If you’re a regular Uber Eats customer, you might want to know how things work behind the scenes—and how you can save the most on every order.
Why does your order cost as much as it does? Does Uber add any markup, and what’s with all those fees?
Read on to learn how Uber Eats works, how much an order costs, and how to save on your next delivery.
What you need to know
- The price of an Uber Eats order includes food costs, a service fee, a delivery fee, tip, and applicable taxes
- Restaurants set their own prices—Uber does not add markup
- Service fees are around 15%, average delivery fees range from $0.49–$7.99
- New users can save with a promo code
- Existing users can save with Uber One and special deals offered by merchants
Uber Eats promo code for your first order: eats-cws7s2 (USA only)
Article contents
How prices work on Uber Eats
The price of an Uber Eats order consists of the cost of the food & items, a service fee, a delivery fee, other fees, optional tip, any applicable local taxes.
Does Uber Eats add markup to the cost of food?
Uber does not add markup or higher prices to items. Restaurants and stores set their own prices for Uber Eats.
Some merchants may list higher prices on Uber Eats to help make up for the fees that Uber charges merchants.
Fees on Uber Eats
Below is a breakdown of each Uber fee and surcharge.
The Uber Eats service fee is a variable charge on the order subtotal, typically around 15%. The minimum service fee is approximately $3.
The maximum service fee is around $9. For larger orders ($55+), the $9 service fee will be less than 15% of the order total.
The Uber Eats delivery fee typically ranges from $0.49 to $10.99. The delivery fee is dynamic, based on your distance to the restaurant and the availability of delivery couriers. When demand for orders is high, the delivery fee increases.
Generally, closer restaurants will have a lower delivery fee. If the delivery fee is unusually high, you may be too far from the restaurant,or there is a shortage of drivers.
Priority delivery is an optional $1.99–$2.99 charge to guarantee that your driver will deliver your order first if your order is part of a stacked delivery.
Small order fee: A $2 fee if your order is less than $1 and around $3 if the subtotal is less than $15. The exact fee amount varies by city.
Other Fees: The delivery adjustment fee is added to your order when you make changes that increase the cost, such as changing your address.
California customers pay the CA Driver Benefits fee, an extra fee to fund driver benefits passed by California Proposition 22.
NYC customers pay a $2 New York Courier fee that was added in response to a minimum wage law.
The total cost of an Uber Eats order is = The cost of your food + The Service Fee + Delivery Fee + Other Fees + Taxes + Optional Tip
An Uber Eats order with just about every fee and discount
You may also have to pay a cancel fee if you cancel too far along in the delivery process.
Extremely high delivery fees? Here’s what’s going on
Delivery fees for most orders are around $1–$5, but sometimes an order will have an extremely high delivery fee—as high as $20!
An extremely high delivery fee—higher than $10—indicates that there are not be enough drivers to complete your order either from a low supply of drivers or a spike in demand for orders.
$19.99 delivery fee? What’s going on?
Uber’s explanation for a high delivery fee: Not enough drivers!
The delivery fee calculation factors in the total delivery distance and local order volume. That means that your delivery fee will be higher if you’re far from a restaurant or store, and the fee can climb even higher during a busy time of day.
The high delivery fee can slow down order volume to help restaurants catch up, and Uber can use funds from the delivery fee to raise driver pay and incentivize a driver to accept your order.
Does the delivery fee get paid directly to Uber Eats drivers?
The delivery fee is not paid directly to Uber Eats couriers. If your delivery fee was $4.99, it does not mean the delivery person was paid $4.99.
Instead, delivery drivers are paid according to a formula that includes a base fare, a trip supplement, and any other earnings promotions that Uber offers. Drivers receive 100% of tips.
The base fare includes payment for time, distance, and delivery difficulty, but the exact calculation isn’t shared with drivers or customers.
Should you tip on every Uber Eats order?
You should tip during checkout for every Uber Eats order—not after the delivery is complete.
Here’s why: Thanks to ‘upfront pricing,’ Uber Eats delivery drivers can see how much a delivery will pay before they accept the order.
When you don’t tip during checkout, the pay estimate for your order will be low and drivers won’t want to accept your order.
Think of your tip as a bid for service. If you don’t bid enough, you’ll get slower service.
But if you prefer to tip after delivery, there’s a compromise: Leave a small tip during checkout, then add extra to the tip if the delivery deserves more.
And don’t reduce your tip after the order—aka tip baiting—unless the driver made a seriously unprofessional error.
Need to contact Uber Eats? Here’s how
If you had an issue with your order, you can contact Uber Eats to report the issue and potentially get a refund. Note that you may not get a refund if you have requested several refunds in the past.
Common problems include missing items, the delivery never arrived, poor food quality, your driver was unprofessional, and more.
