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If you're providing a service (discovery+delivery), you're not exactly a rent seeker. Rent seeking implies charging rent on some asset. What's the asset in this

If you're providing a service (discovery+delivery), you're not exactly a rent seeker. Rent seeking implies charging rent on some asset. What's the asset in this instance?

fzeroracer 6y ago
I was more explicitly referring to rent (which is what was mentioned in the comment chain), but I'll bite. Grubhub was known to list restaurants on their app without their permission, mark up the prices and then pocket the difference. Is this not the definition of rent seeking behavior? They're forcefully inserting themselves as a middle-man so that they can siphon money off the top. Regardless of how you define providing a service (landlords are 'providing locational support services') a lot of how Grubhub functions is by obfuscating costs and skimming off the top.
- JAlexoid 6y ago
  If your definition of rent-seeking is so low, then 90% to 100% of all businesses are rent seeking enterprises. PS: Forcefully inserting? Do they hire goons to force themselves onto the customer?
  - fzeroracer 6y ago
    Is there another way you would define Grubhub hosting restaurants on their site without the restaurants permission so they can skim money off the top?
    - ikiris 6y ago
      I think is literally the first sale doctrine in a nutshell. You don't get to say what someone does with your product once you sell it. They're free to resell it as their own service.
      - fzeroracer 6y ago
        Well no, you can't. This isn't a matter of them reselling your product, this is them impersonating your business and acting like an official partner. Not only that, but they're passing down all liability back down to you (eg if the food is cold or if there are delivery issues) for something you never approved of. If Grubhub acted like a reseller and took on the associated obligations you'd be correct. But they don't. So first sale doctrine does not apply.
        ikiris 6y ago
        Pretty sure both doordash and grubhub make it very clear they are doordash / grubhub and doing things for you, instead of pretending to be the restaurant that is making your food. They also in fact do not pass on the liability, but frequently make me whole when the food is not up to standard. Have you even used doordash or are you just trying to bash them?

If you're providing a service (discovery+delivery), you're not exactly a rent seeker. Rent seeking implies charging rent on some asset. What's the asset in this instance?

fzeroracer 6y ago

I was more explicitly referring to rent (which is what was mentioned in the comment chain), but I'll bite. Grubhub was known to list restaurants on their app without their permission, mark up the prices and then pocket the difference. Is this not the definition of rent seeking behavior? They're forcefully inserting themselves as a middle-man so that they can siphon money off the top. Regardless of how you define providing a service (landlords are 'providing locational support services') a lot of how Grubhub functions is by obfuscating costs and skimming off the top.

JAlexoid 6y ago
If your definition of rent-seeking is so low, then 90% to 100% of all businesses are rent seeking enterprises. PS: Forcefully inserting? Do they hire goons to force themselves onto the customer?
- fzeroracer 6y ago
  Is there another way you would define Grubhub hosting restaurants on their site without the restaurants permission so they can skim money off the top?
  - ikiris 6y ago
    I think is literally the first sale doctrine in a nutshell. You don't get to say what someone does with your product once you sell it. They're free to resell it as their own service.
    - fzeroracer 6y ago
      Well no, you can't. This isn't a matter of them reselling your product, this is them impersonating your business and acting like an official partner. Not only that, but they're passing down all liability back down to you (eg if the food is cold or if there are delivery issues) for something you never approved of. If Grubhub acted like a reseller and took on the associated obligations you'd be correct. But they don't. So first sale doctrine does not apply.
      - ikiris 6y ago
        Pretty sure both doordash and grubhub make it very clear they are doordash / grubhub and doing things for you, instead of pretending to be the restaurant that is making your food. They also in fact do not pass on the liability, but frequently make me whole when the food is not up to standard. Have you even used doordash or are you just trying to bash them?