# Why does Uber get 25 percent?



## DRider85 (Nov 19, 2016)

You know come to think about it, I don't understand why the company gets up to a quarter of the pay off of everyone's ride. I mean, what did they do? They aren't driving, paying for gas, etc.. Sure, they have employees and have to pay for marketing, but I don't understand why they should get 20-25 percent off of everyone. Look at credit card transaction companies. Look at Ebay and Paypal. These companies only charge 2 to 3 percent. So I struggle to see how Uber takes 1/4 of everyone's earnings when they did not have to do any labor during all of these rides. Im sure all of you would happily take 3 percent off of everyone's driving.


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## ABC123DEF (Jun 9, 2015)

And they also take a $2.25 "booking fee" in my area. Oh..and you also take care of all the operating expenses, too. And at sub $1.00 base fare, we're basically giving away rides - especially in smaller markets.


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## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

Cause they can.

Here's what a true free market looks like.

Recoup


```
AUSTIN RIDESHARE RATES

STANDARD CLASS                       Minimum  Co.         In-app
              Base    Mile   Minute   fare    cut   Surge? tips?  Killer feature
              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ride|Austin   1.50    0.99    0.25    4.00     0%    Yes    Yes   Keep 100% of fare, non-profit
Fare          2.00    1.20    0.25    5.00    20%    Yes    Yes   Build a book, adv. scheduling
Fasten        1.10    1.10    0.19    4.00 1.29+2.3% Yes    Yes   Keep 100% of boost
GetMe**       2.00    1.10    0.23    ?.??    ???     No    ???   ?????

As of March 2017

** Source: El Gato
All others, source: company website
```


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## entrep1776 (Nov 3, 2016)

DRider85 said:


> You know come to think about it, I don't understand why the company gets up to a quarter of the pay off of everyone's ride. I mean, what did they do? They aren't driving, paying for gas, etc.. Sure, they have employees and have to pay for marketing, but I don't understand why they should get 20-25 percent off of everyone. Look at credit card transaction companies. Look at Ebay and Paypal. These companies only charge 2 to 3 percent. So I struggle to see how Uber takes 1/4 of everyone's earnings when they did not have to do any labor during all of these rides. Im sure all of you would happily take 3 percent off of everyone's driving.


Really? start your own business. No one ever looks at what the business owner's costs are.

Employees /independent contractors that really have no clue about starting /running a business.

I rent out rooms in my house. Renters never think about the roof I just replaced. Taxes mortgages electricity /gas etc. etc
Start your own business then you can hire people that think you aren't paying them enough and then you can charge customers and they will complain about the price.

Most people that dream about starting their own business often shortly thereafter dream about becoming an employee again.

(not saying 25% is fair or not. Why doesn't Uber charge 35%?)


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

Of uber's cut.. their biggest cost (of the ride itself) is the commericial insurance coverage. This isn't a joke, this is a huge chunk of costs.

The cab company I drive for, the insurance payouts/ replacing damaged equipment is the the second biggest expense for the company. (this is an area without medallions)

So a *real* cab companies expenses

1. employees (not counting drivers) including managers, dispatchers, mechanics ect.
2. Insurance payouts/ replacing/repairing wrecked cars
3. new car purchases (not counting replacing wrecked cars)


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## entrep1776 (Nov 3, 2016)

Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> Of uber's cut.. their biggest cost (of the ride itself) is the commericial insurance coverage. This isn't a joke, this is a huge chunk of costs.
> 
> The cab company I drive for, the insurance payouts/ replacing damaged equipment is the the second biggest expense for the company. (this is an area without medallions)
> 
> ...


getting all these different markets set up and driver incentives. Maybe some politician schmoozing. All the pax that email n biatch. All the drivers that email n biatch. New market penetration cost have to be huge. Once all policies are set up and in place pretty easy for Lyft to follow behind after Uber did most of the heavy lifting.

I'm wondering if Uber is profitable right now if it quit trying to expand. I can't hardly imagine taking 25% and not being profitable. But when I look at what I charge for rent I can't believe how much I spend as a landlord /property owner. As a renter I would think oh man he's making so much off me...


