I want to be the best!! OK I'm not the best by any stretch of the imagination..........but it drives me crazy when people think Im gonna be cheaper then the grocery store!!

I had a lady call and get a qoute on a cake that nobody else would do.....I tell her the price she sighs and tells me she has two other calls to make.....OK no problem.......she calls back a couple hours later wants me to do the cake,so I ask (gritting my teeth)"Please dont tell me I'm the cheapest"she said "no there was a place that would do it for $15 cheaper so if I would like to knock off some money that would be great" Give me a break!!! I nicely said I DONT THINK SO!!!!!!!!.........the whole point of this post is..............I'm not a super market,I make everything fresh and from scratch(I'm a cake snob)everything I do is special order,Im not a great cake artist (there are people on this site that blow my mind,I mean really they should have their own t.v. show)but Im a really good baker and take alot of pride in what I do and the cakes I make are definately not cookie cutter stuff........So if I walked into my shop I would expect to pay more then the super market.

Ok Im rambling now but does anyone else go through this??????????????

Thanks
Johnnie Sue

We just discussed this two days ago, also. You need to stand your ground when it comes to your cakes. If you knock $15 off the price of it now, she is going to expect you to knock money off every cake you do for her. Then what's the sense in doing them? There is no reason to think that she would not order cakes for everyone she knows that way.

I was asked by a relative of a relative to do a sculpted cake. She wanted it for 12 people, but there was no way to do it that small, so I told her that I would have to do it for at least 20 servings. She agreed until she found out the price - I was charging her 3.25 per slice (I do not even normally sell cakes, but this job was definitely not going to be a freebie!). We are talking sculpting, rolled fondant insete, and two types of icing, plus filling. Most bakeries around here would not touch the job to begin with, which is why she came to me (the relative told her I do 3-D cakes). The one place that would do the job also wanted a minimum of 20 servings, and wanted $10 per. The cake would have been a definite two days work.

Stand your ground when it comes to your prices. Your time is only as valuable to you as you make it.

Theresa

"Gee, Mr. Car Salesman, I want a big giant Cadillac to drive, but I only want to pay Saturn prices for it. I REALLY like your work and would LUV to have you sell me a car, but your Cadillac (which is what I REALLY want) is just not in my budget. If you could lower your price by $20,000 then I would buy your Cadillac instead of going to your competitor and buying a Saturn."

Yeah. THAT'LL work!

i get this all the time too.

and i get sick and tired of answering the phone to "price checkers".

and i beg to differ...YOU ARE AN AMAZING ARTIST!...your stuff is very unique!

before you did cakes...what was your meduim, watercolor?

my prices are on my web site also and I still get people calling me askign me how much. I have it there that we are very busy..yeah little ole me doing everyting..lol and too busy to answer phone..ugh..


like today..making 500 chocolate toppers for cupcakes for a big superbowl party..

and still have to do the wedding (art show ) cake..and the 3 orders I have.

WHY oh why do they call...I KNOW they are people asking because they are making the cake and checking prices that they can charge...lol

I want to scream into the phone..FIGURE IT OUT AND LEAVE ME BE!!!!!!!

I so feel your pain. I have been emailing this one chick back and forth for a while, now. She wants this really cool cake, all in fondant, but doesn't want to pay me for it. Just kills me.

Oh, and I had someone call today who asked about the interior of my cakes..."Are they like the Bonbonerie's cakes? I mean, the ingredients and stuff?" Well.....no. I admit they (the Bonbonerie) are really good. Fabulous, in fact. They are also expensive. Worth it, but not cheap at all. I make from scratch butter cakes, which are also, in my view, fabulous. But she wasn't happy with that answer, so I have to do a tasting now, (for a baby shower!) to prove that my cakes taste good. Oh, well. Nature of the beast, I guess.

That may seem a little off topic, but it seemed like it was kinda related, too. People want what they want, but they are unwilling to pay for it. (She wants Bonbonerie, but doesn't want to pay them!)

Karateka, why are you doing a tasting for a shower cake? lol

I tell people that ask me for a tasting that I'm not a wedding cake maker and if they want, order a smaller cheaper cake for the first time and try me out.

If she wants the other company's cake...let her go there..

People...gotta love them..coz you can't shoot them! lol

can we (at least) mace them?

i can't believe someone would want a tasting for a baby shower cake!

that would totally hack me off

my old partner...she was so funny, and dry.

one time this lady came in and asked if our cakes were any different than the grocery store cakes.

she just answered flatly..."no, they are EXACTLY the same as the grocery store."


i must admit...(maybe you had to be there)...it was freakin hilarious.

little cake, I sooooooooooo get it..and yes Indy..you KNOW this is FLORIDA..what did someone say we where??


a third world country..hahahaha

Oh geesh! Florida ..... voting ....... I FORGOT!!!!!!!

Sorry, Risque! The phrase "...allowed to drive and vote" is a standard at our house! (For really stupid people, we throw in "pro-create"!)

I had a lady ask for a tasting for a baby's 1st birthday cake????. Only two days ago in fact, WILL THERE BE AN EPIDEMIC????

I get a lot of calls from corporations that want to order large sheet cakes. I never book them because they want to pay 35 dollars. They always say "(fill in grocery store/warehouse store) onl charges $35" I tell them I can't compete with those kind of prices, that my cakes are fresh and hand made. I also don't make that many cakes with the little buttercream flower and happy birthday sam on it.

I also get once in a while a question about how do my cakes taste. I always say "like your grandmother's cake!" That always seems to satisfy them.

What gets me is the people that call two days before a birthday party to order a cake. They always go "I just want something simple!" when I tell them that isn't enough notice for me. I then ask them what they have in mind and they go on to describe a two tier fondant cake with gum paste decorationrs to feed 100 people.

They obvously have watched too many food network challenges to think I can do that in two days. But what REALLY gets me is they planned these parties, get the invites out, and do all the other stuff, why do they wait till the last minute for the cake?

BTW< you cakes are incrediable and very different!! You should be charging double what everyone else charges, due to all that hand painting!

I think your cake is beautifull, and your cookies! What do you use to thin the gel paste down to paint with?

Your cakes and cookies are perfect! Beautiful original designs. If they want picaso they pay for picaso, if they want picaso at looney tunes prices, well you are looney tunes... ya know?
Deff don't waiver your prices due to their ignorance. Unfortunately in today's world there are many who want everything at a bargin bin price but want sak's fifth avenue quality. I think a good slogan for a decorator should say"you get what you pay for!!!"

This thread is reminding there are a few restaurants I've heard great things about...
think I could go in, ask to just have some samples, and be on my way?

My pricing is on my website too...but I still get asked, and that's okay. What one person thinks is a basic design is another person's headache.
What one customer thinks should be less expensive (simple design), is actually more labor intensive due to the flavors they chose, and the fondant and the hand rolled fondant beads.

Sigh.

I need another cup of coffee.

You must be pricing yourself too low! Your work is fabulous! Aren't you the little painter! I wish I could paint.... even on paper...... just not where my artistic skills lie I guess.... you do beautiful work though. Price yourself according to your talent - it's amazing.

well shame on you for not making your nurses look more like hookers!!!! LOL!

I LOVE IT!!!!!!! I shall have to have one...any idea when you'll be reopening....

the web site is open the store as soon as my son fixes all the problems..lol

I know how that goes.... but your cakes are very cute and I love the uncanny more risque ones.