We ordered $100 of delivery; here’s what the restaurants, drivers and apps made

> If you want it delivered to your doorstep, you will pay substantially more.

I guess I'm just not seeing this? Based on their own numbers, pre-tip, when compared to the cost of picking up the food themselves, they paid about $2.50 (DoorDash, though there was a $4 off thing, so really $6.50), $9 (GrubHub), or $6 (Uber Eats).

In what universe is it unreasonable to be charged $5-$10 in order for someone to pick up and drive your food to you so you don't have to go and get it yourself? Sure, you can whine that it's a large percentage of the total, but as an absolute number, it feels pretty much fine to me.

A big problem I see with all this is that, when you pick up your own food, the restaurant gets to keep the money you give them, but with the 3rd-party delivery services, they appear to take half of that money, and redistribute it between themselves and the driver. (Arguably, restaurants should be setting their prices 25% to 50% higher for orders placed through the delivery services, but I can understand how doing so could turn away potential customers.)

Another issue comes up often: driver pay. The pre-tip amounts for the driver's portion -- for a job that the article says took the driver between 45 and 60 minutes (ouch), is horrifically bad, ranging from $6.75 to $8.43. The tips only brought that up to ~$14, which is still pretty bad for even 45 minutes of work, let alone a full hour. These drivers almost certainly cannot live in San Francisco (where the delivery occurred) on this kind of income, at least not without working well over 40 hours a week, or having some supplemental income, or packing a ton of roommates into a small apartment.

Sure, the article does point out -- in California at least -- that the delivery companies are required to pay drivers extra if their earnings per time worked don't hit some minimum. But it still seems... not great.

As an aside: if you are ordering for pickup, never use a third-party ordering system if you can help it (though some restaurants do require you to do this for pickup orders). Even without a driver to pay, GrubHub or whomever is still going to take a cut. The restaurant is better off if you just call them and place your order on the phone. And since some restaurants do advertise higher prices on the delivery apps, you might get a cheaper meal that way too.