frontpagephoinix | Staff posted Feb 25, 2026 08:01 AM
Item 1 of 3
Item 1 of 3
frontpagephoinix | Staff posted Feb 25, 2026 08:01 AM
$100 inKind Restaurant eGift Card (various designs)
$70
$100
30% offAmazon
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I was skeptical with them for awhile but after using it for 3+ years, I'm now a believer that it's somewhat sustainable for them. I get to try new restaurants at a discount and help local businesses survive (or thrive).
That being said, an average independent restaurant, averaged out over time, are looking at margins is 5-9% fully loaded (emphasis on fully loaded). If you're a chain, and can really optimize every step, and consolidate; sure, you can do better.
Obviously, these are absolute trash terms. Everyone's wondering how this works and how its so cheap. This happens by fooling the businesses into absolutely getting decimated holding the bag in "gift card" liabilities. As a matter of fact, they got past my GM by sending an email as a regular customer asking if they could "purchase" some $10,000 in gift cards. InKind's sales pitch then revolved around only looking at COGs and hypotheticals where there was staff standing around not doing work where they could be moving product at any margin above zero. Sure, if the business was a huge 200+ seat establishment and we had a few dozen staff standing around looking for work; maybe. But not a lot of independent businesses operate that inefficiently.
Businesses dip into InKind and leave after a few months because they do an introductory initial run for a few months before they start really getting into big numbers. And usually, if the business realizes what's happening, they stop it there and heal. Any business doing this in actual need of a real loan has already entered a financial death spiral and it will only be a matter of time as this is not sustainable. Every meal through inkind will be either at cost or even a net loss. These InKind customers will not be back to pay full price, and there's no exit strategy for them to eventually do so. Its great for the diners, but terrible for the business to varying degrees. Again, yes, some of the bigger restaurant groups may be able to absorb these costs, but at that point they already have their own problems.
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That being said, an average independent restaurant, averaged out over time, are looking at margins is 5-9% fully loaded (emphasis on fully loaded). If you're a chain, and can really optimize every step, and consolidate; sure, you can do better.
Obviously, these are absolute trash terms. Everyone's wondering how this works and how its so cheap. This happens by fooling the businesses into absolutely getting decimated holding the bag in "gift card" liabilities. As a matter of fact, they got past my GM by sending an email as a regular customer asking if they could "purchase" some $10,000 in gift cards. InKind's sales pitch then revolved around only looking at COGs and hypotheticals where there was staff standing around not doing work where they could be moving product at any margin above zero. Sure, if the business was a huge 200+ seat establishment and we had a few dozen staff standing around looking for work; maybe. But not a lot of independent businesses operate that inefficiently.
Businesses dip into InKind and leave after a few months because they do an introductory initial run for a few months before they start really getting into big numbers. And usually, if the business realizes what's happening, they stop it there and heal. Any business doing this in actual need of a real loan has already entered a financial death spiral and it will only be a matter of time as this is not sustainable. Every meal through inkind will be either at cost or even a net loss. These InKind customers will not be back to pay full price, and there's no exit strategy for them to eventually do so. Its great for the diners, but terrible for the business to varying degrees. Again, yes, some of the bigger restaurant groups may be able to absorb these costs, but at that point they already have their own problems.
https://inkind.com/explore
That being said, an average independent restaurant, averaged out over time, are looking at margins is 5-9% fully loaded (emphasis on fully loaded). If you're a chain, and can really optimize every step, and consolidate; sure, you can do better.
Obviously, these are absolute trash terms. Everyone's wondering how this works and how its so cheap. This happens by fooling the businesses into absolutely getting decimated holding the bag in "gift card" liabilities. As a matter of fact, they got past my GM by sending an email as a regular customer asking if they could "purchase" some $10,000 in gift cards. InKind's sales pitch then revolved around only looking at COGs and hypotheticals where there was staff standing around not doing work where they could be moving product at any margin above zero. Sure, if the business was a huge 200+ seat establishment and we had a few dozen staff standing around looking for work; maybe. But not a lot of independent businesses operate that inefficiently.
Businesses dip into InKind and leave after a few months because they do an introductory initial run for a few months before they start really getting into big numbers. And usually, if the business realizes what's happening, they stop it there and heal. Any business doing this in actual need of a real loan has already entered a financial death spiral and it will only be a matter of time as this is not sustainable. Every meal through inkind will be either at cost or even a net loss. These InKind customers will not be back to pay full price, and there's no exit strategy for them to eventually do so. Its great for the diners, but terrible for the business to varying degrees. Again, yes, some of the bigger restaurant groups may be able to absorb these costs, but at that point they already have their own problems.
In their question they said,
"Did you know inKind helps restaurant with investment and patrons"
I knew something was fishy.....
Thank you for the real insight.
