Why Is Grubhub so Expensive? (Top 7 Reasons) 

Grilled chicken? Pizza? Fried rice or something traditional?

What would you like to have? Is your plan for dinner tonight ready or are you yet to make up your mind? 

Whatever the case, if preparing food is not something you feel like doing for the day, a number of food delivery companies will be available at your service, right in front of your doors,  while all you need to do is contact them through direct calls or certain apps.

This article aims to help you in knowing one such food ordering and delivery giant Grubhub.

Grubhub Inc. is originally a Chicago, Illinois-based American company and was founded in 2004 by Matt Maloney and Mike Ivans.

They started their journey with the catchy slogan “grub what you love” to make a place in the online food delivery industry.

In 2020 Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway purchased Grubhub for $7.3 billion in an all-stock deal. 

Grounds justifying why Grubhub is so expensive

Food delivery services often charge you a bit more than the original price of your meal which is due to the way they are making it easier for customers to taste different items while staying home.

The same goes for Grubhub. There are other reasons why it is so expensive, let’s dig into for more- 

Varieties

Allowing you to pay with solid cash Grubhub covers a variety of restaurants than many other delivery marketplaces.

With different restaurants from different places, it paves the way for you to enjoy tasty food items from your favorite locations and related foods. 

Along with regular breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they provide your chosen beverages, drinks or alcohol and deliver to the customer’s doorsteps.

Whatever unique items your stomach craves, it will be available through Grubhub.

Folks who love to have a comfortable, relaxing day without cooking, can have tastier items from special places through Grubhub.

With diverse services comes high prices. If they could not do business with a large variety of restaurants their services couldn’t be that expensive. 

Area coverage

As stated in Grubhub’s website, consumers have the option to pick from around 104,000 takeout restaurants in over 1,500 metropolitan cities in the US and London.

It implies the fact that they cover almost all the prominent localities of the mentioned countries.  

Even they exceed and offer extensive choices for rural areas as well. 

It’s a huge deal for people who once in a while want to feed themselves without having to get out of their blankets and pajamas. 

Vast area coverage requires huge investment which can be marked as another reason for Grubhub’s expensiveness. 

Delivery Radius

Due to the growing rates of people everywhere ordering their meals through food delivery services, delivery purview has become a huge thing and it’s important to know beforehand for consumers.

Prominent services are always inclined to travel a lot more than others as a business strategy to appease their clients. 

Although, while the general delivery services stick to a five mile radius depending on areas, none comes near Grubhub! It offers literally the farthest, a maximum of 70 miles radius from any restaurant and allows them to change the delivery radius as per their convenience.  

In case you are staying in distant or rural places where restaurants aren’t available that much, Grubhub is the first food delivery option you would want to pick who’ll make sure they can reach their clientele. 

To sum up, they will expand their range as per your need.

But remember they often charge a hefty price for the additional routes which is justified by all means. 

Excellent Payouts

At any rate, Grubhub gives fair attention to their regular employees.

By the end of a weekend, they always make sure the drivers get paid properly without further delay. 

For the added service or delivery range Grubhub always makes sure their drivers are being compensated and remunerated for the extra efforts.

Therefore the company somehow adds the additional double or triple fees with the delivered items which eventually needs to be paid by the customers. 

Consumer Savvy

Customers’ pompous fulfillment is very crucial in any business to grow finely.

Grubhub gives its best when it comes to meeting the client’s needs.

Within the shortest possible time, their appointed qualified staff make reservations as per orders and deliver them to places accordingly. 

In any kind of critical situation, skilled staff are ready to handle those properly.

In cases like delayed delivery drivers, inventory shortage, dissatisfied clients they come up with quick solutions which are why customers remain happy as the company gives them the utmost priority. 

Hence the high cost of Grubhub. As there’s a saying, to enjoy the finest services you have to spend a lot more than usual. 

Consistency

In services like this, where no two days remain the same, ultimate persistence, upbeat attitude is required like nothing else.

Through regular communication, Grubhub ensures reliable, diverse ways of delivering services to customers.

Therefore, they can provide mandatory quality food to the respective clients.

Advanced marketing campaigns, menu updating, staffing to avoid certain last minute chaos, the consistent attitude of Grubhub makes it more expensive than many others. 

So we can come to the point that Grubhub becomes expensive in the delivery business because of their dedication. 

Steep commissions

Food fight in online ordering services is a common scenario which results in charging the restaurants huge fees.

Grubhub is no exception here. 

Popular ordering applications charge the registered restaurants steep commissions and fees, generally around 20% which can exceed to 30% or more depending on rising demand.

This naturally urges them to raise their menu prices. 

Although customers seem to pay a little amount for delivery, companies like Grubhub often cut a handsome amount from the price of each order.

With higher commission of an eatery, chances of getting listed at the top of app users’ search results gets higher which gets lower with lesser commissions making the delivery services less appetizing as they will go down in the list. 

Though it is a rather surprising fact that even after doing all the work for the foods to be prepared, paying all sorts of related bills, while the delivery companies act mere booking agents, they are ones that get expensive with time. 

