First, compare the same service
Separate three questions: who brings you the customer, who handles the order, and who delivers the food? A marketplace may provide customer discovery and access to couriers. Your own ordering website gives people who already know your restaurant a direct way to order. Collection and your own-driver delivery also have different costs.
Write the service at the top of each quote: collection, your own drivers, or a supplied courier network. Do not compare a collection-only price with a price that includes delivery and describe the difference as pure savings.
Build a complete cost checklist
| Cost | What to ask |
|---|---|
| Commission | What percentage applies, to which part of the order, and does VAT apply? |
| Subscription | Is there a monthly charge, per-site charge or minimum term? |
| Payments | Are processing fees included? Check percentage and fixed components, refunds and chargebacks. |
| Customer fees | What appears at checkout, who receives it, and is it included in the advertised price? |
| Delivery | Who supplies drivers and covers mileage, waiting time or failed deliveries? |
| Setup and equipment | Are menu entry, a terminal, paper, replacement equipment and support included? |
| Leaving | What notice, cancellation, domain transfer or equipment-return arrangements apply? |
Ask for the answers in writing. A headline fee cannot tell you how refunds or a quiet month will work.
A worked example you can adapt
Suppose your restaurant takes 400 orders at an average food value of £25. That is £10,000 of food sales. An example commission rate of 15% produces £1,500 of commission. This is arithmetic, not a quote from any provider.
Now make a second column for each other charge. An illustrative £50 monthly subscription plus £0.20 per order would add £130 before any percentage payment fee. Keep VAT on a separate line and use the same tax basis for every quote.
tastie. charges 0% restaurant commission, so its commission line on £10,000 is £0. The standard £1 service fee is paid by the customer. On those 400 orders that is £400 in customer service fees; it is not restaurant food revenue. Separate delivery, payment-processing, tax and third-party arrangements are confirmed before launch. Read the offer details.
Use our commission calculator to change the sales and percentage assumptions. It compares commission, not the complete cost of operating either channel.
Use current quotes, not an old comparison screenshot
Published marketplace prices can vary by fulfilment model. For example, Uber Eats separates courier delivery, self-delivery and collection on its UK pricing page. Check the current rate and your actual agreement before building a forecast.
Test a quieter month as well as your busiest one. Then ask whether the channels are expected to deliver the same number of orders. A lower fee does not establish that demand, conversion or profit will stay the same.
Before you decide
- Request an example settlement for one normal order and one refund.
- Confirm who responds when an order or payment goes wrong.
- Keep driver and packaging costs in your operational budget.
- Check the customer-facing checkout total on a phone.
- Record your assumptions so you can compare them with the first month of real results.
The useful result is a cost model you can explain, with each service priced separately. That gives you a stronger basis for a decision than any single percentage.
