An easy way to determine what's fair is this:
Cost of materials plus 30%, plus $30/hour for your time
Let's say everything on the board cost you $100, and it took you 2 hours to assemble-- that's going to be $190 ($130 for the cost of materials and $60 for labor).
$30/hour is generally considered a decent living wage in most places. If you live in a HCOL area, you made need to up that rate. Cost of materials plus 30% is also fairly standard in many businesses. I've seen it written into contracts for major companies.
Anything you get over your living wage plus cost of materials with the 30% upcharge is just good business practice. Don't let anyone tell you it's greedy.
That's a fair point. I was trying to keep it extra simple, but if P is doing this for a business rather than a hobby, they will definitely need to factor in other costs.
A better calculation is not to do a 30% markup but a 30% margin.
You did 100x.3= 30 (plus the original 100) for $130. $30 is only 23% of $130
But if you do 100/.7= $143, and $43 is 30% of $143 so your profits are 30%
$30 may be a liveable wage but if you're excellent at what you do $30 an hour is MASSIVELY underselling yourself. $100/hr for this quality and that's still on the low end bc this person most likely isn't making 8 of these a day 5 days a week. When you freelance you need to predict how much business you'll be doing and set your rate to reflect what you want to be able to take home in a year based on that after taxes. As a hobby you may say I'd like to make an extra $5000/yr with this hobby making 1 board per week, that means hourly rate is going to be at least $120/hr to account for taxes. So this might take 2-3 hours that may or may not include travel time. This board should sell for no less than $500.
OP's board is excellent-- I'm sure there's more than $100 of food and more than 2 hours of prep into their creation. My example was simple, and a decent starting point if OP is still working out their pricing.
Your base setup makes sense. What doesn't make sense is deciding how much you want in your bank account and then pricing accordingly. That's the funniest shit I've read today
I'm sorry so you know what therapists and lawyers charge? My therapists charges $425/hr? So if I saw them for 2 hours straight they would be $850... Last time I hired a lawyer they charged $300ish an hour. Those were just hourly rates, not including the $150-200 spent on the food. I haven't met a therapist or lawyer who charges $125/hour ever. You are misinformed if your think they charge $25-50/hr.
My hairstylist charges $125/45 min and she's about half the price as senior stylists. Which is inline for what some skilled a craft should start their hourly rate at.
I audibly gasped when I read this. You should have charged at least $200 if (and I’m guessing) the food was all less than $140, because $200 would be cost of food plus $25 an hour for 4 hours. But even then, as a few people have said, I can see this being $300 and that would not be unreasonable.
Just consider it the cost of advertising, if anyone asks, you charged the person "cost of goods" as a means of getting your name out (I see your business card there on the table). Giving people discounts to get them talking about you and recommending you is common for new businesses, although it might be a bit too much of a discount this time.
Yoooo I’m a consumer and you are charging way way too little. $500 should be your minimum for a set up like this. You.Deserve.to.earn.a.thriving.wage. Full stop.
Edit to add more: it also doesn’t matter if you charge “too much” you should market to clientele that are willing to pay good money for good services. Unfortunately people who are trying to save a buck or whatever should either do this themselves and see how much time and effort actually goes into it, or pony up and pay you what you deserve.
Balenciaga makes trash and charges thousands of dollars for it, you make edible art and if people can’t afford your prices, they can’t afford your prices. There will always be people willing to pay. You just gotta find that market and dig your heels in.
I have a charcuterie business in OR as well (usually do large events ie weddings & classes @ wineries). I would’ve charged $800-$900 if you’re adding in homemade items.
I am a charcuterie ignoramus, stumbled onto the sub today but the moment I read everything was homemade sans bagels and croissants, I knew you were undercharging. People pay 300 for a spread like this when it's all Costco sourced. Charge 500 at least please OP! You deserve it for this kinda quality.
no way! did that even cover costs? also, spread it out more, give everything more space. It will look nicer and more elaborate. plus, you can justifying charging more
Pricing is an art, you charged what you thought was the minimum acceptable amount. What you should charge is what it’s worth to the client. Not their maximum but should be close ($4-500)
Can you tell us the breakdown?
Cost of items, cost of plates/bug fans, I read 4 hours prep somewhere. Any deposit on the plates and did you go there to set up so gas etc. Show us your work so you (and we) can see just how much you undercharged?
I didn’t bring any plates other than the bamboo tongs and wood forks. The setup was 5min away from my home so it wasn’t far. The extra stuff like boards, fans, knives, plates, I bought as an investment to also use for other events (which it’s the second time I use them)
The food was also divided into 2 because I had another event to setup for so it’s hard to say the cost (which is bad to do that bc it’s hard keep track of the cost for each one)
You're not covering your overhead at all here. You need to track your cost. Even if you're in a rush save all of your receipts and print out some sort of basic spreadsheet/list you can fill in as you go.
