AFirst... you are believing that she was quoted at other places $50-70 for a shaped cake, she could be lying just to get you to drop your price. I've heard that from customers... "well so and so quoted me only $ amount for the same cake". Well if that was the case they would just go to the other decorator. You don't know for sure if the low quotes are real or just their way of getting a lower price from you.

I work from my home kitchen (and yes it's legal in my state). I charge 6.00 + a serving for my shaped cake with a min order of 50 servings because they are take more time then regular shaped cakes.

I know that most store front cake business think the home cake decorator undercuts but that isn't always the case. My prices will be a few dollars less because I don't have a store front but I know the value of my cakes and price accordingly. they will always be alittle less but I have a right to cake decorate from my home and charge less then store front. My overhead is as big. My cakes are way better (taste and design) then alot of the local cake shops. I take less orders then them and can really take my time to make each cake perfect. I really can't stand the bashing of the home decorator anymore. I am part of the INDUSTRY! I look at my home based business as just that a business. It's not just a hobby. I work very hard at my cake decorating skill.

I've had plenty of customers that think my prices are too high. I don't budge on my prices, home business and all.

A

YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH!

My prices aren't even that high, and I am quick at carved cakes (I prefer them to round ones if I'm honest). I know I have loads of room for improvement but even so I am better than so many of the local businesses who are severely undercutting me AND operating with a store front...

My absolute favourite recently though was a woman who contacted me for a quote for those doll cakes, you know the kind with the cake skirt? I have never made one, I've never been asked and honestly it's never struck me as something I wanted to do for the fun of it, but when I quoted her she wanted examples of cakes I had previously done, so I showed her all kinds of cakes much more complicated than the task she was suggesting. She didn't get back to me, so I politely messaged her asking whether she wanted to go ahead with it. Her response? I've booked with ''this less skilled company'' because you don't have enough experience in this particular cake.... :???: I had a quick peruse of their online gallery and was shocked, like I get that non caking people don't see what caking people see but still....

Unfortunately there are two factors working here. 

The first is the home baker who really has no business sense and who thinks that if they cover their costs and make a little bit extra then they are in front.  They do not put value on their time as they either do it in their spare time or are not working anyway and any extra money is a bonus (and if you are short of cash and unable to get a job for whatever reason every little bit can help if you are on a limited income).  Or they see it as a wonderful pass time and are happy to just cover their cost with a little bit extra to buy more cutters etc. and so support their hobby.

The second factor is Joe Blow the public.  They really have no idea and if they first see or hear about the type of bakers above they take that to be the norm.  Or they think that because you are doing it from home that it should be cheap.  This applies to all things made from home, not just cake.  And they think that you are doing it for your own enjoyment and so shouldn't charge for your time.  I once had a lady ask me if I would make her a Hardanger mat (A type of embroidery) after seeing one I had made.  She thought it would be worth about $50 when I queried how much she would pay,  chuckling to myself.  She had no idea that it had taken me about 100 hours to make.  People just have no idea of the time invested in any of these things and need educating.

AShoot, technically I'm a home baker, but I don't care if my overhead is less. I get the impression that is a copout for some people to justify being cheaper, NOT referring to anyone in this thread, just a general observation. So your overhead isn't as much, so what. I don't get the same deals as a bakery though when it comes time to buy flour and ingredients. I don't have room for bulk purchasing, nor do I have the need for hundreds of boxes or pounds and pounds of sugar or other things that the bakery pays a lot less for. A lot of what I use is bought right of the grocery store shelf like any other consumer, so there's higher costs right there.

There is a lady in my city that charges .65 cents per cupcake -_-  She gets quite a bit of business but she can't be making any money.

 "There's NOT enough to work to go around! Any market can only bear so much competition before it's oversaturated. And when the competition is oversaturating the market AND charging ridiculously low prices just to get business, it devalues the market as a whole."

so true!

There are tons of shoddy cakes being sold here, mainly advertised on FB groups. Most look like a blind kitten made them and without a doubt they are severely undercutting the legal cake makers. It's sad but so are their cakes, usually. but it does devalue the entire market. 

You'd be surprised.  I have so many friends who would consider themselves "cake snobs" now because of me LOL.  Before, they'd see some shoddy wilton cake and think "OH HOW CUTE!!!" but now that I've shown them real works of art, they think 'Ugh, thats not cute, its lumpy, is that edible paper??".  I seriously am starting to think part of our profession is educating people! haha 

True...not everyone knows what their options are!

But not everyone can afford a great baker!! And that's fine. Sure, I could make and sell ugly cakes right now for cheap cheap cheap. But I am not doing that because I know what my time is worth, and I have to say, I don't want cheap attached to my name. I have a class at the CIA next week, I bought the Wilton cake videos from craftsy, I spend money on dummies, I make at least two cakes a week that mostly get thrown out. I read someone here the other day say, "How does that help? The garbage can doesn't care if I have straight lines." She is missing the point. That practice is for ME!!! I care. I spend hours doing and redoing, and still...I would not even give them away. 

I am doing a big cake for a friend next month, no cost, and I am already practicing. I am making the bottom layers this week, torting, filling, stacking, smooth buttercream, and then the birch cake BC design. If I use the SMBC I will use for the real cake, my husband will eat it. If I use the crisco creme I practice with, into the garbage with it. I will not even give it to someone. Nothing wrong with that buttercream if you use it and are known for that taste, but my niche is going to be all natural, mostly organic, so into the garbage with no regrets. I am old enough to know that the way to learn is to read, study, watch, ask questions, and practice, practice, practice. No shortcuts. I do think I will learn this more quickly than  my metalsmithing or pottery, but that is because I already have some of those skills, and this has a lot in common with them, especially pottery. So I figure in 6 months to a year my cakes will look much, much better than now, and I will continue to improve.

