My friend made these incredible cakes for my son’s birthday and just told me to pay her whatever I think they were worth, I don’t want to offend her and want to pay a fair price but also wasn’t planning on spending like $200 on cakes for this party which is what I feel a bakery would have charged for these cakes. I didn’t give her any direction on what to make just how many people (~20ppl) and the theme of dragons love tacos. How much should I pay her??
by BoulderBubbleBabby
39 Comments
$125 each that’s a lot of details
$250 total for both cakes
$150 for both cakes.
Honestly I feel like the dragon cake alone could go for $200-300.
That’s so not fair of her to put that on you. She did quality work, for sure. I think I’d start with, “These cakes are amazing, you did such a good job and I appreciate it so much. If I was in the financial position to pay you $200, I absolutely would. But I only budgeted for about $100. Would that be okay? I don’t want to offend you, but my budget is what it is.”
I don’t care if you have millions in the bank, she does this for a living right? She knows full well that people have budgets and that she can adjust her work to meet that budget, all the while keeping her business going. I’d also be sure to tag her business in every post you make, because even though I don’t know what this book is about, she made some amazing looking cakes!
That’s a lot of work, modelling the details takes a lot of time. You also have to take the price of the ingredients into account. I don’t know where you’re from but eggs for example can be really expensive currently.
So I would pay AT LEAST 200$ but tbh more like 250-300$
This is tough because she went WAY above and beyond (in the most amazing way) and that’s not necessarily what you asked for. Is this the kind of work she always does? If so then I think you should have expected this level of commitment and should pay accordingly. If she normally does more basic cakes and went way up on the detail scale for you, then I think paying less is more reasonable.
unless you had an idea of her price ranges beforehand, please don’t break your neck because she didn’t state a price.
give what you can and communicate like another commenter suggested, “I have x amount and recognize that could fall short of the true value. I really appreciate what you did.”
for my mental health, I’d also consider the value of some portion being a “gift” to your son’s party (unless she also gave a gift)
Hopefully she went all out because you’re a friend and is giving you a discount of sorts by allowing you to choose your price! Maybe you could offer $100 now and $100 when you have recovered from kiddo’s birthday?
$200 for dragon, $100 for taco. That’s a lot of work and they’re beautiful!
$350
At LEAST $150 but it’s worth $200 easy
No idea but pretty damn incredible work!
Min $200 it’s a extremely beautiful cake if it tastes as good as it looks $250
As an artist what a WEIRD situation to put someone in.. I’m sorry. They def deserve at least $250. But why would you make something so nice then say that? Were you aware of their prices before letting them make the cakes or they offered? Just weird
That’s pretty crappy of your friend to put that on you… It seems like an absolute recipe for someone to end up unhappy..
If you bought these from a bakery, you’d be paying $250+.
Also, I must be a dragon because I love tacos, too!
As much money as you can scrape up, with your gracious thanks. These are amazing and beautiful cakes. Make your friend feel appreciated and her artwork valuable. What delightful work.
Beautiful themed cakes! Easily would sell for $300, if what u can afford is 200, I’d just tell her it’s what you can afford/budgeted and thank her profusely.
AT LEAST invite her to the taco party!
The only time someone should EVER ask someone to name their own price is when the piece is pre-made, you just don’t do it for custom stuff because that puts the customer in such a weird situation. I don’t think your friend meant it maliciously or anything, but it was definitely a bad move on her part. As others have said, the dragon cake would EASILY sell for $200-300. But if you don’t want to pay that, then don’t. Tell your friend that you think the cake is worth way more, but that you can only afford to pay $x.
Ask her how much she spent on supplies and offer to pay her back for that and explain that the cakes and amazing and above and beyond but way above what you’d budgeted and if you could you’d give her at least $200 for each cake but can’t afford that right now.
Probably gonna get heat for this, but id say $50-100 since 1) a friend made them and 2) you didn’t ask for them to be this involved. Whenever I bake for friends’ events, I usually just let that be my present to them without expecting payment. If you’re in a position to I think $100-150 would be appreciated too!
Idk how much are just the ingredients for a cake like this?
She’s a friend. If I did this for a friend and they even offered to cover ingredients, I would be happy. So I’d offer $100-150 because that more than covers the cost of ingredients. Plus if you got them from a bakery, $100-150 is well below what they would have charged so you’re still saving money. Explain that you would love to offer $200+ but it’s out of your budget and hope she will accept an offer of $100 (or whatever you can afford). A real friend who did this wouldn’t gripe about that. I know I like doing things for friends with zero expectation of being repaid (and I have made lots of desserts and custom cake toppers for friends and family). And a real friend also wouldn’t offer to pay less than what is reasonable and fair. I bet your friend will be very appreciative of $100+. Also, happy birthday to your son! My son just turned 3. I would have loved to name him “Holden” but my husband wasn’t a huge fan of the name! Boo haha
Good thing there’s no spices on those tacos- drahons dont like it!
