4 ms·

I know of at least one clearly-garbage behavior, which is the “Taxes & Fees” category (initially hidden). Basically instead of saying something like “$7 DoorDa

I know of at least one clearly-garbage behavior, which is the “Taxes & Fees” category (initially hidden). Basically instead of saying something like “$7 DoorDash fee” they say “$5 DoorDash fee” and tucked under “Taxes & Fees” is another $2. This kind of crap is why companies just aren’t trustworthy without reasonable regulation. They default to “trick the customer” every chance they get.

erhk 5y ago
Google artificially inflates the prices when it proxies for postmates so ive taken to phoning the business directly and tipping employees directly rather than let thiry party skimmers abuse my community
Salgat 5y ago
I don't understand how people can tolerate a 50% markup to save 15-25 minutes of driving. Not only is the food marked up higher, but then they add the fees, the tips, etc. I'd rather just use that money saved to buy even more takeout later or at least make my order larger for leftovers.
- makecheck 5y ago
  My way around fees is to greatly increase what I order to dilute the fee, e.g. I might order 3-4 days of stuff. Even before apps, e.g. back in the day when ATM fees kept increasing, I kept doubling the amount of cash I took out so that the fee change didn’t matter. In general I think businesses count on most people not noticing or finding it too inconvenient to change behavior. Probably the same principle behind forcing people to spend hours on hold to make companies do things they don’t like, such as cancelling things.
- ncallaway 5y ago
  > I don't understand how people can tolerate a 50% markup to save 15-25 minutes of driving They probably don't. They probably don't realize that the food is marked up in addition to the fees. I would imagine, most users look at the $5 fee, decide that's worth delivery, and assume the prices of the food are the same they'd be paying to the restaurant itself.
- Jxl180 5y ago
  1.) a lot of my Uber Eats and DoorDash/GrubHub orders are via vouchers and gift cards given to me by businesses and vendors. It also has all the features to make expensing meals to a corporate account much easier. 2.) If I were a lawyer or freelancer billing at $400 or more per hour, I’d gladly pay the 50% markup to have my food personally delivered so I can keep working and making money. 3.) A 50% markup on a $12 dollar order is $6. There are many times I’d rather just spend $6 for the privilege of not interrupting whatever I’m doing — I personally value my time way higher than $6.
- 2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
  I tried Uber Eats once because I had a voucher. Even with the voucher, I didn’t save any money versus picking up myself and it took longer. The voucher pretty much went to the fees and tips.
- Hermitian909 5y ago
  It's all about how you value your time. That 50% markup is $7+ dollars. If you really don't feel like driving you might price your time close to however much you price your time at work. If you're making minimum wage, your time is worth a few cents a minute, driving may be a good deal! If you're more highly paid and making ~$2/min post-tax 15 or more minutes may be "overpaying" in time, so paying for delivery makes perfect sense.

erhk 5y ago

Google artificially inflates the prices when it proxies for postmates so ive taken to phoning the business directly and tipping employees directly rather than let thiry party skimmers abuse my community

Salgat 5y ago

I don't understand how people can tolerate a 50% markup to save 15-25 minutes of driving. Not only is the food marked up higher, but then they add the fees, the tips, etc. I'd rather just use that money saved to buy even more takeout later or at least make my order larger for leftovers.

makecheck 5y ago
My way around fees is to greatly increase what I order to dilute the fee, e.g. I might order 3-4 days of stuff. Even before apps, e.g. back in the day when ATM fees kept increasing, I kept doubling the amount of cash I took out so that the fee change didn’t matter. In general I think businesses count on most people not noticing or finding it too inconvenient to change behavior. Probably the same principle behind forcing people to spend hours on hold to make companies do things they don’t like, such as cancelling things.
ncallaway 5y ago
> I don't understand how people can tolerate a 50% markup to save 15-25 minutes of driving They probably don't. They probably don't realize that the food is marked up in addition to the fees. I would imagine, most users look at the $5 fee, decide that's worth delivery, and assume the prices of the food are the same they'd be paying to the restaurant itself.
Jxl180 5y ago
1.) a lot of my Uber Eats and DoorDash/GrubHub orders are via vouchers and gift cards given to me by businesses and vendors. It also has all the features to make expensing meals to a corporate account much easier. 2.) If I were a lawyer or freelancer billing at $400 or more per hour, I’d gladly pay the 50% markup to have my food personally delivered so I can keep working and making money. 3.) A 50% markup on a $12 dollar order is $6. There are many times I’d rather just spend $6 for the privilege of not interrupting whatever I’m doing — I personally value my time way higher than $6.
2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
I tried Uber Eats once because I had a voucher. Even with the voucher, I didn’t save any money versus picking up myself and it took longer. The voucher pretty much went to the fees and tips.
Hermitian909 5y ago
It's all about how you value your time. That 50% markup is $7+ dollars. If you really don't feel like driving you might price your time close to however much you price your time at work. If you're making minimum wage, your time is worth a few cents a minute, driving may be a good deal! If you're more highly paid and making ~$2/min post-tax 15 or more minutes may be "overpaying" in time, so paying for delivery makes perfect sense.