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## NO PAY - VEYO (Mar 27, 2017)

What makes it ok for a company to take their percent away and for you to find in a month or a year that after finally adding
up your cost and you find out you did or did not make minimum wage. Your cost will eventually have to add a oil change and 
a tire or 4 tires or engine work at $70 to $100 plus an hour plus parts. Your vehicle is an expensive conversation down the road,
wanting to work for Uber and enjoying the job more than likely is not a good reason. If you get out the adding machine and find 
out your being taken advantage of and can and will be replaced by someone else who did not buy an adding machine. Only question
that you need to ask is Why Uber hires so many drivers, excessive amounts, too many, Uber knows eventually you will buy an adding
machine and quit. I bought my adding machine early before my vehicle needed the master mechanic. Sorry to intriude.


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## Jagent (Jan 29, 2017)

They take way more than 25%. Start asking your riders how much the trip cost them and compare it to what Uber tells you it cost. Uber routinely makes 40-60% on almost every trip.


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## steveK2016 (Jul 31, 2016)

Neither of those companies have to provide you with $1kk in liability insurance in case you T-Bone Mr and Mrs Jones and kids on their way to the Zoo...



Jagent said:


> They take way more than 25%. Start asking your riders how much the trip cost them and compare it to what Uber tells you it cost. Uber routinely makes 40-60% on almost every trip.


The upfront fare scheme is bullshit, hopefully this is rectified sooner rather than later....


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## wk1102 (Dec 25, 2015)

DRider85 said:


> You know come to think about it, I don't understand why the company gets up to a quarter of the pay off of everyone's ride. I mean, what did they do? They aren't driving, paying for gas, etc.. Sure, they have employees and have to pay for marketing, but I don't understand why they should get 20-25 percent off of everyone. Look at credit card transaction companies. Look at Ebay and Paypal. These companies only charge 2 to 3 percent. So I struggle to see how Uber takes 1/4 of everyone's earnings when they did not have to do any labor during all of these rides. Im sure all of you would happily take 3 percent off of everyone's driving.


Because they can.


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

DRider85 said:


> You know come to think about it, I don't understand why the company gets up to a quarter of the pay off of everyone's ride. I mean, what did they do?


Uber does a hell of allot. Show me another company that can easily convince hundreds of thousands to work for less then minimum wage using their own vehicle. Show me another company that can easily continue operations with having over 500 ongoing lawsuits. Show me another company that can have weekly public scandals, numerous top management resignations and still on board thousands of new recruits. Show me another company that has more associates speaking poorly about them however continue to work for them. Uber is the model company for doing so much for only a mere portion of the gross revenue.


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## entrep1776 (Nov 3, 2016)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> Uber does a hell of allot. Show me another company that can easily convince hundreds of thousands to work for less then minimum wage using their own vehicle. Show me another company that can easily continue operations with having over 500 ongoing lawsuits. Show me another company that can have weekly public scandals, numerous top management resignations and still on board thousands of new recruits. Show me another company that has more associates speaking poorly about them however continue to work for them. Uber is the model company for doing so much for only a mere portion of the gross revenue.


Pretty sure you're being sarcastic.

But it is pretty amazing how Uber has pretty much told everyone to s. uck it and continues to expand /operate.


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

entrep1776 said:


> Pretty sure you're being sarcastic.
> 
> But it is pretty amazing how Uber has pretty much told everyone to s. uck it and continues to expand /operate.


I was being sarcastic. One major expense in which Uber foots the bill that DRider85 missed is insurance. Our insurance for livery runs real close to 5% of gross revenue. Another factor is that Uber has been subsidizing driver payments with guarantees and bonuses. Uber has been operating at a loss every year since they started back in '08.


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## DRider85 (Nov 19, 2016)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> I was being sarcastic. One major expense in which Uber foots the bill that DRider85 missed is insurance. Our insurance for livery runs real close to 5% of gross revenue. Another factor is that Uber has been subsidizing driver payments with guarantees and bonuses. Uber has been operating at a loss every year since they started back in '08.


