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Chapter XXXVII: Commission Fees from DoorDash & Uber Eats and How it Could Affect Restaurants You Deliver From

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One thing I noticed when doing Uber Eats and DoorDash was that not all local restaurants in my city were participating with the big food delivery behemoths. While some eateries eventually latched on, it made me wonder why some put it off. The big name fast-food places have obviously never removed themselves from these services. But localized restaurants play a major dice game going along with the major players.

Then I started digging in to the details of how restaurants work with DoorDash and Uber. The latter companies always take significant commission fees from the restaurants as a major payback for the exposure. Smaller restaurants can benefit from this, of course, if also taking a potential loss if they don’t get enough Uber or DoorDash orders.

The major problem is many restaurants get lured into the top-tier commission fees, often putting the business in jeopardy just because they’re lured into the enhanced exposure promise. If you own a restaurant, or just delivering for Uber Eats and DoorDash, what’s really going on with the commission fees? The future may look a little more interesting as restaurants figure out more creative ways to get food to their customers.

How Much Are Restaurants Paying in Commission Fees?

It might sound like a ripoff, but the most basic tier for both of the famous food delivery services already tops off at 15%. That may sound like a lot to take out for a restaurant just getting started. Even then, a basic plan hardly scratches the surface on what DoorDash or Uber can do for an upstart eatery.

Their Plus plans take out a 25% commission, not including an additional 6% for pickups. However, this offers a lot more visibility for the business when marketing in other ways can cost more. And it always helps when someone sees that a new restaurant can deliver an item quickly through an Uber or DoorDash driver.

While the 25% Plus plans are popular, evidence shows most restaurants are delving into the Premier plans that take out a whopping 30% in commission fees. No doubt a lot of localized restaurants are lured in based on what the Premier tier offers. After all, DoorDash offers growth guarantees, including expanded delivery radiuses. They even promise commission refunds if a new restaurant makes fewer than 20 orders during a month.

Add in other fees Uber and DoorDash take out (often operational fees, and, you know, What the Hell fees), we’re talking close to 40 or 50% in commission grabs. If you’re just starting a new restaurant, your margins are already on thin ice. Having to pay out nearly half your profits on commissions to DoorDash or Uber is a major back-breaker.

Regardless, I’ve seen some local fast-food joints here in Salem, OR finally take on DoorDash after personally wondering why they previously hadn’t.

Do Your Local Restaurants Participate in Uber or DoorDash?

There were several local restaurants here in Salem, OR that didn’t do DoorDash, and one in particular still doesn’t. The first of these was a local fast-food franchise called Hawaiian Time. For my entire first year of doing Uber and DoorDash, I kept driving by their locations and puzzled over why I was never called there to pick up. Finally, a year later, I received an order from there. I asked the woman at the drive-thru pick-up window if they’d held off on using DoorDash until then. She said they had, but were giving it a try to help find and gain more customers. They already had a unique menu, and it seems to have helped them as of the last time I did a DoorDash pick-up there.

Then you have slightly larger franchises like coffee drive-thru Dutch Bros. So far, they have drive-thru shops in only 19 U.S. states, with full intention of becoming national. The interesting thing is my local Dutch Bros locations have no association with Uber or DoorDash, or at least when I delivered. Because of their intended expansion, this might change in another year or two from this writing. 

Let’s also keep in mind that some local restaurants or franchises have more than enough business from the local community and don’t need DoorDash. Dutch Bros above have long car lines every day, making the delivery services probably unnecessary. This is unlike Starbucks and regional coffee drive-thru Black Rock Coffee. I picked up nearly daily at those equally popular coffee places.

As you go out and do delivery pick-ups, you may find yourself visiting the usual suspects most of the time. That is, McDonalds, Starbucks, Jack in the Box, and Popeye’s as just a few. The national company-driven fast-food places can easily afford a 30-50% DoorDash commission takeout and still bring in millions per year. 

Local restaurants are trying to compete with them, so sometimes take a chance with the higher commission tiers. Unfortunately, they end up in debt when DoorDash takes out a huge chunk of their profits, despite the amazing exposure. The balance on that is very tricky, if perhaps still profitable when giving it some time.

So, that local restaurant you WANT to pick up from may be abstaining from DoorDash—for now. Or, they may just decide to take a chance in avoiding the delivery services all together.

