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Comment by cfitz | Hacker News Reader

While I understand it is a business like many others, it'd be genuinely nice if GrubHub would stop airing their "restaurants are our family"/"support local restaurants" advertisements.

If we really want to support local restaurants (and give them better chances of post-COVID survival), we should do exactly as stated above: call in to order directly.

Do not give GrubHub, Uber Eats, and similar services a large portion of your order total just for being an easy-to-use middleman. The vast majority of restaurants around today are capable of processing payments and handling pickup/delivery themselves.

While these restaurants fight to stay alive in unprecedented times, the least we can do is put in a bit more effort for an order of food we would have placed and paid for anyway.

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"Do not give GrubHub, Uber Eats, and similar services a large portion of your order total just for being an easy-to-use middleman"

Thank for the advice, but I highly value an easy-to-use middleman. How many orders would these restaurants miss out on if they didn't offer the easier option? And it's not just the ease of use (viewing the menu, adding comments, seeing real-time delivery status) but it's that fact that these services offer a centralized way to find restaurants to order from in the first place. I'm not saying I love the current balance of power, but much like with old-style taxi services, the new way is an undeniably better experience for the end user. People will never abandon the easier way, and much like with more traditional boycotts, relying on consumer action is a losing strategy for enacting change.

I agree somewhat. There definitely is a time where cutting profits to achieve more volume results in more revenue and profit. Not sure if it exactly is happening here but you do have a good point

Those services will be there no matter what, true. And yes you can use it to discover new restaurant. But YOU, as an individual, can decide to not use them. Another thing I suggest is for you to ask the manager / owner of the small restaurant you frequently order from. Just ask point blank, would you rather me ordering it through the app or ordering through the phone. Based on their answer, you might actually change your mind.

At the end of the day, would I rather give 30% away to Uber, or would I rather pay directly the restaurant. I prefer encouraging small business, especially RIGHT NOW!

But then who will do the delivery?

It depends what delivery service the restaurant contracts. It can be in-house, a 3rd party like Relay, or a delivery app like Doordash. But even if Doordash delivers, the restaurant still keeps more commission from the order itself if you order directly.

I didn’t know the restaurant could dispatch doordash on their own! That’s interesting.

Personally I use postmates, and with all the fees they stick on it, I’ve assumed it didn’t cost the restaurant anything. Does anyone know if this is true?

Many restaurants and small chains have direct order websites, or middleman sites that charge much less. Check for that first.

Restaurants are pricing in the 30% cut, I know of no restaurants offering anywhere near a 30% price reduction for pickup - so why would I go for the more complex option? I'd love to call-in an order for a 20% reduction in price, or use a competing service for a 10% reduction.

It's entirely plausible that for many restaurants running an online ordering system/delivery network costs them 20-30% of the order price regardless.

Restaurants price the 30% cut into UE and GH but increasing the prices of food offered through those apps.

They don't provide a 20% discount from the prices on their own websites/flyers because those are the normal prices.

I know that DoorDash specifically also raises the price of individual menu items by a $1 or $2 sometimes compared to paying the restaurant's menu price directly.

I stopped using Grubhub for pickup because the restaurants would consistently raise their prices on the app to make up for Grubhub's prohibitively expensive fee.

So THATS why the prices are more expensive! I don’t use Uber eats or grub hub because of this lack of transparency. I figured the app was increasing food prices and then charging me for delivery and a tip

I've noticed higher costs too, but wondered if it had to do with having to order items separately instead of as a meal. For example, ordering a sandwich, fries, and drink, instead of a combo with the same thing.

When I found it, it was for a place called Ike's in the Bay Area. All of the individual sandwich prices were $1-$2 more than if you ordered directly from the Ike's app. It wasn't because of a combo price reduction or anything. (And funnily enough, Ike's uses DoorDash's white label delivery service to actually deliver the food.)

You can use other services that charge a flat monthly fee, like ChowNow, etc.

« call in to order directly »

Then I would be 95% sure to get at least two things in my order wrong, rather than just 50% sure to get one wrong.

(There are several reasons I don't order out, and that's a biggie.)

Call me cynical, but I think "Any man who must say, "I am the King", is no true king." is a mentality that goes well when viewing advertisements.

My favorite are the ones that are directly opposite, like BP being Beyond Petroleum.

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