4 ms·

I’ve been using delivery apps on and off for the past few months. Between the promos I’ve received, I’ve gotten groceries delivered for less than the items cost

by 650 5y ago

I’ve been using delivery apps on and off for the past few months. Between the promos I’ve received, I’ve gotten groceries delivered for less than the items cost let alone the gas and time to deliver them. I’ve had multiple food items delivered at a lower cost than me walking there and buying in store as well. Talking to a few drivers for the companies - its tough, but they make a decent amount in the city (4-7k a month)

Ekaros 5y ago
I think we will see crashes in food delivery eventually. As whole outside high margin items it doesn't make sense when you start to look at margin of restaurant, wage and operating costs of the delivery person and then the profit and cut for the platform, staffed by overpriced engineers, marketing people and executives...
- alexashka 5y ago
  I don't know. Pizza delivery has been around longer than I've been alive. Why does that work?
  - Ekaros 5y ago
    As said it is high margin item. Many others don't deliver as well or have the margin making food delivery actually possible.
BoorishBears 5y ago
I was you once, amazed at how badly the VCs had let me pull one over on them, and sure I'd stop if it became a bad deal. That was probably tens of thousands in spend on overpriced delivery meals making them huge profits off the initial "investment" they made in this customer Of course the promos dried up and the pricing became awful not too long into the process.
beepbooptheory 5y ago
> its tough It is so tough, like beyond just the general psychological toll of your rent being a gamified award, there is little reprieve. No vacation, no security at all. I have had so many jobs, and being a GrubHub deliverer is perhaps the most alienating, and in long term, exhausting ones ive had. I used to think "well at least people can have flexible jobs, use their vehicles", but these days I just so no reason for labor to ever be like it for anyone. Its not a model that thinks about the actual worker at all.
- Mezzie 5y ago
  I did grocery delivery for a while, and I agree that 'alienating' was a great term for it. Yeah, it was 'flexible', but I was doing it for money, so I ended up on a lot of 12AM-2AM runs for college students who wanted booze, since payouts were based on a.) how many drivers there were and b.) the cost of the order and booze meant more $$$$.
slfnflctd 5y ago
Those drivers are either unusual examples or they're lying about how much they make. I've done gig driving work in the past and still pop in on driver forums once in a while. The majority of these people are lucky to make $10-15 an hour after expenses (less now with rising gas prices, which they don't get compensated for), and a large percentage of them are operating below that. The ones making actually decent money have either figured out how to game the system - which is a transitory phenomenon as operators figure out ways to claw that profit margin back - or found some kind of luxury niche which requires having an upfront advantage like an expensive vehicle. The perks of 'setting your own hours' (which is basically a lie, if you're relying on this income you have to drive when there's demand) or 'not dealing with a boss/co-workers' (your clients are your bosses and plenty of them are horrible) really pale when you look at the overall reality. Such so-called perks are how they keep suckering math challenged drivers into a crap job with abysmal pay and no benefits, though, and despite the fact that they're an illusion it keeps working. There are huge numbers of drivers whose actual compensation is so low it would nauseate you.

by 650 5y ago

Ekaros 5y ago

I think we will see crashes in food delivery eventually. As whole outside high margin items it doesn't make sense when you start to look at margin of restaurant, wage and operating costs of the delivery person and then the profit and cut for the platform, staffed by overpriced engineers, marketing people and executives...

alexashka 5y ago
I don't know. Pizza delivery has been around longer than I've been alive. Why does that work?
- Ekaros 5y ago
  As said it is high margin item. Many others don't deliver as well or have the margin making food delivery actually possible.

BoorishBears 5y ago

I was you once, amazed at how badly the VCs had let me pull one over on them, and sure I'd stop if it became a bad deal. That was probably tens of thousands in spend on overpriced delivery meals making them huge profits off the initial "investment" they made in this customer Of course the promos dried up and the pricing became awful not too long into the process.

beepbooptheory 5y ago

> its tough It is so tough, like beyond just the general psychological toll of your rent being a gamified award, there is little reprieve. No vacation, no security at all. I have had so many jobs, and being a GrubHub deliverer is perhaps the most alienating, and in long term, exhausting ones ive had. I used to think "well at least people can have flexible jobs, use their vehicles", but these days I just so no reason for labor to ever be like it for anyone. Its not a model that thinks about the actual worker at all.

Mezzie 5y ago
I did grocery delivery for a while, and I agree that 'alienating' was a great term for it. Yeah, it was 'flexible', but I was doing it for money, so I ended up on a lot of 12AM-2AM runs for college students who wanted booze, since payouts were based on a.) how many drivers there were and b.) the cost of the order and booze meant more $$$$.

slfnflctd 5y ago

Those drivers are either unusual examples or they're lying about how much they make. I've done gig driving work in the past and still pop in on driver forums once in a while. The majority of these people are lucky to make $10-15 an hour after expenses (less now with rising gas prices, which they don't get compensated for), and a large percentage of them are operating below that. The ones making actually decent money have either figured out how to game the system - which is a transitory phenomenon as operators figure out ways to claw that profit margin back - or found some kind of luxury niche which requires having an upfront advantage like an expensive vehicle. The perks of 'setting your own hours' (which is basically a lie, if you're relying on this income you have to drive when there's demand) or 'not dealing with a boss/co-workers' (your clients are your bosses and plenty of them are horrible) really pale when you look at the overall reality. Such so-called perks are how they keep suckering math challenged drivers into a crap job with abysmal pay and no benefits, though, and despite the fact that they're an illusion it keeps working. There are huge numbers of drivers whose actual compensation is so low it would nauseate you.