[AFL2015]

If you're thinking about driving for Uber/Lyft, or just signed up, STOP RIGHT THERE. Put your car keys down and listen to this - you cannot and will not make any money doing this job. I signed up thinking this would be a way to make some cash while looking for a real job - WRONG. You'll drive many many hours, and make virtually no money.

Spend the time you'd be driving for Uber, and use it to get a real job.

Please, please listen to this advice.....

 

[BostonBarry]

He's right, I can barely scrape by!

 

[eman1122]

It can be done, but it's tough and you have to be smart. Find the sweet spots. Try to avoid short fares as much as possible. Set a standard for the passengers you pick up and do your best to reduce dead head miles. Start there and you'll probably do a little better.

 

[jetboatjohnny]

If you're thinking about driving for Uber/Lyft, or just signed up, STOP RIGHT THERE. Put your car keys down and listen to this - you cannot and will not make any money doing this job. I signed up thinking this would be a way to make some cash while looking for a real job - WRONG. You'll drive many many hours, and make virtually no money.

Spend the time you'd be driving for Uber, and use it to get a real job.

Please, please listen to this advice.....

Some people are just not cut out to be drivers. Some markets have ridiculous low rates (TX). This is a great gig for me locally I get tips 30-50% of rides and pay $1.16/ Gallon Equivalent for my fuel. Oh yeah I get a discount with my Uber fuel card.

 

[AFL2015]

He's right, I can barely scrape by!

First - take out the Driver Referral that's not happening every week - ya got lucky - and basically cuts your earning in half on a run-rate basis.

Second - how many hours did it take you to earn that money? how many dead head miles did you drive during that period? When you take your revenue - around $1,100 minus referral - and subtract $0.575 per mile driven (all miles paid or not) how much profit have you made? Probably none. When you take your net income and divide that by your total hours on the road (paid or not) what's your $/hour pay? If you're being real its about $6 - maybe.

Unless your living with your mother you ain't making it on your own on this money....

 

[BostonBarry]

All the "you can't make money doing this" people really need a pinned post so they can just copy paste.

1) obviously the referral doesn't happen every week. I alo don't actively seek out referrals. I have friends who drive Uber and when they found out I decided to drive Lyft, they asked about signing up. Not trying to hire my competition, but if I can help a friend who was going to sign up anyways and make a grand in the process, why not?

2) IRS deduction is not representative of expenses. It is an indicator of your tax liability.

3) I rent a 4 bedroom house on the North Shore, $2000 rent nothing included. My ex roommate and now my girlfriend contribute $800/month. I pay all utilities. I have two kids and their mother is broke. We do just fine on rideshare money, I've been full time driving since beginning of June.

4) Hours online is over 50 each week, obviously. However, I drive less than 40. At least 10 hours online each week is at home waiting for the rare ping every 2-3 hours. I do this to increase awareness of drivers in area and get some regular clients I take to the airport/city on a semi-regular basis.

Have I met your criteria for speaking on profitability?

 

[AFL2015]

All the "you can't make money doing this" people really need a pinned post so they can just copy paste.

1) obviously the referral doesn't happen every week. I alo don't actively seek out referrals. I have friends who drive Uber and when they found out I decided to drive Lyft, they asked about signing up. Not trying to hire my competition, but if I can help a friend who was going to sign up anyways and make a grand in the process, why not?

2) IRS deduction is not representative of expenses. It is an indicator of your tax liability.

3) I rent a 4 bedroom house on the North Shore, $2000 rent nothing included. My ex roommate and now my girlfriend contribute $800/month. I pay all utilities. I have two kids and their mother is broke. We do just fine on rideshare money, I've been full time driving since beginning of June.

4) Hours online is over 50 each week, obviously. However, I drive less than 40. At least 10 hours online each week is at home waiting for the rare ping every 2-3 hours. I do this to increase awareness of drivers in area and get some regular clients I take to the airport/city on a semi-regular basis.

Have I met your criteria for speaking on profitability?

No as below:

1 - It appears we agree these are one time events.
2 - Yes it is - The IRS deduction is an estimate of the total cost of operating a business vehicle. I'm sure you can identify the money you spend on gas, but how are you accounting for all the other costs - tires, maintenance, depreciation, wear & tear, etc? You can't. That's why the IRS information is useful.
3 and 4 - I don't believe for a second either of these statements. Get real.....