Is Grubhub overpriced? 

Manager of a certain Chicago area restaurant who is willing to be anonymous claims that for companies like Grubhub, the fees they charge are simply huge and absurd.

A lot of other managers agreed on the same while they were interviewed regarding this.

Many restaurants whine that ordering services are taking advantage here as they are the only way people have gotten used to shopping for takeout. 

While people might be amused by the immense amount of new restaurants available for Grubhub online ordering what they call “restaurant inventory”, the prices will leave them displeased and frustrated.

At least nine out of every ten of the newly added eateries customers pay high prices as Grubhub sometimes even adds restaurants to its platform without their consent.

They don’t pay the steep commission while it’s charged to the customers.  

To be brief, Grubhub is loaded with overhead costs which are basically served by the regular consumers.

How To Save Money On Grubhub? 

Buying food through Grubhub might be an overwhelming idea for common people as it charges a lot more than the original price.

However, there are still ways to save money on food delivery if you are a bit careful and follow some suggestions. 

1. Searching for a coupon or promo code online, irrespective of whatever you purchase is always a discerning way to save money on Grubhub. If you research for some time you will get hundreds of promo codes to take advantage of them. On special days keep eyes on their social media pages as well besides googling. 

2. Most mainstream food delivery services offer unlimited free delivery by getting a subscription. If you are ordering food from Grubhub on a regular basis, probably it’s time for you to consider a subscription that will help you waive more delivery charges. On top of that, you might grab other benefits that come along. 

3. Food delivery apps usually offer sign-up bonuses which are helpful for beginners. To save money on Grubhub, you can check out their offers where they share unique links to encourage their users to invite their friends, families, or acquaintances. As it brings them more customers, users get free delivery or discount on one future order by getting the referral credits. Entice your mates to download the GrubHub app and sign in and get discounts when they put their first order! 

4. Try to order from your nearest diners, which will save the excessive delivery charges that come from extra miles driving. 

5. Grubhub has certain collaborations with some banks that announce cashback offers. 

6. Try comparing prices with other services available. It will help you to know how much they charge for the same food order. While some even charge an order fee, others might provide free delivery as well. Being aware of the hidden charges frequently saves a lot.

Grubhub Alternatives

Based on availability, customer service and other facilities one can explore other food delivery options and alternatives as Grubhub is neither the only one out there, nor it is necessarily the best who are being the savior for lazy food lovers. 

By the way, if you are somehow disappointed or haven’t had a good experience with Grubhub and looking forward to others, here goes a list of top Grubhub alternatives which is compiled by researching authentic reviews from users. 

1. UberEats 
2. DoorDash
3. Postmates
4. Slice
5. Zomato
6. Swiggy
7. ChowNow
8. Caviar 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Grubhub more expensive than DoorDash?

As time goes by, there are now more food delivery services to choose from than ever and the choices are endless for getting on-demand restaurant delivery of people’s dear items. 

like Grubhub, another such company is DoorDash. 

Although in terms of availability, Grubhub is the champ with one of the largest market shares, it still is considered cheaper than DoorDash as the customer doesn’t need to pay additional fees to Grubhub itself. 

Is Grubhub or UberEats cheaper? 

Where the targeted customer is on the map exactly has a lot more to do with the fees a food delivery will cost.

So the answer depends on certain aspects.

While at some places one of the services might appear cheapest, the same can be pricey at an absolutely different area. 

However, if you are a consumer in search of the cheapest option, UberEats is likely to be your port of call.

In Spite of its highest base price, it’s the cheapest due to its minimal delivery cost. 

Does Grubhub Have Hidden Fees? 

In California, laws have been passed in order to make sure that delivery companies must disclose the hidden fees so that buyers will know what they are being charged for straight away. 

Keeping common people and restaurant owners in the dark about the true cost of their services, companies like Grubhub often profit a huge sum of money. 

To achieve their targeted profit, Grubhub and other leading delivery apps are much more focused on finding new ways to charge consumers for the same items, instead of setting up differentiated products. 

Ordering directly from a restaurant and ordering through Grubhub, you will find significant changes between both the prices, as along with the menu item, Grubhub will charge you a service fee, taxes, delivery fee, and at times gratuity. 

To conclude, Grubhub charges hidden fees from customers in different ways. 

Is There a Minimum Order for Grubhub?

The least or minimum order number is a set amount that users need to surpass to get their food delivered right in front of their doors. 

For Grubhub the minimum order is $10 meaning you need to buy something that costs at least ten dollars.

Otherwise, they won’t deliver for you if you order food costing less than the amount.

So there’s a minimum order for Grubhub just like other food delivery companies. 

Conclusion

Food deliveries have become a part of present day lives which is why it’s a common scenario that someone or the other from your next door neighbor is receiving parcels loaded with yummy stuff inside from some delivery man.

With its growing demand, a lot of entrepreneurs or business farms are working on it to give people the best experience among which Grubhub is remarkable.

They are a bit expensive but with all their credentials they are worth being so.