I can't get anything done straight around here cos I keep checking the thread to see if its been posted!! Lu can you ple-e-e-a-se relieve us of all this suspense and get someone around you to help out!!!!! 
Just have to put in my two cents, hope you don't mind. I think the reason that they're so successful isn't entirely due to luck. Yes they are pretty talented, but so are so many people on CC. I think the difference is that they had the confidence in their work that allowed them to price their cakes as they do, and they're obviously successful at it (whether or not their cake are better). My dad always says to me, and this was not cake related but I think it applies, if you price your products too low this reflects what you think your items are worth to the customer, and often times customers will perceive your items to be of lesser quality. If you price them higher then they think it's worth more. You know what, he was right and it worked in my non-cake related business. I think the same applies here. It's just like those high-end designer purses. Sure you can pick up a purse for $60.00 that looks nice, but don't tell me you wouldn't rather have that $2,000.00 purse to show off if you could. It functions the same way but you want it more because of it's perceived value and the prestige of owning it, not really because the leather's better or the hardware will hold up longer (cuz sometimes it doesn't!).
All the power to them for pulling it off I say!
I think CCC charges the prices they do now 'cause they CAN due in part to their celebrity status. It's also probably a way for them to keep from being insanely flooded with orders and requests. If they were to charge the market rate for their work, everybody there would have to spend all their time answering phones and email and no cake would get done lol.
As for the purse comparison, I can honestly tell you I would NEVER. ever ever ever. EVER pay $2k for a purse. Even if I was an uber-billionaire. That's just dumb to me. But I also am not a purse person.
After having had time to reflect, I change my mind on how much I would spend on cake. I would pay $2k for cake - if it was for my wedding and I was having an extravagent affair, yes I would. I would also pay good money for good food and desserts, too. but it had better be GOOD
I'm starting to wonder if maybe this is another Drama Llama type thread? 
If they were to charge the market rate for their work, everybody there would have to spend all their time answering phones and email and no cake would get done lol.
A friend who used to work for a very high end caterer, who was the exclusive caterer for a very expensive and popula venue, said this is why their prices are so high. They have something like a $15K-$18K food minimum just so they can 'weed out' the tire kickers. Be serious or don't call us.
Oops - sorry all - didn't mean to yell with those big giant letters!
Hey, newmansmom.... thanks for shouting with those big giant letters! If I had not seen them I would have forgotten about tonight's premier! (Working to get my husband out on a business trip to MX so everything else is on the back burner.)
And then to add my 2 cents... I do think that Duff might have been in the right place at the right time with a brother who knows the right people. Yes, I see work on CC that far exceeds some of what I have seen in the past on AOC. BUT, I also think Duff knows he is under the microscope and has stepped up his game with the addition of some new decorators who have t-a-l-e-n-t! When Mary Alice comments in forums (and yes, she reads them,) she says they know they are not perfect, they are just doing what they love and getting paid well to do it. Hey, that's the beauty of America. Duff seems to have stayed pretty humble through it all... he was here last summer and was super personable. I'm more impressed with that then what he and his team produce 'cause we all know we have good cake days and bad cake days, but staying humble and being able to laugh are the real keys to success.
edited for typo
I agree re: weeding out all those unwanted orders. For them I'm sure there's no money to be had in bothering with the little tiny cake stuff, hence their minimums. It's a good way to avert all those tiny, little headache orders that don't result in profit for them. This way if there is someone actually willing to pay 1000.00 on a small order, well then it might be worth their time.
I would never dish out 2K for a purse either, but I have met quite a few people who have. There's a market for them.
Sorry, I wasn't trying to add drama, I promise. Was honestly just blubbering out my thoughts, bad habit.
Anyway, where is this cake?? I am SOOO dying to see this pic now!
I don't like when Anna (I believe) works on cakes with chipped nail polish...it just looks unsanitary to me, and she does it alot.
A pet peeve of mine is when they don't tie their hair back. I worked in restaurants in NY growing up, and no nailpolish and hair out of your face was the order of the day. I even wear a baseball cap when I'm working on a cake. If I go to a sandwich shop, I ask the worker to put gloves on, and most of the time, they grumble.
I agree, even on the FNC cake challenge last Sun, how many times I saw someone tuck their hair behind their ears and return to smoothing fondant or handling the cake with their hands.
