ezCater

What is EZCater?

ezCater is an online marketplace for businesses that need caterers. The site partners with more than 60,000 restaurants and caterers that use the site to market their services.

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How it works

The terms of the deal are straightforward. You set up your catering page, showing what menus you offer, where (your geographic delivery area), the price, delivery fees and any other restrictions, such as whether or not you impose cancellation fees. ezCater pings you via email, text or fax when a customer wants to order from your menu.

Quick response required

However, the site expects a response within 15 minutes, or they’ll phone. If they can’t reach you after that 15 minute window, they may send the order to another caterer. They’ll send a reminder message the night before the delivery, again expecting that you’ll answer within 15 minutes.

Getting paid

If you accept a job, ezCater will collect payment and remit your portion by check or direct deposit twice monthly. Your payment will be the amount charged, minus ezCater’s 15% platform fee, plus a 2.75% credit card processing fee. In other words, you’ll get about 82% of the listed price.

Recommendations

This site is set up for professional caterers, not home cooks. Their turn-around times are simply too short to meet, if you don’t have the capacity and supplies to make last-minute orders.

If you have a catering business, the site suggests you set a delivery area within 10 to 15 miles of you.  Charge a reasonable delivery fee of $10 to $20. Allow relatively low minimum orders. (Eighty-seven percent of orders are for $150 or less.) And know that three-quarters of the site’s orders are made within 12 hours of the event. So you won’t have tons of lead time. Sign up with ezCater here.

For home chefs, EatWith, CozyMeal and DishDivvy are likely to be better options.