 

[AFL2015]

Some people are just not cut out to be drivers. Some markets have ridiculous low rates (TX). This is a great gig for me locally I get tips 30-50% of rides and pay $1.16/ Gallon Equivalent for my fuel. Oh yeah I get a discount with my Uber fuel card.

I'm happy to hear it works for some peeps....

 

[Fade]

Honestly, I'm starting to think the same. Before I started driving, I figured my personal car insurance plus what Uber provided covered me. After a few posts and lurking a bit on here and learning a lot, turns out my that insurance doesn't mean jack the moment I go online with Uber. Considering my very first day of driving I almost got rear ended while at a full stop at a red light? I'm now rather paranoid about driving for Uber. From looking into livery insurance for here in Michigan, it looks pretty cut and dry, it would wipe out the profits I do make on good days. Considering I just do Uber on weekends, and have to drive 20 minutes just to get to the city I work in, I'm of the mindset that it just isn't worth it, especially since I don't drive a Prius, I drive an Equinox, which sucks gas during city driving.

It's a fun job, for the time I've done it, barring my first weekend where I had a bunch of hiccups(my first night was horrible especially), it is a very fun experience. Meet a lot of people, hear a lot of interesting stories, and generally my fares are chill and cool people, I wish I could do this all the time. Once I got the handle on my city and learned it fairly well, driving for Uber is a pretty smooth and overall fun experience. Sadly I think it just isn't going to work out for me and the profit really isn't there if I fork out for insurance. I managed for awhile without it, but it is a serious risk to take. As I said, having some crazy kid come flying up behind me only to slam on the breaks just in time and stop short a couple inches away from my vehicle was NOT a good experience, and now that I know that I'd be left hanging in the wind if I had been hit, the company has left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

If I relocate to an Uber city and get a suitable car meant for Uber driving (ie something like the Prius), I think I'll try it again. For now? Eh, I think I'm going to have to hang it up for the time being. You *HAVE* to be setup just right for it or you are just going to screw yourself IMO.

 

[volksie]

If you're thinking about driving for Uber/Lyft, or just signed up, STOP RIGHT THERE. Put your car keys down and listen to this - you cannot and will not make any money doing this job. I signed up thinking this would be a way to make some cash while looking for a real job - WRONG. You'll drive many many hours, and make virtually no money.

Spend the time you'd be driving for Uber, and use it to get a real job.

Please, please listen to this advice.....

JUST Do It !!! It's A Game !!! Play for a while and then you're on to the next game. BFD!
I'm playing XL currently because playing X has gotten boring. I wanted to play UberBlack but it's going to be the new X!
Riders usually win so "Be a Good Sport".

 

[BostonBarry]

No as below:

1 - It appears we agree these are one time events.
2 - Yes it is - The IRS deduction is an estimate of the total cost of operating a business vehicle. I'm sure you can identify the money you spend on gas, but how are you accounting for all the other costs - tires, maintenance, depreciation, wear & tear, etc? You can't. That's why the IRS information is useful.
3 and 4 - I don't believe for a second either of these statements. Get real.....

Typical, can't make a decent argument for your position so you opt for laziness and insults.

1) This is a bonus, as such I am not using it to track my profit. It will be factored in for income at end of year, but as far as I'm concerned it has nothing to do with how well I've been doing for 4 months. Just like my rider referrals.

2) So you think a 10 year old Prius has the same cost of use as a brand new SUV? The IRS figure is intended to accomodate people too lazy to keep adequate records beyond mileage and reduce their own paperwork. And many of the deductions one takes when itemizing deductions rather than taking the standard deduction are expenses we normally have and cannot deduct for while working other jobs, such as personal insurance. The IRS deduction is simply an estimate of what the government thinks the average person (who drives maybe 100 business miles/week) who uses their vehicle for business will expend. I account for repair, maintenance, and other expenses in each quarter and will comment on the end of year overall picture when that time comes. As for depreciation, I bought my van in March for 7k all in. I've earned $21k (after fuel, cleaning, 4 new tires and minor maintenance). I expect to get at least 18 more months out of this van if not more. If a major repair comes up salvage value comes in between $1500-2000. I can buy a new used vehicle each year and still come out better than my last gig.