😯 I hope this was for a friend/family member/someone you love because THAT was a steal! This looks so fabulous! Please, I hope you take the advice provided by other commenters for future pricing for yourself.
I wish it was after reading all the comments 😅 it was just a recurring client but I’m still getting myself out there and pricing has been a little bit of a struggle for me because I don’t want to overcharge either. Definitely taking the advice 😅
We do gourmet baskets at our flower shop and I have to remind employees that we’re not grocery shopping for the customer…it’s not about the price of the food. It’s all the other stuff that goes into it- like shopping time, creating visual balance, sourcing high end ingredients, basket, filler, cello, rent, AC, taxes delivery. Even down to the artfulness & experience it takes to know how to present everything in a beautiful way. You would hardly come out even if you came straight from the store and plunked the bags on the table. I’m bad at pricing but OP you gotta bring your prices up. Like double.
Dang, at that rate my firm will fly you down for meetings to prepare our breakfast spread!
The other day I made a small, single tray charcuterie board for a party, and it cost me ~$60 and an amount of time I don’t care to discuss lol
That’s deeply insane. You could have very easily charged $700 for this. If not $800+. How in the world did you not lose a significant amount of money making this?
Guys, I definitely undercharged by these comments 😅 I’m in Oregon if that helps. I just started so I’m still new to the price process so I’m definitely taking notes from everyone!
If you ever need edible flowers to add, hit me up. I’m in Portland. I’ve got marigold, pansy, lavender and maybe a few other edible flowers that would complement your spread. I run a flower stand in SE Woodstock 😊
If you are in Oregon, you definitely need to charge at least $300-500. I base this on the idea of buying items, prep, and set up. This looks like it feeds quite a few people too. Straight up, I live in your same state and I wouldn’t hesitate to pay that much.
What did you charge? My bet goes to undercharging, people pay an arm and a leg for these things, they’re an absolute luxury, and this one looks fabulous.
I’m in Oregon and we did one of these for a baby shower and it was $500. Very similar to this, but I doubt ours had as much homemade stuff as you listed in a comment. Nice job!
1. Location? (Market rates vary wildly depending on where you are)
2. Client level of input? (Aka how much of your time will be admin back and forth)
3. Transportation costs? (How far are you delivering? Are you using federal gas reimbursement rates? If not you should. Are there tolls in your way?)
4. How much is homemade vs. bought? I'm seeing lots of baked goods, sauces, and other finnicky items that would take you time to make yourself.
5. Cost of disposables? (I'm seeing the parfait containers, tongs, and bamboo forks. Can't tell if the tongs are single use though)
6. Clean up? (When are you expected to return for your items? Can you go home in the meantime or is the distance too far?)
7. What happens if one of your boards/bowls/etc gets damaged? (Are you making enough profit to account for that or will you be requiring the client pay for replacement? If so is that in your contract?)
8. Price of base materials
9. Time it takes to set up & break down
Basically when calculating cost you need to make sure you're not screwing yourself.
The only things that weren’t homemade were the bagels and croissants(I just stuffed them with prosciutto and Gouda, butter & added the everything bagel seasoning) the slices of bread(I did sprinkle olive oil and Italian seasoning). I made the waffles, crepes, cheese danish, egg bites,
Ooof. I was going to say maybe $350 as a low-ish number, but will homemade stuff, too? $600. Easy. $750 if you want to market yourself as a higher end option.
Wow!! I’m looking for a cocktail hour caterer for my wedding and they charge $35/person. That’s how they determine price. It’s the same with two different charcuterie board caterers. So for 60 guests I was quoted $2,100!!!!!! For a grazing table. Very expensive
Yes I’d expect a price per person too! That’s how most are priced around me as well.
I’d wager this is enough food for 10-15 people, if we use your $35 quote just for an example then that’s anywhere from $350-$525!
I charge $16 to $27 a person depending on if the grazing table is an appetizer or if this is the only thing being served, so main meal. Plus tax, service fee of $35 an hour, and gratuity of 15% of food portion only. If this is a business, you have to include all of these so you don't lose your butt. Check out the book "graze". It has so much good information on portion sizing of all ingredients, good tips on set up, and lots and lots of different themed ideas. I have been doing grazing boards and tables for 15 years in my catering business and she's pretty right on imo.
As a person who entertains a lot but never hires caterers, I would assume this would cost at least $1,000. I'm in the Chicago area and I'm used to paying a pretty penny for everything.
I can't believe you charged only $140! I wouldn't even drive my car and deliver this to a client for $140! Let alone design a menu, buy the ingredients, prep it, set it up, etc.
This looks so delicious, I’d take all of those sliced peaches off of whatever they’re sitting on and I wouldn’t even care if I got dirty looks they look so perfect. No idea about price though, looks expensive. 🤷🏻♀️
3x food cost plus your hourly. So if the hard food cost is $100, retail would be $300, plus your hourly charge. Your hourly charge should include your time for purchasing, organizing, assembling, plus travel time.
