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> So everyone is losing except the consumer that is getting a product for below the true cost? The Uber Eats / Doordash execs are not losing money, even if the

> So everyone is losing except the consumer that is getting a product for below the true cost? The Uber Eats / Doordash execs are not losing money, even if the company is. They're rich as fuck and building their fortune on quasi-slave labor from thousands of immigrants who patrol the streets with bikes/motorbikes all night long for poor wages The restaurants lose by having to deal with fucking algorithms and a non-existing company support. They get to deal with angry customers when the app accepted payment for something that's not available today, or when the shop has already closed, for example.

prostoalex 5y ago
Curious why no one challenged them. The market has high locality, so you wouldn't even have to mount a nationwide delivery service. Pick a second-tier city, sign up a dozen or so of popular restaurants, get a catchy domain like TulsaDelivers.com or SpokaneTakeout.com, and find some local driver partners. Is the app loyalty that high at consumer level? Or would a localized delivery app still not make the margins to offer better terms to drivers?
- southerntofu 5y ago
  There are people doing this, eg. coopcycle.org. But there's a few barriers: - people who are not from the neighborhood will be familiar with UberWhatever but not with your local platform (network effect) - local platforms can't get away from working regulations (and that's a good thing) so they need much higher margins than multinationals in order to respect the law - small local platforms need actual money/clients to grow, while multinationals like Uber get VC/whoever money "for free" to spend at a loss just to gain market traction in hope for future profit So it's like can you and a few neighbors fight with sticks against the tank of a well-funded invader? Sure, but the odds of success are not great. My best regards to worker coops worldwide who help make capitalism a nightmare of the past.

prostoalex 5y ago

Curious why no one challenged them. The market has high locality, so you wouldn't even have to mount a nationwide delivery service. Pick a second-tier city, sign up a dozen or so of popular restaurants, get a catchy domain like TulsaDelivers.com or SpokaneTakeout.com, and find some local driver partners. Is the app loyalty that high at consumer level? Or would a localized delivery app still not make the margins to offer better terms to drivers?

southerntofu 5y ago
There are people doing this, eg. coopcycle.org. But there's a few barriers: - people who are not from the neighborhood will be familiar with UberWhatever but not with your local platform (network effect) - local platforms can't get away from working regulations (and that's a good thing) so they need much higher margins than multinationals in order to respect the law - small local platforms need actual money/clients to grow, while multinationals like Uber get VC/whoever money "for free" to spend at a loss just to gain market traction in hope for future profit So it's like can you and a few neighbors fight with sticks against the tank of a well-funded invader? Sure, but the odds of success are not great. My best regards to worker coops worldwide who help make capitalism a nightmare of the past.