AHere's what happened: in my family we love to be very very kind for other people, but when taking cake orderd I have to stay stict in my prices, but then my family tells me to give people a discount. They don't seem to understand that I am already giving the lowest price I can possibly give. My prices ar 2.50 per serving. Now sins this monds I allready have 2 cake orders cancelled from people which I refused to give a big discount. I just can't afford it to keep giving people discounts! I have to make a proffit out of it! I am only 17 years old and people are thinking because I am young I have to charge the lowest price. I am affraid if this continues I have to take a job as cassier at the grocery store, don't want that! I want to keep taking cake orders, please help I am about to cry

you should raise your prices then..and when they demand a discount, you can then 'discount' them to what you were going to charge them before the price hike.

Unless bargaining is a big part of the culture where you are (your profile says you live in the Netherlands), I disagree with the mark it up so you can mark it down practice.  I would think it gets your customers in the habit of expecting it and that cheap customers will stay cheap customers.

 

At 17 and I assume living with your parents, you may not have as much control when they tell you to discount something. You say you don't want to be a cashier at a grocery store, but would you be interested in working in a bakery or perhaps a grocery store bakery (large grocery stores here often have bakeries)? Would you be allowed more control of your income in that situation?

Tell people you are selling cake, not a car.  The prices are non negotiable.

A

my parents, especially my mother says that if I have very cheap prices, that I will get a lot of costumers and become well known and that I can rise my prices after that, but I think that if I do that, I will lose them all because they are used to the low prices. Yes I have all the control if it comes to were to work and stuff

ALots of orders at cheap pricing = very busy with no profit.

*Yo' mamma don' know jack.

*Yes, I meant to spell like this.

What aggravates me so much about price haggling is that you don't see people going into a regular store (clothing, food, whatever) and try to bargain with the cashier for a lower price, I just don't know why it seems so acceptable in the cake business. I have people calling "So and so sent me, I'm a friend of theirs can you give me a better price" or "I've ordered from you in the past so can you give me a discount".

I've made up my mind to try that next time I go to my local bakery for a baguette!

AGrocery stores in NL don't sell cakes like they do here, in fact they're hard to find anywhere in NL, outside of custom bakers like taartenmaker.

OP, I think you need to start finding your clients in other ways, if your family is currently bringing you most of your business. You need to appeal to the people that are ready and willing to pay what a custom cake is worth without needing or expecting a large discount.

Taartenmaker, that seriously has to do with the way people think about cake in the Netherlands. Custom cakes is still very new and people expect they get a full customized cake with hours and hours of work in it, for the same price of a whipped cream cake at the HEMA. And honestly ... we are cultivating that thought with customer, afraid to ask market prices.

 

As long as we don't educate the people, raise our prices and (more importantly) stick to them, nothing will ever change here in the Netherlands. As long as there is a vast "hobby" community who just refuses to see how business works, but bake with the intention that "custom cakes should available be for everybody", nothing will ever change. Cake is available for everybody ... CUSTOM cakes is not! And the sooner people start realising this, the better it will get.

 

If you have a cheap price, you will have cheap customers ... I've learned that the hard way. I have a price and that's it. If they don't want to pay that price, than that's fine as well, and they can find somebody else who will slave over a few euro's. Because I won't. You need to value your work ... not your family Cheap prices may get you a lot of customers. I'm just not sure those are the customers you want! If you want to run a business, you need to take a business approach.

 

You can raise prices later, and I will guarantee you, you WILL loose customers over it. And that is fine as well. They are not the customers you want.

 

Don't get discouraged, stick to your guns and ... laat de rest maar lekker lullen ...

AJazeker!

if they dont like your prices thery can go somewher else , like costo

people thinks that becouse you are a home baker they can bargaing  the price.., wrong !!

keep doing what are you doing ..keep baking.

stick to your prices , if they don't like it they can go somewhere else

remember is your buisness, your work your time .

good loock.