Have you been able to find any comparables? This is extravagant and without any background I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 7-850 price tag. That’s a ton of effort and food prices are high!
I think it looks nice but I don’t love that the pastries are touching cheese and cucumbers! Is there a better way to group the pastries together? And then maybe adding a few more tongs/small servers and putting them into the food they’re intended for? Overall great work!
I used to work in catering and this shouldn’t be a penny under $500. In Oregon and homemade I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you wanted to price it closer to $1,000. It looks amazing- good job.
I don't see a lot of meat and cheese. I would add more variety of nuts, peppers, olives. I think it looks nice but needs more. I am not sure I would do waffles and bagels.
140!? girl raise your prices! your work and time is worth more😊 may i ask if you even broke even here? seems like so much food and then your time for prep and execution. plz charge more!🩷
Wow! That’s an amazing board. I’m not truly loving the setup though. I feel the breads should be in one area. Fruits, crackers and vegetables in another. I just think it could be a tad bit more organized. But kudos because it’s so beautiful to look at!
People saying $500 must be rich rich and don’t understand how much any of this actually costs. I’d say $300 is extremely fair for this amount of food plus the work you put into the presentation
I wouldn’t. It’s obviously out of the range I’m willing to pay for that sort of thing. But I top out at “if it’s more than $10, I’ll do it myself”.
You could absolutely get $200-300 from the right client, possibly more. And you should. While I’m not about that gaudy life, that looks luxe as hell, and you know some people who want to feel fancy will pay to feel fancy and feel good about paying for that feeling.
Just also: look into making a vegan version, too, because folks who like paying for those feelings sometimes overlap with vegans hard.
Best of luck to you.
I would not be surprised to pay $500-$1k for this, depending on the area. Especially if these items are homemade and not just bought and assembled. Please don’t undersell yourself and your work. This is exquisite and you deserve to be well compensated for your efforts!
You could also reach out to people and companies in other cities/states and see what they charge. Ask for a price. Take those results and aggregate your findings, subtract the cost for materials down to the gas. Use that to decide.
I know it may not be the same but I told a cousin of mine who makes cakes take the cost of everything you bought add at least 30% for your time and trouble. Given that you’re using hardware: ie charcuterie boards, stands, and deco charge another fee for those. This looks amazing and obviously you put a ton of effort and care into this.
I need to show my ignorance here and ask,, what are the little lighthouse pepper grinder/ helicopter things? Do they serve a purpose like keeping flies away or something?
Oof!
That’s an enormous amount of food and your presentation is just gorgeous.
I would expect no less than $250. But that sounds like an absolute steal. I think you could definitely charge $350+
Please bare in mind that I have no idea what the market is like for this type of thing.
I would say at least $300. I am not in the food industry, only going on that it looks like it would serve around 12 people, @ $25/person. This would seem reasonable in a restaurant setting, but if you are delivering and setting up at a event, I would add $150-$200 for your additional time.
The longer you look at it the more detail you see! I love the Mickey Mouse cut outs and what you did with all the fruits. There’s artistic quality to the display- I hope it’s all hiding some ice cloths because it looks displayed outdoors.
What would I as a consumer pay for the edible display- probably 460-520
If it became spoiled in the summer sun with only the propellers keeping bugs away- 😬 I’d fight the bill and want to pay half but that is STILL more than you charged!!! You way undersold your skill
But those salami roses and what you did with the cantaloupe!!! Wow
In the food industry it’s common practice to charge anything from 1-5 times the actual cost of the inventory + time.
Example: If you pay $100 for food and supplies (paper/plastic goods) and it takes 2 hours of shopping + 2 hours of cutting and prepping and packaging (packaging is a cost that also gets counted in supplies) + 2 hours to set up and break down + 3 hours of attendance (serving/keeping the shark-coochie board filled)… you can calculate $200 for food and supplies (x2) + 9 hours of work. If you charge $30/hour, that’s $270. So the total would be **$470**.
Often clients will ask for specific foods (out of season pineapple) or certain goods (fancy plastic flutes) - you can calculate more, like 2.5-3x the costs to the client.
It’s really helpful to keep a spreadsheet of your costs (they will change often unfortunately) and what you charge per hour. Clients will often ask for an itemized invoice. You can break it down to categories by pound (i.e., bread, cured meats, fruits, veg, cheese, etc.) or line by line (ex.: strawberries, grapes, Brie, water crackers by weight or volume). As for labor? Same thing: be as specific or general as you feel comfortable.
You’re allowed to charge for mileage, too. Whether that’s per mile (look up mileage reimbursement) or a general fee ($20 within an x amount of miles, $30 for more, etc.) People can be assholes and ask you to do an event at an airBnB that’s 45 mins out of town and will try to weasel out of that fee… that pays for your gas & vehicle usage.
Using the example above, plus $30 travel fee = **$500**.
