The True Cost of Just Eat for Irish Food Businesses

The commission rate is what Irish food businesses focus on — and it is significant. But treating commission as the only cost of trading on Just Eat misses the full picture.

Here is what you are actually paying.

The Headline Commission

Just Eat charges Irish restaurants between 14% and 33% commission per order, depending on your plan and contract. Newer businesses typically pay higher rates. Volume and negotiation can bring it down.

On €20,000/month in Just Eat orders at 30%: you pay €6,000 in commission.

That alone is €72,000/year on a relatively modest volume. But it is not the whole cost.

The Data Tax

Every order through Just Eat is an order where you do not learn anything about your customer. No email address. No order history. No way to reach them again.

Over time this compounds. A business with two years of Just Eat history has thousands of customers it cannot contact, cannot retain, and cannot market to. That customer list — had it been built through a direct channel — is a real asset worth real money.

The Dependency Risk

When your primary ordering channel is a third-party platform, you are exposed to their decisions:

• Fee increases (Just Eat has raised rates multiple times)
• Algorithm changes that reduce your visibility
• Listing removal for policy violations (sometimes unfairly applied)
• Platform outages during your busiest hours

Businesses that have diversified into direct ordering are insulated from all of these. Those that have not are one policy change away from a significant revenue drop.

The Brand Dilution Cost

On Just Eat, you compete for attention on a grid alongside dozens of similar businesses. The differentiators that make your business special — your story, your aesthetic, your regulars — are invisible. Customers choose based on rating, price, and proximity.

This is fine for acquisition. It is poor for building a brand worth anything in the long run.

What the Full Cost Looks Like

Cost CategoryApproximate Annual Value

|---|---|

Commission at 30% on €20k/month€72,000 Lost customer data (unreachable customers)Hard to quantify, genuinely significant Dependency risk premiumStructural Brand equity not being builtLong-term

The Alternative Maths

Moving half your volume to a direct channel at 5% commission on €10,000/month saves €25,000/year in commission — and starts building the customer data and brand equity that Just Eat is currently capturing for you.

That is before you account for the retention value of customers you can actually reach again.