Facebook rudeness...

This comment is a great opportunity to educate your audience about what is really involved in making a cake (in a polite and professional manner of course). I would reply with a very high level overview of how you arrived at that price, including the cost of ingredients and overhead, how much labor was required, and your hourly wage. You can also compare the cost per serving against how much you would pay for a serving of dessert at a restaurant.

I agree, you could either delete it or explain why it costs that much.

People think of cake and they think $2 for a can of frosting and $1.50 for a box mix.

There was another post about a nasty facebook comment the other day, and one lady posted a link to her cost explanation on her FB business page.

I'd search for that, she gave people permission to copy it to their own pages, it was good stuff!

 

I usually PM people when they ask about pricing, simply because every cake is different.

I haven't had that happen (yet) but I did see it on a competitor's Facebook. They posted a picture of a rainbow cake with rainbow insides and someone asked how much it was. It was an 8" for $150 and my eyes bugged out, but then I read the next comment and was irritated because the woman says," surely people in Cincinnati aren't stupid enough to pay $150 for an 8" cake" or something to that effect... Wow! The bakery did respond in a very professional manner that they make gourmet cakes from scratch and each layer was a different flavor... It still makes me mad to think of it, and there's no way I would pay that much! But it is the same with anything, people are allowed to charge whatever they want, and if people are willing to pay it, then others should keep their mouths shut, and they don't have to buy it! I'd never buy a Lamborghini, even if I was a billionaire, but I'm not going to besmirch the makers, dealers or buyers for doing it! (I do happen to think they look d-baggy, though!)

yep, Facebook fun! I had someone post last week (and yeah, i whined about it! LOL) that she could make one of my cakes and then proceeded to say how...

 

good times! 

 

i would respond as jason suggested. even if she doesn't really care, at least she'll know that somebody was watching.

I never discuss price openly...It's always in a private message, or even better, over the phone. Truth is, you don't know who is watching and willing to undercut you.

Just delete that crap.

I never discuss pricing on FB, or even tell how much a certain cake was. It's just unprofessional.

The comment was definitely rude, but I would steer clear of ever mentioning price on FB, especially for a specific cake already sold. You can always say cakes range from "$ to $$ per serving".

 

And I'm thinking of it from the customer's angle (not your business, competition, etc). If I was the one who had purchased that cake I would be offended that you posted the price. They probably don't want the entire FB public knowing how much they spent.

If you are really new to the area/Maritimes, you will notice that a majority of people get their hackles up over "custom cakes", the smaller the community, the higher the hackles are raised.  Up until the last 5-10 years, custom cakes were unheard off and Sobey's or Superstore were the only places to get wedding and celebration cakes if they weren't made at home in smaller communities.  

 

I personally would just delete the offending comments and just respond via private messages when people ask about cost.  

This is great advice that I'll be taking to heart now that I've decided to set up a Facebook account for my cake business. Yeah, I know, I'm really late to the party - and to think I used to be a total tech geek =).

I would delete anything I wanted to off of my facebook page without guilt. There's no reason to let idiots post rude things on your page. Just don't discuss prices of specific cakes on there anymore, people don't get it if they're used to eating walmart cake.

If I were a bride and someone posted how much my wedding cake cost, I may be slightly (or a Lot) irritated. If I were a bride and someone posted how much my wedding cake cost and then someone else made FUN of me for spending that much, I'd be spitting nails. Probably at the baker, not the rude poster. I don't think I'd want Aunt Susie or Grandma Jane knowing how much I spent on ANYTHING for the wedding.

Glad you deleted it- even a well thought out response would have done little to convince someone so rude that a custom cake costs what it does for a reason. 

Had a couple ladies tag team me with FB messages the other day. A lady friend of theirs posted a pic of the cake I made for her, a two tier, sort of plain just fondant dots and some stars coming out the top, and she asked for the smash cake to be placed on top "for looks" so I obliged. No biggie right?

 

OMGosh! She must have announced to all of her friends that I sell three tier cakes for (the two tier price)  So this mom and her daughter simultaneously messaged me about a three tier cake, with candy and suckers (36 rainbow swirl suckers to be exact) and a smash cake besides. I quoted the price and they both came unglued! Separately and at the same time! "Why is this so expensive?? You did a three tier cake for so and so for (THAT) price!" I wanted to ask  "So you're demanding ..What Exactly?"  holy freakin frejoles! (sp) Even Walmart won't sell a three tier cake for what these women wanted to pay for this one. So FB, is it a blessing or a curse? Some of each!

It would be NICE to have a copy of that thread explaining costs etc! I would post it for a couple days to just let folks know what goes into their cake.

I count on my FB page for chatting with other decorators and posting pics. Sure it's a useful tool somewhat for customers, but I'm more interested in my Google ranking and people that know how to use Google, and word of mouth.