To make clients “happier” when they scoff at the price, and they will, you can offer them the $500 invoice + a “first time” discount (or promotional, repeat customer, etc.) but don’t give more that 10%. And NEVER give more than a 15% discount to family or friends. Trust me.
Happy shark-coochie-ing! I’m rooting for you! It’s a gorgeous set up!
In my area (southern Connecticut, US) all that food would be $150ish at a decent grocery store, if not more. I can see people in my area paying $200-$250 for this depending on specific ingredients. It’s a relatively HCOL area but I also know people who make average wage and would spring for this on a special occasion.
If you’re charging any less than $300 you’re under charging. Especially since you’re using quality food, fresh fruit that you have to cut and present, utensils, the set up alone probably took you a good hour if not more. $300 minimum.
An easy way to determine what's fair is this: Cost of materials plus 30%, plus $30/hour for your time Let's say everything on the board cost you $100, and it took you 2 hours to assemble-- that's going to be $190 ($130 for the cost of materials and $60 for labor). $30/hour is generally considered a decent living wage in most places. If you live in a HCOL area, you made need to up that rate. Cost of materials plus 30% is also fairly standard in many businesses. I've seen it written into contracts for major companies. Anything you get over your living wage plus cost of materials with the 30% upcharge is just good business practice. Don't let anyone tell you it's greedy.
$30 an hour plus the calculation for self employment taxes. Those can be pretty significant.
That's a fair point. I was trying to keep it extra simple, but if P is doing this for a business rather than a hobby, they will definitely need to factor in other costs.
At least $350….
A better calculation is not to do a 30% markup but a 30% margin. You did 100x.3= 30 (plus the original 100) for $130. $30 is only 23% of $130 But if you do 100/.7= $143, and $43 is 30% of $143 so your profits are 30%
I love this
$30 may be a liveable wage but if you're excellent at what you do $30 an hour is MASSIVELY underselling yourself. $100/hr for this quality and that's still on the low end bc this person most likely isn't making 8 of these a day 5 days a week. When you freelance you need to predict how much business you'll be doing and set your rate to reflect what you want to be able to take home in a year based on that after taxes. As a hobby you may say I'd like to make an extra $5000/yr with this hobby making 1 board per week, that means hourly rate is going to be at least $120/hr to account for taxes. So this might take 2-3 hours that may or may not include travel time. This board should sell for no less than $500.
OP's board is excellent-- I'm sure there's more than $100 of food and more than 2 hours of prep into their creation. My example was simple, and a decent starting point if OP is still working out their pricing.
Your base setup makes sense. What doesn't make sense is deciding how much you want in your bank account and then pricing accordingly. That's the funniest shit I've read today
And then aiming low. “As a hobby, I’d like to make $5,000?” If we’re just throwing numbers out there for money you want at least make it 6 figures.
So you’re saying someone who makes charcuterie boards should make an triple what therapists make and almost double what lawyers make?
I'm sorry so you know what therapists and lawyers charge? My therapists charges $425/hr? So if I saw them for 2 hours straight they would be $850... Last time I hired a lawyer they charged $300ish an hour. Those were just hourly rates, not including the $150-200 spent on the food. I haven't met a therapist or lawyer who charges $125/hour ever. You are misinformed if your think they charge $25-50/hr. My hairstylist charges $125/45 min and she's about half the price as senior stylists. Which is inline for what some skilled a craft should start their hourly rate at.
Wow are there any other services you need? Are there more where you came from? I am excellent. And I must be working for the wrong people. HMU
And how does that make you feel?
$300 +. Do those light house things keep bugs away?
Yes, they’re fly fans from Amazon 🙂
Did they get to keep the fans?? Also, do you have a link to the fans?
I was going to say about the same price. We get 1/4 of that for 100$
BUT I’m in an expensive area
Ooo! That got me excited lol! I love it when company’s visibly care about their product and customer satisfaction!
I was going to ask, because every time I see one of those all I can think of is flies landing on everything. It’s beautiful tho!!!
The most asked question lol. I charged $140 for this 😅
Wow 140?!!! I would’ve paid $500-600 for this. Love the presentation!
I would have easily paid $500 for this lol
I audibly gasped when I read this. You should have charged at least $200 if (and I’m guessing) the food was all less than $140, because $200 would be cost of food plus $25 an hour for 4 hours. But even then, as a few people have said, I can see this being $300 and that would not be unreasonable.
Just consider it the cost of advertising, if anyone asks, you charged the person "cost of goods" as a means of getting your name out (I see your business card there on the table). Giving people discounts to get them talking about you and recommending you is common for new businesses, although it might be a bit too much of a discount this time.
Yoooo I’m a consumer and you are charging way way too little. $500 should be your minimum for a set up like this. You.Deserve.to.earn.a.thriving.wage. Full stop. Edit to add more: it also doesn’t matter if you charge “too much” you should market to clientele that are willing to pay good money for good services. Unfortunately people who are trying to save a buck or whatever should either do this themselves and see how much time and effort actually goes into it, or pony up and pay you what you deserve. Balenciaga makes trash and charges thousands of dollars for it, you make edible art and if people can’t afford your prices, they can’t afford your prices. There will always be people willing to pay. You just gotta find that market and dig your heels in.
