Why this document exists
Makers underprice. Not occasionally — as a rule, and usually by about half. It happens because the craft feels like a hobby, because the first customer is a friend, and because the hours spent shopping and driving do not feel like work.
A maker who underprices does not just earn less. They burn out in four months, cancel on a buyer, and cost the network a client. Pricing discipline is a network standard, not a personal preference.
The formula
Ingredient cost actual receipts for this job
+ Waste allowance 10% of ingredient cost
+ Packaging & disposables board, wrap, bowls, label, bag
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= DIRECT COST
DIRECT COST × 3.0 → BASE PRICE (targets ~33% food cost)
+ Labor over 45 min (build time − 45 min) × your hourly rate
+ Delivery mileage + drive time at your hourly rate
+ Rush surcharge +20% if confirmed under 48 hours
+ Custom/dietary surcharge +10% for a bespoke build or allergen-isolated production
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= MAKER PRICE what the buyer pays you, and what you quote
The ×3.0 is not profit. It absorbs the ingredients you bought and did not use, the practice runs, the equipment wearing out, your commissary hours, the insurance, and the half of your week that is shopping, quoting, and email. A 3× food-cost multiplier is the conventional floor in catering. Below 2.5× a food business does not survive.
Set your hourly rate before you quote anything. Write it down. If you would not get out of bed for it, it is too low — and the buyer never asked you to charge it.
Floors
Below these, decline the job or fold it into a larger delivery.
| Floor | Why | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum order | $150 | Below this the drive eats the job |
| Minimum per-head | $12 | Below this it is not a Todo Tasteful standard delivery |
| Free delivery radius | 10 miles; beyond, mileage + drive time | Drive time is work |
| Lead time | 72 hours standard; 48 hours at +20%; under 24 hours, decline | Rushed builds are how the standard slips |
Declining is allowed and expected. A maker who says "I can't hold the standard on that timeline" has done the network a favor. A maker who says yes and delivers something mediocre has cost it a corporate account.
Quote and payment terms
The quote states, always: what is included item by item · headcount and portion basis · delivery date and a two-hour window · what the buyer must provide (table, access, refrigeration, parking) · how long it holds (7 days) · deposit and balance terms · cancellation terms.
| Job value | Deposit | Balance |
|---|---|---|
| Under $300 | none | On delivery |
| $300 – $1,500 | 50% to confirm | On delivery |
| Over $1,500 | 50% to confirm | Net 15 for an established corporate buyer, otherwise on delivery |
Cancellation: 72+ hours, deposit refunded less any non-returnable ingredients already bought · 24–72 hours, deposit retained · under 24 hours, full price — the food exists.
A confirmed job is one with a deposit received. Not a verbal yes, not a calendar hold. This rule exists because every maker eventually shops for a job that evaporates.
Pricing a lot inside a Guild Job
For contributors on a large job (Working Together), the arithmetic is the same but the scope is one lot:
Your lot's direct cost × 3.0
+ your build labor
= LOT PRICE ← quoted when you claim, fixed, no delivery component
No delivery line: contributors deliver to a staging point, and the Job Lead carries the transport and prices it into the job. Your lot price is fixed at the moment you claim it. It does not move because the Lead's margin got tight — that is the protection that makes contributing safe for someone with no negotiating position.