How much would you say I was asking for this cake?

[Cosmos45]

Just out of curiosity really.. I make cakes as a hobby, they are buttercream decorated rather than fondant and I have made some recently for a few local people (NHS workers and stuff). Someone local asked me if I would make them a cake, I do not know this person but it was someone who knew someone type of scenario.

I sent this message:

"I don't actually have a cake business but I do make cakes for family and friends. I have been asked recently to do a few for people - the ingredients, box and board come to about £9 and I am starting to ask for a small amount (say £10) to cover a bit of my time. I only do swirly icing types ones and I could do you pink swirly one, I will send a picture of the type of thing I mean"

Reading that, how much would you have given me for the cake when you came and picked it up?

I genuinely read it as £10 but would have given you £20 and then thought I'd been nice.

I would understand it as 10, but i would probably check because it seems too low.

Beautiful cake!

Think it's clear enough you meant £9 costs +£10 (or more if generous) for your time. Although adding "also" to include the amount for your time and/or adding "total of £19" in your message would make it 'clear-er' but I didn't think it as not clear while reading it.

There's no way £1 would be your small amount for your time if someone actually thought about it. So either they didn't stop to think about what you've written (clearly missing the costs and time bits) or they were being deliberately cheeky.

Beautiful cake. Bet it's delicious too!

Context is all.

In a literal sense it is possible to read the message as £10 all in.

But common sense would tell you that adding £1 for your time would be pointless so if you had read it one way you would apply common sense and look at the context and understand it as £19.

Ugh why would anyone think £10? Stop and think about it: a whole, home baked cake for 10 quid? You're just taking the piss.

Op even if your msg was ambiguous (which I don't think it was), any right thinking person would really know that you didn't mean £10 and would ask if they weren't trying to take advantage

Message could have been clearer!

I couldn’t care less about whether or not a charity baker has a food hygiene certificate but you are wrong to think it is the same as selling eggs and meat from a small holding - they are special exemptions and are not prepared foods - totally different. You can’t for example, pass C19 on selling eggs and all meats has to be slaughtered professionally and butchered - which again means no risk as the meat is sold vacuum packed. Anything purchased ‘at the gate’ is for consumption by the person who bought it and it is illegal to sell on. Britain’s very strict food hygiene laws means we are all much safer than in most other countries.

@LadyPenelope68
£20 might well be the cost of ingredients, but as with most baking, the cost of ttem often outweighs what it's actually worth. Theres no way I'd pay £20 for a 6" cake like that.

Out of interest what would you be prepared to pay? I'm only asking because I've seen similar mass produced cakes for £20, but as OP's is hand made from scratch, I'd be looking at paying around £30-£40.

@Cosmos45
I don't blame you for not wanting to make a habit of selling cakes, one of my friends said that, the time and effort and imagination that went into her cakes just wasn't worth the return.

Thank you all for your comments. I am not going into business and won’t be selling anymore cakes. It was simply a special set of circumstances that came about after baking some free ones. I was interested in the general opinion on the reading of my message. Thank you all and have a great day.

@lachy - the comment from Penelope is exactly why I wouldn’t go into business.. the 6inch cake cost me roughly £9 to make and 2 hours maybe to make? Then add in the cost of all my equipment/colours/electricity/cleaning materials etc.. if someone wouldn’t pay me £20 for that it’s not even worth doing it. I could go and work in a min wage job for a better return! Thankfully it’s just a wee hobby for the moment and judging by the hassle factor it’s going to stay that way..

It would be obvious to me that you are owed £19 . Why would you only pay someone £10 for a homemade ,hand decorated cake.

I'd read that as £19. You explained £9 for costs and £10 for labour. anyone who thinks you have decided to charge and extra £1 for your labour is a greedy chancer.
Don't make cakes for strangers. Just say, 'The work involved means I only do this for family. unless someone is willing to pay£30 for a failry basic cake!' That will put them off.

You need to be visited by the council and given a hygiene certificate and do your food hygiene course which covers allergies and labelling before you start accepting payment for cakes.

What a gorgeous cake!!! £20 is an absolute steal!

