Hidden $1,200 Uber Eats charge too many Aussie are copping: 'Quickly adds up'

It might not seem that much when you're on the app, but ordering food off Uber Eats can be far more expensive than from the restaurant.

Joshua Godfrey · Contributor

Sat, 9 Nov 2024, 11:00 am 3 min read

Uber Eats next to Finder's Josh Godfrey — Finder's Josh Godfrey said Uber Eats can cost far more than ordering from the restaurant. *(Source: Getty/LinkedIn)*

As a city boy, I grew up expecting convenience. The food delivery service Uber Eats came to Australia in 2016, just as I was starting to earn my own money and spend it on things I really didn’t need – like a Zinger Box delivered straight to my door (it was a 5-minute walk to my nearest KFC).

Before apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash and Menulog were around, some larger restaurants had their own fleet of delivery drivers. If you were ordering from a smaller restaurant your only option was to pick up your takeaway.

Now we can order food from just about any restaurant within a five kilometre radius, but this modern luxury is delivered at a significant cost — up to the tune of $1,228 a year.

Many consumers might not know that each time they order from a restaurant, delivery apps take a cut of about 30 per cent of the order.

Most businesses increase their prices on the apps to offset this cost.

This is why you might have noticed that your burger already costs a few more dollars before you’ve even paid the service and delivery fees.

However, this isn’t the only cost to businesses.

Graph of Uber Eats — How much your weekly Uber Eats spend can work out for the rest of the year. *(Source: Finder)*

Food delivery apps take a lot of control out of their hands – drivers get lost, food is cold by the time it arrives and a myriad of other issues mean restaurants have to refund a lot of orders, even if the issue was not their fault.

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As my colleague who previously owned a restaurant explained to me, this is why some store owners are increasing the prices of their items by over 50 per cent on delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash.

Once you add the service and delivery fees on top, having your dinner delivered becomes a costly habit.

Australians who order takeaway spend an average of $71 per week, equivalent to $3,692 annually.

If their yearly takeaway spend was ordered solely on food delivery apps they would spend an extra $1,228 each year before service and delivery fees are even added.

If every Aussie got their takeout order delivered on these apps it would cost an additional $16 billion annually.

Upon finding this out, I did some research into my local food delivery options.

I collected prices for 60 common dishes across 20 restaurants in Newtown and found that the markup on Uber Eats ranges from 3 per cent to 52 per cent.