Will More Restaurants Drop Uber and DoorDash Due to High Commission Fees?

Operating a localized restaurant is already a major business risk, but many new ones keep popping up. Local Salem restaurants here often have a hard time, though many do take on DoorDash as I’ve noticed over the last several years. There’s more localized restaurants using the delivery apps than those not. This said, many restaurants here don’t last beyond five years.

With more effective marketing methods out there now, local restaurants may start dropping Uber and DoorDash in favor of customers doing direct ordering through the eatery’s website. Creating a marketing plan just for that can be done a little cheaper via online means than paying a DoorDash commission fee for every sale.

This might mean buying ad space in the online realms using SEO techniques so those who search local restaurants can easily find that local place in a Google search. People still search for restaurants this way, and/or using ChatGPT or Grok on X. But then, do people still want a DoorDash delivery? 

Some restaurants do their own deliveries, particularly pizza places. Many of them still use DoorDash, though, to not overwhelm the delivery drivers. Regardless, balancing that out with customers who’d rather pick up in-person could lead to a better advantage for a few. 

I mean, the bad publicity of Uber deliverers and Dashers dipping into a customer’s food are all over the place by now. With an eroded lack of public trust in recent years with the sign of any bag tampering, we could see more local restaurants deliver on their own.

It probably won’t hurt the big food delivery titans. Due to national fast-food companies still raking in profits daily, they’ll stick with DoorDash and keep former and latter in the black. The hope for businesspeople may be that their localized restaurants won’t have to rely on Uber and DoorDash just to become a reasonable success. 

One might wish this as a parallel to those who deliver for the delivery services, simply because they’re forced to and have no other options. Hopefully they’ll have new lucrative options as much as your favorite local fast-food joints.

In Part XXXVII, I’ll take on the topic of recurring customers, and new statistics showing families as the top Uber & DoorDash users. How long will families be able to afford using these delivery apps over the singles?

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Chapter XXXVI: Creating or Dealing with Elaborate Door Security While Doing DoorDash or Uber Eats

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Perusing information on X lately is a bit of a gamble what with all the quackery and other questionable content seen there in the Elon Musk era. You still see videos pertaining to DoorDash and Uber Eats, though, and it’s usually controversial content—like deliverers rebelling against no tips as just one example. Recently, I saw a related video that stood out from the others. It was about a woman who sets up elaborate safety procedures at her door when having food delivered from Ubers and Dashers.

Now, I can’t say for sure if any of that was really true. Evidence is there it might have been done as a set-up to gain clicks. But it seemed overly elaborate to be a fake. 

With increasing mentally ill people out there today, it’s more than possible many people create their own security procedures at their front doors when having food or drink delivered. I mean, we’ve already seen evidence people with short fuses are out there delivering—probably because they have no other means of income.

This doesn’t demean being a Dasher. All of the ones I encountered when delivering were friendly and intelligent individuals. The ones who might pose a threat are perhaps more likely to avoid conversations with their fellow deliverers anyway. And I wouldn’t blame anyone for setting up basic or complex security at their door when having something delivered.

What’s really going on out there, and would you put up with someone’s detailed security measures to deliver food to their door? Also, let’s expand with whether you’d do the same with an Uber or Dasher delivering to your own abode.

How Far is the Security Going?

Based on the above video seen on X, it’s mostly women taking these measures out of precaution. You can’t blame them in the age we live where you’re never really sure who’s lurking around your house. No doubt men are doing the same security here and there.

For the record: I never encountered a customer who directed me to a security process in delivering their items. Then again, the “Leave the order at my door” note on the app was always a signal they didn’t want to answer in person. It’s the simplest method to bringing a safe delivery method. Some people don’t even trust that, though, considering people have their food stolen off their doorsteps far too often.

I always worried that someone was going to steal a food bag near a customer’s door, particularly when having it exposed to anyone walking or driving by. I’d frequently see strangers walk past while seeing me drop the bag at someone’s doorstep. In many cases, however, the customer opened the door to retrieve their food mere seconds later, often murmuring “Thank you”, or just waiting until I was out of view. 