How could they be at a loss when they are generating 25 percent of our fares? How do they plan to make money if that isn't enough?


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## entrep1776 (Nov 3, 2016)

DRider85 said:


> How could they be at a loss when they are generating 25 percent of our fares? How do they plan to make money if that isn't enough?


Raise fare prices.

Stop spending to penetrate new markets.

Start taking more than 25% from drivers which they recently did. Safety fee bs whatever.

25% is way low as others will say. it's more like 50% or more.

Stop spending on Korean karaoke escorts for corporate.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> I was being sarcastic. One major expense in which Uber foots the bill that DRider85 missed is insurance. Our insurance for livery runs real close to 5% of gross revenue. Another factor is that Uber has been subsidizing driver payments with guarantees and bonuses. Uber has been operating at a loss every year since they started back in '08.


I don't get guarantees and bonuses !
I pay Uber the same as those that do!
Completely Unfair !!!!



wk1102 said:


> Because they can.
> 
> View attachment 108444


People will cheer as they burn.


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## lcc421110 (Mar 29, 2017)

dirtylee said:


> Cause they can.
> 
> Here's what a true free market looks like.
> 
> ...


good!


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

In my market Uber takes 25% but Lyft only takes 20%.

I give my Uber riders the promo code for free Lyft rides. I encourage Uber drivers to become Lyft drivers. Lyft will steal market share in my market thanks to their competitive incentives for drivers. I still do more Uber rides than Lyft rides, but only for two reasons. Uber Surge >>> Lyft Primetime, so I only use Uber during surges while mostly ignoring Lyft Primetime as meaningless... and during non-surge time I use Uber because there are not enough Lyft riders so I often do not get enough Lyft rides, and also not enough drivers so the ones I do have too long of an ETA to justify taking. But just over the last month, I know Lyft has stolen a lot of market share because I am doing more Lyft rides than ever and a lot more have been closer ETAs.

If Lyft ever builds a big enough user base to keep me as occupied, I'll turn Uber off entirely except during surges.

Uber, all you need to do to stop me from handing out those $5 off your first 3 rides Lyft promo codes is offer to reduce your commission rate to 15%! Then I'll never hand out "Switch to Lyft card" to passengers and drivers until Lyft offers to reduce their commisions to 10%! Heck, just reduce your take from 25% to 20% to be even with Lyft and I'll mostly stop using Lyft except during slow times since Lyft has a crappy primetime.



DRider85 said:


> You know come to think about it, I don't understand why the company gets up to a quarter of the pay off of everyone's ride. I mean, what did they do? They aren't driving, paying for gas, etc.. Sure, they have employees and have to pay for marketing, but I don't understand why they should get 20-25 percent off of everyone. Look at credit card transaction companies. Look at Ebay and Paypal. These companies only charge 2 to 3 percent. So I struggle to see how Uber takes 1/4 of everyone's earnings when they did not have to do any labor during all of these rides. Im sure all of you would happily take 3 percent off of everyone's driving.


I agree 20-25% is way too high. But I think they probably do need slightly more money to operate than a credit card company. Uber and Lyft do have to foot the bill for expensive insurance costs for when their drivers crash. Their insurance has to foot the bill when drivers fall asleep at the wheel smashing into ferraris and pedestrians. They also have to pay fees to the state to operate. In my state they have to pay more to the state for every driver they have registered on the TNC network.


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## Jagent (Jan 29, 2017)

Trafficat said:


> In my market Uber takes 25% but Lyft only takes 20%.
> 
> I give my Uber riders the promo code for free Lyft rides. I encourage Uber drivers to become Lyft drivers. Lyft will steal market share in my market thanks to their competitive incentives for drivers. I still do more Uber rides than Lyft rides, but only for two reasons. Uber Surge >>> Lyft Primetime, so I only use Uber during surges while mostly ignoring Lyft Primetime as meaningless... and during non-surge time I use Uber because there are not enough Lyft riders so I often do not get enough Lyft rides, and also not enough drivers so the ones I do have too long of an ETA to justify taking. But just over the last month, I know Lyft has stolen a lot of market share because I am doing more Lyft rides than ever and a lot more have been closer ETAs.
> 
> ...


