^^ You had no concerns about her potentially being paid by someone at the table to signal what you were holding?
Uber takes 25% commission from UberX. Based on the fees on their website, a 10-mile/20-minute ride in a high cost area like New York will yield a driver $24.38. Given that they need to pick up, drop off, and drive to new customers, it seems to me that they couldn’t get more than two of these an hour. So *maybe* they might earn $50/hour, but unlike tips, this money is reported and taxable. Plus gas probably takes off $6/hour or so. So let’s just say $44/hour less 25% tax (do they have to pay self-employment tax?). That’s $33/hour. That actually works out to about 40 hours per week of driving to get to $1300/week.
That doesn’t include wear/tear on a car. If you’re driving 20 miles/hour and 40 hours/week, you’re putting over 40,000 miles/year on your car excluding personal use. That would add in a lot of depreciation. Especially if a driver is required to use a newer car. According to KBB, an extra 40,000 in driving would depreciate a 2013 Maxima by about another $3,000. Plus there are more scheduled services that might be $500-$1000/year depending on the age of the car.
I would think that income in the $60’s sounds right. But that’s only for a high cost area like New York. Go to any other city, and that income is pretty much slashed in half.
Uber is fairly new where I live, and even though there is a ton of supply, the demand still isn’t met because our cab system is so backwards here. I’ve seen peak pricing when the bars close at 7.75x the normal rate. At that rate, my 2 mile ride home would be about $80-100.
I’ve spoken to a number of them and the feedback I get is that if you work from 10pm-2am on the weekends, you’re pretty much guaranteed to make $500. I have a friend who is way under the allowed mileage on his lease and is applying to be a driver just to get more use out of his car before he turns it in.
Also its not cash income, it is very taxable.
Part of me wants to be an uber driver just for peak times.
na, i’m paranoid about camaras so i hardly even lift my cards. Have the time i cant even see what they are lol.
My regular driver (Not to sound all BSD with “My Regular Driver”… it’s just I live in NJ so our car service usually gives me the same guy. Becasue of his schedule, he happens to be going home (in NJ) when I need a lift so it works out in his favor).
Anyway… this guy tells me the real benefit to Uber is for car service guys. This allows them to freelance during downtime. He might have three decent trips scheduled during a shift, with 1-2 hours of in-between downtime. Rather than park and wait, he loads Uber as soon as he drops someone off and see’s what he can get. He says manhattan is a gold mine for quick trips, especially in bad weather when its 2-3x rate.
To rent a medallion cab in NYC can be anywhere from 600-1000/week for a 12 hour shift. HUGE difference in your upfront costs. Most people driving cabs cant afford their own cars so their is the difference. You can see various medallion rentals here:
I have a coworker who does it Friday and saturday nights, from roughly 8 PM to 1 AM. He makes around $500 for those two nights and Uber is new to this market.
One thing you are forgetting is that while you don’t need training, Uber has a TREMENDEOUSLY high watermark to keep the job. It’s something like an average 4.8 out of 5 stars. Anything below that and you can get let go.
You have to factor in the tax benefits of the costs. It’s not 100% cost when its a business
Interesting thread. some nice analysis here. I would definitely do it if my area offered Uber
I have a lot of clients that think this way. They think that spending a dollar to get a .25 tax benefit is a good thing.
If you believe that, then I have a deal for you. You give me $100, and I’ll give you $25 in return. We can do that all day long.
Totally wrong. I have been on at least 50 Uber trips easily, and less than 10 of those had 4.8 of 5 stars.
I’ve been in plenty of cars with drivers rated at 4.3
lowest I have seen is 4.1
I rest my case. He’s one of them that’s been going to school for the past decade but still lives the dream of getting that associates degree. Not to mention part time school is always rusty hacksaw.
Please tell me you did him a favor and insisted that a part time college degree in finance will barely get you an interview at a collection agency.
What’s the exit opportunities and the transferrable skills?
networking. Get to chat it up with everyone
maybe get to bang drunk women that struck out at the bar
^ HCBs never strike out.
I do feel like he wasn’t that ambitious, he didn’t seem really excited when talking about finance, he just threw it out there casually, like the methodical beating of a dirty rug that just needs some cleaning once in a while. Didn’t appear excited about going into a hard core finance role.
I should have asked if he’s doing the CFA program.
maybe he was talking about shagging a few drunk whales with low self esteem
I hope Uber never expands to your city.
You guys are forgetting that most people that are 1099’d, sales, commission, or work for tips, take their best day of work and annualize their comp (best day × 1^365 because they think they work 365 days per year and yesterday’s earnings compound into today’s) and tell people that’s what they pull in annually.
Also, last time I was in nyc I poached a ride from a black car sitting outside a restaurant and he said he doesn’t uber it anymore because the margins are too low. He just vultures rides now.