Dec 11, 2025
Are third-party delivery fees killing your business? We break down the math on a typical order to show how these apps impact your actual restaurant profit margin. See the numbers.
Your restaurant is packed, the phone is ringing, and the delivery tablets are chiming nonstop. At the end of the night, the sales report looks incredible. You did record numbers in takeout volume.
But when you look at your bank account a week later, the cash just isn't there.
This is the "delivery paradox" facing almost every independent restaurant today. You are busier than ever, working harder than ever, but you are making less money. The culprit isn't a mystery: it’s the staggering cost of third-party delivery fees.
While platforms like DoorDash, UberEats, and Grubhub are powerful tools for getting your name out there, relying on them for your primary revenue stream is a mathematically unsound strategy.
It’s time to stop looking at top-line sales and start looking at the bottom line. Let’s calculate the true cost to your restaurant profit margin.
To understand the true impact, we need to move beyond vague percentages and look at hard dollars.
Let’s assume your restaurant operates on fairly standard industry margins. We’ll take a typical $50.00 dinner order placed through a major third-party app on a standard 30% commission tier.
Here is the reality check on where that $50 actually goes:
Right off the top, the platform takes its cut.
Now you have to pay to actually make the food.
You still have to keep the lights on, pay rent, and pay for your POS system.
On that busy Friday night $50 order, after the app takes its share and you cover your basic costs, you are likely losing money, or breaking even at best.
You did all the work, took all the risk, cooked the food, and packaged it up, just so a tech company could take the profit.
Many owners mistakenly calculate commission based on their profit, not their sales. Remember, that 30% fee comes off the top line before you have paid for a single ingredient or server hour.
The financial damage doesn't stop at the 30% commission. There are hidden costs to third-party delivery that further erode your restaurant profit margin:
We aren't suggesting you delete all third-party apps tomorrow. They are essential tools for customer acquisition—letting new people discover your food.
But you must stop using them for customer retention.
Every time a regular customer orders through DoorDash instead of directly from you, you are lighting 30% of that sale on fire.
The goal is to convert those app users into direct customers. You do this by having your own professional online ordering presence (like Peppr Grow) that offers a better experience and, crucially, commission-free ordering.
Let’s look at that same $50 order through your own Peppr website through Peppr Grow:
That extra $13.25 per order is the difference between struggling to make payroll and building a thriving business.
Taking control of your orders is the first step. To truly optimize your operations and maximize profitability, you need a powerful restaurant POS that seamlessly integrates online orders, manages inventory, and provides real-time sales data.
Don't let high order volume fool you into thinking you are profitable. If your business model relies heavily on third-party delivery fees, you are working for the apps, not for yourself.
Run the numbers on your own recent orders. If the math scares you, it’s time to take control of your ordering channels.
Stop paying a 30% tax on your own hard work. Keep your profits where they belong.
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