The $1 is a bit misleading as it is apparently relying on tipping to make up the difference. Which strikes me as kinda weak.<p>Getting something now is definitely better than getting it later which is definitely better than getting it tomorrow and on and on. But there are not a lot of things that I really need now or today. And I suspect most will be unwilling to pay for speed very much.
My startup is bootstrapped and does deliveries.<p>In fact we actually hired people that hated the old/current Postmates model.<p>But basically, it's not an easy business model and it's not one that makes financial sense, no matter what the funding, city, tipping situation is.<p>Deliveries = Time
Time = Money<p>If you want someone to have time to make deliveries, you have to pay them enough money to have that time. Until VERY EXPENSIVE robots and cars replace people, deliveries will always be expensive, and relatively dependent on the speed of traffic + production. And even once we have robots, we'll need to charge enough to cover the robots, the guy that repairs the robots and money to invest in the next robot. That probably will be more than an dollar... especially when you factor in energy for the robots.
Ha, just finished reading this about delivery startups: <a href="https://medium.com/@alexschiff/dear-food-delivery-startup-dcb2f582e295" rel="nofollow">https://medium.com/@alexschiff/dear-food-delivery-startup-dc...</a>
Hmm, I paid $5 for delivery. They had some $2 burrito special but they picked the worst burrito place in my neighborhood and after the delivery charge and a decent tip, it didn't seem like a particularly good deal. They did do a good job of getting lots of napkins and sauces and utensils though.<p>I am not sure about this style of food delivery, it's weird and off putting to me though I can't exactly say why.
I can't understand how Postmates is so big. I've tried them twice. Both times the food took over 1.5 hours to be delivered and was cold.<p>Just order pizza or Chinese.
I've used Postmates a couple of times at work when I've been too busy to actually go out to lunch. I can also see using them in a few other situations. I've been very happy with the service, but I'm not sure the market is as big as people are hoping.<p>But interestingly, I see this as a huge win for people that may be home-bound due to age or injury. Specialty services that cater to this demographic are expensive and not nearly as responsive.
Honestly if there <i>is</i> a bubble and if it <i>does</i> burst, I'm putting my money on Postmates as the first company that will go out of business.