One of the custodians at work was going around the office selling his cupcakes for a dollar. And I must say, as someone who bakes and brings in my goodies as a treat for my co-workers, I was turned off by his impromptu bake sale.
First he started off by giving us a sample. Not a whole cupcake or a mini cupcake, but a 1/4 of a cupcake...Carrot/Apple Cake with a Maple Cream Cheese frosting. I'm not one to pass up a free sample, but it didn't wow me. The cake was fine, but the frosting was too thin and I couldn't taste the maple flavoring, and I gave him this feedback. He informed us that from now on, Friday would be "CUPCAKE FRIDAY"!
Friday rolls around, he comes up to my floor and starts bellowing, "Cupcake Friday...get your cupcakes!"And people bought them! I was shocked. I couldn't believe that people would just pay a dollar for this man's baked goods. A dollar that wasn't benefiting a charity or his daughter's school, but was just going into his pocket. The next week he brought cupcakes on Thursday, in addition to Friday. This time the cupcakes were strawberry and people raved, said the frosting tasted like ice cream. Then on Friday he made blueberry ones that weren't baked very well and he knew it AND he said it, so he reduced the price to 75 cents. And my co-workers STILL bought them. They complained about the taste and everything...so I had to say, "Why did you buy them?!? He said they didn't come out the way he intended." No response from my co-workers. I think Cupcake Friday carried on for a few more weeks and then it fizzled without a peep, probably because his sales weren't more than his expenses.
Here's what I feel. I think Amateur bakers should not, on the whole, charge for their treats. It's one thing if someone asks you to make a cake for a special event or bake a pie for a holiday, but charging for a cupcake (or any small baked good) is just inappropriate and ridiculous to me. Bake and share because you you were experimenting and want feedback. Bake and share because you have more than you need to eat. Bake and share because you just want to give your colleagues a sugar boost. But please fellow amateur bakers, don't just charge to make a quick buck off your colleagues.
***I started this post in April and am just finishing in August. Better late than never!
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