives where as homemade is what your paying for. I have a customer that always gives me a hard time because she says it doesnt taste like you get at the store, for example I made a home made apple pie with real apples and she said it didnt taste good cuz it didnt taste like the grocery store makes I laughed so hard I mean, it was home made crust. It tasted great but she said it doesnt have that oooy gooy stuff hahahaha ok well you go a head and pay for your preservatives Im gonna keep on keepin on.

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indydebi Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 9:27pm
post #4 of 116
Quote:
Originally Posted by cakesbyamym

(2) How much can a cake cost to bake and slap icing on?




"Ohhhhhhh! You wanted a cake with icing just SLAPPED on there! My fault! I misunderstood! I thought you wanted a nicely decorated cake for your very special event. I didn't know you wanted one with icing just SLAPPED on there! If that's what you need, then my price is $18.95.

But trust me ..... it will look just like you want it to .... a cheap cake with icing just SLAPPED on there.

You can pick it up at 3:00."

(But then ..... *I* tend to take the smart a$$ approach to things! icon_rolleyes.gificon_twisted.gif )

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cakenista Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 9:39pm
post #5 of 116

hahahahah that was funny and so right

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jer702 Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 9:45pm
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LMAO icon_lol.gificon_lol.gif

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ATCakes Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 9:48pm
post #7 of 116
Quote:
Originally Posted by indydebi

Quote:
Originally Posted by cakesbyamym

(2) How much can a cake cost to bake and slap icing on?



"Ohhhhhhh! You wanted a cake with icing just SLAPPED on there! My fault! I misunderstood! I thought you wanted a nicely decorated cake for your very special event. I didn't know you wanted one with icing just SLAPPED on there! If that's what you need, then my price is $18.95.

But trust me ..... it will look just like you want it to .... a cheap cake with icing just SLAPPED on there.

You can pick it up at 3:00."

(But then ..... *I* tend to take the smart a$$ approach to things! icon_rolleyes.gificon_twisted.gif )



Too funny! I would love to be able to give them the items and say here you go--get slap happy!!!

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KrissieCakes Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 9:54pm
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Why in the world do people call a CUSTOM cake place, work out a CUSTOM design, and then expect it to be CHEAPER than a cake factory like Sam's or any other grocery store???

I picked up a $5 package of mini cuppies at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago (the huge dollop of icing on each one just looked so good!). When I got home I noticed that the expiration date on the package was March 31. A whole month! What do that put in those things that they are good for an entire month???

Well, I then tried the cupcakes and I swear I could taste the preservatives. I don't even know what a preservative tastes like, but I know that is what it was!!! icon_smile.gif My son and husband wouldn't even eat them. I threw out 11 cupcakes.

People have no idea what real food should taste like anymore with all of the prepared junk that we eat. Having a custom cake with a fresh taste beats the heck out of that crap from the grocery store/warehouse bakery!

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Tita9499 Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:04pm
post #9 of 116

Crazy lady who wants a $50 cake for $5:

Quote:
Originally Posted by cakesbyamym



(1) Your prices are absolutely outrageous.

(2) How much can a cake cost to bake and slap icing on?

(3) Why in the world would someone "splurge" on a sheet cake for $45 when they could go to Sam's and get one for half that?

(4) You ought to be ashamed of your prices. They're sinful.




Me:

" So instead of wasting cyberspace emailing me, why don't you take your anger management issues to Sam's. They'd be happy to entertain your insanity there."

OH!!

"Sinful is trying to get a custom made cake for less than the price of the cake board it's sitting on...we call that "stealing" so what you should do is find a quiet corner and have a little talk with Jesus...it's called repenting."

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juleebug Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:07pm
post #10 of 116
Quote:
Quote:

I swear I could taste the preservatives. I don't even know what a preservative tastes like




I'm the SAME WAY! I used to love grocery store cake and I used to eat DH chocolate icng straight from the can. I can't even think about eating that garbage now that I know what real cake & icing tastes like.

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luvsfreebies72 Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:10pm
post #11 of 116
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrissieCakes

Why in the world do people call a CUSTOM cake place, work out a CUSTOM design, and then expect it to be CHEAPER than a cake factory like Sam's or any other grocery store???