Once in a while, I was given specific directions to deliver the item to the customer’s back door, a shed, or some other nearby, isolated area. This was usually because they’d have food bags stolen before at their front door, or because the front area wasn’t completely accessible.

While I never encountered someone giving me security directions in-person, it appears it’s becoming an increasing trend. What happens if you encounter someone like this, including a multi-step process to make it safe for the person?

This could delay you since time is always of the essence when it comes to prompt deliveries. Regardless, the customer is always right, and you should (arguably) go along with it.

Should You Talk to Uber and DoorDash About What the Customer Did?

If you happen to encounter an overly elaborate door security procedure that wastes too much time, you should definitely call Uber or DoorDash agents to tell them what happened. The customer may get a talking to on taking too much of your time in delivering safely. That person may have to come up with a simpler solution for you to deliver without it feeling like a prolonged, multi-step authentication process.

In the X video I referenced above, it showed the woman in question implementing several extended security procedures to ensure her own safety. One of those was spreading salt on her walkway to capture the delivery person’s footprints. She also forces the delivery person to put on a handcuff outside her door before handing off the food to ensure the deliverer doesn’t invade her home.

It didn’t stop there. She also has the delivery man show his I.D. card, including providing his fingerprints for a complete background check. Then she sends out a remote-controlled drone to capture the guy’s car license plate. This ensures it’s a real delivery person and not an illegal immigrant or other fake. The drone also follows the car to make sure it moves out of the area and doesn’t linger (see my blog piece about “lingering”).

Unfortunately, the one who posted the video called the woman a “liberal”, giving an unexpected political bias to who might do this. The woman in the video made a good point, nevertheless, about how she can’t trust anyone anymore. 

If this is true, would you feel comfortable setting up a similar security protocol at your home?

Getting Your Food Faster

Some people just want their food handed to them due to being in a hurry. You may be one of those people, hence having to deal with an Uber or Dasher handing the food off to you. Would you trust a deliverer handing food to you at your door—including if you were home by yourself?

Well, I’ll tell you this: I’d trust myself since I was always a reliable and conscientious deliverer for Uber and DoorDash. But, I’m consciously aware that others aren’t like me and are basically forced into delivering food to survive. 

There’s been concern about illegal U.S. citizens delivering for a while, despite Uber and DoorDash now providing better methods to make sure real residents with licenses work for them. Traffic offenses are also scoped out through a background check done once per year. Not that this would completely eliminate any potentially psychotic people out there.

From your perspective, imagine a deliverer delivering your food, yet you fear the delivery person looking a bit creepy when spotted on your Ring camera. You need your food fast and don’t want it dropped off at the door. What are you going to do since you’re the only one home?

Outside of building a security moat loaded with piranhas, your best bet is to speak through your Ring camera when the person rings the doorbell. You can just tell them to place it at the door since you’re likely feet away inside anyway.

This makes for a good compromise without forcing the deliverer to go through ridiculously long security measures. Oh, and it helps to have dogs who bark at your door as proof you’re completely secure. Dogs intimidated me more than once at many front doors.

Trusting Your Deliverer

One of the most satisfying things about doing DoorDash and Uber is that you’re going to have a lot of repeat customers after a time. If you stick with it for at least a year, you’ll start delivering to a group of regulars you’ll get to know. When I had to deliver to these people, we’d chat in text like longtime friends. 

It’s here where you’ll know right where to go and what to expect every time. Best of all, the customer has complete trust in you based on your past track record. That means either a routine tip amount or more during each visit.

Those of you who live in slightly smaller towns or cities will probably have repeat deliverers. Get to know them by chatting in the provided text boxes (without flirting). You’ll be able to have worry-free deliveries this way based on a long-standing track record. Just don’t set up quicksand in your yard for the still mysterious guys delivering from Amazon.

In Chapter XXXVII, I’ll look at the issue of high commission fees from DoorDash and Uber. If you wonder why these delivery services aren’t being used in your favorite local restaurants or fast food places, it’s usually due to thin margins. This could affect you and DoorDash in some restaurants starting their own delivery services.