In your market, they are taking way more than that. Start asking your pax what they were charged. It's a different figure then Uber tells you.


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

Jagent said:


> In your market, they are taking way more than that. Start asking your pax what they were charged. It's a different figure then Uber tells you.


Yes you are right. Perhaps the accurate way to word it is that during non-Uber surge, Lyft pays drivers 5% more in my market than Uber does.


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## Lee239 (Mar 24, 2017)

The real question is how are they not making a profit when they are taking such a big cut of the driver's pay.


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## entrep1776 (Nov 3, 2016)

Lee239 said:


> The real question is how are they not making a profit when they are taking such a big cut of the driver's pay.


 Creative Accounting 
Or too many Korean karaoke escort cost


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## DRider85 (Nov 19, 2016)

Lee239 said:


> The real question is how are they not making a profit when they are taking such a big cut of the driver's pay.


Yea what are they supposed to do to make a profit? Take 75 percent?


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## steveK2016 (Jul 31, 2016)

DRider85 said:


> Yea what are they supposed to do to make a profit? Take 75 percent?


Raise Rates
Tighten CSR from issuing frivolous refunds and adjustments
Stop Driver Incentives
Stop Signup Bonus

Just a few.


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## galileo5 (Jan 16, 2016)

DRider85 said:


> ... but I don't understand why they should get 20-25 percent off of everyone....


This is why workers don't like owners.

It's time for the revolution.


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## crazy916 (Jul 6, 2016)

I used to think he was a shill for Uber, but I was wrong. He was just a naive ant. DRider85, I apologize for calling you Sega Rodent all those month ago.


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## Lee239 (Mar 24, 2017)

entrep1776 said:


> Creative Accounting
> Or too many Korean karaoke escort cost


If it's creative accounting the company was thought to be worth $66 billion in the past and now I hear it's only worth $6 billion. So if they admit what they are making it will make more sense if they want to take the stock public.



steveK2016 said:


> Raise Rates
> Tighten CSR from issuing frivolous refunds and adjustments
> Stop Driver Incentives
> Stop Signup Bonus
> ...


Raise rates is the best they could do, it would mean more money for them and for the driver.


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## charmer37 (Nov 18, 2016)

ABC123DEF said:


> And they also take a $2.25 "booking fee" in my area. Oh..and you also take care of all the operating expenses, too. And at sub $1.00 base fare, we're basically giving away rides - especially in smaller markets.


Exactly, They just increased the booking fee and adding other crappy Ridesharing services...Uberpool, Uber teen..etc, Total rip off.



Jagent said:


> They take way more than 25%. Start asking your riders how much the trip cost them and compare it to what Uber tells you it cost. Uber routinely makes 40-60% on almost every trip.


That ain't nothing but the truth!

Raising rates is the only thing they can do because if the rates get lower or they keep increasing their cut only a fool would keep driving for uber or Lyft, I'm sure newbies don't know any better or only drive for $3.00 fares all day everyday...lol.



NO PAY - VEYO said:


> What makes it ok for a company to take their percent away and for you to find in a month or a year that after finally adding
> up your cost and you find out you did or did not make minimum wage. Your cost will eventually have to add a oil change and
> a tire or 4 tires or engine work at $70 to $100 plus an hour plus parts. Your vehicle is an expensive conversation down the road,
> wanting to work for Uber and enjoying the job more than likely is not a good reason. If you get out the adding machine and find
> ...


 The way I save money is by performing my own maintenance on my cars,


Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> Of uber's cut.. their biggest cost (of the ride itself) is the commericial insurance coverage. This isn't a joke, this is a huge chunk of costs.
> 
> The cab company I drive for, the insurance payouts/ replacing damaged equipment is the the second biggest expense for the company. (this is an area without medallions)
> 
> ...


 I drove for a sedan service years ago similar to uber/lyft, every other month the cars had to go into the repair shop. The owner had to replace cars every 2 to 3 because driving a car everyday for 10 hours takes a major toll and eventually needs to be replaced, Uber don't have to deal with high repair bills but will see how it really is when they have self driving cars to maintain.


