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Comment by xbeta | Hacker News Reader

It's bound to happen when the business is at a complete halt for a few months. :-(

There's still Uber Eats -- I'd expect that's grown significantly which would help soften the blow.

As I understand it, Uber/Lyft were making a profit on actual rides in the mature markets. Uber was taking a heavy loss on each food delivery. So this crisis has been a double whammy to margins even though I suppose increased volume/adoption is good long term.

Food delivery is a huge premium on top of already inflated restaurant prices. I would expect most people are trying to save money and making a lot of their own food.

Yeah, since the lockdown started we haven't had any takeaways, just cooking everything at home. Feels like ordering food in this situation is too frivolous.

Feels like ordering food in this situation is too frivolous.

Rest assured, your neighborhood restaurants would beg to differ.

Different people have different means and need. The restraints are in a tough place, but so is everyone who can’t wfh in tech. Some people can’t make rent or pay their mortgage, and paying a markup for takeout is frivolous

Food delivery is surging during the pandemic interestingly: https://www.axios.com/food-delivery-coronavirus-a55e0bf2-a75...

Many of us lucky enough to have a reliable well paying job working from home probably realize they have food as almost the only fun we get these days when there are no events, no traveling, no restaurants.

I probably doubled my budget for food, both takeout and groceries, compared to last year. The wine delivery guy knows my name now.

A lot of people are used to eating at a workplace cafeteria or eating out as part of their normal routine. In my case I’ve shifted to ordering delivery or takeout for some meals which I almost never did before. I recognize that I’m privileged to be able to afford to do this, but I think it’s common among a big chunk of the population. People are checking on local restaurants and spreading the word about which are offering takeout to try to keep them going. I feel like it’s the least I can do to help.

Very few people actually work in places like this. Common on HN, but in the grand scheme of things most people are shift workers. 4/10 Americans can't come up with $400 without debt or selling something, and that was before the pandemic and 20% unemployment. I actually read that only 45% of LA county has a job right now. I have been buying takeout myself, but restaurants are failing left and right. A lot of places I try to call have folded already :(

Stats can be misleading. At full employment, and excluding students and retirees, LA County might only have 70% (example number, not researched) of people with jobs.

Uber eats is still a small but growing part of their business. I'm pretty sure Uber is still losing money on Uber Eats and many of their large markets are trying to pass legislation to cap the fees they can charge. If they aren't making money now, they aren't going to make money with fees lowered by 50-60%.

See page 71 of Uber's 2019 annual report [0]. The short of it is that Uber made $1.383 billion in "adjusted net revenue" on Eats (on a total revenue of $12.897 billion) but lost $1.372 billion on an "adjusted EBITDA" basis (on a total adjusted EBITDA value of -$2.725 billion). Every company defines those terms differently, but you should assume that the bias is towards making them look better than reality.

[0]: https://s23.q4cdn.com/407969754/files/doc_financials/2019/ar...

I've stopped using delivery apps, and am calling my local restaurants directly. Some have, um, less formal delivery options, and I fall back to just walking over.

In my estimation, my local restaurants need that 30+% more than public companies.

In this environment, I generally prefer to pick the food up myself because I see it as less risky. There is one less person touching the food (and who knows what else in their car.)

Delivery people also get lost around here pretty often, and I hate having to track them down. Plus I am leaving extra trips for the restaurant instead of the delivery driver.

Agreed, I've had business owners tell me so (the extra 30% is meaningful to them)

Yeah, I've been ordering more directly as well as ordering more food than I usually would specifically to help support any local restaurants that are still alive.

I lost the O and Threadgill's in the same week. :(

Wait do you mean The O in Pittsburgh? I haven't heard about that but I'd hate to see them close.

Yes. The O in Pittsburgh. <cries>

https://goodfoodpittsburgh.com/riptheo-pittsburgh-mourns-the...

This is almost as traumatic as when they closed Chiodo's Tavern in Homestead.

Most businesses aren't charging normal prices via apps. They're marked up due to platform / middleman fees. The notion of giving 30% more likely is not reality. Leave a larger tip, or buy more, to support them in these times.

You're wasting gas, though, and hurting the environment.

This is an incredibly US-biased comment, plus the comment you responded to even spelled out explicitly that they walk to their local restaurants...

> Some have, um, less formal delivery options, and I fall back to just walking over.

He only walks to some, not all. And I don't live in the US, so if it's incredibly US biased, I just got lucky, I guess.

Yes, to those that don't have delivery options. What makes delivery organized by the restaurant more wasteful than the delivery by someone working for a gig-economy app?

Because the restaurant can't combine its orders with those of its competitors in one run. Economies of scale.

I believe they said they walk but even so I cannot imagine much difference.

If you are concerned the logical thing is to cook your own dinner and burn zero gas.

He said he sometimes walks. I'm just saying there is a downside that he didn't mention/consider to what he does.

What I do doesn't really effect that.

I don't own a car, and use one less that once a month on average. Somewhere around half the folks who bring me food don't use cars to deliver, either.

But I'm certain you walk literally everywhere you go, wear only second-hand clothes, avoid buying necessities with packaging or that has to be transported far, don't use disposable paper products, compost everything you can, and so on, right?

Because surely only the environmentally saintly would feel entitled to off-topic carp about trivial energy use when they don't know anything about the lifestyle of the person they're trying to call out.

True, but look at all the things Uber has been getting into. While Silicon Valley start ups have been trying to be the “Uber of <whatever>”. Uber doesn’t seem to want to be Uber, at least not the potentially fair/unfair drive share program.

I think it’s been clear they have been looking to change models, maybe this lines up with that.

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