Doordash vs. Direct
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A while ago, I commented that online grocery shopping was cheaper if I went directly to the store's site (and paid the $4 delivery fee) than if I used Instacart. The difference was $8 on a $50 order, and the store doesn't accept tips, either.
Last night, Mrs. George wanted Italian beef sammiches. Portillo's certainly has the reputation here, but we prefer a local outfit, Buona Beef. We get the "Family Pack" - it's a pound of Italian Beef, 5 rolls, hot and sweet peppers, and the best potato salad in the world.
So, I looked at Buona's site, and here's what I came up with.
Note, it says "Delivery provided by Doordash."
If I order from Doordash, here's what I got (I kept the tip the same - it was suggested by Buona):
Quite the difference.
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Yeah, there can be variation. In this case it is the price of the item itself. Some vendors charge a premium price to cover Doordash's fees which are pretty high. Same thing applies with Instacart - higher prices, less selection if you go through Instacart's site.
It's a jungle out there.
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For things I can get locally, I prefer to order them directly from the merchants rather than through a middleman like Doordash. The merchant can turn around and use Doordash or Uber or whatever to deliver, that's up to the merchants. I believe ordering directly from the merchants gives me the most accurate information about the goods and the most up-to-date information about what is available, and I don't have to worry about the middleman screwing up my order as they forward it to the merchants.
Just in case you're thinking "what about Amazon.com" ... things I buy from Amazon.com are things that I typically cannot get locally (even simple things like a USB cable, I usually have better luck finding the exact specs. browsing Amazon.com than looking in local stores). On the delivery front, "Prime" delivery changes the whole game. I think the likes of Doordash and UberEats are also trying to get users to subscribe to a Prime-like service where you pay a fixed monthly fee to get "free" deliveries. Don't know how that will work out, though. The frequency and time sensitivity for the delivery of prepared food are very different from that for non-perishable goods.
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I have used Doordash's subscription plan for a couple months and it works out fine. I even seem to get better service. That may be coincidental as they work to improve operations. If we use it three times a month it pays for itself. We have already used it four time this month, so....
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All the start ups are losing money like crazy, let’s just say that the prices we get are subsidized by investors. That era is over. There are increasing volumes of articles about millennials who have built a lifestyle around free news, cheap Uber, cheap Airbnb whatever…. And now the costs are spiraling up to the actual cost once all the middlemen are paid off.
I think at the end of the process which is still a problem as George pointed out…. Is that labor and middlemen are expensive and all the anomalies will sort out and the inherit less cost of you going direct or picking up the stuff yourself will be reflected in what you pay.
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@loki said in Doordash vs. Direct:
All the start ups are losing money like crazy, let’s just say that the prices we get are subsidized by investors. That era is over. There are increasing volumes of articles about millennials who have built a lifestyle around free news, cheap Uber, cheap Airbnb whatever…. And now the costs are spiraling up to the actual cost once all the middlemen are paid off.
I think at the end of the process which is still a problem as George pointed out…. Is that labor and middlemen are expensive and all the anomalies will sort out and the inherit less cost of you going direct or picking up the stuff yourself will be reflected in what you pay.
In a vacuum, that's true of a lot of things. But what happens when those companies run out of investor money is that they simply go under.
In the case of Doordash, Grubhub, etc., COVID was an absolute boon to their businesses. I suspect they'll be fine, and prices aren't going to spike all that much. Especially when the smart restaurants are hitting back with more unique ways of staying in business.
