Cake deposits, cancellations and no-shows: what UK law lets home bakers do

You can ask for payment up front, but under UK consumer law a non-refundable deposit should only be a small percentage of the price. Anything bigger is an advance payment, and if the customer cancels you can generally keep only enough to cover your actual losses, such as ingredients you can't reuse or work already done. Personalised cakes and food that goes off quickly aren't covered by the 14-day online cancellation right, but your terms must still be fair and given to the customer before they pay.

Does the 14-day cancellation right apply to cakes?

Usually not. The right to cancel an online or phone order within 14 days doesn't apply to goods made to the customer's specifications or clearly personalised, or goods that are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28). A custom birthday cake is both. A plain tray of brownies is perishable. Non-food items such as candles or gift sets are different: unless they're personalised, the customer usually does have 14 days.

That only removes the automatic right to change their mind. It doesn't mean you can keep every penny whatever happens: what you keep on cancellation depends on your terms, and those terms must be fair.

Deposits versus advance payments

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) explains what's fair in its guidance on unfair terms (CMA: unfair terms explained for businesses (updated July 2026)):

• A deposit secures the booking. You can keep a deposit in full if it's no more than a small percentage of the price, and you should make clear when it stops being refundable.
• Anything else paid up front is an advance payment towards the price. If the customer cancels, what you keep should be a genuine estimate of your direct losses: what you've actually lost, allowing for anything you can do to reduce it, such as reusing or reselling.
• Making prepayments non-refundable whatever the reason for cancelling is unlikely to be fair, and an unfair term can't be enforced against the customer.

If you take, say, 50% up front and call it a "non-refundable deposit", that's well beyond a small percentage, so keeping all of it when a customer cancels may not hold if they challenge it. A safer approach: take a small booking deposit, treat the rest as an advance payment, and say in your terms what you'll keep at each stage.

What you can usually keep

This is general information, not legal advice. Fairness depends on the facts, and the customer's statutory rights for faulty or not-as-described goods always apply.

What you must tell customers before they pay

For online, phone and DM orders, give the customer these details before they're bound, in a form they can keep, such as an email, a message or your order form (GOV.UK: online and distance selling for businesses):

• your business name and address, and how to contact you
• what they're buying and the total price
• how and when to pay, including any deposit and when the balance is due
• collection or delivery arrangements, and when
• your cancellation terms, including that the 14-day right doesn't apply to personalised or perishable items

No-shows and late collections

Set a collection window and say what happens if it's missed. Food safety limits how long you can hold a cake: one council suggests a short shelf life, such as the day of production plus two days, unless you've had the product tested, and chilled cakes must be kept at 8°C or below (Hammersmith & Fulham Council: guidance for cake makers). Put that in your terms, so a customer who turns up a week late knows why the cake has gone.

Sample policy wording

Adapt this to your business:

"To book your date we take a booking deposit of £[amount], which we keep if you cancel. The rest of the price is an advance payment, due [when]. If you cancel, we refund your advance payment minus the cost of anything we've already bought or made for your order that we can't reuse. If you cancel within [48] hours of collection, or don't collect, we'll usually have made your cake and won't be able to refund. Because your cake is made to order and perishable, the 14-day cancellation period for online orders doesn't apply. This doesn't affect your rights if something is wrong with your order."

Taking payment the easy way

On Cravers Eats customers pay in full by card when they order, and the order details, allergens and any note they add (such as when they'd like it) are recorded with it. You confirm the collection or delivery time with them. If you decline an order, the customer is refunded automatically, and customers can only cancel before you accept. Our free cake order form template includes the pre-order details above if you take orders another way.

Sources (checked October 2026): Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28; CMA: unfair terms explained for businesses (updated July 2026); CMA: cancelling goods or services; GOV.UK: online and distance selling for businesses; Hammersmith & Fulham Council: guidance for cake makers. Last reviewed 2026-11-05.