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Portland approves 10% cap on fees that food delivery apps can charge restaurants

oregonlive.com

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Re: Portland approves 10% cap on fees that food delivery apps can charge restaurants

#512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why people in central areas of the city order delivery. There are 10 amazing restaurants within easy walking distance of me, why order delivery when I can walk for 5 minutes instead?

5 minute walk then 20 minute wait then 5 minute walk back. When you're earning $50+ an hour, which many in cities are easily clearing, it starts to make a lot of sense to pay someone else to do your waiting for you.

Amusingly, you have to spend the same amount of time exercising, to work off the health effects of eating restaurant food.

Re: Portland approves 10% cap on fees that food delivery apps can charge restaurants

#514
post #513

There was a word in the past for current SF technology companies that are taxing others for passage through their "lands". Robber Baron I suggest we update the Wikipedia to add "technologist" behind "industrialist" on the title.

Please do not update Wikipedia in the manner you have described. The update you describe would change the Wikipedia pages in question to be ideological in nature, but Wikipedia's preferred ideology is to attempt neutrality. Such an edit would be seen mostly by Wikipedia editors, who may be somewhat sympathetic, but would nevertheless revert your changes.

Wikipedia is not an effective venue to litigate whether technology companies are good or bad. Thank you for not wasting Wikipedia editors' time.

Re: Portland approves 10% cap on fees that food delivery apps can charge restaurants

#515

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People tip the waiters when dining in . Depends on the location if those waiters share with the rest of the staff. Picking up food usually has no tips. Delivery involves tipping the driver, which delivery apps already support and they don't take any fees from it.

> Picking up food usually has no tips. I typically tipped even when picking up food. And restaurant staff remember that, precisely because so few people do it.

Who the does the tip go to? The person handing you the order?

Re: Portland approves 10% cap on fees that food delivery apps can charge restaurants

#516
How many times and places do price controls need to be tried before these idiot government functionaries realize that for any such policy there are winners and losers. Here the losers are those who cannot be profitably served under a fixed cost limit, and so who will not be given the option to pay for delivery as a result.

Re: Portland approves 10% cap on fees that food delivery apps can charge restaurants

#517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5 minute walk then 20 minute wait then 5 minute walk back. When you're earning $50+ an hour, which many in cities are easily clearing, it starts to make a lot of sense to pay someone else to do your waiting for you.

I hate this line of reasoning and so do many economists. It’s not the “opportunity cost” you should be measuring. It’s the “opportunity cost of the next best alternative.” If I am an hourly worker making $50 and going to get food would be an hour that I wouldn’t be working, then yes it is worth $50 to not spend it going to get food. But if I am choosing between watching Netflix and going to get food. The next best al…

Most simply, some people value their leisure time as much or more than their hourly wage.

I find this become more true the more someone is compensated and the more they have to work.

Re: Portland approves 10% cap on fees that food delivery apps can charge restaurants

#518
It's outrageous how these companies have taken charge over individual businesses.

Some restaurants don't even know that they're listed on these delivery services and get their search results more or less hijacked by internet savvy delivery startups with infinite money.

In other cases they feel as though they have no choice due to the popularity of the online ordering services, and they get into contracts they don't really understand and have their already razor-thin margins eaten into.

Re: Portland approves 10% cap on fees that food delivery apps can charge restaurants

#519

So as I understand it Deliveroo and Uber eats charge 25% of the food costs, plus delivery fees on top. Uber eats I know is losing money and Deliveroo are losing a few hundred million per year on revenues of about $500m. Basically cutting the food percentage like this to 10% would imply delivery services are permanently unprofitable? Why have all these restaurants signed up if 25% is so unfair?

Why can't the delivery services just raise the delivery fee?

because they're all competing with each other by burning through VC money to monopolize the market

Re: Portland approves 10% cap on fees that food delivery apps can charge restaurants

#520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Picking up food usually has no tips. I typically tipped even when picking up food. And restaurant staff remember that, precisely because so few people do it.

Who the does the tip go to? The person handing you the order?

The places I give such tips at typically give them to the kitchen and staff.
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