It costs what?

I like to keep tabs on the competition, just to make sure we're doing things right. The more I look around, the more I see how our customer experience is better than some places.

For example, Cakes Across America has a nice looking site. Too much stuff moving around--what is the point of those sliding categories?--but once you're off the home page it settles down and becomes usable.

Unless, of course, you want to place an order. Get halfway through the process--and before you know how much that cake will cost, mind you--and you'll have to register to proceed. Don't expect your registered address to be your default shipping address, either. You need to edit that, not that the Delivery Options screen is going to tell you that.

Our birthday cakes cost less than theirs, incidentally, and we don't charge extra for the candles, plates, forks, and server.

Wireacake.com beats us on price but not on design. Scroll around a bit and you'll find the order forms. That's forms--there's three of them on the page, arranged in a bewildering manner evocative of Internet '96.

Say it With Cheesecake almost gets it right. Nice design and a simple ordering process, until they forced me to stop ordering and worry about a gift card. I like the way they've set up the gift card customizer, but I'd like know how much this is going to cost before I start penning prose to my intended recipient. To answer that last question, about the same as you'd pay here.

I like that we tell you everything you need to know about cost before you start giving us your information. That lets you comparison shop easily and decide if we're what you want.