ASo this lady wants a lifesize guitar cake. As in, 40" long, 4.5" deep, strings, frets, the whole shebang. Of course it would have to be covered in fondant. "Oh my god, FONDANT? That stuff is so. gross. Let's do buttercream. Or can we do that whipped icing? I love that stuff." Um, let's not. Fondant or no dice. I quoted $250-$300 last night, and she has yet to reply, although the message has been marked as read. Did I quote too much? There's no way I'm coming down on the price. If she finds it cheaper, congrats, god bless and good luck. I mean, let's think about this. There's the platform: it would have to be substantial to hold that heavy of a cake. Then the carved sheet cakes, the cereal treats, the fondant, the minute details. It's an intricate cake, right? Right?

AI charge starting at $750 for full sized guitar cakes. If they want real guitar strings and no cake under the neck, it's $1500 (and the necessary internal support for the tension needed and neck). I've done quite a few, and trust me, if you charge such a low amount, you'll be regretting it.

ANo, you didn't. Some people have no clue. I don't hear boo from more than half of the people that I reply to with a price. I don't fret about it for one second, because someone else will come along that is just fine with the price I require to make their cake. Don't sweat it.

AYeah, be thankful you didn't get roped into that for that price.

Sunkissed,

Welcome to CC.  I went to your profile to get an idea of your skill level but didn't see any posted cakes.

Without knowing your skill level, it's hard for me to say if you are priced accordingly.

I CAN tell you that I personally wouldn't tackle a life size guitar replica for less than $700.

As an experienced business owner, I am often met with clients who are uneducated as to how much custom cakes really cost.  Just recently, a bride contacted me about creating the White House.  Most people only have the grocery store as a reference.  Since those are priced as lost leaders, the true cost of a basic cake is lost.  

It is entirely possible that once she calls/emails others she will become familiar with the market rate of a true custom cake.  Yes, she may find someone to make it for less.  If so, she is not your customer.

There is a sweet spot between what clients are willing to pay and what we are willing to accept and what is profitable.

Um, no. You undercharged in my opinion. We've done a cake like that (well it was 3/4 scale, but close), it's a very time consuming cake, not to mention the materials and ingredients needed.

Good on you for sticking to your guns on the fondant thing, customers don't have clue one about what kind of material you need to use for a cake like that, and she would be the first one to complain that it didn't look right if you tried to go with her suggestion to use buttercream or whipped icing. Whipped icing, really??  :facepalm:

AAnd there are many reasons to use fondant. And in my opinion none of them involve eating it, unless you're one of the minority who does like it.

And we'll put, Delicious

AI'm not trying to start a fondant war, just saying that just because someone doesn't like to eat it, isn't a reason not to use it, since it easily peels off. Some designs are better with fondant and some are better with buttercream.

AGeez, I just realized how big a guitar is. Whew!

I don't sell cakes but I would definitely expect to pay more than what you quoted for a life-sized cake. I would think a minimum of $500 and even then I'd think I got a heck of a deal!

AShoot, I'll start a fondant war, just name a date and time! Ha! As a matter of fact, I was waiting for a client to show up as this thread was getting going, she came in to order a tennis racquet cake. She started to describe what the last cake was like that she ordered from somewhere else, and naturally the dreaded fondant was brought up. She just needed a rational explanation of [B]why[/B] it was necessary, and an assurance that underneath that (perfectly delicious) fondant, was a nice healthy layer of buttercream, and that it was perfectly acceptable to peeeeeeeel it on off!

I'm not going to knock myself out trying like crazy to make something look acceptable in a medium that does not work. I'm just not doing it and I don't care how much someone wants to protest. If they can't be convinced and accept that I'm the expert in this matter and they WON'T like the way it looks in buttercream anyways, then they're welcome to find someone who [B]is[/B] willing to go thru that nonsense.

ANyuck nyuck nyuck!

AHonestly, I would not do a life sized guitar cake for less tban $1k, and bet your spatula it would be fondant. YOU are the expert. YOU dictate design details like materials.

AWow thank you guys for all the advice. I'm starting to be really thankful she backed out. Delicious, I haven't put any pics up yet because I do mostly wedding cakes and large cupcake events. The carved cakes that I have done have been in conjunction with another bakery, and I (stupidly) signed a contract stating I wouldn't post any pictures on public domain. It stinks, because I did a really awesome jukebox cake last year that I'm really proud of and can only tell people about it.

AHow sad. I would think they would encourage the publicity and traffic to the website.

I guess I can see them wanting to only promote it as the bakeries work keeping the wizard behind the curtain.