Start Here: What Owners Need to Check
- This guide is for restaurant owners comparing DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub by retained dollars, not order volume.
- The first numbers to check are merchant fees, payment processing, promo funding, packaging, channel labor, refunds, and menu-price pressure.
- Start with
Contribution per order = order subtotal - platform deductions - food cost - packaging - channel labor - promo funding - refunds. - The examples below use a $30 delivery order to show why a 15-30% plan can still leave weak contribution.
- Today, pull 20 recent delivery orders and calculate contribution by platform before buying more promos.
At a Glance: What to Check Before You Accept More Orders
| Platform | Public merchant fee signal | Extra leakage to audit | Owner check | First pricing action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DoorDash | Basic 15%, Plus 25%, Premier 30% delivery commission; 6% pickup if eligible | Promotions, Sponsored Listings, tablet costs, refunds, order errors | Compare Basic vs Plus/Premier contribution, not just order volume | Raise or bundle low-margin delivery SKUs before adding promos |
| Uber Eats | Lite 20%, Plus 25%, Premium 30% Marketplace Fee; Self-delivery 15%; 7% validated pickup | Uber One order economics, ads, offers, processing/adjustments, long-distance fulfillment | Separate marketplace, pickup, and self-delivery payout | Set delivery menu prices by food cost plus packaging plus fee tier |
| Grubhub | 5%, 15%, or 20% marketing commission plans; delivery can start at 10% when using Grubhub Delivery | Order processing, delivery fee, ads, statement credits, refund/adjustment patterns | Check marketing commission plus delivery/processing, not commission alone | Keep high-margin items visible and move thin-margin items to direct/pickup |
The table is not a contract quote. It is a starting point for owner math. Your statement, plan, market, and promotions decide the real payout.
The Formula: Use Net Payout, Not Gross Sales
Gross delivery sales can make a slow week look better while cash flow gets worse. The fix is to calculate contribution per completed order.
Effective take rate =
Total platform deductions / Order subtotalContribution per order =
Order subtotal
- Platform deductions
- Food cost
- Packaging
- Channel labor
- Promo funding
- Refunds and adjustmentsWeekly channel contribution =
Contribution per order x Completed weekly ordersIf a platform raises order count but lowers weekly channel contribution, the channel is buying volume with your margin.
Example: $30 Delivery Order Owner Math
This example holds food and operating assumptions constant so you can see the impact of fee pressure.
Assumptions:
- Order subtotal: $30.00
- Food cost: $9.00
- Packaging: $2.00
- Channel labor: $1.00
- Promo funding: $0.90
| Scenario | Platform deductions | Net after platform | Owner contribution | Contribution margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controlled channel | 18% / $5.40 | $24.60 | $11.70 | 39.0% |
| Normal pressure | 25% / $7.50 | $22.50 | $9.60 | 32.0% |
| Promo-heavy channel | 32% / $9.60 | $20.40 | $7.50 | 25.0% |
On the same $30 order, the difference between controlled and promo-heavy execution is $4.20 of contribution. At 500 delivery orders per month, that is $2,100 before you even look at refunds, remakes, or order errors.
DoorDash: Plan Choice Is a Margin Tradeoff
DoorDash publishes three US Marketplace delivery plans for restaurants with 75 or fewer locations: Basic at 15%, Plus at 25%, and Premier at 30% commission per delivery order. Pickup can be 6% for eligible partners when pickup menu pricing matches in-store pricing.
For an owner, the decision is not “which plan is cheapest?” It is “does the higher-commission plan create enough incremental contribution to pay for itself?”
Check this before upgrading or staying on a higher tier:
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Did Plus or Premier increase completed orders, or just impressions? | Visibility only matters if it creates retained dollars |
| Are DashPass orders higher AOV than non-DashPass orders? | Higher frequency can still be weak if baskets are small |
| Are Sponsored Listings and promos tied to high-margin items? | Promoting thin-margin SKUs accelerates leakage |
| Does pickup pricing match in-store pricing if using the lower pickup commission? | Pickup economics change if eligibility is lost |
If you cannot prove higher weekly contribution, treat the higher tier as a test, not a default.
Uber Eats: Marketplace Fee Plus Offer Pressure
Uber Eats lists US Marketplace pricing at 20% for Lite, 25% for Plus, and 30% for Premium. It also lists a 15% self-delivery fee and a 7% pickup fee with validated in-store pricing.
That public fee is only the first line of the calculation. Offers, ads, Uber One eligibility, long-distance fulfillment, and order adjustments can change the retained dollars.
For owner review, split Uber Eats orders into three groups:
| Order group | What to measure |
|---|---|
| Marketplace delivery | Effective take rate and contribution by menu category |
| Pickup | Whether lower fee economics hold after price-parity requirements |
| Self-delivery | Whether staff time, driver cost, and service quality beat marketplace delivery |
Do not use one menu price for all three groups unless the contribution math proves it works.
Grubhub: Marketing Commission Is Not the Whole Cost
Grubhub lists Marketplace plans at 5%, 15%, and 20% marketing commission. It also notes Grubhub Delivery can start at 10% when you use its delivery fleet, and additional fees such as order processing can apply.
That makes Grubhub attractive for owners who want more control over exposure, but the math still needs statement-level review.
Use this owner checklist:
| Line item | Owner action |
|---|---|
| Marketing commission | Compare plan exposure against incremental contribution |
| Delivery option | Separate self-delivery from Grubhub Delivery orders |
| Order processing | Include it in effective take rate, not overhead |
| Ads and credits | Count credits only after they show in the statement |
| Direct ordering | Push repeat customers to commission-free or lower-cost direct channels |
The lower public commission can be useful, but only if the total deduction stack stays lower after fulfillment and processing.
Why Customer Fees Do Not Solve Owner Margin
Customers see delivery fees, service fees, small-order fees, and sometimes priority or local fees. Those fees can make the customer think the restaurant is already protected.
It is not.
Customer fees usually do not replace the merchant commission. They can also reduce conversion, which pushes owners toward discounts and promos. That is why a “cheap for customer” order can still be expensive for the restaurant if it requires a promo to convert.
The owner rule is simple: customer checkout fees explain demand behavior, but merchant payout decides whether the channel is worth scaling.
14-Day Owner Audit
Run this before changing plans or adding promos.
- Export 30 days of statements from each platform.
- Group orders by platform, fulfillment type, and top menu category.
- Calculate effective take rate for each group.
- Add food cost, packaging, channel labor, promo funding, refunds, and adjustments.
- Flag any SKU cluster under your minimum contribution target.
- Reprice, bundle, or remove the weakest delivery SKUs.
- Compare direct, pickup, and third-party contribution weekly.
- Spend promo budget only on items that stay profitable after the discount.
Do not judge a delivery app by gross sales. Judge it by retained dollars after the full order stack.
Decision Rule
Keep a platform, plan, or promo only when it grows weekly contribution dollars. If it grows orders while lowering contribution, treat it as paid acquisition and cap it until repeat customers move to direct or pickup.
Related Guides
- Uber Eats Merchant Fees (US, 2026)
- DoorDash Real Take Rate: Why Your 30% Tier Costs 40%
- Your $30 Delivery Order Nets $11: The Real Fee Math (2026)
- Same Prices for Delivery and Dine-In? Here’s the Loss