I thought I charged the right price ????? - Page 3

I almost had this happen last week...someone called last minute for a small birthday cake for her son with ice cream in the middle. She said Oh whatever you charge is fine, it doesn't need to be fancy and then proceeded to tell me where to deliver etc.

I interrupted and told her I have a $40.00 minimum on any cake and she went WOW! Then she backed up quickly and said she had a box mix in the cupboard she would just use that thank you goodbye.

I think she thought she was ordering a $12.00 cake.

Just out of curiosity I went to the grocery store and they have ice cream cakes in the deep freeze. The label says they came from a warehouse out of state. They are $34.00 for a 2 layer 1/4 sheet with some distorted looking balloons and from the amount of freezer burn I would say they have been there awhile.

Now my first question on any order is WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET?

It would be great if we could all have a list of cake prices from every other place in town.

"$40 is out of your budget? No problem! You might try Grocery Store "A". They have these kinds of cakes for $34. Grocery B has them for $42 and XYZ Bakery sells them for $67. Thanks for checking with us!"

At least they'd get a little sticker shock on what EVERYONE else charges, too!

You said it!

Next time before any order is even started whether it be from cookies, to cakes, to muffins etc the decorator SHOULD lay the final cost of the entire order from start to finish FIRST so there are no 'surprises' when they go to pay the bill. If the customer wants to question at that point then allow them to and there may be room for compromises as to how much the customer needs/wants per the cost of the order. Ppl dont realize the cost of items and labor...they think because we have discount store chains that all 'specialty' stores or food 'boutiques' should charge the same low prices. There is a reason WHY we take to 'specialty' baking and decorating bc ppl for whatever occasion want the 'better quality' of items or they wouldnt be coming to you in the first place, but it seems they dont want to pay the price but expect the quality and time of workthats NOT put into say a 'walmart/target' or wherever cake/food items. I say she got a deal for her money. Let her find that kind of a deal elsewhere if she needs anything again...most likely she will be coming back to you--

First off, I charge $6 a doz for drop cookies, but they are medium sized-I think a 1" scoop. I would probably charge an extra $1 a doz for the nuts. I absolutely think that your price is fair, BUT, you knew that she had in her mind that it would cost about $3 per dozen, or $21. In my opinion, she should have been made aware of the price before you agreed to do it. Partly, she's at fault for agreeing to buy something without knowing the cost, and her consequence was paying for it anyway. Partly, it was your fault for not telling her, and your consequence was knowing that you have an unhappy customer.

I don't see any way around having to give quotes in this line of business. With your pricing system, you are going to have to be able to estimate how much the ingredients are going to cost, and how much time it's going to take. I would think it would be easier to develop a price list to work from, but say you get a request for something you've never made before...that's when you have to tell the customer that you'll get back to them with a quote after you checked on the cost of ingredients.

Lastly, I wondered if the customer requested that you take the time and expense to package them nicely. That is time consuming and skipping it could have kept the price down for the customer.

Bottom line, the price was fair, just outside of the customer's expectations. Live and learn! You'll get better at pricing and better at communicating it. As for clients in general, if they can't find a few hours to make simple drop cookies on their own, they need to learn it's gonna cost 'em! I'll gladly pay $6 to go through a carwash, knowing full well that I could do it at home with a hose and sponge for free! Sometimes the price isn't the only consideration!