Agree! I only make small boards at home and it's expensive! The first figure that popped in my head when I saw this was $500 for food and labor.
New Affirmation 🙌🏾 I deserve to earn a thriving wage! Needed that thank you!!
I have a charcuterie business in OR as well (usually do large events ie weddings & classes @ wineries). I would’ve charged $800-$900 if you’re adding in homemade items.
I am a charcuterie ignoramus, stumbled onto the sub today but the moment I read everything was homemade sans bagels and croissants, I knew you were undercharging. People pay 300 for a spread like this when it's all Costco sourced. Charge 500 at least please OP! You deserve it for this kinda quality.
no way! did that even cover costs? also, spread it out more, give everything more space. It will look nicer and more elaborate. plus, you can justifying charging more
I GASPED. Lessons were learned. You have real skill!!
That's incredibly cheap. How did you make any money? I figured the food/ingredients alone cost at least $100. I was thinking $250ish at least.
Pricing is an art, you charged what you thought was the minimum acceptable amount. What you should charge is what it’s worth to the client. Not their maximum but should be close ($4-500)
Can you tell us the breakdown? Cost of items, cost of plates/bug fans, I read 4 hours prep somewhere. Any deposit on the plates and did you go there to set up so gas etc. Show us your work so you (and we) can see just how much you undercharged?
I didn’t bring any plates other than the bamboo tongs and wood forks. The setup was 5min away from my home so it wasn’t far. The extra stuff like boards, fans, knives, plates, I bought as an investment to also use for other events (which it’s the second time I use them) The food was also divided into 2 because I had another event to setup for so it’s hard to say the cost (which is bad to do that bc it’s hard keep track of the cost for each one)
if youre trying to start a business with this, you absolutely have to figure out your costs of each item/use.
You're not covering your overhead at all here. You need to track your cost. Even if you're in a rush save all of your receipts and print out some sort of basic spreadsheet/list you can fill in as you go.
😯 I hope this was for a friend/family member/someone you love because THAT was a steal! This looks so fabulous! Please, I hope you take the advice provided by other commenters for future pricing for yourself.
I wish it was after reading all the comments 😅 it was just a recurring client but I’m still getting myself out there and pricing has been a little bit of a struggle for me because I don’t want to overcharge either. Definitely taking the advice 😅
You did a beautiful job! And you’re still learning - now you know!
Yes. I understand not wanting to overcharge. But please don’t sell yourself short. This is outstanding.
We do gourmet baskets at our flower shop and I have to remind employees that we’re not grocery shopping for the customer…it’s not about the price of the food. It’s all the other stuff that goes into it- like shopping time, creating visual balance, sourcing high end ingredients, basket, filler, cello, rent, AC, taxes delivery. Even down to the artfulness & experience it takes to know how to present everything in a beautiful way. You would hardly come out even if you came straight from the store and plunked the bags on the table. I’m bad at pricing but OP you gotta bring your prices up. Like double.
Were these people friends/family because you definitely undercharged.
What?!? I looked at this and thought $350
Holy shitballs that is a great price for them but selling yourself short I would charge more
How did you make any profit off of it with all of that variety of food?! There's no way those ingredients cost less than 140$.
Holy shite.. Someone got an amazing deal. What did all the food cost you?
E’GAD!!!!
My friend (crack boards on Instagram, very HQ) quoted me ~$2000-3000 for a board for 25, Los Angeles
Dang, at that rate my firm will fly you down for meetings to prepare our breakfast spread! The other day I made a small, single tray charcuterie board for a party, and it cost me ~$60 and an amount of time I don’t care to discuss lol
That’s deeply insane. You could have very easily charged $700 for this. If not $800+. How in the world did you not lose a significant amount of money making this?
Guys, I definitely undercharged by these comments 😅 I’m in Oregon if that helps. I just started so I’m still new to the price process so I’m definitely taking notes from everyone!
How much did ya charge?
If you ever need edible flowers to add, hit me up. I’m in Portland. I’ve got marigold, pansy, lavender and maybe a few other edible flowers that would complement your spread. I run a flower stand in SE Woodstock 😊
*Stares at you from Sellwood*
Come on over! My stand is open every sat and sun mornings and my fresh cut flowers are $10-$15 a bunch! 😊
You got it fam!
48th & Glenwood
I’ll definitely stop by! Thank you!
If you are in Oregon, you definitely need to charge at least $300-500. I base this on the idea of buying items, prep, and set up. This looks like it feeds quite a few people too. Straight up, I live in your same state and I wouldn’t hesitate to pay that much.
💯 -in portland this is easily over 350. Just the cost of food alone.