I picked up a $5 package of mini cuppies at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago (the huge dollop of icing on each one just looked so good!). When I got home I noticed that the expiration date on the package was March 31. A whole month! What do that put in those things that they are good for an entire month???

Well, I then tried the cupcakes and I swear I could taste the preservatives. I don't even know what a preservative tastes like, but I know that is what it was!!! icon_smile.gif My son and husband wouldn't even eat them. I threw out 11 cupcakes.

People have no idea what real food should taste like anymore with all of the prepared junk that we eat. Having a custom cake with a fresh taste beats the heck out of that crap from the grocery store/warehouse bakery!


AMEN!

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juleebug Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:11pm
post #12 of 116
Quote:
Quote:

"Sinful is trying to get a custom made cake for less than the price of the cake board it's sitting on...we call that "stealing" so what you should do is find a quiet corner and have a little talk with Jesus...it's called repenting."




OMGosh! So true!

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Jayde Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:13pm
post #13 of 116
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrissieCakes


People have no idea what real food should taste like anymore with all of the prepared junk that we eat. Having a custom cake with a fresh taste beats the heck out of that crap from the grocery store/warehouse bakery!





Unfortunately you are so right. there are so mahy people that eat the ready made soup, the frozen dinners, or go the fast food route that they dont have a clue what real homemade food tastes like anymore. Some even prefer the processed junk! I have a friend that swears by Stouffer's lasagna, they eat it like once a week at her house. (I think its nasty).

When she got pregnant I made her a homemade lasagna and froze it for when she had the baby. It wasnt anything horribly special, just my normal lasagna and they are still raving about it months later.

People eat too much processed foods and foods full of perservatives. It is nothing for me to make an extra lasagna when I am already making one and then freeze it for another time. It doesnt take much extra time to make your own food from home. It costs way less and its soo much better for you. Even desserts and cookie dough gets made in 2 batches and then wrapped and frozen for another time when I dont HAVE the time to whip up a batch of cookies or a homemade meal.

Off the box now and back to the real problem...

I think you were right to email her back like that. I would have just told her that she was not only paying for a slab of cake with some icing slapped on it, but she was paying for real premium ingredients, your design, and your 2-6 hours of time. Its her loss, but I wish people would stop and think about the taste difference between the 2 cakes.

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jlynnw Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:13pm
post #14 of 116

Tita I love how you say it so lady like but drive the nail straight on thru!

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Tita9499 Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:22pm
post #15 of 116

Heck yah! I'm a freakin' lady! LOL!

I find it hard to understand why people prefer to pay 3 bucks(if you're lucky) for a loaf of bread that has a shelf life of an decade when you can make your own bread for 82 cent a loaf.
I had a bunch of my DH's soldiers and their families over for Thanksgiving abd I made some dinner rolls. At the end of the night I saw two of them arguing (really arguing) about how many the other one was taking to go. They're like, "Where'd you buy these?" when I told them I made them they were sitting there like I told them I was Moses. "Really? I didn't think homemade bread tasted good" I just shook my head...how sad.

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doughdough Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:26pm
post #16 of 116
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrissieCakes

Why in the world do people call a CUSTOM cake place, work out a CUSTOM design, and then expect it to be CHEAPER than a cake factory like Sam's or any other grocery store???




That is the million dollar question. icon_wink.gif

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jackmo Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:27pm
post #17 of 116

well, welcome to the "Go to Sam's because its cheaper club!" A friend wanted a cake for her husbands retirement party. She wanted cake for 60 people. I offered a 12 x 18 for $50.00. Well, she called back later and told me that she will be ordering from Sam's club. She wanted an airbrushed picture of him. Oh well. Sams wins again. icon_sad.gif

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jackmo Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:36pm
post #18 of 116
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrissieCakes

Why in the world do people call a CUSTOM cake place, work out a CUSTOM design, and then expect it to be CHEAPER than a cake factory like Sam's or any other grocery store???

I picked up a $5 package of mini cuppies at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago (the huge dollop of icing on each one just looked so good!). When I got home I noticed that the expiration date on the package was March 31. A whole month! What do that put in those things that they are good for an entire month???

Well, I then tried the cupcakes and I swear I could taste the preservatives. I don't even know what a preservative tastes like, but I know that is what it was!!! icon_smile.gif My son and husband wouldn't even eat them. I threw out 11 cupcakes.

