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Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage

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Re: Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage

#261

Post by mnd999 »

Kiro wrote: post #249
hrktb wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Works fairly reliably in supermarkets No it doesn’t. Not just because they can be badly calibrated, but also because the range of weight they have to deal with must make it hard to manage any sane range. The only SCO I’ve seen doing a decent job at dealing with weight use a binary check (“was there any product at all added to the to total weight of the basket ?”) and they still miss products like lollipops or anyth…

Works great in any supermarket I've been to with a self-scanning systems and that's been the standard in my country for many years now.

“Unexpected item in bagging a area” gets me every time.

Re: Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage

#262

Post by wrboyce »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #48
013a wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine the OP meant through the DoorDash app? Recently, I've used the Dominos, Papa Johns, or Pizza Hut apps, which are, you know, fine enough, they get the job done, but critically: there's no surcharge beyond what you'd pay over the phone. I would be confused why anyone would buy a chain pizza like this through DoorDash (or a similar service). Beyond the one tenuous benefit of not having to install another app;…

You may be right, and if so then I agree that it doesn't make sense to order PJ's, Domino's, or Pizza Hut through a generic app. My (perhaps incorrect) interpretation was based on the fact that I've never seen one of the big chains available in the generic delivery apps.

In the UK the three big pizza chains (Dominos, Papa Johns, Pizza Hut) are on the two big delivery apps (Uber Eats, Deliveroo). I’ve never ordered any of them via it for reasons outlined upthread, with the additional reason that not only is delivery more expensive the chain-specific voucher codes are not available.

Re: Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage

#263

Post by cameronh90 »

Traster wrote: post #251
cletus wrote: post #166

Wow, that was great. And honestly good on them for profit-taking on this arbitrage. The author likes to pin this on zero-interest rates ("ZIRP") and that certainly explains why the system is awash with cash but I'd say he's missing a key point here. When I moved to NYC (~10 years ago) I didn't order delivery at all. Honestly it's a huge pain. To call someone up and try and communicate an order to someone who probably…

This is like the iPhone SE conversation - there was always a big group of people who would tell you that the reason they buy the iPhone SE is because it's the smallest iPhone. But its very clear that the company making iPhones is certain that people buy the iPhone SE because it's cheap. It's the same here. Everyone will always tell you that these knew gig economy companies are so much better! Their service is better,…

People here (UK) use these apps even though they're more expensive than when the restaurant handles the delivery. I never paid for a delivery in my life before Deliveroo/UE, but the user experience is so much better with them that it's hard not to.

For example, it's a little bit confusing how to find my place, so something as simple as not having to explain it every time I call up (and inevitably have it transcribed incorrectly) makes a huge difference in friction.

Re: Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage

#264

Post by tomcooks »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #248
ornornor wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s fine, I wasn’t trying to expose you, I just wanted to understand. It looks like everyone is happy, the restaurant gets cash, the shelter gets food, and you get... a lot of pizza for the rest of your life! I don’t think I’ve eaten 5,000$ worth of pizza in my life so far haha

> I wasn’t trying to expose you No worries. I don’t feel anyone did anything wrong here. > a lot of pizza Orecchiette and Nebbiolo :).

> Orecchiette and Nebbiolo

Any judge with a surname ending with a vowel would pardon you, should they get pinged by DD

Great that you're donating to the homeless!

Re: Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage

#265

Post by lambentor »

> the only viable endgame is a promise of monopoly concentration and increased prices

This is it! I've been involved with Foodpanda and Delivery Hero. The name of the game is, indeed, becoming the #1 player in the market. The tool of the game was M&A. That's what you see everywhere with Delivery Hero, Takeaway Group, Just Eat trading positions across the world. They are effectively cutting and slicing the world into countries and regions where each of them is #1 and the others don't compete. Such "collusion" creates incredibly profitable markets, as the #1 doesn't need to share 30% of top-line with Facebook and Google, can charge a 15% take rate to restaurants AND additionally, a delivery fee to consumers.

Re: Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage

#266

Post by imgabe »

akiselev wrote: post #245
imgabe wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No idea. It is probably not anywhere near the number of salaried employees who bully local governments into passing wage laws they will never experience the unintended consequences of. Yet somehow they still feel entitled to decide for other people what working arrangements they should be allowed to make for themselves.

Same question, what does A have to do with B? I've had enough herring today.

Let's assume for a moment that people are not helpless imbeciles who need us to tell them what to do and that they choose the best option available to them, within the constraints of their life. Let's further assume that they are more familiar and better equipped to balance the constraints of their lives than we are.

Then we can deduce that if we remove the option they have chosen by making it illegal they will necessarily be left with a worse option. Since if there had been a better one, they would have taken it.

If we feel that the best option they have is not good enough because it makes us feel bad or whatever, then the question we should ask is "How can we make better options available?", not "How can we take away the best of the available options?"

Legislating a price floor does not magically change the underlying economics of a business. It just makes the jobs below that floor go away.

Re: Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage

#267

Post by peteretep »

eitally wrote: post #146
peteretep wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've spent many thousands of dollars on app-delivered food over the last few years (Foodpanda, Uber Eats, Grab Food, Lineman, and Deliveroo). I use the apps because: - GPS tracking of the driver, and helpful notifications - Discovery of new restaurants - Detailed menu (and occasionally useful suggestions of menu items) - I don't have to create a new account or fuck around with giving some restaurant my credit card -…

That last bit only applies in dense downtowns. In the Bay Area, if I'm hungry right now and that happens to be roughly dinner time, I'm waiting 50-70 minutes for a food delivery.

My guess is that your app of choice can show you estimated delivery times for different restaurants based on distance and avg preparation, adding yet another reason for using

Re: Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage

#268

Post by SimonPStevens »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #220

I cut this deal with my neighborhood Italian restaurant! I texted the owner about being miffed they hadn’t told me they were on DoorDash. He replied. They aren’t. We compared pricing, and found the prices advertised are way off from what the restaurant charges. So I placed a $5,000 order to the neighbourhood homeless shelter. DoorDash paid him over $20,000, and I get free pasta for the rest of the year. (My neighbour…

I don't understand how this works.

If your order to doordash cost $5000, why did they pay the restaurant $20,000? That would suggest their prices are 4 times cheaper to the customer. But I thought everyone complained they were more expensive.

Surely DD are still keeping their commission from your order?

What have I misunderstood?

Re: Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage

#269

Post by jjevanoorschot »

ngngngng wrote: post #64

I don't understand why doordash, uber eats, deliveroo, and similar business are starting to exist. Restaurants have been running successful delivery operations independently for ages. And there are many software offerings to help businesses get set up with delivering food. Why do we need a centralized on? Is it just the benefit of being able to browse in one app/website everything available for be delivered to you?

In the UK before Deliveroo you could only order food from traditional take-away restaurants (Chinese, Indian, Pizza, etc). Delivery time could easily take north of 1.5 hours. Deliveroo takes 20-30 minutes. And you can order from really good restaurants.

Re: Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage

#270

Post by deadly_syn »

yoaviram wrote: post #244
three14 wrote: post #223

The real arbitrage opportunity is for a competitor to DoorDash to place orders through DoorDash, and pay the delivery person a small fee plus let the delivery person collect the DoorDash fee. You could scale this up to huge numbers. Curious if doing so would survive a lawsuit. On the one hand, DoorDash could argue that it's unfair competition, but only by admitting that their deliveries are priced too low, which itse…

Or serve a different version of the pizza place's website to the Doordash scraper with lower prices?

Wouldn't be too hard to do, use a PNG for your human menu and embed a "door dash" priced menu below.
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