McDonald's "Extra Value" Meals

[dioxide45]

We use DoorDash and only buy when there is a freebie. Today was a free chicken sandwich with a $15 (or maybe $20) order - anyways, the "free" item's cost counts toward the minimum before the discount so it ended up being a great deal.

Doesn't DoorDash inflate the menu prices over the regular price? So any savings would be wiped out by the higher DoorDash pricing.

 

[nw6675]

Doesn't DoorDash inflate the menu prices over the regular price? So any savings would be wiped out by the higher DoorDash pricing.

Sometimes, but not all. And it is usually negligible for chains and there is still a savings. It is definitely not wiped out. Even inflated local businesses often are the overall same expense - for example, our favorite Italian restaurant charges a delivery fee, but has lower menu prices. DD comes out the same with the higher menu price, but no delivery.

Same with Instacart. Some stores charge in store prices and some don't. I don't order Publix, but Food Lion is even lower than instore at times.

Grubhub inflates and I don't trust them at all.

 

[bcla]

I agree fast food prices are out of control. We limit our purchases to deals we find on the app. Cheap-ish drinks at McDonalds ($1 drinks now $1.49 but use 20% off a $2 purchase) and BOGO deals at Subway. I do still support our small local Chinese restaurant, as their price increases have been modest.

If I'm going to spend $10-12 before tax, I'll find a better deal like Red Robin or Chili's (with their lunch specials or 3 for Me). Not as ubiquitous, but generally a better atmosphere and better food.

That being said, the prices are way higher. I remember when Red Robin had Tavern Double burgers (with "bottomless" steak fries) starting at $6.99. And Chili's has a supposedly free drink or chips with a $5 spend, but the specials don't count towards that minimum spend. The lunch specials used to.

I'm thinking a lot of these deals are gone (or their terms more restrictive) because too many people took advantage of them.

 

[Lilsia]

Doesn't DoorDash inflate the menu prices over the regular price? So any savings would be wiped out by the higher DoorDash pricing.

So typically these companies take a bite out of the restaurant's profit. So the restaurant has a choice of saying, yes, charge the same as what we do in store and we will take the hit. Or, usually the mom and pop places who are already on thin margins, will have these companies add their cut to the price. That way the restaurant still makes the same amount of money. They don't like to do that. Their sales guys will try the whole, "but what you lose per product, you will make up in volume. That is why a lot of smaller restaurants don't work with Door Dash and the others.
So not only do these companies take from the restaurant, many have fees that are charged to the customer too. Greedy, right?

 

[dioxide45]

So typically these companies take a bite out of the restaurant's profit. So the restaurant has a choice of saying, yes, charge the same as what we do in store and we will take the hit. Or, usually the mom and pop places who are already on thin margins, will have these companies add their cut to the price. That way the restaurant still makes the same amount of money. They don't like to do that. Their sales guys will try the whole, "but what you lose per product, you will make up in volume. That is why a lot of smaller restaurants don't work with Door Dash and the others.
So not only do these companies take from the restaurant, many have fees that are charged to the customer too. Greedy, right?

I would suspect some of those fees go to pay drivers as drivers receive a base fee to deliver and then any added tip? These companies really aren't profitable as both GrubHub and DoorDash are losing money. It seems like they push restaurants to try and make as much as they can but still can't make a profit. I watch a bit of gig worker videos on YouTube and it seems that drivers get the short end of the stick sometimes too. I have yet to use any such service except when we ordered groceries in Cancun. Using the app was easier than going to the store myself. So I see the convenience.

 

[Lilsia]

I would suspect some of those fees go to pay drivers as drivers receive a base fee to deliver and then any added tip? These companies really aren't profitable as both GrubHub and DoorDash are losing money. It seems like they push restaurants to try and make as much as they can but still can't make a profit. I watch a bit of gig worker videos on YouTube and it seems that drivers get the short end of the stick sometimes too. I have yet to use any such service except when we ordered groceries in Cancun. Using the app was easier than going to the store myself. So I see the convenience.

I don't know where you saw that these companies are losing money. Grubhub alone had a revenue of $1.8 Billion dollars last year. They make millions in profit a year.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I remember, (OK this was back in the 1990's) when my local McDonald's would offer .25 hamburgers like one day a week. It was some random weekday, like a Tuesday or Wednesday. It was pretty cool. It did not take much to get us locals excited. Those were the days

 

[slo]

Wow….it’s crazy how much prices have changed over the years. We very rarely get fast food and when we do I’m always shocked how much it costs. In a way, I’m kinda ok with the high prices, maybe the high prices will help people want to avoid fast food for a cheaper and healthier option at home. Sometimes grabbing fast food is unavoidable, you have to do it, but other times it is avoidable - it just takes planning ahead for the days where you know there’s a time crunch.

