A 25% food delivery commission does not mean a $30 order costs the restaurant only $7.50. Promotions, packaging, packing labour, refunds, and other fees can push the real cost much higher. To find out whether a delivery channel is profitable, calculate what remains from a representative order after every variable cost is deducted.
For the wider channel decision, see the complete guide to food delivery platforms. A restaurant website and digital menu can keep the owned information layer current while an external platform handles checkout or delivery.
Platform pricing is not universal. The current DoorDash merchant pricing page and Uber Eats merchant pricing page show different plans, fee bases, and market conditions. Use those pages as examples of how to read a contract—not as a commission benchmark for every restaurant.
Quick answer: Start with the menu revenue from the order and subtract every variable cost caused by fulfilling it: food, packaging, commission, promotions, additional fees, labour, refunds, and delivery costs. What remains is the order’s contribution before fixed costs such as rent, salaries, insurance, and software.
In this guide
- What is included in a food delivery commission?
- How much does a delivery-platform order really cost?
- How should a restaurant audit delivery fees?
- What delivery commission can a restaurant afford?
- Which delivery costs are easiest to miss?
- How can restaurants reduce the true cost of delivery?
What is included in a food delivery commission?
Food delivery commissions are usually a percentage charged by a marketplace for orders placed through its platform, but the commission is not the full cost of serving the order. Platforms may call these charges commissions, marketplace fees, processing fees, or optional advertising and promotional costs. What is included depends on the merchant agreement.
| Cost line | What to check | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplace commission | Percentage, fixed charge, and fee base | Agreement and settlement statement |
| Processing and adjustments | Separate fee, refund, credit, or payout deduction | Fee detail and payout report |
| Promotions and ads | Discount, free item, voucher, or sponsored placement | Promotion and advertising reports |
| Packaging and labour | Containers, labels, packing time, and handoff | Cost sheet and shift review |
| Refunds and remakes | Missing items, quality complaints, and credits | Refund and adjustment report |
| Delivery fulfilment | Drivers, mileage, couriers, or delivery subsidies | Delivery invoice or cost record |
Current food delivery commissions show why the service and fee base matter: the U.S. DoorDash page lists 15%, 25%, and 30% delivery tiers, while the U.S. Uber Eats page lists 20%, 25%, and 30% marketplace fees plus separate options. These are market-specific examples; keep customer-paid delivery fees, taxes, and tips separate from menu revenue and follow the applicable agreement and local accounting rules.
How much does a delivery-platform order really cost?
To calculate the true cost of food delivery commissions, reconcile one order line by line. Consider an illustrative $30 marketplace order with a 25% commission, a restaurant-funded $3 promotion, and a small reserve for refunds or adjustments. The figures are a teaching example, not a platform benchmark.
| Order line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Menu subtotal | Customer basket before tax, tip, and delivery fee | $30.00 |
| Food and beverage cost | Recipe and portion cost | −$9.00 |
| Packaging | Container, bag, sauces, and label | −$1.50 |
| Marketplace commission | 25% × $30.00 | −$7.50 |
| Other processing fee | Illustrative 3% of subtotal | −$0.90 |
| Restaurant-funded promotion | Discount or offer contribution | −$3.00 |
| Packing labour | Incremental order time | −$1.50 |
| Refund or adjustment reserve | Average order-specific leakage | −$0.50 |
| Contribution before fixed overhead | $30.00 − all variable costs | $6.10 |
Delivery contribution = $30.00 − $9.00 − $1.50 − $7.50
− $0.90 − $3.00 − $1.50 − $0.50
= $6.10
The commission alone consumes 25% of the menu subtotal. Total variable cost is $23.90, or 79.7%, leaving $6.10—or 20.3%—before fixed overhead. The $0.90 processing amount is an illustrative 3% of the subtotal, not a universal charge. Substitute the actual contract amount; a 2.9% + $0.30 model would be $1.17 on this basket. If processing is already included in the commission, remove the separate amount rather than counting it twice. Compare that contribution with pickup, direct delivery, or no order at all. For the ingredient baseline, use the food cost percentage versus gross margin guide.
Contribution is the money left from an order after its variable costs are paid. That amount helps cover fixed costs such as rent, salaries, insurance, and software before becoming profit.
How should a restaurant audit delivery fees?
Audit food delivery commissions by matching the merchant statement to the order export and the restaurant’s cost records. One payout total can hide commissions, promotions, refunds, and pass-through amounts that belong to different parts of the business.
- Collect four weeks of records. Keep the agreement, order export, settlement statements, promotion and advertising reports, refund report, POS totals, packaging costs, and labour estimate together.
- Define the revenue base. Use menu subtotal, discounted subtotal, payout, or the contract-defined amount consistently. Never mix a fee charged on subtotal with a margin calculated on payout.
- Reconcile sample orders. Start with the menu subtotal, then match commission, processing, promotion, refund, tax, tip, delivery fee, and payout adjustments.
- Calculate both rates. Add platform fees, promotions, ads, and adjustments for the effective platform cost rate. Then subtract food, packaging, fulfilment, and labour for contribution.