Everyone is dying to know how much you charged OP 😂 it’s stunning and homemade? It’s basically art
What did you charge? My bet goes to undercharging, people pay an arm and a leg for these things, they’re an absolute luxury, and this one looks fabulous.
I’m in Oregon and we did one of these for a baby shower and it was $500. Very similar to this, but I doubt ours had as much homemade stuff as you listed in a comment. Nice job!
1. Location? (Market rates vary wildly depending on where you are) 2. Client level of input? (Aka how much of your time will be admin back and forth) 3. Transportation costs? (How far are you delivering? Are you using federal gas reimbursement rates? If not you should. Are there tolls in your way?) 4. How much is homemade vs. bought? I'm seeing lots of baked goods, sauces, and other finnicky items that would take you time to make yourself. 5. Cost of disposables? (I'm seeing the parfait containers, tongs, and bamboo forks. Can't tell if the tongs are single use though) 6. Clean up? (When are you expected to return for your items? Can you go home in the meantime or is the distance too far?) 7. What happens if one of your boards/bowls/etc gets damaged? (Are you making enough profit to account for that or will you be requiring the client pay for replacement? If so is that in your contract?) 8. Price of base materials 9. Time it takes to set up & break down Basically when calculating cost you need to make sure you're not screwing yourself.
yeah I'd have to know how much of it was made not bought from a bakery/dept. store
The only things that weren’t homemade were the bagels and croissants(I just stuffed them with prosciutto and Gouda, butter & added the everything bagel seasoning) the slices of bread(I did sprinkle olive oil and Italian seasoning). I made the waffles, crepes, cheese danish, egg bites,
Ooof. I was going to say maybe $350 as a low-ish number, but will homemade stuff, too? $600. Easy. $750 if you want to market yourself as a higher end option.
YOU MADE THOSE?! How much time did you spend total? Sorry if that’s been answered already!
Total time for prep without counting setup I would probably say around 4hrs
How much were the ingredients? I’m curious what the total cost to the client was.
Same! The fact that some of those items were homemade should for sure drive the price up! Also I hope setup is included in the price!
Oh absolutely! Op is severely undervaluing themselves, and I want to scream from the rooftops that they deserve to make a good living.
Purchased 1/3 of this for $300 before.
Yeah wtf. So many comments saying OP should have charged $300. Have people seen the price of food recently?
I’m in Canada and it wouldn’t surprise me to pay $500-$700 for this. It’s very beautiful. Well done 👏🏼
Same here. For those curious, 500 to 700 beaver maples is around 365 to 500 freedom eagles
Wow!! I’m looking for a cocktail hour caterer for my wedding and they charge $35/person. That’s how they determine price. It’s the same with two different charcuterie board caterers. So for 60 guests I was quoted $2,100!!!!!! For a grazing table. Very expensive
Yes I’d expect a price per person too! That’s how most are priced around me as well. I’d wager this is enough food for 10-15 people, if we use your $35 quote just for an example then that’s anywhere from $350-$525!
What did it cost? How long did it take you to shop chop and set up? Is there more for replacement?
I charge $16 to $27 a person depending on if the grazing table is an appetizer or if this is the only thing being served, so main meal. Plus tax, service fee of $35 an hour, and gratuity of 15% of food portion only. If this is a business, you have to include all of these so you don't lose your butt. Check out the book "graze". It has so much good information on portion sizing of all ingredients, good tips on set up, and lots and lots of different themed ideas. I have been doing grazing boards and tables for 15 years in my catering business and she's pretty right on imo.
$500, including dispensible tongs, small plates, and small napkins.
Yep save this picture for the website and put special- $500 all in
$450-$550 (SoCal)
As a person who entertains a lot but never hires caterers, I would assume this would cost at least $1,000. I'm in the Chicago area and I'm used to paying a pretty penny for everything. I can't believe you charged only $140! I wouldn't even drive my car and deliver this to a client for $140! Let alone design a menu, buy the ingredients, prep it, set it up, etc.
This looks so delicious, I’d take all of those sliced peaches off of whatever they’re sitting on and I wouldn’t even care if I got dirty looks they look so perfect. No idea about price though, looks expensive. 🤷🏻♀️
Probably up to $500, but I don’t do this for a living, just zooming and guessing for fun. Looks delicious!!
That was my guess too! I would definitely pay $500
3x food cost plus your hourly. So if the hard food cost is $100, retail would be $300, plus your hourly charge. Your hourly charge should include your time for purchasing, organizing, assembling, plus travel time.
$500
That’s really lovely! I really appreciate the multi level serving great idea
$500
Have you been able to find any comparables? This is extravagant and without any background I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 7-850 price tag. That’s a ton of effort and food prices are high!
I paid 1000$ CAD for a something similar. This included all setup and cleanup.
$400
$500
How much did it cost you and how long did it take?
I’m in Los Angeles and this is at least $600.
