It's a beautiful thing — all it takes is the click of a button, and minutes later, your food shows up at your door.
While ordering from food delivery services like DoorDash, Postmates or GrubHub is certainly convenient, you may be spending more than you think.
"American consumers A, we love to eat. B, we love our restaurants. And C, any way we can get it to coming to us easier, we seem to be willing to do that," said John Barker, president and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant Association.
When you order from delivery services, you’re going to be hit with some extra fees.
For example, when you place an order through DoorDash, you're paying:
- A service fee — anywhere from 10% to 15% of your subtotal
- A delivery fee — anywhere from $1.99 to $5.99
- In some cases, if your order is below a certain amount, you’ll also be charged a "small order fee”
- Plus, an optional tip for your driver
Financial professional Joe Wilson says if you’re trying to save money, you have to be cognizant of what choices you're making.
“You have to really sit down and say, 'this is what we're going to allocate to food,' and you might not have the luxury of paying for convenience," Wilson said.
Barker said not only are customers paying extra fees, but so are the restaurants.
“It ranges really anywhere from about 8-9% up to you know, we know that some people when they're just getting started on this, when we're working with the delivery companies, it can be as high as 30%," he said.
Barker said that means many restaurants you order from are actually marking up prices on their online menu to compensate for those additional costs from the delivery company.
We wanted to see just how much.
To order a chicken burrito bowl at Chipotle, it costs $9.45.
When you switch to the delivery option, the same bowl is $11.85.
At McDonalds, picking up a Big Mac will cost you $5.09. If you switch to delivery, the same sandwich is $6.39.
Wilson says unless you're intentional, the fees will add up quickly.
“All of a sudden, you're like, oh my goodness how much money did I actually spend? Take some time, pause, and really develop a spending plan," Wilson said.
If you order from delivery services frequently, you may save money by purchasing a membership, such as DoorDash's "DashPass."
For $9.99 a month, you'll pay $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on your orders with DashPass.
There are also student memberships available through DoorDash for $4.99 a month to eliminate delivery fees on your orders.
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