Just be honest “ I absolutely love the cakes, you went above and beyond, I cannot afford what I think these cakes are worth, this is what I had planned to spend on the cakes…..”
And in the future there may need to be a bigger conversation.
Honestly she may have gone above and beyond just cause she wanted to have a fun project.
How close are you guys? Maybe she wanted to go all out because it’s your son’s birthday, but it didn’t come with an expensive price tag?
Due to a lot of ambiguousness on her part during and before making the cake, I think you should pay her whatever you wanted to pay for a cake originally and bit more for the extra effort and then wait for her response.
This is along the lines of what I’d send to my own friend in this situation.
“Hey, the cakes you made for Holdens birthday were incredible and more than I could ever have expected. I know you said to pay what it’s worth, but honestly- I’m anxious about offending you if what you are expecting and I am offering don’t match up. Your friendship means more to me than a miscommunication. Could you please let me know how much I owe you. Thank you again, for making his birthday so magical. We love you!”
A friend doing a friend a favor price is $50-100. Tell her they are worth more but this is what you can afford and REALLY REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE her for creating these masterpieces!!
Like everyone else has said, I think these are worth 200-$300. However, to avoid any weirdness, I would just ask her to give you a range she’s comfortable with because you want to make sure you’re compensating her what she expects, and this isn’t your area of expertise. We have a family friend that makes us cakes like this for our birthday, and she does not expect us to pay what a stranger would pay her (if anything at all). This is of course not everyone’s situation.
I would assume that maybe she put a ton of effort into it bc it was partially a gift, so she may not be expecting the same as she would charge a regular customer. With all of that said, I would just ask her again. You should at least be paying to cover material/ingredients and her time imo.
Minimum $100 and make sure you include a thank you card.
It’s the “whatever you think it’s worth” that makes it a mess. Psy what you can within your budget and give her a sincere card.
I think you should pay her the most you can afford, and really acknowledge that you know that these would be at least $500 or so if it was a business transaction. She will be honored that you think so highly of the cakes, and if she were a good friend she should kinda know your limits.
My opportunity to contribute!
I’ve worked in this industry for years- I could absolutely be wrong here but I have done very similar with projects for family & friends: I get really excited about an idea and want to use the opportunity as a “stretch” project, with full knowledge I would not be paid an industry standard for my time or skill.
In fact, when you work in a bakery it’s pretty rare you actually get orders that will pay enough to justify some of the effort or time required behind some creative ideas so the family/friend projects became the artistic outlet.
I hope your friend is practicing the same mindset here.
**edited to add: yes, sometimes the extra effort is because I love the receiving party so much, but it’s also heavily motivated by having a great project to add to the portfolio or instagram.
My friend who makes cakes for other friends (she’s great at it but doesn’t want it to be a job) sometimes just asks for ingredients to be replaced if people offer to pay her. I think $100 is more than enough for that so pay $50-$100 if you can. Love the idea of a drawing from kiddo, handwritten note, flowers, etc!!
I bake as a hobby and tend to go above and beyond for my best friend’s kiddos because they’re also my godkids. I could see myself going a little off book like your friend, but it would never be with the intent to profit from what I’m sure she meant as a special gift.
As another commenter said, I think giving her your $100 cake budget, a special card with a heartfelt note and drawing from kiddo would be perfect. Bonus if you invite her over for dinner in the next couple weeks to spend time with the little. She’s your best friend, you can be honest that the true worth of the cakes is out of your budget but you hope you can at least cover the supplies. Glad you have such a great person in your kiddo’s life! Happy Birthday Holden 🎉
Pay $100 now and another $100 your next paycheck, finances willing. If this is a good friend, they’ll understand if you don’t have the money right away.
I definitely think this work is worth $200 at minimum.
They are beautiful cakes! I would give her $100, tell her how much you appreciate/love them, and say something along the lines of “I wish I could afford to give you more, you did such a wonderful job!”
I’ve been decorating cakes for over 30 yrs from my home. I’m thinking that she probably didn’t give you a price because it’s not always about what the money. I’ve done many cakes where I’ve undercharged or didn’t charge at all because I just wanted to do it for my friend.
Just let her know how awesome the cakes are and how much you appreciate it. Tell her that you wish you could pay her how much they are worth to you but this amount (?), is what you can pay. If she gets offended then she should have given you a price before she made them.
OP, your friend (hopefully unintentionally) put you in an unfair position here by saying “pay what you want” and then delivering a high value cake that is out of budget (and that you wouldn’t have bought if told the price ahead of time).
You should pay your budget, and express appreciation for the cakes.
In the future, your friend should avoid creating potentially shitty situations with “favors” by specifying exactly what she wants to be paid, or by asking for a budget before going to town on design. A “favor” that puts a friend in this position – feeling uncomfortable, unexpectedly spending above budget, etc – isn’t a favor at all.
And for future reference, you shouldn’t accept this arrangement even if offered for this exact reason: you are setting it up to be shitty for everyone. If money is involved between friends and professional services, “pay what you want” is never right. You can counter with “my budget is X,” but never leave it up in the air.