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## Lee239 (Mar 24, 2017)

charmer37 said:


> Uber don't have to deal with high repair bills but will see how it really is when they have self driving cars to maintain.


Good I hope when they switch to self driving cars in the future they end up going bankrupt.


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## Speedracer415 (Jan 8, 2017)

I'd be happy if they just took the 25 percent from the fares that was charged to the rider.


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## Mapnik (Sep 4, 2016)

Lee239 said:


> The real question is how are they not making a profit when they are taking such a big cut of the driver's pay.


Because they have to spend obscene amounts of cashola just to bridge the GAP between *what consumers will actually pay* and *the rate that is required *to support the labor and capital investment, i.e. the return to the driver and the return to the car. Last year I made over $7000 JUST in incentives. But regardless of whether they actually clear an operating profit, which is questionable, they also have huge money sunk into R&D, marketing, everything else.

The reality of Uber is that the system is not sustainable. Uber is banking on, in fact they are wholly dependent on, labor-eliminating automation in order to EVER be profitable. And although one never says "never", things don't look very promising right now for their labor-free factory pipe dreams.

If they can't invent robots to do this work, then the only way they could conceivably be profitable would be similar to Alphabet (Google), which offered a free search engine as a loss-leader and then made money off advertising. Uber has a somewhat captive network, so there may be other ways to monetize even if the actual rideshare business is not sustainable at the margin.

But one should stop and consider what is wrong with the big picture when a vital service like transportation is economically unsustainable. Henry Ford famously understood that his labor force needed to be able to afford to buy the cars, or he wouldn't have anyone to sell to. This is not the same situation, but why is it that the **median** Uber-rider, presumably a middle class person, will not pay a price for the service that the **median** driver, presumably among the lower-middle class, can accept?


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## JasonB (Jan 12, 2016)

Mapnik said:


> Because they have to spend obscene amounts of cashola just to bridge the GAP between *what consumers will actually pay* and *the rate that is required *to support the labor and capital investment, i.e. the return to the driver and the return to the car. Last year I made over $7000 JUST in incentives. But regardless of whether they actually clear an operating profit, which is questionable, they also have huge money sunk into R&D, marketing, everything else.
> 
> The reality of Uber is that the system is not sustainable. Uber is banking on, in fact they are wholly dependent on, labor-eliminating automation in order to EVER be profitable. And although one never says "never", things don't look very promising right now for their labor-free factory pipe dreams.
> 
> ...


Even though this might be the case in YOUR market (Chicago), I need to inform you that this is far from the
case in ALL markets.

Here in San Diego, there are thousands and thousands of ants (seemingly growing in number by the day) willing
to be a personal chauffeur for any pax for the princely sum of $3.00 per ride. This $3 ride can get you nearly a quarter
of the way through the county.

It's not just that, there are also hundreds of ants willing to wait in the airport queue for up to an HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES for the
privilege of loading pax luggage in the back of their prius and taking them to DT hotels for a total time investment
of 1 hour and 45 minutes to get that $3.00.

I wish I was joking because it sounds like one, but it's absolutely true...

J-

PS - 'Incentives' here in SD are ancient history


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## Mapnik (Sep 4, 2016)

JasonB said:


> Even though this might be the case in YOUR market (Chicago), I need to inform you that this is far from the
> case in ALL markets.
> (...)
> I wish I was joking because it sounds like one, but it's absolutely true...
> ...


Well, that's an interesting perspective, but I find it hard to believe based on 7th grade home economics.

Note that I am talking about the **median-level** driver and the **median-level** rider. The airport queues in Chicago are like homeless encampments here, but neither driver nor rider in those situations are the _typical_ Uber participants in this market.

I am looking at San Diego rates of $1.10/$0.15, whereas Chicago base is $0.90/$0.20. So $3/ride may occur once in a while, but the median fare IS NOT $3 in San Diego. Your minimum fare on UberX is apparently $5.95. Uber likes to give away rides, but regardless there is almost no connection between what riders pay and what a driver is paid.

