Hacker News Reader

Comment by whywhywhydude | Hacker News Reader

If this massively increases the cost of online deliveries, won’t it reduce demand significantly? Unless they limit or freeze who can do online deliveries (like they do for uber and lyft), I am not sure if the workers will really be better off.

View on HN

I suspect that a. Adequate pay for the delivery person, and b. Adequate profit for both the restaurant and delivery app result in a price few would be willing to pay, yes.

You can only slice this pie so many times.

I've only ever ordered gig-economy delivery a handful of times and stopped because of how expensive it was. That being said I have some friends who order restaurant delivery upwards of five times a week. They must not be deterred by the cost and I genuinely wonder how much more prices would need to increase in order to break their habit.

Demand and tips. I tip my delivery drivers because I know they aren't making $20 an hour. I won't anymore.

In New York City you need to leave a tip otherwise the delivery worker won't pick up the order (found this out when trying to tip in cash one time). Tips don't seem to be optional when it comes to delivery in urban areas.

I've a feeling the delivery fee will increase, customers will continue to tip otherwise they won't receive their food, and overall the price of delivery will increase and the number of customers willing to foot the cost will lower.

I live in NYC, but I've always tipped. I thought that they couldn't see the tip until after. Factoring that in, I read it the same way as you. That said, I order food less than once a month simply because I find it such a rip off (already).

I wonder whether Fresh Direct / grocery delivery prices will go up as well.

I think probably some workers are better off and some worse, with weighted average being worse.

If I had to guess I’d say it’s people doing this as a side gig and that are good at gaming the system that will come out ahead. Those trying to do it full time for all of their income will come out behind.

I'm assuming that there may be a large drop off in delivery orders as the costs will by borne by the consumer. Maybe people will have to go out like ye olden days and get food themselves. Maybe not, some people are willing to pay more for convenience...

I haven't found delivery to be any cheaper than it was 20 years ago. It actually seems more expensive, which makes sense because an entire business model with thousands of employees added itself to the process.

Virtually all of the cost of delivery is borne by the restaurants. So they can and will just pass the increased costs onto the restaurants and the consumer is unlikely to see any change.

That assumes a margin in restaurant pricing that simply doesn't exist.

Parent comment is talking about how prices are increased artificially on delivery menus especially those listed on Doordash. If you order pickup from the restaurant (via their actual website or a phone order) you won't face this.

An example would be 5 Spice in Brooklyn: their menu (1) vs. the Doordash menu (2) have significant price differences.

(1) https://5ivespicebk.com/home-5ivespicebk#865c19de-ce54-43a2-...

(2) https://www.doordash.com/store/5ive-spice-brooklyn-132997/

> won’t it reduce demand significantly?

Of course it will. Supply+Demand, it's the law.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com