Chris Sassine’s food truck The Sugar Kick has been on Uber Eats since it opened. (Source: The Sugar KICK)
A Sydney food truck owner has called out Uber Eats for ripping off small businesses, exposing the huge fees that are charged by the food delivery platform. He is urging local customers to order directly from businesses and avoid the app altogether.
Chris Sassine has been on Uber Eats since his food truck The Sugar Kick opened in Sydney’s southwest last year. He told Yahoo Finance it was a rude shock to find out how expensive the platform was.
“Until I actually owned my own business, you don’t realise how much it actually affects you and how much customers rely on it,” he said. “It’s very hard to price it right, that’s a massive struggle for a lot of small businesses like myself.”
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Uber Eats charges restaurants a 30 per cent commission for every delivery made, plus GST. It also encourages restaurants to sign up for Uber Eats Ads, which is optional but helps boost restaurants to the top of the list for more customer visibility.
Sassine recently posted a video on his social media, breaking down his Uber Eats costs for one week. Last week, his business had 41 orders through the platform, which were a total of $1,117.50.
Uber Eats took a fee of $335.40, plus GST of $33.59 on that. Total Uber Eats ad spend for the week was $603.52.
After the more than $900 worth of charges, the amount of money Sassine actually got in his pocket was just $145.
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Restaurants are not required to sign up for Uber Eats ads, but it can have a major impact on sales. Restaurants are also free to choose how much they spend and this can vary week by week.
Sassine said he had only been operating at his new location for two weeks. The week prior, he shared he had 19 Uber Eats orders totalling $441.05.
The 30 per cent Uber Eats fee took $132.40 from that, plus there was $13.27 in GST.
Ad spend for that week was $365.63. After those fees and charges were accounted for, he made around a $70 loss.
Sassine shared his Uber Eats fees, revealing exactly how much he is paying in fees and ads. (Source: Chris Sassine)
It’s not the first time small businesses have called out Uber Eats over their fees.
Sydney chicken shop Super Nash Brothers said Uber Eats’ recommended ad budget was between $71 and $165 per day for their three stores, which comes on top of the 30 per cent platform delivery fee.
When ads were introduced, they noticed a 40 per cent decline in their listing on the app, which prompted them to fork out for the added cost.
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Last year, founder Joe Avers told Yahoo Finance the business was forking out $60,000 a month just on Uber Eats fees.
“It’s just an insane amount of money to be paying … But the challenge is, if you’re not on it, you’re missing the sales. It’s a real catch-22,” he said.
Sassine said it was “pretty disgusting” to see just how much Uber Eats was charging businesses.
It’s worth noting Sassine believes he may have been incorrectly charged for his Uber Eats ad spend, as he believed his maximum budget had been capped at $45 a day and he found he was being charged ads for days and times when his truck wasn’t open.
He has since shut down the ads, but noticed it has had a major impact on sales through the platform. He’s gone from getting a dozen orders a night to just one.
“It does make a massive difference, but I’d rather not get those Uber orders when it’s costing me [that amount],” he said.
Sassine has encouraged local customers to order directly from small businesses to help avoid the fees. (Source: The Sugar KICK)
Sassine has called for an investigation into how Uber Eats sets its pricing, particularly given they are now one of the few players left on the scene after Menulog and Deliveroo ceased operations.
“They have such a massive market share, they can literally do whatever they want,” he said.
Sassine said he understood why Uber Eats took a cut given they organise the drive, pickup and platform, but thinks there should be restrictions on how much they can charge.
“When you are getting ripped off completely and all your percentage, all your profits are going, there’s literally no point,” he said.
Yahoo Finance contacted Uber Eats, who declined to comment.
It’s understood marketplace fees can be as little as 6 per cent if customers pick up the order themselves.
More than 60,000 restaurants use the Uber Eats platform in Australia, contributing to millions of deliveries each week.
It’s now become necessary for many restaurants to be on Uber Eats and delivery platforms to meet customer demand.
A 2024 Restaurant and Catering Association, Mastercard and Uber Eats report found nearly 96 per cent of restaurants surveyed said using delivery platforms had increased their revenue. Meanwhile, 25 per cent said the cost of on-demand food delivery was a challenge.
Sassine said it wasn’t feasible to get his own delivery driver, so he relied on services like Uber Eats to provide for customers.
“It just needs to be fair to all businesses and to customers,” he said.
He’s called on customers to support small businesses by going into stores and ordering directly if they can.
“If you are local, just come in. It’s cheaper for you, it’s more convenient and the quality of the food will be a lot better because Uber picks up multiple orders before it drops your own.”
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