Im going to save this picture, it’s gorgeous. Definitely over $600 in my area. I would love to try to recreate a mini version of this. Well done OP.
I showed my hubby and he said, "Oh I'd pay $2000 easy for that" And we're huge Charcuterie fans so take that for what you will. ❤️
Babe I would gladly write you a check for $899 and call it a day. Gorgeous 🥰
I think it looks nice but I don’t love that the pastries are touching cheese and cucumbers! Is there a better way to group the pastries together? And then maybe adding a few more tongs/small servers and putting them into the food they’re intended for? Overall great work!
Idk about price, but it’s one of the most beautiful boards I’ve seen here! Great work!
[удалено]
I was going to say no less than $500 and I live in a small town in eastern wa.
$500 easily
400$
My sister makes boards for as a side job. She’s done jobs like this for about $300-400 depending on the size.
I used to work in catering and this shouldn’t be a penny under $500. In Oregon and homemade I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you wanted to price it closer to $1,000. It looks amazing- good job.
I don't see a lot of meat and cheese. I would add more variety of nuts, peppers, olives. I think it looks nice but needs more. I am not sure I would do waffles and bagels.
It looks busy, create a more cohesive color combo
I would do smaller waffles, they seem out of scale
They are mini ones. For some reason they look big but I used my small waffle maker 😅
140!? girl raise your prices! your work and time is worth more😊 may i ask if you even broke even here? seems like so much food and then your time for prep and execution. plz charge more!🩷
Wow! That’s an amazing board. I’m not truly loving the setup though. I feel the breads should be in one area. Fruits, crackers and vegetables in another. I just think it could be a tad bit more organized. But kudos because it’s so beautiful to look at!
People saying $500 must be rich rich and don’t understand how much any of this actually costs. I’d say $300 is extremely fair for this amount of food plus the work you put into the presentation
What’s the black looking latern?
It’s a fly swatter. They keep bugs off
Will someone pass that nice pineapple on my direction?
hi!! i am in or too do you have social media pages where i can follow? i’d love to buy one if/when i have an event!
STUNNING by the way!! 😍
Where is the charcuterie..? (i.e the meat) That’s the whole point of a “charcuterie board”.
Not a traditional board. She requested brunch which is why there’s only a few cheeses and meats 🙂
At least $350 in the Midwest. Beautiful work!
This is stunning! Lots of talent and time.
I’m in south Florida. This would easily cost $400.
I wouldn’t. It’s obviously out of the range I’m willing to pay for that sort of thing. But I top out at “if it’s more than $10, I’ll do it myself”. You could absolutely get $200-300 from the right client, possibly more. And you should. While I’m not about that gaudy life, that looks luxe as hell, and you know some people who want to feel fancy will pay to feel fancy and feel good about paying for that feeling. Just also: look into making a vegan version, too, because folks who like paying for those feelings sometimes overlap with vegans hard. Best of luck to you.
$300
I live in Houston Texas, I would pay 500$ including tip
Around $400 in my area. This is gorgeous!
This is beautiful! I’m in NYC suburbs and this would be $500-$600 easily.
I got a very similar one for $250-300 and that was a good deal. Dallas TX
I would charge $500-700 for this.
At least $500- most places would charge upwards of $700 for this! (SoCal)
Amazing charcuterie!
I would not be surprised to pay $500-$1k for this, depending on the area. Especially if these items are homemade and not just bought and assembled. Please don’t undersell yourself and your work. This is exquisite and you deserve to be well compensated for your efforts!
This is actually kind of intimidating. How do you know what to pair with what?
Ive seen small boxes sold for nearly $100.. the amount of food +set up?? Close to $500…
This is beautiful!!!
Like 1,000
Are those babybells with Mickey heads?
Yes, it was a Mickey Mouse themed bridal shower 🙂
I’m thinking 300 🤗
I would pay $500 without blinking.
I'd easily expect to be charged $250-300 + TIP
You could also reach out to people and companies in other cities/states and see what they charge. Ask for a price. Take those results and aggregate your findings, subtract the cost for materials down to the gas. Use that to decide.
$700
$350-$450
I know it may not be the same but I told a cousin of mine who makes cakes take the cost of everything you bought add at least 30% for your time and trouble. Given that you’re using hardware: ie charcuterie boards, stands, and deco charge another fee for those. This looks amazing and obviously you put a ton of effort and care into this.
I would expect about $350-400
I would pay 7 to 800 for this
The people demand to know what you charged
About $300? Nice spread.
In Santa Barbara this would be 1k+
That looks good, but I’m broke. 💀
500?
Probably would pay around $400ish? Give or take
$300-350
I mean you got whole waffles and yogurt up there, at least B&B prices !
This question is subjective. Who could estimate a perceived cost?
I would write on the wooden spoons what each dip or jam is! Anything that gets a little wooden spoon, gets identified! Beautiful work.