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Chapter XXXIII: Past and Future Issues with Self-Employment Taxes When Doing Uber Eats & DoorDash

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Maybe it’s still inevitable that death and taxes are still inevitable, even if the latter is now potentially on the chopping block. And perhaps death can be overcome someday under certain circumstances. While the chances are possibly lesser than 50/50 President Trump will eventually eliminate American income taxes, let’s assume taxes (including self-employment taxes) are still going to be around for a while. DoorDash and Uber Eats will most definitely still warn you about that.

One thing I learned as a freelance writer before the Uber/DoorDash days was, self-employment taxes are a massive head scalp. If you make up to $30,000 or $40,000 per year with your own business, you can expect to pay about $3,000 annually in non-withheld tax. While I paid a little less with DoorDash and Uber, it was still expensive. The IRS continues to think you can pay all that in quarterlies, due four times per year. But, when other expenses get in the way, it’s often challenging to pay even those amounts.

It’s one thing to think about, seriously, if you start working for DoorDash. Some people with no experience paying SE tax still don’t realize you’re an independent contractor when delivering food & drink. And this often gets people into tax debt, something I admit happened to me. 

Don’t sit around assuming the IRS and/or income taxes are going to become extinct before the end of 2025. If you’re adamant on doing Uber Eats or DoorDash to make extra money, it’s time to plan a self-employment tax strategy until further notice from the President of the United Taxable States.

Let’s dive into what you might have to pay, how to lessen that amount, and what taxes may look like in a future DoorDash world.

Will You Have to Pay $3000 in Self-Employment Taxes?

Yes, it’s very possible you’ll have to pay in the neighborhood of $3,000 if you do Uber or DoorDash a lot. I met a few people during my Dashing times who told me they did DoorDash as their main job. You really shouldn’t, despite the extreme temptation thanks to the freedom of working your own hours and driving open roads. 

I learned the hard way that making money while working from home or via car has a steep tax price. You’re basically chained to the U.S. economic system of having to work for a company (mostly on-site in their workplaces) if you want your taxes withheld.

This was one reason I had to start working for Amazon after working as a freelance writer for 15 years. Anyone who’s gone through self-employment tax hell probably made the same moves due to the 15% SE tax bracket.

Again, just don’t do DoorDash as your only job since you’ll likely end up making far too much money that’ll be taxed. Your best bet is to just make it a side gig with another job. The ideal sweet spot is to simply do DoorDash once per week on a day off. This can fill in well to help you make extra income without getting a steep tax bill by the following April.

There’s still many who do Uber and DoorDash more than three days, though. If you insist on this, be sure to set aside money to pay your quarterlies. This can be a major challenge if you have other expenses you have to pay each month. Unless you have some money set aside for emergencies (and many don’t nowadays), I recommend not doing DoorDash beyond one or two days.

Just keep in mind Uber and DoorDash will ultimately try to push you to deliver as often as possible. Much of that is corporate hype, though it’s entirely up to you based on what you need to do. In the chance you have no choice but to use DoorDash as a means of making money, the best scenario is to work out a payment plan with the IRS after you get the tax bill. This is something I had to do. Fortunately, the IRS became more like a kind uncle in recent years in helping you set up long-form, time payment systems. 

With major IRS cuts recently, however, perhaps the existing agents aren’t as kind as they were over the phone.

What About Adding Tips to Your Taxable Income?

The recent “No Tax On Tips Act” in Congress leaves it open now to many employees being able to write off tips as an exemption rather than part of income. While President Trump will supposedly sign this if it passes in both houses of Congress, it’s only designed for restaurant and hospitality workers. Because Uber and DoorDash deliverers are independent contractors, no taxes on tips there won’t yet apply.

Yeah, you probably just scoffed at that piece of info. It also broaches another discussion on whether you should report any tips you get from DoorDash when filing your taxes. If you’ve already done Uber or DoorDash, then you know most customers tip through the app. With this, any tips you get are already on record and added as income.

Once in a while, though, you’ll get tips in cash from your customers. During a delivery run to an outside town here in the valley of Oregon, I received a $100 cash tip from two women who realized I had to drive a bit of a distance to get there. “That was a long fucking drive, right?” One of the women said. “Yeah”, I uttered while my eyes bulged out at the sight of a hundred dollar bill in the other woman’s hand.

It’s cash tips like this that bring a lot of ethical debate when filing your taxes. Considering it’s cash, some might say it’s all under the table and doesn’t apply. Tax professionals will say you absolutely need to report cash tips in the chance the IRS audits you. Others may even say the chances of you being audited are slim, unless you’re making $100,000 per year as a Dasher.