So I got off the point, which is that the lady making crappy cakes - well, that isn't going to be me. The local bakery sends out blind kitten cakes. I either want her customers to see my cakes and see the difference, because they are paying top dollar, or others who appreciate the effort that goes into a beautiful, delicious piece of art. 

Nancy

AWould it be better if on your display of a 3D cake, you add, price starts at________, would that not eliminate a lot of misconceptions? :lol:if someone on FB asks, my response to that would be, see display and pricing in shop, or give her a business number to contact you.

Of course undercutting hurts the market, and there isn't enough work for everyone. It's my complete pet peeve whenever any wedding pro in this area starts in with the "there's enough business for everyone" song. What a load of crap. Here, I wrote this when a wedding planner was singing that song and I went off on her (she was scared) http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2012/04/no-theres-not-enough-work-for-everyone.html  Businesses that undercut and underprice drag the market down and force people out of business every day.

It's definitely a multi-part issue, but the truth is that not everyone values cake. For most people it's something that you have at the party, and it doesn't need to be amazing and customized and expensive. There are other people who do value it and who are willing to pay what they know it will cost. Some people will understand the value when you "educate" tham, and for others the "education" just comes off as stupid, since they don't care. It's like someone trying to convince me that it's important to spend more money on this golf club instead of that one because this one has this that and the other feature. I don't care and I hate golf, so I'm not going to spend my money on that. I will spend more for things that do matter to me, but it might not be what is important to someone else.

I have plenty of friends who don't do cakes who I've talked about this with, and they all make the point that although they do understand why a cake would cost a certain amount, the standards that I have aren't their standards. One friend said that since the cake that SHE would make would be monkey-iced, crooked and ugly, anything better than would impress her. It isn't the general public that is the harshest ciritcs of cakes, it's other decorators, who can be real biotches when it comes to ripping other people's stuff apart. Most people would be happy paying $20 for a sheet cake with blue icing roses because they can't make blue icing roses. Even if that sheet cake is ugly in our opinion, it's fine for most people who put their priorities in other places.

The problem then becomes finding the customers who DO value what you do enough to pay a decent price for it. I had a customer today who was trying to pay me more than I quoted her because she was convinced I'm not charging enough (I am). She finally put a $200 deposit down on a cake and I'm going to give her the final total when I'm finished. She doesn't care how much it costs because she DOES value it. Most people don't, though. The $50 cake on facebook is okay for the masses. So sad...But people also think that Olive Garden and Red Lobster are "nice restaurants," so there are a lot of mediocre standards out there.

It just means that people who do custom work have to be better at marketing, which makes our job harder. But oh well, it's not going to change any time soon. The cake industry is bloated and wheezing right now, and it's not going back any time soon. So get used to having to be a marketer as well as a decorator, it's the new reality.

Wise words CostumeCzar, and well explained.

My problem is not with the decorator (whether home based or storefront) who does subpar work and charges subpar pricing. Buyer Beware and all that. 

If someone charges less for less quality, I say then don't come crying to me when the cake falls over or looks monkey-iced or blind-kitten iced. The customer who sees that person's work and then still orders from them was never my customer. 

My problem is with the decorator who does quality work for an under-valued price. I am directly competing with that decorator who is willing to lose to win. There are not many out there in my area right now, but there are a few. And the CFL is coming up this way very very soon and I cringe to think how many more fairly talented decorators who can't get their business crap together will flood my market and bring all our businesses down with them before they crash and burn.  

And I am home based (licensed separate kitchen) and charge more than 90% of the storefronts in the area. I feel that although they have to order from someone without a parking lot, they know I am the only one handling their order, the only one accountable for their order, and the one who takes care of them from start to finish and that is worth something. 

A

I am not one to mess with other people's business, but it might be time to check with your county if these businesses are registered, and with your town's zoning to see if their homes are zoned for commercial. I am renting a commercial kitchen when I even make for friends, and when/if I,start a business, I will put in the sinks, get a license, etc. I will probably report someone who,isn't playing by the rules. I never thought I would, but the things I need to be legal will cost me a pretty penny, and why should someone else compete with me and not play by the rules?

General question - do you think that joe public actually notices a difference between a 'good' and a 'bad' cake?  Or is it just we decorators who spend way too much time fussing over a .5mm deep hollow in our buttercream?

There is a shop nearby which offers cakes and cupcakes at pretty cheap prices (GBP20 for a decorated cake.)  To me, the finish is very poor...but by all accounts, her business is growing!  So am I being overly fussy (because I spend hours trying to get the consistency of my ganache perfect before doing an undercoat), or does it really not matter to people?  I don't think I'm overly expensive, but I'm certainly not cheap either yet people don't respond from quotes.  Out of curiosity, I sent a good friend of mine a picture of what I would consider to be a poorly decorated cake a few months back (from a supermarket) and asked him what he thought of it.  He has seen my work.  All he said back was 'don't like the colour much'...nothing about the wonkiness, the lumpy sides, the 2" deep tiers, the sugar flowers that looked like someone had sat on them.  If he (as a 'knows a little more about cake than average joe') says that, then what do those really not in the know think??

sorry, this isn't meant to sound depressing and I have no intention of compromising standards but reading this thread (and it has to be said, having a very bad day!!!) is making me wonder...