Hi all!
I am a newbie to the business. Completed the courses thru Wilton, etc. I have had orders from friends, family, friends of friends and family etc.
Last weekend I took my wedding dress to a new consignment shoppe in my local town (Fredericksburg,VA) and while talking to the owner I mentioned my cakes.
I got a voice mail, text message and a Facebook message from her this weekend...(I was camping where there was NO signal) about a business offer.
She is as I said, A consignment shoppe.....she has a florist, photographer, etc on board to offer a PACKAGE deal to brides...and she wants to use me as her cake person.
She is asking what type of cake can be between $150-$250 with 3 options to offer.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any help is appreciated!
This would be a great boost to my business...as long as I am still making a profit.
Any input is appreciated!
Thanks, Di

I think any cake could be between that price range. The more decoration, piping u do, the more expensive the price will be. I was advised to go to my local bakery to ask for how much the charge for different types of cakes and baking goods I m interested in doing. Then I get an idea on how much I want to price them myself. I lot of people charge by the slice.

You need to check into this more before jumping into it. $150-250 is really low for wedding cake pricing in this area (I'm in Richmond) and I wouldn't do it unless the cakes were going to be for less than 50 people. You're going to have to deliver the cake, right? You have to factor the cost of that in, and that would get the price a lot closer to $250.

Also, what photographer and florist are they? Are they good at what they do? Do you want to have your name associated with them? I've had plenty of "photographers" send me discs with examples of their horrific work on it, and I wouldn't want to have my name linked with theirs.

Also, what the heck is a consignment shop owner doing with wedding packages? Is it a wedding consignment shop? Why would she be interested in doing this? Is she reselling the procudts to the brides and keeping a profit for herself? Why would a bride want to by a wedding package from a consignment shop? What the heck?

I wrote a book about common mistakes people make when they first start out in business, and one of them is jumping into this kind of arrangement just because it presents itself. Just because someone suggests something doesn't mean it's a good idea.

I have dealt with wedding planners, bakeries and venues who have tried to get a piece of my business and they always mess things up. They don't even know how to take a proper cake order. The bakery, put a substantial mark up my cakes as did the wedding planner. A piece of the pie, I was missing out on.

Anytime, I have had a middle man between me
and my customers, it has been a pain in the neck. It turns into something like that game we played when we were kids, "Gossip", "Telephone", or "Whisper Down the Lane". Details are added and dropped before they finally get to me, the baker. If there was a question on the cake order, I'd have to get back to the bakery or planner, wait for them to get back to the customer, and wait for them to get back to me. It was a mess.

I cut out the middle men 2 years ago and I am much happier. I work much better on my own.
It's my name, my business, and my reputation. I don't want anyone between me and my customers messing things up.
My customers are important to me. I strive to meet their individual needs.
You can't do that with package deals.

As costumeczar has already said, the prices she is giving you seem very low for wedding cakes.

Good Luck to you,
The Lone Wolf,
tokazodo

This thread was posted three times.
For more viewpoints, here are the other two threads:
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-748687.html
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-748689.html