In any reasonably mature Uber-market, you will have a core of several thousand drivers that are the workhorse-ants, comprising the bulk and the middle of the bell curve, and the rest of the drivers are completely contingent.

The ONLY US market where Uber *might* be sustainable is NYC, and ONLY because of (a) the TLC licensing requirements which make taxis and ubers exactly equal, and (b) population density and low rates of car ownership.


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## brendon292 (Aug 2, 2016)

DRider85 said:


> Sure, they have employees


...and their employees are extremely well compensated. They get every night, weekend, and holiday off earning minimum six figures while we slave during prime socializing hours away from our family and friends for minimum wage while depreciating an asset we own.


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## CTridz (Feb 20, 2017)

dirtylee said:


> Cause they can.
> 
> Here's what a true free market looks like.
> 
> ...


From Ride Austin website: "All ride types also incur a $2.00 booking fee, a 1% City of Austin TNC fee, and a $0.30 + 2.3% processing fee (minimum $1 processing fee) . In addition, riders can optionally choose to 'Round-up' for a charity donation and tip their drivers."

It appears that Ride Austin gets a small cut of the proceeds which they call a processing fee. I'm not sure, but I believe this done behind the scenes, so what the driver sees in the app is what he or she is actually getting paid.


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## Delilah5 (Mar 20, 2017)

They are losing a TON of money on Pool rides.

Their strategy seems to lower prices to gain market share, like Amazon in the beginning with Prime, thats why they are in a price war with Lyft right now. Both companies are losing money.

Lyft is still offering big incentives to sign up and incentives to get more full time drivers in areas that they dont have enough people and it takes too long for riders to get a ride.

In response Uber is pushing Guaranteed boost payments in certain hot zones all day and night the last few weeks to keep their drivers from defecting. Kinda giving some back because they know they have been killing their drivers with low pay.

What they should do is NOT price their rides 50-60% cheaper than Taxi service that way they can pay their drivers more. Door to door service on demand, especially in areas that taxis dont go or wont go is worth more than that!



CTridz said:


> From Ride Austin website: "All ride types also incur a $2.00 booking fee, a 1% City of Austin TNC fee, and a $0.30 + 2.3% processing fee (minimum $1 processing fee) . In addition, riders can optionally choose to 'Round-up' for a charity donation and tip their drivers."
> 
> It appears that Ride Austin gets a small cut of the proceeds which they call a processing fee. I'm not sure, but I believe this done behind the scenes, so what the driver sees in the app is what he or she is actually getting paid.


Processing fee sounds like credit card surcharge and interchange fees. Its a percentage of sales plus a transaction fee. On a $5 ride the payment processor would charge Uber or Lyft 11.5 cents plus .30 = 41.5 cents of the $5 sale. Uber gets $4.585, takes 20 or 25% comission from the ($5-booking fee) and eats the transaction cost.

So in this case if the trip for rider was $5 and booking fee was $1.45 and fare was $3.55 and they took commission of 25% Uber makes $1.45 booking fee .89 from driver (25% x $3.55)= $2.34 (minus 41.5 cents transaction cost) = $1.93 which they use for their expenses or lack there of.

$5 paid by rider:

Uber $1.93
Processor .415
Driver $2.66

On a small transaction like this Uber is paying 8.3% of the $5 just to have the transaction processed! No wonder they cant lower their commission to drivers lower than 10% and add the booking fee for their other business expenses, programmers, advertising, customer service, insurance, etc.

You can do your own calculations easily, long single pool rides they are getting killed.

ex: Booking fee *$1.45*

Pool Rider normally $20 ride is $10 no add on riders. 
Uber $1.45 -.53 -7.50= *$-6.58*
Processor *.53*
Driver *7.50*


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## DRider85 (Nov 19, 2016)

Delilah5 said:


> They are losing a TON of money on Pool rides.
> 
> Their strategy seems to lower prices to gain market share, like Amazon in the beginning with Prime, thats why they are in a price war with Lyft right now. Both companies are losing money.
> 
> ...


If Uber is losing tons of money on Pool Rides, how are they going to make money?


