5 ms·

> hide the fact that the menu prices are often jacked up by 50% or more. Wheat in metric tonne lots direct from the farmer costs about $350-400/tonne, or about

> hide the fact that the menu prices are often jacked up by 50% or more. Wheat in metric tonne lots direct from the farmer costs about $350-400/tonne, or about $0.35-$0.40/kg. Kroger enriched white bread costs about $3.00/kg, more than seven times as much. There are a lot of middlemen in there, each of which raises the price. On the other hand, I don't have to store a metric tonne of wheat, and maintain my own milling and baking facilities (I do make my own bread, but that's actually more expensive than buying cheap white bread... worth it, though). Similarly, with DoorDash I don't have to interrupt what I'm doing, go to the restaurant, stand in line/wait for a table, then travel back home. Those are costs I avoid by using Dd. Is it worth it? It depends on the individual. But no one is being forced into the transaction, and they are clearly adding value for many.

ec109685 5y ago
The amount you are paying for the convenience of delivery should be clearly laid out. To claim that delivery fees are X when really, your are paying significantly more is disingenuous.
DavidPeiffer 5y ago
>But no one is being forced into the transaction, and they are clearly adding value for many. Eh, there have been many stories over the years about these delivery platforms doing pretty awful things to insert themselves as a middleman where they aren't wanted. Here's one from a couple days ago. [1] Other strategies I've seen stories about include claiming the location on Google maps and changing the phone number listed, buying a domain for the restaurant and hosting the menu (setup to order through the delivery service), and modifying the prices shown in the app to help cover delivery costs which could distort the perception of the value of the restaurant unfairly. I'm not sure where I personally fall on it all. On the one hand, a generic delivery service should be able to exist, and if that generic delivery service ordered food, maybe they should get served just as any other takeout does. On the other, restaurants are ending up with bad reviews because consumers sometimes think they're ordering directly from the restaurants and end up with cold food, stolen food, etc. Restaurants might package things differently if they knew they'd be in the car longer than the average drive home. I'm empathetic to restaurants wanting to protect their reputations. This is a bigger issue than Amazon delivering your package 30 minutes late, the food has a pretty short time where it'll be considered "really good" by the consumer, and a delivery service maximizing profit would like to get just one more delivery on the trip if at all possible. [1] https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/anti-doordash-restaurants-phoenix-fnb-carlys-bistro-hana-japanese-eatery-11537214 https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/anti-doordash-re...
MAGZine 5y ago
for places that never had delivery people, its a good proposition to expand their network and get food into more people's hands. ... but almost every pizza place has their own dedicated delivery people. In short, by using the middleman, you're scamming yourself (through higher costs, and worse delivery because you're using random/shared agents rather than dedicated), or you're scamming the business (who ends up having to eat some of the costs). That said, if you don't care about the business and you don't care about money (a single place to order pizza from is more valuable), then order away.
- Turing_Machine 5y ago
  > you don't care about money See above. I "don't care about money" in this context in exactly the same way that I "don't care about money" by not buying my own wheat in tonne lots and milling it into flour myself. Yes, that would be considerably cheaper (if I ignored the value of my time and the associated storage costs) but it would be highly inconvenient, and I don't just spend enough on bread to make it worth my time.

ec109685 5y ago

The amount you are paying for the convenience of delivery should be clearly laid out. To claim that delivery fees are X when really, your are paying significantly more is disingenuous.

DavidPeiffer 5y ago

>But no one is being forced into the transaction, and they are clearly adding value for many. Eh, there have been many stories over the years about these delivery platforms doing pretty awful things to insert themselves as a middleman where they aren't wanted. Here's one from a couple days ago. [1] Other strategies I've seen stories about include claiming the location on Google maps and changing the phone number listed, buying a domain for the restaurant and hosting the menu (setup to order through the delivery service), and modifying the prices shown in the app to help cover delivery costs which could distort the perception of the value of the restaurant unfairly. I'm not sure where I personally fall on it all. On the one hand, a generic delivery service should be able to exist, and if that generic delivery service ordered food, maybe they should get served just as any other takeout does. On the other, restaurants are ending up with bad reviews because consumers sometimes think they're ordering directly from the restaurants and end up with cold food, stolen food, etc. Restaurants might package things differently if they knew they'd be in the car longer than the average drive home. I'm empathetic to restaurants wanting to protect their reputations. This is a bigger issue than Amazon delivering your package 30 minutes late, the food has a pretty short time where it'll be considered "really good" by the consumer, and a delivery service maximizing profit would like to get just one more delivery on the trip if at all possible. [1] https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/anti-doordash-restaurants-phoenix-fnb-carlys-bistro-hana-japanese-eatery-11537214 https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/anti-doordash-re...

MAGZine 5y ago

for places that never had delivery people, its a good proposition to expand their network and get food into more people's hands. ... but almost every pizza place has their own dedicated delivery people. In short, by using the middleman, you're scamming yourself (through higher costs, and worse delivery because you're using random/shared agents rather than dedicated), or you're scamming the business (who ends up having to eat some of the costs). That said, if you don't care about the business and you don't care about money (a single place to order pizza from is more valuable), then order away.

Turing_Machine 5y ago
> you don't care about money See above. I "don't care about money" in this context in exactly the same way that I "don't care about money" by not buying my own wheat in tonne lots and milling it into flour myself. Yes, that would be considerably cheaper (if I ignored the value of my time and the associated storage costs) but it would be highly inconvenient, and I don't just spend enough on bread to make it worth my time.