And then to add my 2 cents... I do think that Duff might have been in the right place at the right time with a brother who knows the right people. Yes, I see work on CC that far exceeds some of what I have seen in the past on AOC. BUT, I also think Duff knows he is under the microscope and has stepped up his game with the addition of some new decorators who have t-a-l-e-n-t! When Mary Alice comments in forums (and yes, she reads them,) she says they know they are not perfect, they are just doing what they love and getting paid well to do it. Hey, that's the beauty of America. Duff seems to have stayed pretty humble through it all... he was here last summer and was super personable. I'm more impressed with that then what he and his team produce 'cause we all know we have good cake days and bad cake days, but staying humble and being able to laugh are the real keys to success.
edited for typo
Well said!
[quote="k8memphis]
I love and applaud Duff's great success and for helping put designer cakes more on the map.
Speaking of putting designer cakes on the map - don't forget Buddy Valastro's new show "" airs tonight! 9PM (CST) on TLC! 
[/quote]
Now he cracks me up. I love his cakes and some of the things he says. His show should be good.
lets not forget the treck the cake had back to the persons house. the air on planes messes us up, its going to mess with a cake!
xx
Win, that was well said! Sorry, haven't quite figured out the quote feature on here yet...
just click the "quote" button in the top right corner of the person's post
just learn how to type with no typos... unlike ME
AOC can charge that price because of their popularity with the TV show...and no one can honestly say that if you could you wouldn't charge that price. I like the show and would love to say I got a cake from there...but I don't have the kind of cash it takes to justify $1000 for a cake...the same as a lot of people don't want my $60 min!
I would love to see the cake just because I love looking at cakes! We don't really get to experience the real business of AOC...just the TV show side...
PIC PIC PIC PIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCC!!!!!!
Pretty Please?
I'm starting to wonder if maybe this is another Drama Llama type thread?
Im kinda wondering the same thing, she has 2 pages of pics she uploaded on her profile but having issues with this one. I hope its not though, would hate to have someone trashed and it is not true. Thats not cool.
The older I get, the more I forget 
For those of you that have doubts, I can't get this loaded. My daughter has even tried. She has emailed them to another CC'r and hopefully she will be able to get them sent. I have never lied on CC and I don't plan to start now. I said at the beginning I didn't know how to do this in a thread from a camera etc. Some people told me what to do with it and I couldn't get it done. So, Jewelykaye offered to have them emailed to her and she will get them sent.
I too, hoped this wouldn't turn crappy!
Lu
For those of you that have doubts, I can't get this loaded. My daughter has even tried. She has emailed them to another CC'r and hopefully she will be able to get them sent. I have never lied on CC and I don't plan to start now. I said at the beginning I didn't know how to do this in a thread from a camera etc. Some people told me what to do with it and I couldn't get it done. So, Jewelykaye offered to have them emailed to her and she will get them sent.
I too, hoped this wouldn't turn crappy!
Lu
You can send them to me and Ill get em posted, it will only take a few seconds, [email protected] (Im not worried about spam, its a work account 
)
Aww, OP, please don't let this get you down. People are excited, so they're impatient. We're just like kids at Christmas!
Let's all see the best in each other here, OK? We have somebody that know cakes offering a critique on a famous caker. Take it for what it is.
For those of you that have doubts, I can't get this loaded. My daughter has even tried. She has emailed them to another CC'r and hopefully she will be able to get them sent. I have never lied on CC and I don't plan to start now. I said at the beginning I didn't know how to do this in a thread from a camera etc. Some people told me what to do with it and I couldn't get it done. So, Jewelykaye offered to have them emailed to her and she will get them sent.
I too, hoped this wouldn't turn crappy!
Lu
You could try to upload to Shutterfly and you can share the link. Please excuse the impatient people, it was no need for that type of comment.
Give her a break..it took some time for me to figure out CC features. I am better at sugar then I am computers, so I understand!
Thanks for the update Lu. Of course, I am sure you can understand why someone might think this isn't legit. You have 60+ cakes posted to your gallery so you can't be too computer illiterate! 
Maybe you should try posting the pics to your gallery and mark that it is from Charm City Cakes. Then we can all take a peek.
Personally, I wouldn't have said a word about it until I had the picture on my computer. Then I would have posted the story about getting the cake, the review of the cake, and a picture of the cake at the same time. Of course, everyone does things differently. With some of the threads that have popped up in the last few weeks it is hard to believe anything you read.
I have no trouble at all loading my cake photos to the gallery, but I haven't quite got the posting to forums thing down pat yet, either, so let's cut lu9129 some slack here, okay?
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