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That being said, an average independent restaurant, averaged out over time, are looking at margins is 5-9% fully loaded (emphasis on fully loaded). If you're a chain, and can really optimize every step, and consolidate; sure, you can do better.
Obviously, these are absolute trash terms. Everyone's wondering how this works and how its so cheap. This happens by fooling the businesses into absolutely getting decimated holding the bag in "gift card" liabilities. As a matter of fact, they got past my GM by sending an email as a regular customer asking if they could "purchase" some $10,000 in gift cards. InKind's sales pitch then revolved around only looking at COGs and hypotheticals where there was staff standing around not doing work where they could be moving product at any margin above zero. Sure, if the business was a huge 200+ seat establishment and we had a few dozen staff standing around looking for work; maybe. But not a lot of independent businesses operate that inefficiently.
Businesses dip into InKind and leave after a few months because they do an introductory initial run for a few months before they start really getting into big numbers. And usually, if the business realizes what's happening, they stop it there and heal. Any business doing this in actual need of a real loan has already entered a financial death spiral and it will only be a matter of time as this is not sustainable. Every meal through inkind will be either at cost or even a net loss. These InKind customers will not be back to pay full price, and there's no exit strategy for them to eventually do so. Its great for the diners, but terrible for the business to varying degrees. Again, yes, some of the bigger restaurant groups may be able to absorb these costs, but at that point they already have their own problems.
Is InKind saying if you have underutilized staff they can market InKind?
I made sure to call ahead to make sure the restaurant takes inKind.
One had no restrictions, and the other one said that they only accept if if I was going to be dining in. Well, I don't do dine in anymore, and I wanted a to-go order and they said that they'd let me do that this time since I'd never been to the restaurant before.
The actual use of the app was pretty seamless so no issues there.
I charged up via the Costco deal which is about $5 cheaper (now expired as of yesterday or Sunday).
That being said, an average independent restaurant, averaged out over time, are looking at margins is 5-9% fully loaded (emphasis on fully loaded). If you're a chain, and can really optimize every step, and consolidate; sure, you can do better.
Obviously, these are absolute trash terms. Everyone's wondering how this works and how its so cheap. This happens by fooling the businesses into absolutely getting decimated holding the bag in "gift card" liabilities. As a matter of fact, they got past my GM by sending an email as a regular customer asking if they could "purchase" some $10,000 in gift cards. InKind's sales pitch then revolved around only looking at COGs and hypotheticals where there was staff standing around not doing work where they could be moving product at any margin above zero. Sure, if the business was a huge 200+ seat establishment and we had a few dozen staff standing around looking for work; maybe. But not a lot of independent businesses operate that inefficiently.
Businesses dip into InKind and leave after a few months because they do an introductory initial run for a few months before they start really getting into big numbers. And usually, if the business realizes what's happening, they stop it there and heal. Any business doing this in actual need of a real loan has already entered a financial death spiral and it will only be a matter of time as this is not sustainable. Every meal through inkind will be either at cost or even a net loss. These InKind customers will not be back to pay full price, and there's no exit strategy for them to eventually do so. Its great for the diners, but terrible for the business to varying degrees. Again, yes, some of the bigger restaurant groups may be able to absorb these costs, but at that point they already have their own problems.
Also, I've noticed some restaurants excluding InKind for lunch menus and specials. I also talked to InKind about this and they said restaurants are allowed to exclude InKind as a payment.
Is InKind saying if you have underutilized staff they can market InKind?
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Is InKind saying if you have underutilized staff they can market InKind?
Unfortunately the food service industry, especially full service ones as an independent, is merciless and brutal (to say the least) and not that simple. The whole premise is shaky at best, and it didn't need to get complicated to see. I could run a 50% off promo and pack my restaurant without them, skip the middle men. With 50% gone from an "ideal" margin, same COGs, I don't need to just double sales to make my money back, I'll need way more. The volume I'd need to move (ideally) now makes my COGs go up to handle it; and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
My real hang-up was no "offramp" from InKind. Sure, I can give them the deal and pretend its a promo, and now I get a bunch of InKind customers with a hidden 50% off coupon that I serve with unsustainable margins. Then what? Will these customers come back to pay full price? Are customer's okay with paying full price sometimes, and half price other times? Will my loyal full price customers all flip to get 50% off? Or even get upset that my loyal patrons have been paying double over disloyal deal hunters?
A business would have to be in bad shape to justify this, and to take this deal would enter what I would deem a death spiral. If they were struggling to maintain altitude as it is, this will only ensure their eventual crash. Only outlier scenarios could justify this; something along the lines of this immediate cash injection being the final puzzle piece for a surefire way to skyrocket sales, but i don't even know how a business could be in such a specific predicament.
Sorry, I accidently went on too long. This is me trying to keep it short too (lol)
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