Third-party commission
By Marji · Updated · Sources and editorial policy
Also called: delivery commission · delivery app fees
Third-party commission is the marketplace's cut of each delivery order, set by the plan you choose — DoorDash's published delivery plans, for example, are 15%, 25% and 30%. It comes off the subtotal, so it hits contribution margin directly and can turn a profitable dish into a break-even one. New York City, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland cap what apps may charge.
Source: DoorDash's merchant pricing page lists Basic 15%, Plus 25% and Premier 30% commission on delivery orders and 6% on pickup (read September 29, 2026); Uber Eats lists Lite 20%, Plus 25% and Premium 30% (read September 30, 2026). In New York City, delivery app fee caps limit what apps may charge a restaurant.
Worked example · A $16 entrée on a 30% marketplace
- Menu price on the app
- $16.00
- Commission at 30%
- −$4.80
- Net revenue
- $11.20
- Plate cost
- $4.80
- Packaging
- $0.65
- Contribution margin
- $5.75 vs $11.20 in-house
The same dish contributes 49% less through the channel (packaging is a delivery cost, so in-house contribution is price minus plate cost). Whether that's acceptable depends entirely on whether the order is incremental.
The menu-inflation question
Price to hold contribution constant
Delivery price = (Plate cost + Packaging + Target CM) ÷ (1 − Commission %)
Holding contribution flat on the dish above requires a delivery price of $23.79 — a 49% uplift (the commission alone takes 43%; packaging adds the rest), worked through in the delivery markup guide. A smaller uplift is the alternative: it accepts lower contribution per order in exchange for volume and for app prices that stay closer to the dining room.
Run the numbers
Delivery margin calculator
The guide that works it through
How Much to Mark Up Menu Prices on Delivery Apps: The Math, the Rules and What Restaurants Charge
The app price that keeps a dish's contribution at 15%, 25% and 30% commissions, what DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub say about charging more, the cities that protect your prices, and measured markups.
Related terms
Contribution margin
The dollars a dish contributes to overhead and profit after its ingredient cost — menu price minus plate cost.
Menu price
The price a dish is sold at — set from plate cost, target margin, and what the dish is worth in the room.
COGS (cost of goods sold)
The cost of the food and beverage actually consumed in a period, computed from inventory rather than from purchases.
Ghost kitchen
A delivery-only kitchen with no dining room — different cost structure, different margin math.