Hi! So I am fairly new to this and was curious on what you’re all charging customers. I have a 4 foot board that will feed 40 people that I am doing soon and I told the customer $400. Is this too much? Please let me know!!!! ❤️ thank you in advance. I will include some of my work below!

by Adventurous-Eye-2638

19 Comments

  1. murder_mittenz on

    How much do all the supplies cost? How much of your time does it take including planning, shopping, set up?

  2. 13Thirteens on

    All of those rivers and folds, plus the peppers stuffed with cheese and the sausage roses? Plus there’s SO much brie and soft cheese — if you are somehow making this for less than $400, I’d like to know where you’re shopping. I did something like this for 35, primarily shopping at Aldi, and it was over $400.

    In general, take what your supplies cost x 4 then add whatever your hourly wage should be for the time it takes you to shop, plan, make and clean up after this. So, if you’re spending $300 on supplies (again, HOW?) and would like to make $20/hr for the ten hours you spend on this, it’s $1400 (and again, if you’re in the US, plan for half of that hourly wage to go to taxes, so you’re really only making $10/hr).

  3. Too much? I’d suggest you double it. Unless it’s gonna be all cheddar and pepperoni, I hardly see $10/PP covering your grocery cost.

  4. Dokter_Bibber on

    You are underpricing. If your intention is to get publicity and gain more buyers, that is okay. But make it clear that it is a publicity stunt.

  5. I always charge per person. Think about it this way: if you go to a restaurant, how much will a cheese plate cost you? And how much will they give you portion wise?

    TBF, most restaurants that serve cheese plates usually have higher price point cheeses than what you have (looks like some basic cheddars), but you are also carrying other costs that other restaurants don’t.

    Make what you would consider a serving for one person. Figure out how much that costs you to make for ingredients. Measure your time, and give yourself an hourly rate. Use that to calculate your labor. Once you have that number, figure out your mark up cost percentage. This will be determined on other local competition vs perceived value. (80% mark up is everyone’s dream, but not always realistic. Aim for 60-70%)

    Example: 1 Portion takes me 30 minutes to make (keep in mind that shopping, admin work related to this like calling the customer, planning all count as labor). I want to pay myself $20/hr (made up number for the sake ease). Ingredients for one portion cost me $4.50. That single portion costs me $14.50. If I had a 70% mark up, I would charge $24.65 per portion.

    Remember that making food, especially if you aren’t buying wholesale product regularly, is expensive. There’s a reason why restaurants have such small profit margins. And making small portions is more expensive than making one large platter of multiple portions.

    If I use my fake numbers from above and I made the same platter for 40, that’s $986.00.

  6. Graysonsname on

    Honestly you have to immediately write back to the person hiring your services and apologize saying you mixed the invoice up with another client. Then obviously charge way more.

  7. PinkyGurl2002 on

    I’d say there’s over $400 of food on that board, all the preparation time etc. I would say charge $900, because you want to at least double your initial expenditure

  8. angrymom284710394855 on

    Based on all the boards I’ve seen here. Nothing under 1500$ depending on where you live.

  9. I would pay probably $650-$700 for something that large and for that many people. A customer is paying not only the cost of the food, but the display, the setup, the cleanup, and not having to do anything really but focus on entertaining. You’re robbing yourself at that price!

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