DoorDash min. wage free-for-all
Typical order $4 hike
DoorDash is raising delivery fees for Big Apple customers and restaurants alike in response to recent minimum-wage hikes — driving already-stratospheric prices even higher, The Post has learned.
A month after city legislation forced food-delivery apps to pay higher hourly wages — at least $17.96 an hour — DoorDash told restaurants that they will be paying a higher commission rate effective Wednesday, according to a memo obtained by The Post.
The memo also warns that because of the “extreme minimum pay rate,” customer fees will go up “to help offset the increased costs.”
The result: A typical dinner that’s delivered in New York City — whether it’s a burger, a chicken burrito, or a plain cheese pizza — is likely to get $4 pricier, on average, according to food-industry insiders who asked not to be named.
That’s because insiders estimate DoorDash will tack on an extra fee of $2, while restaurants raise the prices on dishes by the same amount to offset their own soaring costs.
“We have made clear from the start that we planned to introduce fees when the new minimum pay rate was first introduced,” DoorDash spokesman Eli Scheinholtz told The Post in an email.
Higher consumer fees will be introduced “in the coming weeks,” he added, declining to comment on the size of those fee increases.
Rivals making plans
DoorDash told restaurants in the memo they can expect to pay a maximum commission of 23% for delivery orders and 8% for pickup orders — the maximum allowed under NYC’s hotlycontested fee-cap legislation implemented during the pandemic.
Previously, DoorDash was charging 20% and 5%, respectively, for delivery and pickup.
The delivery apps, including Uber Eats and Grubhub, also have warned since the minimum-wage law was passed last summer that they plan to raise fees.
Uber has already added a $2 “New York Courier fee” to orders and reminded customers that “tipping remains optional,” according to receipts, as it tries to mitigate any customer backlash.
Some restaurant owners said they had been expecting the delivery apps to hike their fees.
“I’m more concerned about the fee cap going away completely,” Andrew Schnipper, co-owner of burger joint Schnipper’s, told The Post. “The fee cap has been enormously helpful to us over the past couple of years.”
Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats sued New York City in 2021 to overturn a rule that limits the fees they can charge restaurants.