3 ms·

DoorDash costs have always been absurd, they just hide a lot of it by pricing the food higher than it normally is. I've noticed our grocery delivery services d

DoorDash costs have always been absurd, they just hide a lot of it by pricing the food higher than it normally is. I've noticed our grocery delivery services doing that, too, giving us prices on items that are higher than they are if you go to the store yourself. We'll stop using them soon. It's bullshit. Delivery costs ought to be transparent. [EDIT] Oh, and places like pizza joints that already had delivery service are starting to get a lot more aggressive about differentiating delivery vs. pick-up pricing. They've long had a deal or two at a time that's carry-out only, but now it's all the decent deals, and even some deals specify that they'll be less-good if you order delivery. Delivery can easily be 40% more expensive than carry-out, as a result, because they also still charge the delivery fees they all started tacking on a decade or so ago (which are also higher, now) and you still, despite already potentially paying $10+ more than you would have for carry-out, have to tip, because most of that money's not making it to the delivery driver.

jaywalk 4y ago
It seems like most of the prices are either equivalent to the restaurant's prices, or only slightly higher. But when I compare DoorDash to UberEats, with the food prices being the same, I have seen $10+ differences in the final total. That's when I dropped DoorDash.
- corrral 4y ago
  I just know that a couple years back when I had a couple "free delivery!" coupons from DoorDash, I struggled to make use of it in a way that wasn't a rip-off, because the food prices were so much higher than their usual menu price. In the end, to make it any kind of actual bargain, I had to be careful to order only very small amounts (one or two things), and avoid many menu items entirely. That got it down to being about the same as picking up, plus tip, which made it useful. Otherwise I was still paying a large premium for delivery, despite "free delivery".
colinmhayes 4y ago
I have to believe that a large portion of delivery markup is price discrimination. Restaurants have long looked for ways to charge more to people who are willing to pay more, but have been largely unable to because everyone gets the same menu. Delivery provides a convenient way to weed out those that will pay more by letting those who aren't pick up the food themselves.

jaywalk 4y ago

It seems like most of the prices are either equivalent to the restaurant's prices, or only slightly higher. But when I compare DoorDash to UberEats, with the food prices being the same, I have seen $10+ differences in the final total. That's when I dropped DoorDash.

corrral 4y ago
I just know that a couple years back when I had a couple "free delivery!" coupons from DoorDash, I struggled to make use of it in a way that wasn't a rip-off, because the food prices were so much higher than their usual menu price. In the end, to make it any kind of actual bargain, I had to be careful to order only very small amounts (one or two things), and avoid many menu items entirely. That got it down to being about the same as picking up, plus tip, which made it useful. Otherwise I was still paying a large premium for delivery, despite "free delivery".

colinmhayes 4y ago

I have to believe that a large portion of delivery markup is price discrimination. Restaurants have long looked for ways to charge more to people who are willing to pay more, but have been largely unable to because everyone gets the same menu. Delivery provides a convenient way to weed out those that will pay more by letting those who aren't pick up the food themselves.