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A customer orders $40 of food through a delivery app. On a 25% commission plan, $10 leaves your business before you've paid for a single ingredient, a single takeout container, or a single minute of labor.
You opened a restaurant to cook and serve people — not to audit payout statements. But that $10 matters, and most owners I talk to have never actually done the math on it. By the end of this post, you'll know your own real number. It takes about ten minutes.
How the commissions actually work
Both major platforms use tiered plans, and the tier you're on changes everything:
- DoorDash: 15% (Basic), 25% (Plus), 30% (Premier)
- Uber Eats: 15% (Lite), 25% (Plus), 30% (Premium)
- Pickup orders run around 6% on both
The trade-off is simple: the higher tiers buy you better visibility and more order volume; the lower tiers let you keep more of each order. It's a math problem, not a loyalty decision. And one warning — these rates change, so check your own merchant agreement rather than trusting any blog post, including this one.
The costs beyond the headline rate
The commission is just the beginning. Here's what else quietly comes out of your payouts:
- Refunds and adjustments deducted straight from your weekly payout
- Promo and marketing fees stacked on top of commission, if you've opted in
- Small extras like tablet rental fees
- The quiet one: the customer relationship — their name, email, and order history — belongs to the app, not to you
The 10-minute exercise
Grab your most recent weekly payout statement and do this:
1. Write down your gross delivery sales for the week
2. List every deduction: commission, fees, adjustments, refunds
3. Subtract the deductions from gross sales — that's your net payout
4. Divide total deductions by gross sales — that's your effective rate
If that number surprises you, you're not alone. That reaction is exactly why I built a tracker for this.
> Want this calculated for you every week? I built the Delivery App Fee Tracker for exactly this — enter your weekly payout numbers in under 5 minutes and it breaks down every fee by platform, automatically. (Grab it on Etsy — for $19.99)
What to do once you know your number
Three calm options — no platform-bashing, just business:
1. Check your plan tier. If you're on 30% but most of your orders would come anyway, the 15% tier might keep thousands in your pocket.
2. Review your in-app menu prices. Many owners price delivery menus to absorb the commission. If you haven't, you're paying the fee out of your margin.
3. Reconcile payouts monthly. Statements bundle so much together that errors and odd adjustments slip through unnoticed.
Where to go from here
See exactly what the apps take from you: Delivery App Fee Tracker on Etsy — for $19.99
Want the full monthly bookkeeping system? Premium trackers on Etsy
Just starting out? Grab the free trackers and run your numbers this week
Want someone to handle the reconciliation for you? Schedule a free consultation
This post is for education only and isn't financial advice. Commission rates and fee structures change — always check your own merchant agreement for your actual numbers.
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