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## CherylC (Dec 5, 2016)

entrep1776 said:


> Really? start your own business. No one ever looks at what the business owner's costs are.
> 
> Employees /independent contractors that really have no clue about starting /running a business.
> 
> ...


Maybe this is the reason drivers recycle so often.


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## sidemouse (Apr 2, 2017)

Actually I see them taking closer to 35% by the time it's all said and done, what I don't understand is why they tease us with bigger figures. Why not just give it to me straight, guess they wanted me to w̶a̶s̶t̶e̶ invest 20-some hours of my time but it's cool because I don't see myself driving much longer at these rates.


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## Delilah5 (Mar 20, 2017)

DRider85 said:


> If Uber is losing tons of money on Pool Rides, how are they going to make money?


Like Amaszon.com they spend money to get people addicted, then raise prices slowly over time.

They copied Lyft Line and did UberPool to take back market share and entice new customers with 30-70% off the already cheap UberX rates. They can still make money when the pool rides have more than 1 rider. They also make money with the other services like X, XL, SUV,Select, Black, baby seat etc.


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## DRider85 (Nov 19, 2016)

Delilah5 said:


> Like Amaszon.com they spend money to get people addicted, then raise prices slowly over time.
> 
> They copied Lyft Line and did UberPool to take back market share and entice new customers with 30-70% off the already cheap UberX rates. They can still make money when the pool rides have more than 1 rider. They also make money with the other services like X, XL, SUV,Select, Black, baby seat etc.


So if they raise the prices slowly overtime, will we make anymore money or will they just take a bigger cut from us?


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## entrep1776 (Nov 3, 2016)

DRider85 said:


> So if they raise the prices slowly overtime, will we make anymore money or will they just take a bigger cut from us?


They've got too many drivers in lots of markets.

If they can't get enough drivers, I would guess they would raise driver pay. But, they could just offer sign up bonuses.

If drivers are willing to drive for nothing, why would Uber pay more?


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## Delilah5 (Mar 20, 2017)

DRider85 said:


> So if they raise the prices slowly overtime, will we make anymore money or will they just take a bigger cut from us?


Depends on how much corporate greed there is.

But I know this:

They know drivers are *****ing about pay, thats why they started more guaranteed boost lately in certain zones and times, instead of lowering commission.

The app is easy to duplicate, its all the ancillary costs like customer service, payments, insurance, and CS that cuts in to the bottom line.

Other companies are planning to come in to eat their lunch, if they can streamline the process, and still make a decent profit.

They still have alot of room, because their prices are 50% cheaper than taxis and more reliable service. Its about building a consistent driver base and they are paying to do that, another company would need alot of funding to lose money attracting new drivers to get established.


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## jfinks (Nov 24, 2016)

It's a free world people, if you want to drive feel free to drive down every street in your town and see how many people want to get into your car for a ride. A lot you probably don't want in your car.



Delilah5 said:


> Depends on how much corporate greed there is.
> 
> But I know this:
> 
> ...


Not always 50% cheaper. Uber pricing is variable. Drivers gotta be smart and drive when/where there is high demand most of the time.

What I ***** about more is Uber taking 25% of a no show. And min fare is way too low. In a lot of places min fare is 50% of all your rides.


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## sidemouse (Apr 2, 2017)

Delilah5 said:


> Depends on how much corporate greed there is.
> The app is easy to duplicate, its all the ancillary costs like customer service, payments, insurance, and CS that cuts in to the bottom line.
> 
> Other companies are planning to come in to eat their lunch, if they can streamline the process, and still make a decent profit.
> ...


I would think if a company came in, somewhere between 20 to 30 percent cheaper...
And they took only 15-20 percent...
Actually developed a true Customer Service department, with a phone number people can call?
Omg I don't know what we would do, heck even outsourced sounds good about now.

See here's how I see the problem...
These Uber CEO's are just sitting way up high in their fancy suits living off investor's billions, they don't care and why should they. These people got it made and probably never seen a hard day's work. Now... If you had a company whose top echelon was more the kind of folks who didn't mind getting their own hands dirty, we might have something.

