Caterer FAQ

No monthly fee, no listing fee, no charge for leads. We take a platform commission only when you win a booking — based on your plan: 12% on the free Starter plan, 10% on Pro, 8% on Premium. It's a percentage of the total order, deducted automatically across the deposit and balance; you receive the rest in your Stripe Connect account. Lower your commission (and get more/wider leads) by upgrading your plan on the Billing page.

When a Customer books your quote, they pay a 30% deposit through Stripe, then the remaining balance through CaterBid before the event. Both go through your Stripe Connect account (minus our platform commission for your plan — 12% free / 10% Pro / 8% Premium), and are released to your bank about 7 days after the event date — or 24 hours after the Customer confirms it went well. You don't chase the balance yourself; CaterBid collects it on platform.

It depends on your cuisines, dietary capabilities, capacity range, and city. Caterers with rare specializations (Wazwan, Andhra non-veg, Malayali sadya) tend to see fewer but higher-fit leads. Multi-regional caterers in dense desi metros (Bay Area, NY/NJ, DFW) see the most.

Across the United States. We're growing fastest in major desi population centers but accept caterers and customers anywhere in the country.

No. You see leads that match your profile and pick the ones you want. Skipping a lead has no penalty. We don't share unmatched leads with you in the first place — you only see requests where you could realistically serve.

After the Customer books your quote and you've confirmed you can take the event. Until then, both sides communicate only through the in-app chat. After booking, our messaging continues to mediate until the event day, when contact info unmasks automatically for delivery coordination.

We expect every confirmed booking to be honored. If you absolutely must cancel, contact us through the support form (the Contact link in the footer) immediately. The Customer is fully refunded, and we'll help find them a replacement. Repeated cancellations may suspend your account.

Whatever your state and county require for commercial catering — typically a food-handler certificate, commercial kitchen permit, and general liability insurance. CaterBid does not verify these (yet); you assert ownership of them when you sign up under our Terms.

Yes — list every region you can do well. Customers see them all. We recommend listing only what you can deliver consistently — a single bad event hurts more than a dozen missed leads.

On your profile, check every dietary capability you genuinely support. Customers filter on these — if you check 'Jain capable' but can't actually do a Jain section, you'll get matched into events you can't serve. Be honest; the matching is what makes CaterBid worth your time.

Use the in-app chat for everything. If the conversation goes off the rails, reach us through the support form (the Contact link in the footer) and we'll mediate. Off-platform deals during the bid stage hurt everyone (including future leads we send you).

No. Customers see all quotes side-by-side, but quotes are private from other Caterers. We won't tell you what to charge — you set your prices based on your business.

The faster the better. Most Customers book within 24-48 hours of submitting. Caterers who quote within 4 hours win disproportionately.

You can toggle your profile to 'inactive' anytime — you stop appearing in matches but your existing bookings still flow normally. To close entirely, contact us through the support form (the Contact link in the footer). Your data is purged 30 days after closure (we retain accounting records for 7 years per US tax law).