 

[ronandannette]

Wow….it’s crazy how much prices have changed over the years. We very rarely get fast food and when we do I’m always shocked how much it costs. In a way, I’m kinda ok with the high prices, maybe the high prices will help people want to avoid fast food for a cheaper and healthier option at home. Sometimes grabbing fast food is unavoidable, you have to do it, but other times it is avoidable - it just takes planning ahead for the days where you know there’s a time crunch.

All I know for sure is that the exorbitant prices of eating out, whether it's fast food, mundane chain places or higher-end restaurants, has greatly reduced our ability to enjoy these things and the "health benefits" don't compensate for what we see as the downgrade in our lifestyle.

Three combo-type meals at any fast-food place here will run $40; I paid over $40 for three subs at Subway last week. 4 McMuffins and a couple of drinks on Sunday mornings after church is about $25. Breakfast out for DH and I yesterday morning at a Canadian chain place with similar prices to Denny's or IHOP was $58 with the tax and tip. DS and I took DH to a fair-to-middling BBQ restaurant for dinner on Father's Day and the bill for 3, without liquor was over $100. We just can't do it - there's no way to justify spending a week's worth of grocery money on just a couple of (never enjoyable enough) meals. I sorely miss it though and it feels like a pretty big loss.

 

[disneyseniors]

I ran across the following photograph on an article about things from the 90's. I worked at McDonald's when the value meals were first introduced. For $2.99 you could get a Big Mac, large fry and medium drink. Now you can't even get the fries for $2.99. Current price of the Big Mac value meal at my local McDonald's is $9.79. Just a piece of nostalgia.


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That price for now is a bargain to me. Our McDonalds costs 10 or 11 dollars plus tax for a value meal! It's insane. Our local cafe charges less than that for much better food. We also bought 2 egg/bacon/cheese biscuits, nothing else with them, and it cost 11.50!!!! Insane. When we questioned the price for 2 biscuits, the girl said that "McDonalds isn't cheap anymore".

 

[KayMichigan]

I don't eat at McDonald's much any more, their food just isn't good. The last Big Mac I had there was a sloppy mess and the patties were paper thin. Usually it's Wendy's or Burger King for me if I have to do fast food.

 

[Dan Murphy]

All I know for sure is that the exorbitant prices of eating out, whether it's fast food, mundane chain places or higher-end restaurants, has greatly reduced our ability to enjoy these things and the "health benefits" don't compensate for what we see as the downgrade in our lifestyle.

Three combo-type meals at any fast-food place here will run $40; I paid over $40 for three subs at Subway last week. 4 McMuffins and a couple of drinks on Sunday mornings after church is about $25. Breakfast out for DH and I yesterday morning at a Canadian chain place with similar prices to Denny's or IHOP was $58 with the tax and tip. DS and I took DH to a fair-to-middling BBQ restaurant for dinner on Father's Day and the bill for 3, without liquor was over $100. We just can't do it - there's no way to justify spending a week's worth of grocery money on just a couple of (never enjoyable enough) meals. I sorely miss it though and it feels like a pretty big loss.

That is pretty much our experience also, R&A. Eating out can be pretty costly.

 

[dioxide45]

I don't know where you saw that these companies are losing money. Grubhub alone had a revenue of $1.8 Billion dollars last year. They make millions in profit a year.

Doordash lost more than $1.3 billion in 2022. They have yet to turn a profit since their IPO.
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/DASH/doordash/net-income-loss

These companies are also the most susceptible to any economic downturn. The first place people look to save money is on food and food delivery. If they get food, they will usually do carryout vs. delivery to save money.

 

[Lilsia]

Doordash lost more than $1.3 billion in 2022. They have yet to turn a profit since their IPO.
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/DASH/doordash/net-income-loss

These companies are also the most susceptible to any economic downturn. The first place people look to save money is on food and food delivery. If they get food, they will usually do carryout vs. delivery to save money.

Door Dash is a joke. During the pandemic, our local grocery chain offered an annual membership for those who do online shopping. For $80, you can get a year worth of free delivery of your groceries. So many people did that. The problem was that the stores didn't have their own drivers, they used Door Dash. The amount of times that the drivers stole the groceries is unbelievable. There were issues daily. It is like they only hire the worst of the worst, drug addicted drivers. I can't imagine how much the company had to pay back to just this one grocery chain alone.

 

[luv2cheer92]

That price for now is a bargain to me. Our McDonalds costs 10 or 11 dollars plus tax for a value meal! It's insane. Our local cafe charges less than that for much better food. We also bought 2 egg/bacon/cheese biscuits, nothing else with them, and it cost 11.50!!!! Insane. When we questioned the price for 2 biscuits, the girl said that "McDonalds isn't cheap anymore".

Just a tip, you can get buy one get one free breakfast sandwiches on the app, it is available every day, 1x/day.

 

[mom2rtk]

Just a tip, you can get buy one get one free breakfast sandwiches on the app, it is available every day, 1x/day.

Ours has 20% off any purchase over $2 every day.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Ours has 20% off any purchase over $2 every day.

Yep, I have that too.