In this case, I say it’s up to you whether to report cash tips. Most of the cash tips I made while delivering were generally from a few bucks to $10. Only occasionally did I receive bigger cash amounts from wealthy families living in the hills of my city.

One thing for sure is that any tips added through the apps will pump up the income you make. Just going by the base pay would otherwise lessen your earnings by far.

What is the Future of Self-Employment Taxes While Doing Uber and DoorDash?

I’d lobby tirelessly (if having the time) to abolish self-employment taxes in general. But I don’t think they’ll ever go away, unless income tax is abolished while Trump is in office. Those of you who do Uber or DoorDash over the coming year or beyond will likely still have to pay SE tax on every penny you make.

By chance income tax goes away, it might attract more people to sign up to deliver for Uber Eats and DoorDash. The only reason many people still want to do food deliveries is no doubt because they don’t initially realize how deep of a head slice self-employment taxes will give them. 

You might want to know that DoorDash has been lobbying in Congress to get tax exemptions for those earning tips while delivering. The company wants gig workers who work through apps to enjoy the same tax savings as W-2 employees. Their goal is to add this to the “No Tax On Tips Act”, which still isn’t law at time of this writing.

Reportedly, Uber is advocating the same thing for their drivers and deliverers. Just when you thought corporations like this are greedier than ever, they’re morally standing up for the deliverers to at least save on their taxes.

You can probably say that the IRS scares DoorDash and Uber anyway. The more taxes people have to pay on delivery earnings, the least likely anyone else will want to do the same. 

Once the reality of self-employment taxes gets out there, the stats may already show the majority of Uber deliverers and Dashers are those just stuck in it due to inability to have any other job.

It’s best to say use DoorDash and Uber in moderation—something you’d say to all your food and drink recipients. 

In Part XXXIV, I’ll cover detours in making deliveries, something you’ll need to think about if roads are blocked—or blocked by trains—while in a rush to deliver.

Chapter XXXII: The New “Buy Now, Pay Later” Model at DoorDash and the Implications for Deliverers

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This segment was originally going to be about self-employment taxes, though now it’s a new breaking news alert on an interesting (if concerning) DoorDash development. It’s about the recent business deal between “Buy Now, Pay Later”, AI-powered service, Klarna, with DoorDash. The intention is to allow more food payment flexibility to economically suffering Americans. And while that might sound like a noble venture, it’s also brought on a lot of deep thinking on social media (yes, really!) about what this portends in the way of adding on to personal debt.

I’m going to dive into this and see what it means for DoorDash customers—though, most importantly, how it affects you, the deliverer.

Based on the recent press release on this deal, both Klarna and DoorDash seem excited at the potential customer convenience. On the DoorDash end, they want people to buy more than just food, with electronics and other spendier things now in the delivery mix. For Klarna, it’s the usual corporate giddiness of being able to partner with a major business partner to up their clout.

Klarna is far from the only “Buy Now, Pay Later” service available. Over the last 5 years, many of these companies have popped up worldwide, with the most familiar to you likely being Affirm, or Apple’s Pay Later. Nearly all let you set up “Pay in 4” installments, some with interest and others not.

I admit to using Affirm a few times, though not for food. It was strictly for more expensive items, like electronics or household products. With Klarna generally ranked third for the most familiar BNPL services, it appears they’re one of the first to venture into allowing later payments for basic food deliveries.

One thing we all know about these companies is that they’re no doubt already being abused. Some people can’t resist putting in a promise to pay later, then renege because they have other expenses to pay, or just don’t have the money.

Let’s look at what that might mean in the way of “food debt” becoming a new depressing issue in America.

Will Americans Abuse the Klarna/DoorDash System?

In a word: Probably. You’ll find those who think these BNPL systems are just loan sharks who let people get into further debt trouble. It’s hard not to argue this stance in a time when economic hardship is at a new high. The divide between being rich and poor is more distinct now than ever, and many don’t even have enough money to buy decent amounts of food.

The idea you can order something from Jack In The Box and pay for it later in the month is far too irresistible. But what happens when someone decides to take risk and just never pays the bill? There may be more people who do that than anyone knows when many want faster fast food fixes.