Uber Eats promo codes: Savings for new users
There are a few different ways for Uber Eats users to get discounts on orders. New users can easily find promo codes, and existing users can take advantage of a few other promotions.
Uber Eats promo codes for new users: eats-cws7s2 (USA only)
Promo codes for new users typically offer a discount on your first or several orders.
You can enter a promo code in Account > Promotions, or during checkout. You will get an error message if the promo code is invalid.
Share your Eats promo code to get discounts
All Uber Eats users can share a promo code to get discounts on future orders. When someone enters your code and places an order, you’ll get free credits toward your next order.
Share your promo code by tapping the Account icon, then tap the section that says “Get $x off your order.” The next page will display your promo code and gives you several ways to share your code.
Find your Eats promo code in the Account area
Are there Uber Eats promo codes for existing users?
It’s possible to find a promo code that works if you have already placed at least one order, but they are difficult to find and typically expire after a short time.
For example, Uber sent a promo code that offered free delivery from McDonald’s on Cyber Monday only. Any Uber user could use it, but it stopped working after Cyber Monday.
Related: Tricks to save on Uber
Other discounts for existing users
Uber may offer promos for existing users. For example, I regularly see 50% off up to $15 for deliveries, 40% off up to $35 on grocery orders, and 50% off up to $20 on convenience.
Go to Account > Promotions to see active promotions. Most promotions are only available for a limited time.
Existing users may get promos like this. Look for them in Account > Promotions
Uber One: Monthly membership to save on orders
Uber One is a monthly membership that offers several benefits. For f, you get $0 delivery fees and up to 10% off orders over $15. Grocery orders over $30 also come with a $0 delivery fee.
Uber One also gives 6% Uber Cash back on eligible Uber rides.
To sign up for Uber One: Open the Uber Eats app, tap Account at the bottom of the screen, then scroll to find Uber One.
Get a discount at individual restaurants and stores
Restaurants and stores on Uber Eats regularly offer deals on purchases. For example, you’ll often see ‘Buy one get one free,’ $0 delivery fee, and ‘spend $x to save $x.‘
You can filter for deals by tapping the filter button in the upper corner of the app. Then toggle the Deals option.
Look for the green ribbon icon on stores to identify active deals.
Set a filter for Deals to find the best discounts
Look for the green tags to find special offers
More tips for Uber Eats users
- Why drinks are always missing on Uber Eats orders
- Driver needs a PIN for your order? Here’s why
- How to contact Uber Eats
PooPooPooPoo says
It is not true that closer = lower delivery fee
DougH says
True. Though distance is a big factor. Do you know more about how the fee works? Always interested in more insight
Tera says
Way too many unreasonable fees 7.99 tax & service fee the tax in my county is 7.34% so on 27.00 is only2.00
Then you have 2.00 driver fee then .49 delivery fee even though it said free delivery then some other fee so your paying an extra 10.00 before you even leave a tip.
The price in the restaurant for the item is 22.00 your paying with a tip 39.00!
Mel says
I live outside the United States but would like to send food to relatives in the US, will I be able to place an order? Thanks.
DougH says
I’m not sure it will work. You typically have to be inside the delivery radius to order. Try to download the app and see what happens when you put in your relatives address. If that doesn’t work, you can get your relatives an Uber Eats gift card.
Desiree says
Hi Doug do you happen to know whether we’re allowed to combine Reward Points with Uber cash to pay on UberEats? Can’t seem to find the answer to this anywhere. Thanks in advance!
DougH says
That’s a good question, and I’m not 100% sure. It’s hard to get info when you’re creatively combining features. Maybe go ahead and try, see what happens, and let me know how it goes?
Lucy says
Unimpressed on 2 successive occasions Uber eats delivery was not wearing a mask at all. It is law and if it happens again, we will no longer use this service.
Joe says
I ordered food that Uber never picked up to deliver and was still charged for Uber’s mistake. How do we correct this?
DougH says
Open up the Uber Eats app. Tap ‘Orders’ on the bottom. Find the order you were charged for and tap the “Get Help” button. Find the “My order never arrived” option. You should eventually get a refund or app credit
Peter says
I have understand credit however even when I apply the credit I get charged full price and the credits are not used… how do I fix this ?
DougH says
You might have to contact Uber. Typically credits are applied automatically. Head to help.uber.com and look for the “My promo code didn’t apply” article. That has instructions, and forms to contact Uber
Tessa says
I received a $5 credit from Uber Eats but no matter how hard I tried, I could not use my credit for my order. I made sure to go into payment settings and turned on the available credits but it still would not apply
DougH says
Typically any promotion will be automatically applied, so you don’t have to select it to use it. If you had a promotion and it didn’t apply to an order, you’ll have to contact customer service.