[tredre3]

> it's not like online retailers having different prices for the same SKU, it's the same restaurant

But those online retailers are supplied by the same distributor who is supplied by the same manufacturer.

    - ManufacturerA -> (Amazon|Walmart) -> Customer
    - RestaurantA -> (Pickup|Doordash|Uber) -> Customer

Isn't it exactly the same? Online retailers add their cost and profit requirements in their pricing, Doordash does the same.

> I'd prefer the overhead to show up as its own line item, rather than obscuring the actual cost of the service.

Me too. Especially that they already ALSO add a service fee in many (most?) locales, in addition to the delivery fee and the tip.

    - Item priced 30% higher
    - Delivery fee
    - Service fee
    - Tip

The first three should be folded in a single line item so that customers realize how much price gouging Doordash is really doing.

[jchw]

You have a point, but I just think it's less intuitive for consumers. Manufacturers often don't even do direct sales, so the only "canonical" price is the MSRP, which is just that, a suggestion. Consumers go shopping at Walmart or Amazon, they don't go "shopping" at Doordash: the menu they're seeing on Doordash is the restaurant menu. In some cases, it is the only online menu that some restaurants even have. To me it is not terribly intuitive that these prices differ.

There is another analog for this, too, though: some retailers indeed would have more or less expensive prices for the same thing when ordering online versus in-store. I think the argument that it isn't unprecedented is pretty solid.

Despite not being entirely unprecedented, I'd still prefer to see this practice ended for food delivery services so it is easier to see the actual true overhead of food delivery services. It really does feel a bit manipulative the way it is right now.