A

Tell her sure, it will be $40 for that service. And she has to provide the cakes at your location and a box to take it away in.

I have read all the comments on this thread, and have laughed quite hard a number of times!  I do cakes occasionally for people from my home because it is something I love to do.  But I will add a couple of things I've had happen to me.  Sorry - but this will be LONG!

Doing a consultation for a bride and groom, and letting them know what their cake would cost, the groom says, "Why is it so much?  A box of cake mix is only a buck."  I politely responded that, while a box of cake mix CAN be purchased for a dollar, if I did use one, there are other ingredients, such as eggs and oil, that are used with them.  This also doesn't take into consideration the cost of the ingredients for the frosting (which, when I look at what I make, is more expensive than my cake ingredients).  Then there are the cake boards and dowels.  A cake mix will serve about 10 people.  You are wanting to serve 150 people.  When all is said and done, I will spend approximately $65 -$75 dollars just on ingredients and supplies.  Then, I need to take into consideration the amount of time it takes to assemble the ingredients, make the cake and icing, frost, decorate, assemble and then transport and set up your cake at your reception venue.  I spend between 10 to 20 hours working on a cake depending on how elaborate it's decorated.  Let's just say that my time and talent are only worth $5 per hour, which is less than minimum wage, that would add another $50 to $100.  This is why a wedding cakes are priced the way they are.

He didn't say another word. 

I had a woman call me and ask if I could make a princess castle cake for her three year old granddaughter.  She tells me her son does not have custody of her, and she wanted to make this birthday extra special.  She directs me to a cake on Pinterest, and tells me she was shocked when a local bakery quoted her $250 for that particular cake.  After I looked at it, I told her that I thought that was a reasonable amount given the size of the cake and all the work it would take to execute.  But, I told her that we could certainly work together to find something that would be suitable.  I asked her how many people she wanted to serve (about 15), when she needed the cake (11 days away), and what flavor cake she wanted.  I told her to give me a little bit of time, and I would see what I could come up with and I would send her an email with ideas and quotes.  I sent her an email the following day with a couple of different options at what I thought were a reasonable price.  One day goes by, two days, three days.  No response.  I have a busy life, and realize that six days before the party, I still haven’t heard from her.  So I call and leave her a pleasant message that I wanted to confirm that she received my email, and if she had any questions, to get in touch with me. 

I never heard back from her.  I realize that even the price I quoted her was more than what she wanted to spend, but at least she could have had the courtesy to tell me so.  I would have understood.

I've been laughing me head off reading these!! I've been thinking 'do people actually say these things?'

The today I had a phone call:

Me: Hello

Client: Hello I'm organising my daughters wedding, we want cupcakes, what flavours do you do?

Me: Most common are vanilla

Client: (interrupts) I don't like vanilla. What do you have that's not too sweet? I don't like sweet.

Me: Erm, I do lemon, carrot, chocolate among other things.

Client: We want them in boxes, but they won't cost much since you can buy them in wholesale. Can I come for a tasting next Wednesday?

OMG, she was so rude!! 

I also supply cupcakes for a posh deli and take costume orders through them. The owner tells me on a regular basis 'I can't believe anyone would ACTUALLY pay that for a CAKE!' Cheers for that... I don't come in to your deli and say I prefer the coffee in Starbucks as it's cheaper...

And don;t be nasty about the word MOIST.. Even BETTY CROCKER (the baking goddess ), makes a range of SUPER MOIST cake mixes...

Ps. I live in England, hence the spelling! :)

A

PRICELESS! I LOVE YOU! lol ...ok that sounded creepy :-/

 "you know how you focus on the decorations, I have another friend who bakes for the taste..."

 

I'm standing here wondering what the "friend's" cakes look like. Is it a cake-looking product, or a giant pile of flour and frosting that would horrify you if other's weren't standing around with wide grins and forks shouting, "but it tastes great!"

 

I also wonder if she's ever said to this amazeballs friend, "yeah, your cakes really don't look that good. lucky for you, we're able to close our eyes when you bring it into the room."

 

I always try to remind myself that there is no crime is pausing to think about what you're about to say, before you say it...

 

jen

AI wonder if she ever says to her other friend, your cake tastes great but I have a friend who focuses more on having them look good...

AI wonder if she ever says to her other friend, your cake tastes great but I have a friend who focuses more on having them look good...

ACan't breathe! Omg! Laughing so hard..

A

I love when people ask me for a sample (which I never ever make) and they finally buy my cake because they could not find anybody else to make the cake they wanted, yes I do it on purpose... And they love the cake...

AOh oh wait, try this one on for size: what about a friend whom you've gifted cupcakes a few times in the past, and now you're doing her wedding for a slashed price, and the first thing out of her mouth is 'can I get a sample?' What.

A

Bwuahahaha! She wants a free cake, but she also doesn't want to miss out on the "total wedding experience" of prancing around to a bunch of shops eating free cake and talking about her big day. I bet she'll make appointments anyway so she gets to do that..

I'd tell her that if she gets samples, she also gets to pay full price.

AI had a customer walk in and ask me if my items were fresh

AI always get asked how much would a wedding cake be if you didnt stack it and what if we just pick it up.

That's right!  No undercutting, run along now!

AI sure hope you set her straight!

I love it when a bride and groom sit down for a taste test, wave their hands over the many cake combinations and say "How do you DO this".  How the heck do you think I did it.  I get up early on the day of your taste test and get busy baking.  Sigh...................................

Or the bride who shows up for a taste test and announces that her guest count has been cut in half, she doesn't know where she's having her reception and that they're being married an hour and a half away on a hot August day instead of locally and that the groom insists on ganache on the cake - oh and the restaurant they have in mind isn't air-conditioned.  .My response............................. Cancelled!!!!!!!

AMy worst one is "I can't justify paying that for a cake" I had a friend of mine ask if I could do a me to you bear 3D cake with only 5 days notice. Then he asked for a price. Now I wouldn't say our cakes are expensive as we work from home and don't have the overheads a shop with staff would have so that cake carved from a 12" square would normally cost £70 but I told him £50 as he's a friend. Then the response came, "I know you're cakes are good but I can't justify paying that for a cake. Not when you can get cakes like that in a supermarket for £20" my reply was "You better get yourself down to the supermarket then."

AI know. Unfortunately you can't reason with people with that attitude so I just left it there. This guy is a joiner by trade. Perhaps I should ask him to make me a hand crafted table and when he gives me a price I can tell him I can get one cheaper from Ikea.

A