Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A
Too expensive or just unlucky :-)
Hi folks, I recently did my first advert in the local paper and have had a few enquiries but after I have quoted for the cake I haven’t heard back from them and I’m assuming it’s because of the price. The last person wanted a cake to feed 50 with a personalised topper of her husband and his dog. She wanted chocolate cake and I quoted her £75. I heard nothing back so dropped her an email asking if she wanted me to amend the design or size of cake and she replied that she had decided against having a cake, which I interpret as she didn’t expect it to be so much! So, is it the customers who have unreasonable expectations or is it me? Do people expect your cakes to be much cheaper if you run your business from home?
Hi Doodlecake
Let’s hope you’ve just been unlucky this time. I don’t think your cake is overpriced, this customer was just shopping around and she’ll find out for herself how much other people charge for cakes with hand made toppers.
Some folk have no appreciation for craftsmanship, doesn’t take two minutes to create something lovely, and you have quoted a fair price. Perhaps some people do think home made cakes should be cheaper, they make price comparison with inferior supermarket cakes which have no depth or substance and are probably full of undesirable ingredients, so no contest! I think people who appreciate real cakes are those who have sense of occasion and want something really special, they’re prepared to pay a fair price for a quality product because they are marking an important event for possibly a loved one. I could make a few suggestions on how to get yourself ‘out there’ but I don’t know how your daily routine works and you probably know many ways yourself. Haven’t been a lot of help to you have I !! but don’t get dis-heartened. x
a part of the problem is that there are people out there who do cakes for next to no profit. i even know someone who supplies cafes at a loss, as she thinks that it will get her name about and it will pay off in the long run. have faith in your judgement! plus if you lower your prices now, it will be more difficult to justify an increase as your business improves xx
I think the quote you gave was very fair and depending on the design maybe a little too fair. I agree with both comments above especially about the supermarket cakes. And as already mentioned she would nt get a much cheaper quote elsewhere. I think sometimes people don’t realise how expensive quality ingredients can be as well as the time and care that goes in to making the cake personally special. Don’t let this dishearten you x
Thanks everyone. I forgot to mention it was with less than a week’s notice. I thought she was getting a bargain! Most of my customers so far have been through word of mouth and have been happy with my prices so I guess it’s just something to get used to when advertising to the general public!
Well then, she was just trying it on! Good luck Doodlecake with your business, quality stands out and speaks for it’s self. x