You message is very unclear..me personally I would think you are asking for £19,
Some cheeky people will choose to understand you want £10 like the lady you sold it to.

It makes no sense, you saying you charge £9 for packaging, £10 for time but you only starting to ask for this..where is you material cost in this?

Also regarding the legal cover yes I would advise you to have yourself covered, don't think about others selling eggs or school cakes, you worry about yourself..if she comes back claiming someone had food poisoning (I'm not saying your cake will be the issue) you can get in trouble, it's your product you sold to her and she might come and blame you..

Using your home kitchen and selling products made there can affect your home insurance, your insurance company should be made aware of your activities..

You mentioned you won't be making this into a business so my post is probably pointless but just in case you will change your mind or accept money for you bakes please cover all aspects of you actions to protect yourself.

I bake homemade biscuits mostly at Xmas time only but I have registered myself with the council and every time I go and sell mostly on Xmas fairs I pay for liability insurance to cover myself, its not my income it's just few extra £ for Xmas but because I take money for food I make I want to make sure I protect myself and others.

OP can I just ask why you didn't correct the person and ask for the rest of the money?

If you make occasionally for charity, schools etc then it is unlikely you will need to register or to have a food hygiene certificate but if you do it regularly you WILL need to register with your local authority.

Selling apples, eggs etc at boot fair is the same. Our local ones have inspectors going round asking to see certs. They don't do much more than explain the need, give out a leaflet and check the next week . It's really easy, is not intended to be difficult to stop anyone, it's free and they can't say no!

www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/providing-food-at-community-and-charity-events

Allergy testing etc may or may not apply depending on the specific product but you do need a proper food management system, to be able to track and trace all ingredients. I've done all of that in 2 very different domestic kitchens, it isn't very onerous of you read up on what is needed first, or ask them to come in and give you a detailed To Do list. The most difficult thing is a separate hand wash basin!

But now I have a dog!!! So, although they are happy for me to continue to use my own kitchen with added precautions, I borrow the back kitchen of a local trader, which makes it easier for me!

Lots of LAs have good leaflets that make it easier to understand the link above, thi is just one of them

www.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/_resources/assets/inline/full/0/208300.pdf

Don't let the regs put you off, if anyone else is thinking about it. It can be really good fun and the process of registering, getting a food management system in place is really easy once you start.

@onedream - thank you for all your advice. I definitely will not be doing this other than for friends and family in the future. Just dipping my toe in has already shown me it is not worth the hassle. Also I don't think the pressure etc is worth it me for me. It started as a hobby, it will forever remain a hobby now. She covered the cost of the ingredients and that's fine.

Even if you'd asked £10 I'd have given you £20. I paid £40 for something similar a couple of weeks ago.

Seems clear enough to me, £19, I would have given you £20.

Lovely looking cake. At quick glance I would have said £10 but on reading it properly I would have then said£19.

Our local schools haven't been allowed to sell homemade cakes at fayres for years due to health and safety.

@Cosmos45 I know exactly what you mean,it's different when you make it for someone you don't know and for money regardless of how much it is..you want it to be perfect and you take extra time to make it perfect..you have done a fantastic job and the cake is worth much more.

Our local schools haven't been allowed to sell homemade cakes at fayres for years due to health and safety Then they are mis applying the rules.. or have one parent / teacher who has some foul hygiene practices!

See the links above. There are no onerous H+S reasons for schools not to have a bake sale!

@cosmos45 don't let this pit you off. When you are considering that it's too much hassle think about where your price point should be. I sell cakes and live in a rural area so my prices aren't the highest by any stretch.. that cake with a topper and some fondant and writing on the board would be £45. There is a market for a high quality product that can't be bought in supermarkets. The inspection from the local council isn't scary at all.. they are usually lovely and if you market your product to the consumers who appreciate the quality and skill you provide you also lose the majority of the hassle with people trying to get it for nothing and being tight AF about the whole thing. It's a fab industry to become a part of, there is loads of fab Facebook groups and help and support out there for tips and advice and if like me you have young kids it's a great way to earn a living around your responsibilities! Feel free to message me if you want to have a chat about it.. and if it's something you love doing don't let something like this put you off!!

It's lovely and £10 is a cheek.