The mobile food crisis everyone avoids… 📲🌯

18 Jan 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:52

Dan Novaes presents a short YouTube commentary arguing that food delivery apps hide multiple markups and fees (hidden menu markup, service fee, delivery fee, regulatory response fee, tip) that can roughly double an order’s visible price — described as a “delivery tax.” He gives a concrete example of a $12 menu item becoming $26 after fees, cites a data claim that heavy users pay about a 90% premium, and shows the compounding effect if done roughly three times per week (saying the difference versus grocery shopping could fund a maxed Roth IRA or a vacation). He frames this as a generational financial problem and directs viewers to a link in his bio for more detail.

Questions this video answers

About 90% premium.

A $12 menu item becoming $26 after fees.

Doing deliveries about three times per week.

Chapters

We all do it. You're tired. You open the app and you order a burrito. The menu states that it costs $12, but that number is a complete lie. Look at this chart tracking the true cost of delivery apps versus grocery shopping over just 30 days. First, you have the hidden menu markup. Restaurants raise prices on the app just to cover their own commissions. Then comes the service fee, the delivery fee, the regulatory response fee, and finally, the tip. Suddenly, that $12 lunch is $26. This is the delivery tax, and it is bleeding your bank account dry. The data shows the average heavy user pays a staggering 90% premium due just for convenience. You are literally paying double for cold fries. Now look at the compounding impact. If you do this just three times a week, you aren't just losing lunch money over a year. The difference between this and grocery shopping is enough to max out a Roth IRA or pay for a dream vacation. It is a silent wealth killer disguised as convenience. And it's keeping an entire generation living, paycheck to paycheck. For a deeper dive, tap the link in my bio to learn more.