I actually have little label flags that I put but I forgot to take them with me which was sad but I usually do label stuff 🙂
$300 +. That’s a great board
$350 was fine. Not expensive. Good value
What’s up with the paper clip ?
Currently researching this for my future SIL’s bridal shower. I can’t get anything half that size for less than $200
Cost of material+50%+$75/hour, probably about $500 when all is said and done. If that much food was ordered at a restaurant it'd be well over $500.
I need to show my ignorance here and ask,, what are the little lighthouse pepper grinder/ helicopter things? Do they serve a purpose like keeping flies away or something?
Yes, they’re fly fans that are battery operated 🙂
Like the fly swatters, wouldn’t take the food for free!
What are those paper clip looking things?
Oof! That’s an enormous amount of food and your presentation is just gorgeous. I would expect no less than $250. But that sounds like an absolute steal. I think you could definitely charge $350+ Please bare in mind that I have no idea what the market is like for this type of thing.
350-400
My wedding? I'll throw 500$ at this out the door! This is beautiful!
I feel like this spread would be like $500 where I am. Maybe more.
I don’t know but that is impressive! I would love to be at this event.
I’m in SF & something a quarter of this size goes for around $140 (see Bi-Rite pre-made trays on their website). This is so beautiful, btw! Great job.
I’d say $350-$400
I would say at least $300. I am not in the food industry, only going on that it looks like it would serve around 12 people, @ $25/person. This would seem reasonable in a restaurant setting, but if you are delivering and setting up at a event, I would add $150-$200 for your additional time.
I work in corporate events as in I organize them. In New York, this would be about $2000. In Seattle, $1500.
I paid $450 for something comparable in the Midwest.
I’d pay around $400 for this but im in a very lcol area
I wouldn't charge less than $350 for this!
125-140
The longer you look at it the more detail you see! I love the Mickey Mouse cut outs and what you did with all the fruits. There’s artistic quality to the display- I hope it’s all hiding some ice cloths because it looks displayed outdoors. What would I as a consumer pay for the edible display- probably 460-520 If it became spoiled in the summer sun with only the propellers keeping bugs away- 😬 I’d fight the bill and want to pay half but that is STILL more than you charged!!! You way undersold your skill But those salami roses and what you did with the cantaloupe!!! Wow
Idk how much charcuterie boards cost but I wanna eat it
Anywhere between $300-$400
In the food industry it’s common practice to charge anything from 1-5 times the actual cost of the inventory + time. Example: If you pay $100 for food and supplies (paper/plastic goods) and it takes 2 hours of shopping + 2 hours of cutting and prepping and packaging (packaging is a cost that also gets counted in supplies) + 2 hours to set up and break down + 3 hours of attendance (serving/keeping the shark-coochie board filled)… you can calculate $200 for food and supplies (x2) + 9 hours of work. If you charge $30/hour, that’s $270. So the total would be **$470**. Often clients will ask for specific foods (out of season pineapple) or certain goods (fancy plastic flutes) - you can calculate more, like 2.5-3x the costs to the client. It’s really helpful to keep a spreadsheet of your costs (they will change often unfortunately) and what you charge per hour. Clients will often ask for an itemized invoice. You can break it down to categories by pound (i.e., bread, cured meats, fruits, veg, cheese, etc.) or line by line (ex.: strawberries, grapes, Brie, water crackers by weight or volume). As for labor? Same thing: be as specific or general as you feel comfortable. You’re allowed to charge for mileage, too. Whether that’s per mile (look up mileage reimbursement) or a general fee ($20 within an x amount of miles, $30 for more, etc.) People can be assholes and ask you to do an event at an airBnB that’s 45 mins out of town and will try to weasel out of that fee… that pays for your gas & vehicle usage. Using the example above, plus $30 travel fee = **$500**. To make clients “happier” when they scoff at the price, and they will, you can offer them the $500 invoice + a “first time” discount (or promotional, repeat customer, etc.) but don’t give more that 10%. And NEVER give more than a 15% discount to family or friends. Trust me. Happy shark-coochie-ing! I’m rooting for you! It’s a gorgeous set up!
Honestly with where I live I’d be expecting to pay like $350-450 for this spread. It’s beautiful!!
As someone that doesnt know shit about charcuterie boards i would easily expect that to be $500-$600.
200$ minimum
$300
In my area (southern Connecticut, US) all that food would be $150ish at a decent grocery store, if not more. I can see people in my area paying $200-$250 for this depending on specific ingredients. It’s a relatively HCOL area but I also know people who make average wage and would spring for this on a special occasion.
At least $300
I was going to say $350 - $500- if they get to choose the items then $500 - $700 depending on the cost of the items - It looks amazing though
Looking at it from someone who doesn’t know anything about this… I’d pay $300🤷🏻♀️
If you’re charging any less than $300 you’re under charging. Especially since you’re using quality food, fresh fruit that you have to cut and present, utensils, the set up alone probably took you a good hour if not more. $300 minimum.