Use this formula for the platform-related portion:
Effective platform cost rate =
total platform-related costs
÷ pre-discount menu subtotal
Total platform-related costs =
commission + platform fees + ads
+ restaurant-funded promotions + adjustments
In the $30 example, platform-related costs are $11.90, or a 39.7% effective platform cost rate before food, packaging, and labour. Calling it a “25% commission order” hides nearly 15 percentage points of additional channel cost. If the agreement uses a different fee base, report that base separately rather than applying this formula blindly.
Extend the complete restaurant food costing and menu pricing guide with those channel costs instead of changing food-cost percentage to absorb them.
What delivery commission can a restaurant afford?
A delivery commission is affordable only when the order still meets a minimum contribution after food, packaging, promotions, other fees, and labour are paid. Set that contribution first, then calculate the maximum fee the basket can carry.
Maximum affordable commission =
menu subtotal
− food cost
− packaging
− labour
− promotions
− other variable costs
− target contribution
Divide the result by the applicable commission fee base to turn it into a percentage. Using the $30 example and a $6 minimum contribution:
$30.00 − $9.00 food − $1.50 packaging − $3.00 promotion
− $0.90 other fee − $1.50 labour − $0.50 adjustment
− $6.00 target contribution
= $7.60 maximum commission
$7.60 ÷ $30.00 = 25.3%
The 25% example commission leaves $6.10, just above the target. A 30% commission would reduce the contribution to $4.60 before fixed overhead. This is a planning threshold, not a universal acceptable rate; use the actual fee base, menu mix, and contribution target in the merchant agreement.
Which delivery costs are easiest to miss?
The hidden cost of food delivery commissions usually sits outside the headline rate—in a promotion report, refund line, packaging cupboard, or the minutes added to a busy kitchen shift.
- Promotions, ads, and fee-base differences: A restaurant-funded discount or sponsored placement adds acquisition cost, while fees may apply to subtotal, discounted subtotal, or per order. Read the contract instead of applying one percentage to every line.
- Refunds and remakes: A missing sauce, incorrect modifier, damaged item, or late order can remove the sale while leaving food, packaging, and labour costs behind.
- Packaging and peak-hour labour: Cost the complete pack and the extra minutes spent checking bags, answering courier questions, and fixing errors.
- Small baskets: Fixed packaging and packing costs consume a larger share of an $18 basket than a $30 basket. Bundles and sensible minimums can protect contribution where rules allow them.
- Capacity and quality loss: High volume can slow dine-in service, increase mistakes, or force the kitchen to turn away higher-contribution orders.
The problem: A restaurant sees a 25% commission on an $18 order and assumes the remaining $13.50 covers food and profit. After a $3 promotion, $1.50 packaging, $0.90 processing, $1.50 labour, and a $0.50 adjustment reserve, only $6.10 remains before the food itself has been paid for. If the ingredients cost $6.50, the order loses $0.40 before fixed overhead.
The real-world fix: Set a minimum basket or build bundles around items that travel well. Remove promotions that buy unprofitable volume, and record orders that create refunds or bottlenecks. Per-order dollar costs such as packaging and labour consume more of a small basket than a large one.
The comparison is not always marketplace versus direct contribution. A marketplace may create incremental demand, while a direct order may need marketing, software, delivery, and support. Judge whether the contribution justifies the demand and capacity the channel provides.
How can restaurants reduce the true cost of delivery?
Food delivery commissions become manageable when the order mix and operating rules improve before the headline rate. A lower rate does not help if it produces fewer profitable orders; a higher rate can be reasonable when it buys useful discovery and reliable fulfilment.
Use this review sequence:
- Keep a dated fee sheet and promotion guardrails. Record the plan, fee base, optional services, promotion funding, payout timing, target contribution, and stop dates. Recheck it whenever food delivery commissions or market terms change.
- Cost the delivery menu separately. Remove items that spill, soften, arrive cold, or take too long to pack. Create bundles that share packaging without hiding a weak item.
- Price channels transparently. If allowed, use food cost, packaging, fees, promotions, and target contribution. Check local rules and platform terms; do not use surprise charges.
- Keep availability accurate. Hiding a sold-out item prevents wasted preparation and refunds. The sold-out workflow covers the update.
- Build an owned repeat route. Put the live menu, hours, pickup details, location, and delivery links on a restaurant website and link-in-bio page. Nommy keeps this information current but does not replace the ordering provider.
Review food delivery commissions by channel, item, order size, promotion, and daypart. The aim is to know which orders should move to pickup or a restaurant-controlled route; the third-party delivery vs direct online ordering guide explains that choice. Keep customer-facing prices and availability aligned with what the kitchen can fulfil.
Keep your menu, hours, availability, pickup details, and delivery links in one place with a Nommy website and digital menu. Start free and connect customers to the ordering providers already in use.
A delivery channel earns its place when the payout—not the gross sales—still leaves a contribution worth the kitchen’s time.