Every takeout order, invested — what's it worth?
Delivery apps add fees and markups on top of the food price. Enter what you think you pay extra per order and see what that money could have become in the S&P 500.
$25 × 3/week × 20 yr of delivery fees
$78,270
Invested in the S&P 500 each month instead, it'd be $353,286 (4.51×)
Swap in your own delivery cost to try it.
What's a delivery fee?
When you order through a delivery app, you typically pay more than the menu price alone. The extra cost can come from a delivery fee charged directly to you, a service fee added at checkout, and sometimes menu prices that are set higher than the restaurant's dine-in or pickup prices. The exact breakdown varies by app, city, and restaurant — which is why this calculator asks you to enter your own per-order estimate.
The monthly investment amount is calculated as: per-order fee × orders per week × (52.18 weeks ÷ 12 months). That monthly figure is then assumed to be invested in the S&P 500 total-return index each month, accumulating units at each month's index level. The data comes from Robert Shiller's publicly available monthly series starting in 1990.
All results are pre-tax, pre-fee hypothetical simulations. Actual investment outcomes will differ. The start and end of the backtest window have a large effect on results.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a delivery fee premium?
- Delivery apps typically add costs beyond the food price: a delivery fee charged to you, a service fee, and in some cases menu prices that are higher than dine-in or pickup. The exact total varies by app, restaurant, and location. This calculator lets you enter your own per-order estimate — whatever extra you think you pay versus picking up yourself — and shows what that money could be worth if invested instead.
- Where does the investment data come from?
- The calculator uses the S&P 500 total-return monthly index compiled by Robert Shiller (Yale University) and published under the Public Domain Dedication and License v1.0 (PDDL-1.0). Total-return means dividends are assumed to be reinvested.
- Why are taxes and fees not included?
- Real-world investing involves brokerage fees, capital gains taxes, dividend taxes, and currency effects. Including them would require personal information that varies by country, tax bracket, and account type. This tool shows the pre-tax, pre-fee benchmark so the comparison is clean and consistent.
- Is this investment advice?
- No. This is a hypothetical simulation based on historical S&P 500 data. Past performance does not predict future results. Nothing here should be used to make investment decisions.