Not only do fast food restaurants lose money this way, it also hurts DoorDash’s reputation. Plus, you have another little thing that should be the main focus: How does it affect the deliverer financially?

I’d say Klarna should have a provision of taking money out of the customer’s bank account if the bill isn’t paid before the end of the month. Some payday services do this if the loan isn’t paid on the initial due date. All of them also typically take legal action by garnishing paychecks.

The social media world also thinks food debt will become a major new problem in our United States of America. Sure, it sounds improbable, yet lack of any major penalties from Klarna could let the public abuse the system without too much worry. With many already deep in other debt, they may figure food debt is the least of their problems. 

As someone who delivered for DoorDash, I also take aim at what this does in deliverers being properly compensated. There hasn’t been any true clarification on what might happen if customers don’t pay their bill right away. It’s worth a quick look at what this means in terms of base pay—plus tips drivers depend on.

Will DoorDash Deliverers Still Be Paid On Time?

One thing about DoorDash is, with every prior customer being forced to pay in the moment, tips often helped drivers make well over $100 in a day. Once I was at Platinum status, I’d always make at least $100, and usually $120-$130 if delivering six or seven hours. Most of that was based more on tips than just the base pay.

DoorDash doesn’t even mention the drivers in their new press release about the Klarna deal. They just focus it on the customer, which is what they’ve always done anyway. I’d fully expect them to say all deliverers will still be paid the same as they have. The fact that they haven’t makes me wonder if changes are ahead.

Not being paid right away is one of the worst feelings in the world for those who’ve done freelancing work. When I worked as a freelance writer for 15 years, any delayed payment was a big problem. Even though it didn’t happen a lot with me, there were a few times when payments were moved to a week ahead, creating predicaments on getting bills paid on time.

The greatest thing I discovered about DoorDash was the chance to get paid nearly instantly via card transfers. If you had a DasherDirect debit card, all money you made in a day when on that, allowing you to cash in immediately. It was only if you waited for the automatic payment system to pay into a bank account when you had to wait until the upcoming week. Transferring to the DasherDirect card meant a small fee, despite being minuscule. This was worth it just to have the money faster.

With many DoorDash customers no doubt paying later now via Klarna, will deliverers have to wait to get their payments until later in the week or beyond? It’s a valid question to ask considering anyone having to use Klarna is assumed to not have any money…right away. Maybe some have no money at all. 

Yes, this means the immediate tips deliverers enjoyed might not happen right away either. How can a customer leave a tip if they haven’t even paid for their food? The base pay for the order would have to be delayed as well since that’s the approximate amount of the order itself.

Unless DoorDash pays the deliverers ahead of time based on what they think the customer is going to do, it may mean delayed payment systems. It would truly turn into freelancing work where payments are just a gamble or guessing game. And that would make DoorDash far less appealing to do for anyone thinking it over.

In a changing world now where getting paid what you’re worth is becoming far less possible, delayed payments at DoorDash would certainly ruin it for me. I’ve taken a break from it in recent months, though would think twice about returning to it if drivers have to wait to be compensated for a full day’s work.

Unfortunately, some may be so desperate to make money, they’ll willingly go along with this if there’s a guarantee of payment within two weeks or more. Unless you have a solid job where you’re paid weekly (as I fortunately do), some people may have to deal with shit just to have the convenience/freedom of Dashing.

This is a mere vent based on what’s out there right now. I’ll do a follow-up if I see evidence to any DoorDash deliverer pay changes. As of this publication, however, I’m expecting something different to payments is going to happen based on customers no doubt being all over the Klarna method.

It just seems unlikely DoorDash would pay the deliverer the same as before if a customer hasn’t paid for their food in full. Corporations would never take such a risk without losing money themselves. 

Now, maybe Klarna employed some mob-like figures who’ll knock down the doors of those who don’t pay their food bills. DoorDash should do the same to at least ensure a payment within a week. After all, they do have phone agents who sound like CIA agents. Hearing that on the phone is intimidating enough, believe me.

I’ll plan to cover this topic numerous times based on info I gather, and/or my own experiences if Dashing again soon.

Part XXXIII will now revert back to the self-employment taxes issue originally intended for this space.

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