People have no idea what real food should taste like anymore with all of the prepared junk that we eat. Having a custom cake with a fresh taste beats the heck out of that crap from the grocery store/warehouse bakery!





I am beginning to believe that people love perservative tasting stuff. i made some cupcakes for a school bake sale . My child bought back a lot of them. in the bunch there were some of the store bought ones. I tasted the icing and you can taste the chemicals. yuk!! Especially some schools won't accept homemade cupcakes, but they will take those same store bought ones.

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ChristieFinkle Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:41pm
post #19 of 116

Well, that's not going to work for the Ontario, Canada cheap people anymore! All 6 of our Sams Clubs have closed! And, while they were having there liquidation sales, they were clearing out all of the bakery supplies! The cakes are not baked at Sams Club and the "buttercream" comes in huge tubs, already coloured! You wouldn't believe the preservatives! So the cakes not fresh, the icing's not fresh! Why would anyone want to buy a cake from there?
Christie

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jlynnw Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 10:55pm
post #20 of 116

I wanna just cuz I like the taste of a cake that has been frozen and defrosted and frozen again 6 or 7 times. The main bakery bakes then freezes cakes. Sends off to wharehouse where it is drfrosted at loading frozen in route, defrosted at the wharehouse to go back into the freezer. Pick up for shipment to defrost and freeze in transit to get to the club and sit in the back and defrost until bakery gets to it. The bakery personnel then get the defrosted cake put back into the freezer and wait until someone orders a cake. if you get the cake from the case, they pull it out defrost it decorate it and then freeze to have back up to keep the case full. Sounds delicious don't it! icon_surprised.gif

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indydebi Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 11:34pm
post #21 of 116
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrissieCakes

What do that put in those things that they are good for an entire month???



Oh that's nothin'! Modern Baking magazine advertises a product that you can put in cakes to keep them fresh for 60 days.

Must the secret ingredient in Twinkies. icon_eek.gif

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maryjsgirl Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 11:37pm
post #22 of 116

Cakesbyamym, I would love to know what your replies were to her email.

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Tita9499 Posted 10 Mar 2009 , 11:44pm
post #23 of 116

[quote="indydebi"]

Quote:
Originally Posted by KrissieCakes


Must the secret ingredient in Twinkies. icon_eek.gif




icon_surprised.gif Now, that's where I draw the line!

I will not stand here and have you all bad mouth twinkies! They have been a staple in American homes for eons and they, along with ho-ho's, ding dongs, snoballs and them little oatmeal-thingies with the toxic glue like cream have been the backbone that this country has built it's horrible eating habits upon.

If I'm the only one that has the courage to do so, I will stand up for bakery products that can survive a nuclear holocaust...have you no respect!?!? icon_confused.gif

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jackmo Posted 11 Mar 2009 , 12:03am
post #24 of 116

oh yes, i remember the twinkies with the cream filling. And the snowballs, yum. Did not know back then that they were laced with perservatives. As a kid all i knew that they were good!!

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costumeczar Posted 11 Mar 2009 , 12:31am
post #25 of 116

I saw a tub of icing at Sam's once, they'd pulled it out and it was waiting for someone to pick it up. It was labelled "but-r-creme". I just about laughed my butt off, they obviously couldn't put "butter" or "cream" on the label because there isn't any of each in that stuff!

Now my kids say "this is "butt-are-crehm" when they taste some nasty faux icing.

About three weeks ago I made rolls for dinner, and a fight broke out when my son walked into the room with three in his hands, after he'd already eaten three. My daughter started yelling at him about leaving some for the rest of us, etc. Later that night my husband asked me what the main dish had been, since he'd been focussing on the rolls and had forgotten what else we'd eaten! Ah, the power of real bread...

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jlynnw Posted 11 Mar 2009 , 12:41am
post #26 of 116

In high school, we passed on the tradition of a pink snowball from class to class. The annual passage of the snowball went each year to the student prank of the year. The year I was in school, it was dated '76. It had been around for many many years already. My daughter was talking about it the other day. The same snowball is still at school. Still dated 1976! icon_eek.gif Yeah, I wanna eat one of them! That is almost like the family fruitcake. (I am not talking about a person either!)

