With gas prices on the rise, what and how do you charge for delivery? Looking ahead at orders for the summer and fall do you use the same cost as you have now?

I charge $.75 per mile but wondering if I should change that.

We charge $1/minute round trip (based on the average estimated time from Google Maps with and without traffic).

For wedding cakes I include delivery & set up at no charge for a 10 mi radius, anything beyond that I charge by the Hr rountrip $40/ per hr.

Birthday & other cakes that they have the option to pick up I charge $15 within the 10 mi radius and then the same rate for farther.

Consider both the hourly rate for the delivery person and the cost of gas, just like everything else it is going to vary by region.

I do not charge differenr rates for different seasons

I use a very, very good and reasonably priced delivery company run by two men. I offer this service to customers and they pay me if they want it, I do not mark up the delivery fee they charge. These guys invoice me at the end of the month. If the customer doesn't want to pay it, they can drop by my bakery and pick up. I can't afford to close up and not be at my shop for a 10.00 delivery fee if I were to do it myself. I am a one-person show at them moment so if I am out delivering, I will likely be losing biz from walk in customers...

I will be setting up weddings on Saturday afternoons for free. I am closed then, and would rather do that myself, especially cos I can take photos.

$50 flat fee, two blocks or 20 miles. I rarely do farther than that.

We offer free delivery up to 10 miles from our location, beyond that we check the fuel cost on Google maps and then charge for time on top of that.

Oh you know what, I'm sorry, it's actually Mapquest that has the fuel cost. Once you enter the addresses and click "Get directions", it takes you to the screen with the directions, and at the top it has Total Travel Estimate and Fuel Cost. You click on calculate, enter the mileage your car gets, and it tells you cost for that distance based on fuel costs in your area. HTH!

Remember that delivery fees should cover more than just your gas. It should cover your time, the use (wear and tear) of your vehicle, which includes tires, oil changes and depreciation (wait until you try to trade in that delivery vehicles with the much higher mileage on it!), and lost opportunity costs.

it's much much more than the cost of gas.

The last time gas went up to $4/gallon, I implemented a delivery fee of $1.25/round trip mile based on mapquest.

Locallly, cakes over $150 are free, less than that is $35. Outside the central AR area, I charge $1 per mile roundtrip based on Mapquest mileage from my shop to the venue.

I charge differently depending on where it's being delivered to and how aggravated I will be getting there and getting back home.

If I am headed straight in to Los Angeles, I'm going to be fit to be tied by the time I get back, even if it's technically only twenty miles away, we're talking a minimum of a two hour ride and lots more stopping than starting. If it's headed away from Los Angeles, I will most likely charge a lot less for twenty miles. So I charge based on time and aggravation.

I also go by how much the cake order is. For instance if the cake order only serves 30 people or so, I'd rather they just pick it up. If they want delivery, I see how far away they are and I charge well for delivery.

The more cake they order, the more likely I am to throw in a free delivery for someone local or a discounted delivery for a farther distance.

For instance I just had a pretty distant customer order cake...I told them it would be $150 delivery but if the cake went over $1000, then it would be cut back to $100 delivery (its about a 2 hour each way trip).

[quote/]Thanks! Wish Google Maps did have it because I prefer it over Mapquest but it will be useful in the future.[/quote]

You're welcome! I was really glad to discover that feature, it's really quick and easy for estimating fuel cost!

Here is the link to figure out your gasoline costs. You just click the Gas Calculator button (top, middle of the page). And then fill in the info.

http://gasprices.mapquest.com/?area=national