— For the restaurant owner, CFO, or finance team
What should a restaurant include when calculating its true DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Grubhub cost?
What should a restaurant include in true third-party delivery cost?
Use this restaurant’s finalized statement, not a generic industry rate. First lock the eligible-sales base for the period. Then total every restaurant-borne marketplace deduction the file discloses: commission, merchant fees, restaurant-funded promotions and ads, refunds, error charges, adjustments, and other documented deductions, minus supported credits. Observed marketplace cost % = documented deductions / eligible sales × 100.
Keep the categories separate before you compute the rate. Exclude tips, taxes, customer pass-through fees, and platform-funded incentives unless the governing evidence says they belong in the restaurant’s numerator. That answers “what did this channel cost?” A second question — “did the marketplace follow the agreement?” — needs the contract or rate card and is not the same test. If the statement hides a required line, label the result Missing Evidence instead of manufacturing precision.
— What working formula does this answer use?
documentedDeductions = commission + merchantFees + restaurantFundedPromotionsAndAds + refundsErrorChargesAndAdjustments + otherDocumentedDeductions − supportedCredits; observedMarketplaceCostPct = documentedDeductions / eligibleSales × 100
— Field checks
- 01Disclose numerator, denominator, inclusions, and exclusions.
- 02Do not fold restaurant-funded promotions into commission.
- 03Never use a generic industry rate as if it describes this restaurant.
— Evidence to keep
- • Finalized statement with eligible sales and each deduction family
- • Contract or rate card only when testing compliance
Sources checked August 21, 2026. Independent operational guidance—not marketplace-endorsed legal, tax, or accounting advice. Read the evidence and corrections standard.
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