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yelle66 Posted 11 Mar 2009 , 1:03am
post #27 of 116

Wow, that is amazing. I bet she emailed Gucci right after you to let them know how "sinful" their prices are, too. How many braincells does it actually take to figure out that none of us bakeries could get anything that Sam's does for anywhere near the price (not that we would want to anyway, but with the logic that she has already neglected, you might as well let her think that way). I can't even fathom having the gall to tell someone else what they should or shouldn't be charging for something I knew nothing about. Costco actually has their tubs of icing to prop up their baked goods out on the floor. I have to wonder how many month those sit there before being used?

I would also love to know how your responded.

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sugarcheryl Posted 11 Mar 2009 , 3:12am
post #28 of 116

You just can't please everybody. It's said that some people would rather have imitation than quality. icon_lol.gif

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cakesbyamym Posted 11 Mar 2009 , 5:52am
post #29 of 116

This follows up to a BTB of mine contacting me regarding her groom's cake. She booked her wedding cake over a year ago, and insisted that her MIL and FIL come to the consultation, AND have their own samples to try for the groom's cake. Well, normally, I would NEVER offer additional samples above the three that I normally provide at consultations. I did...b/c she seemed SO sure of booking the groom's cake, as well, and the wedding cake IS a huge order. SO, she contacts me about a month ago regarding the groom's cake. Cake is for 100 people, and send a pic...could I do it? Of course, I could do the cake...no problem. When I give her the price of $3 per serving...MIL insisted fondant icing be used, AND I even quoted her a discount off of the groom's cake due to the amount of the wedding cake...MY choice to do that. She e-mails back that MIL was "FLOORED" (her words) at my pricing!!! She had a strict budget of $60 that she was adhering to for the groom's cake, since she was "already paying $1,500 for the rehearsal dinner." Ummm...if you're paying $1,500 for 100 people at the rehearsal dinner, I think that you could spring for something other than a Sam's Club sheet cake. Anyway, I'm still doing the wedding cake in the fall, but I was aghast at the MIL's response when I gave her my prices over a year ago. It's not like I just pulled a price out of the sky to quote her. People just blow my freaking mind sometimes!

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cakesbyamym Posted 11 Mar 2009 , 6:03am
post #30 of 116
Quote:
Originally Posted by maryjsgirl

Cakesbyamym, I would love to know what your replies were to her email.




Here are my individual replies to her. Still haven't heard back from her, either. icon_smile.gif

(1) My prices were absolutely outrageous.
It is your perogative to place an order for a cake anywhere that you choose to do so. My prices are clearly stated on the "flavors and pricing tab" on my web site, and you even said that you knew that pricing would be a "little" more due to it being a custom cake, and when I offered you a quote for the cake in question, you stated that it was unnecessary, because you had reviewed my pricing info on the site.

(2) How much can a cake cost to bake and slap icing on?
If you're purchasing it from Sam's or Walmart, not much. When you call a custom bakery, you're not only paying for the fresh, from scratch made cake. You're paying for the icing used to decorate the cake. You're paying for my time and attention to create a one-of-a-kind, unique design just for the person the cake is intended for. It's not just something that I am slapping together to fill up an empty space on my shelf with. You're also paying for the electricity used to mix up the batter, mix up the homemade icing, and bake the cake. You're paying for the water used to clean my utensils to decorate your cake with. You're paying for the box and board used to display/store your cake. There is much, much more that goes into a fresh, from scratch baked cake that what a big box store would need to charge you for.

(3) Why in the world would someone "splurge" on a sheet cake for $45 when they could go to Sam's and get one for half that?
That's totally up to the person. If someone wanted a previously frozen cake decorated with icing that tastes like lard, and no personal attention, then by all means, Sam's is the choice to make.

(4) I ought to be ashamed of my prices. They're sinful.
My prices are what they are. They are set to cover my overhead, my time, and everything else that goes into creating a personal, custom, unique cake. You'd said that you'd been on my web site prior to contacting me to do the cake. You can see that my cakes are far more than a run of the mill sheet cake. I'm meticulous with my creations and attention to detail. I am very proud of the cakes that I send out, and my customer feedback backs me up on the quality and pride that goes into each one. I will not apologize for my pricing. It is what it is.

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