Uber isn't getting sued because their top echelon is dressed in work clothes.
They're getting sued because they reek, of money.

Amazon isn't much better from what I hear, oddly enough they're doing well (at least on paper, and as far as investors go) but they also don't treat their workers but so good. For these and other reasons I do think you're right, I think we'll see competition soon enough.
Whether that will improve things for workers such as us, that remains to be seen.


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## jfinks (Nov 24, 2016)

Uber directly employs 1000's of people also, so it isn't just the CEOs that get paid. Like someone else mentioned Insurance is a big chunk but I'm sure they get a good group rate and it helps their rate to keep cars over 10 years old out of the pool.


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## sidemouse (Apr 2, 2017)

jfinks said:


> Uber directly employs 1000's of people also, so it isn't just the CEOs that get paid. Like someone else mentioned Insurance is a big chunk but I'm sure they get a good group rate and it helps their rate to keep cars over 10 years old out of the pool.


Oh yeah they're really hurting up top, I can tell.


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## d0n (Oct 16, 2016)

Why 25%?

Why 35? (upfront)

Why 50-60%? (pool)

Cause they can, you are here to work for them and later sue them or take a hike.

It's that simple.


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## jfinks (Nov 24, 2016)

sidemouse said:


> Oh yeah they're really hurting up top, I can tell.


Word is that they are bleeding money left and right. On the order of about a half billion per quarter.


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## sidemouse (Apr 2, 2017)

jfinks said:


> Word is that they are bleeding money left and right. On the order of about a half billion per quarter.


Right but it's not like they're not getting paid!
Holy cow, I might actually feel bad for them if they weren't collecting a paycheck!

Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.


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## jfinks (Nov 24, 2016)

Grand said:


> There are at least 2 options for Uber to address their losses......
> 1. Increase rates. And upset pax.
> 2. Increase commission. And upset drivers.
> Which one would Uber choose?


I think raising base rate to 2x whatever the market has now is best. However when surge multiplier goes up the base rate should incrementally step down.

The problem Uber has right now is keeping the base rate so low so when it surges rates still stay competitive. Doing it the way I suggested boosts base rates to basically 2x surge rate at all times which is great for drivers. However for high demand times we still need to stay somewhat competitive with taxi service. If our standard rate was say 1.70 per mile and 3x surge came on now all the sudden the we are at $5 + per mile and pax will just use a cab or other service.

As it is now I just drive when it surges because everyone should know that base rates is basically a waste of time when you net everything out over time. Double the base rate, get the pax used to paying a little more for rides, and uber makes more money also. But at the same time keep surges to a reasonable competitive price level.


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## Moontwitter (Dec 19, 2014)

They paid a lot for giving you referrals bonus cash!


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## REX HAVOC (Jul 4, 2016)

DRider85 said:


> You know come to think about it, I don't understand why the company gets up to a quarter of the pay off of everyone's ride. I mean, what did they do? They aren't driving, paying for gas, etc.. Sure, they have employees and have to pay for marketing, but I don't understand why they should get 20-25 percent off of everyone. Look at credit card transaction companies. Look at Ebay and Paypal. These companies only charge 2 to 3 percent. So I struggle to see how Uber takes 1/4 of everyone's earnings when they did not have to do any labor during all of these rides. Im sure all of you would happily take 3 percent off of everyone's driving.


In reality they should only get to keep the booking fee because all they do is match riders with drivers with a few added features like providing some insurance and some back end support. Today I heard from one of my pax that that AAA maybe getting into the rideshare biz on a limited basis to see if they can make a go of it.


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## KILLERST (Sep 24, 2016)

In a business perspective, Uber still loses money every year with all the operating cost and customer acquisition cost...Raising the price would reduce their customer base. Raising the commission would reduce their number of drivers, which also result in raising the price...(surge price because there are fewer drivers). In fact, I don't even think their business model is sustainable...


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## REX HAVOC (Jul 4, 2016)

It is not the drivers problem that Uber is losing money. Uber didn't need to expand all over the world so quickly. They just wanted to inflate their value when they went public. They could have just stayed in the US and have been very profitable.


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