Did you read that thread by Nitro about the feasibility of a peer to peer ride share.... totally cutting out the likes of Uber and Lyft. Thats a damn good idea imo. I mentioned that one last night to some folks and one of them thinks there's a startup in San Fran starting to do it. .
Yep another startup out of San Fran...are you referring to getaround ? If so the idea has been done before many times, there are many offering this type of service already....its people who have a car that want to rent it out hourly to other drivers...all I can say is Noooo thank you...who would want someone else driving their car for $8 or $12 an hour....in the long run all that wear and tear costs the owner in the end.... Its not worth it...Who wants a stranger driving their car slopping it all up with cat hair and donut crumbs and who knows what the implications are when it comes to insurance even though they say it's covered up to $1,000,000....way to many questions... I'll keep my car parked for me, the only one making out in this scheme is the company and the one renting the car. The owner of the car is the fool if they provide the car out to these types of new economies we have today.
No, that wasn't it. Nitro's idea was in effect.... "I need a ride...I'll post it". People are on the site, they see the request, submit a bid, and the person that needs the ride picks who they want to pick em up. Peer ratings would apply. Pretty simple really. The driver keeps 100% of the money.
Uber tries to discount prices and provide incentives to customers in each market where they compete with Lyft. You're right, it's good for customers, not for the drivers. Regarding income taxes, you have to consider that if drivers use the IRS standard allowance for mileage deduction (as opposed to actual expenses), it can erase almost ALL of the taxable gains, hence the "shit" income. . Take for example, a driver who puts on an average of 3,000 miles a month driving for Uber. At .575/cents/mile for the 2015 year, that's $20,700 annually in deductions for the mileage alone, not including standard deductions and exemptions, etc. By the way, IRS reduced it for 2016 down to .54 cents a mile, maybe too many Uber drivers were zeroing out their taxes in 2015. https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/20...tes-for-business-medical-and-moving-announced
Pekelo, Since you mentioned income taxes, check out a thread from an Uber blog. It's only 2 pages, and quite an interesting read (funny as well). http://uberpeople.net/threads/new-driver-income-questions.88509/
Well, making $4/hour, yippie!!! So basically the whole business model is a bust. The company doesn't make money, the drivers make shit, the competition is screwed, only the customers are happy, temporarily. And stupid VC gives them more and more money... Not to mention in some cities they are illegal... I like the soup kitchen analogy. I make a soupchain selling excellent soup for $1. But it cost me $2 each soup. People love my soup. The more restaurants I open the more money I lose. Everybody is losing money (me, competitors) but the people love the cheap but good soup, for a while until it lasts... But bad business ideas can't last forever....
I have another business idea. I will make electric cars. First for the rich then using the profits I will make cheaper and more accessable cars. Then I might even throw in solar on the top and some kind of giant battery for the house. I will get lots of government subsidy, and make tons of money for myself.... Oh wait, that sounds familiar. I have deja vu...
No, it's not a bust! The drivers are building an empire as indentured servants, which is what I've already mentioned in this thread. Sure, there are always pockets of opportunity in select cities, or select times such as surge pricing. However, Uber, by its own admission, relies on churn to attract new drivers. These are very smart VC's pouring in money to Uber, and they will KEEP pouring in money, by the BILLIONS and BILLIONS, because it's becoming self-evident that eventually the roads will have driverless cars. Once the infrastructure is built worldwide, Uber will take away the 80% it currently gives for the drivers. Imagine the revenue streams once that happens. Yes, there are daunting questions regarding insurance liability, all which will most likely be worked out with government regulations. And yes, both Uber and Lyft have left certain markets where they tried to get exemptions from background checks or where regulations prohibited them. However, that hasn't stopped them from complying with background checks in specific cities like New York, where the revenues justified the costs. And they might comply eventually if they feel it's warranted. Uber expanded its offerings in certain airports where they were banned previously. The recent two that comes to mind are Boston and Phoenix. The VC's will make their profits on an eventual IPO, and sell a huge portion on the open to the suckers who will pour in droves to buy the overhyped stock. It may be another 10 year game plan, perhaps longer. However, as long as money keeps pouring in by VC's, Uber will expand the empire. Drivers can bitch and complain all they want on Uber message boards, but they are DISPENSABLE, just like an old razor.
Alphabet exec leaves Uber board as conflicts of interest rise Alphabet executive David Drummond has left the board citing "overlap between the two companies," he said in an emailed statement. Drummond oversees Alphabet's venture capital group, and joined the Uber board in 2013. (Wall Street Journal)