* Posted this on the food board, but it doesn't seem to get very much traffic so I thought I would bring the question to you ladies as well! Cliffnotes at the bottom, as it is a rather long one.
I just received a quote from my potential caterer and based on the breakdown of prices he has provided for the rentals and the actual rental company's webiste prices, I noticed that my caterer almost doubled all the prices! So where it actually costs $5 per person for all the china and silverware (according to the actual website) my caterer has quoted $10 per person.
I know that the different choices for flatware and such can sometimes lead to discrepancies, but I used the most expensive choices when determining prices based on the website. I also thought at first that maybe the caterer was just including more items in his quote (but the breakdown on what was included was pretty comprehensive) and it's consistent across the board. Even chairs (the white, padded ones as stated on my contract) were doubled in price: from $3.35 in the rental catalogue to $7 according to my caterer.
Is this standard for caterers to increase prices for rentals? I feel like it must be if my caterer is so blatantly doing it. I mean, we know which company he is using and the prices are listed clearly online--we were obviouly going to check.
But at the same time, it doesn't seem right to me that he is profiting in this area. The rental company is already profiting--if not it wouldn't be in business--and we are paying the caterer additional set-up and break-down fees. He should make a profit on the food he is serving for us. Right?!
Either way, I feel like if it's that much cheaper, I'll just handle the rentals myself and pay the rental company to set-up and break-down instead of the caterer. So what do you guys think? Have you run into this problem, or is this something customary that I was not aware of?
Just curious, because if this is not something caterers normally do, then I will of course run away from this guy as fast as I can before I sign anything! And if it is acceptable, then I will just have to plan for a little more DIY in terms of rental arrangements go.
CN: My caterer is charging double what the rentals actually cost! Is this normal, or should I find a new caterer?