"Free Delivery" is fake and menu prices on Food Delivery apps are inflated

You can save money by being more informed about menu price inflations and food delivery fees. One item that’s $10 on the menu could very well be $17 on a delivery app, and the average price inflation is 15%. Those ads you see all the time for “free delivery” really mean “no delivery fee.” There are also 15-20% service fees, surge fees, and minimum cart fees. Sales taxes are also calculated differently from app to app! I usually avoid these fees by picking up the food myself or calling in my order for delivery. If I really want to splurge, I'll order delivery, but because I'm cheap, I'll use an aggregator like FoodBoss or MealMe. Foodboss has a website, but you get linked over to the other apps which is annoying and they only compare 2 of the major apps. I found out about MealMe from TikTok and they have checkout in the app which is convenient and seem to compare every delivery app, but the huge caveat is that it's only on iOS so I have to use my iPad and be on Wifi. Whatever you choose, make sure to always tip-- the drivers definitely deserve/need it!