Lookie look at what I found at my local grocery store. Maybe these should be the subjects of the next "Price the Cake" thread. No?  On a more serious note, I can see how a customer might be shocked at the price for custom cakes since Fiesta is totally pulling these off huge 'custom cakes' at these prices. I must add though that for those who truly can't afford custom cakes, it warms my heart that they can at least get something pretty in "vanilla, chocolate or marble" per the lovely unsuspecting decorator lady at the counter .  OK, enough talk, here are the pics (tier sizes on the price card):

((sigh))

AYeah, if they looked like that, it would be a bargain, but you generally get what you pay for. Here is one from my Walmart :-D [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/2920547/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

That's just it, who knows who made the display ones, and who makes the one you order. :(

There's no way they'll look like that, I agree. Here's the one from my local Walmart, ain't it purty? http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2010/03/another-potential-wedding-disaster.html

Not a wedding cake, but at the local walmart here (which does't have a bakery) they get shipped frozen fondant cakes from time to time in the shape of lightning mcqueen; from the movie Cars... And by the time it defrosts, it's a sweated mess and you have to read the label to even understand what it is... 

And every time your friends and family go to the grocery store, they will see your 'beautiful' cake on display to remind them how 'tasty' it was, with that big old price tag on the front of it. 

ABahahaha! On display!! Bahahaha!!

Seriously, outrageous! Where is 20/20 now? Why don't the bridal magazines ever do an article on this stuff?!

Stop telling brides to rent a cake! Or to get a dummy (same price)! Or to do cupcakes/dessert bar (almost always more expensive)!

OMGosh!!!  I don't know if our local Walmart does this...I've never really looked.  I've gotten past the point of getting upset when people don't like my prices.  You pay for what you get.....as per those pictures.  Wow....

oh god!! I am so glad my Wal-Mart does not make cake.... my three year old could do better. 

My daughter and I looked at the Costco and Walmart and Giant bakery designed things...we took apart the design (what was done first, using what type of tip...).  She feels a lot better about her skill level ;)  To be honest, I'm not sure we're at a point we could make that Wal-Mart Cake much better (well...except for smoothing out the white buttercream, and keeping the border level... because I've never decorated the sides of a cake).

I also stand in front of the cakes in the grocery store and try to work out what tips they used! There are some girls at my local grocery that are actually pretty good at piping, but they are using the stuff out of a bucket, on a factory baked cake...

AI actually don't have a problem with this, this is good for couples who can't afford an expensive cake. Now they can at least have something.

A

Thats true!

Hello everyone, I'm just wondering, The Home Cottage Industry, don't they regulate standard cake pricing for everyone? If Walmart, Costco etc, and other big commercial entities can price their cake so low what are your chances of competing with them? Shouldn't all the bakers unite and demand fair pricing for everyone ?

You can't get together and decide on pricing, that's price fixing and it's illegal. Walmart and other stores use their bakery departments as loss leaders much of the time. They always have some items that are sold for such low prices there isn't much profit made on them, but they're there to draw customers into the store in the hopes of selling them other things too.

The customer who shops based on price alone isn't my customer and I know that. I get the people who are willing to pay more than Walmart charges because the quality of my cake is better. If someone is looking for the cheapest I'm not it, but so what, there are plenty of people who don't want to eat Walmart cake. 

Thank you for pointing that out, I donot like store bought cake or cookies, the  taste difference between that and homemade is like night and day,except for a few cakery and confectionary shops that my husband  and I have visited, Lutz in Chicago, Sprungli in Zurich, to name a few. I always get excited to see a cake shop locally,  because I know the products would be much better, but so far I'd been disappointed.