DoorDash Buying Caviar from Square for $410M • Hacker News Board

Re: DoorDash Buying Caviar from Square for $410M

#91

Post by jonfw » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 11:23 PM UTC

hnuser132 wrote: post #84

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They just announced they plan on changing the policy. It has not changed yet. Also they announced they were "investigating the issue" for 4 months before, and then didn't make a change. So let's not congratulate them until its been confirmed to be actually working as drivers and customers expect.

While this was definitely not clear to the consumer, it ended up being a preferable model for the drivers as they would get a higher pay on most orders. Not saying that it should be that way, but saying they did that just to steal tips is not true. It was used to guarantee a minimum amount on orders that don't make sense financially.

What the company should have done, ethically, is to just increase base compensation for drivers. You shouldn't be able to dynamically change base compensation based on the quality of the tip that the driver is rewarded, that is pretty antithetical to the entire idea of a tipping economy.

Re: DoorDash Buying Caviar from Square for $410M

#92

Post by SilasX » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 11:24 PM UTC

conwaytwitty wrote: post #11

Was super confused for a while thinking this was about actual caviar...

I felt the same way about the name. I visited a coworker in 2014 and he was like "oh, hey, it's getting close to lunch, let's order some Caviar." And I was like, "uh, isn't that a little ritzy?"

Seriously, I don't know the logic behind behind that name.

Re: DoorDash Buying Caviar from Square for $410M

#93

Post by SilasX » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 11:25 PM UTC

MegaButts wrote: post #26

loceng wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They make a lot of profit, recycling it buy up and coming startups to maintain market share and the business model.

> They make a lot of profit I have always heard food delivery as a business is a great way to lose money. Do you have any examples of companies doing it profitably?

Every pizza chain.

Re: DoorDash Buying Caviar from Square for $410M

#94

Post by Marsymars » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 11:26 PM UTC

mm202018 wrote: post #62

I’m so confused by DoorDash’s sudden rise. I think I may have used it once. What is separating DoorDash from UberEats, Postmates, Grubhub etc?

> I’m so confused by DoorDash’s sudden rise. I think I may have used it once. What is separating DoorDash from UberEats, Postmates, Grubhub etc?

Network effects are pretty strong. Locally, I don't know anyone who uses anything other than SkipTheDishes.

Re: DoorDash Buying Caviar from Square for $410M

#95

Post by bytematic » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 11:30 PM UTC

Marsymars wrote: post #94

mm202018 wrote: post #62

I’m so confused by DoorDash’s sudden rise. I think I may have used it once. What is separating DoorDash from UberEats, Postmates, Grubhub etc?

> I’m so confused by DoorDash’s sudden rise. I think I may have used it once. What is separating DoorDash from UberEats, Postmates, Grubhub etc? Network effects are pretty strong. Locally, I don't know anyone who uses anything other than SkipTheDishes.

EatStreet or GrubHub here

Re: DoorDash Buying Caviar from Square for $410M

#96

Post by arcticbull » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 11:32 PM UTC

mm202018 wrote: post #62

I’m so confused by DoorDash’s sudden rise. I think I may have used it once. What is separating DoorDash from UberEats, Postmates, Grubhub etc?

My understanding is that each service dominates a set of markets. Caviar owns SF, Postmates owns LA, Seamless has NY (to the best of my knowledge).

Re: DoorDash Buying Caviar from Square for $410M

#97

Post by sanj » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 11:38 PM UTC

jamiequint wrote: post #90

MegaButts wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't feel upset about how they were, in my opinion, defrauding you and the driver of the tip money? After I learned about what they were doing with tips I decided not to use them again, and considering how much competition there is I really haven't lost anything of value. This isn't meant to be a triggering comment. I'm genuinely curious to learn about other people's reactions to DoorDash's former tipping system…

They weren't "defrauding the drivers of tip money" they were normalizing the variance in payments across deliveries by not directly paying the drivers tips and instead guaranteeing a minimum payment amount which was above the delivery fee. Once they modify their system and move to a system where drivers get 100% of the tips the drivers will probably see approximately the same payouts on average, just with higher vari…

Tip pooling makes sense because a restaurant experience is composed of the work of multiple players in the front/back of the house.

DoorDash drivers don’t rely on other drivers. So why should a good driver compensate for the poor tips of a bad one?

Re: DoorDash Buying Caviar from Square for $410M

#98

Post by dheera » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 11:45 PM UTC

MegaButts wrote: post #82

gandutraveler wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use doordash 2-3 times a week. It's convenient and cheaper than Uber eats with dashpass. Just remember that if your too amount is less than 6$ it doesn't go to the drivers. It's better to too them with cash

You don't feel upset about how they were, in my opinion, defrauding you and the driver of the tip money? After I learned about what they were doing with tips I decided not to use them again, and considering how much competition there is I really haven't lost anything of value. This isn't meant to be a triggering comment. I'm genuinely curious to learn about other people's reactions to DoorDash's former tipping system…

I just give $0 tips through the DoorDash website (and you have to select $0 TWICE, at both the top and bottom of the checkout page, by the way) and give them tips in cash.

That way DoorDash provides at least a partial matching contribution to my tip instead of eating from my tip.

Re: DoorDash Buying Caviar from Square for $410M

#99

Post by umeshunni » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 11:59 PM UTC

mm202018 wrote: post #62

I’m so confused by DoorDash’s sudden rise. I think I may have used it once. What is separating DoorDash from UberEats, Postmates, Grubhub etc?

Here's a recent article that shows relative marketshares:

https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/7/11/20688108/postmates-acqu...

Looks like Doordash doubled its US marketshare in the last year mostly at Grubhub's expense while others have remained more or less flat.

Re: DoorDash Buying Caviar from Square for $410M

#100

Post by aianus » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 11:59 PM UTC

jamiequint wrote: post #90

MegaButts wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't feel upset about how they were, in my opinion, defrauding you and the driver of the tip money? After I learned about what they were doing with tips I decided not to use them again, and considering how much competition there is I really haven't lost anything of value. This isn't meant to be a triggering comment. I'm genuinely curious to learn about other people's reactions to DoorDash's former tipping system…

They weren't "defrauding the drivers of tip money" they were normalizing the variance in payments across deliveries by not directly paying the drivers tips and instead guaranteeing a minimum payment amount which was above the delivery fee. Once they modify their system and move to a system where drivers get 100% of the tips the drivers will probably see approximately the same payouts on average, just with higher vari…

The entire point of the tipping system is to have a high variance. The promise, but not guarantee, of tips is what is supposed to incentivize better service.