3) I have attached pics of my van next to my house (inside and outside so you don't try to claim I parked next to just any house) and text with my impoverished ex wife. Can't find my lease without waking my girlfriend so you'll have to take my word on rent. If you look up north shore rents 3 bedroom apartments come in around $1500, I got lucky with my house and landlord.

http://instagr.am/p/7__QVhr6-l/
http://instagr.am/p/7__OZBL6-h/
http://instagr.am/p/8AAUitL6wH/
4) I've attached screen shots of my stats for this week and the daily breakdown from the week I shared earlier where you can see I took no trips Monday and Tuesday. I was supposed to meet people in the city today so I did 3 hours of driving afterwards and had a couple local fares while being online in my living room yesterday. So unless you think I'm driving 18 miles to Boston to sit around for less than 1 ride per hour and $7/hour GROSS this proves my statement.

http://instagr.am/p/7__IywL6-V/
http://instagr.am/p/7__LLZr6-b/
http://instagr.am/p/7__MidL6-g/
Just because you couldn't figure out how to make this work for you, doesn't mean others will fail. Just because your market blows, doesn't mean mine does.

 

[Renaldow]

If you're thinking about driving for Uber/Lyft, or just signed up, STOP RIGHT THERE. Put your car keys down and listen to this - you cannot and will not make any money doing this job. I signed up thinking this would be a way to make some cash while looking for a real job - WRONG. You'll drive many many hours, and make virtually no money.

Spend the time you'd be driving for Uber, and use it to get a real job.

Please, please listen to this advice.....

First - take out the Driver Referral that's not happening every week - ya got lucky - and basically cuts your earning in half on a run-rate basis.

Second - how many hours did it take you to earn that money? how many dead head miles did you drive during that period? When you take your revenue - around $1,100 minus referral - and subtract $0.575 per mile driven (all miles paid or not) how much profit have you made? Probably none. When you take your net income and divide that by your total hours on the road (paid or not) what's your $/hour pay? If you're being real its about $6 - maybe.

Unless your living with your mother you ain't making it on your own on this money....

Gotcha, you're one of those "Money should fall from the sky because I'm entitled to it" people, aren't you?

This is a business. Owning and running your own business is difficult. You are responsible for EVERYTHING when you own a business. It's obvious that you aren't cut out for this. Maybe you don't like to drive, maybe you don't like the responsibilities of owning a business. Whatever, that's fine. Go do something that works for you.

But don't act like a spiteful dick when others here tell you and show you that they actually are making money doing it. How many hours? Who gives turd? Part of owning your own business is that there is no such thing as 9-5, Mon-Fri. Ask any business owner how many hours they work and don't be surprised when they tell you 60-80.

You can't hack the work, that's cool. You think free money should fall from the sky and that you shouldn't have expenses or pay taxes. Gotcha. But don't be that imbecile who thinks that just because they can't make money, no one else can either. Because we are making money, putting in hours, paying taxes, paying expenses.

 

[William1964]

I'm making money with a new car. The only reason I can make it work is because my living expenses are third of what you guys might pay. $1,217 covers me for the and it's getting better

 

[AFL2015]

Gotcha, you're one of those "Money should fall from the sky because I'm entitled to it" people, aren't you?

No - I've busted my hump in whatever I've done. Since everyone is showing numbers - here they are:

DFW Rates (after Uber cut) - $0.08/minute and $0.68/mile. After you take out the cost to operate (and yes I use $0.575 because other than gas I'm not going to determine all costs of ownership, and split personal vs. business costs for the vehicle, the IRS provides a reasonable assumption) I'm driving for $0.10/mile PROFIT.

Being a business owner, as you so proudly portray, its about PROFIT, not revenue. So, if you think making $10.00 in PROFIT for driving 100 miles and killing at least 3 hours to get that $10.00 in PROFIT is a good deal go for it. You can't make it up on volume - you can drive your a$$ into the ground and its always going to be $0.10/mile PROFIT. "Making Money" is NOT bringing in a top line and ignoring cost. "Making Money" is clearing a PROFIT after expenses so you have free cash flow to SPEND.

I don't know about you but my life style needs more than that to sustain. Either the rates in your city are much better, or you're life style is low budget.

 

[AFL2015]

Typical, can't make a decent argument for your position so you opt for laziness and insults.

Yes - I use the assumption because I feel it is an accurate representation of total cost of operating a business vehicle. The standard mileage rate for business is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile, including depreciation, insurance, repairs, tires, maintenance, gas and oil. I keep track of actual hard costs, but am not going to spend the time prorating other costs between business/personal usage.

DFW Rates (after Uber cut) - $0.08/minute and $0.68/mile. After you take out the cost to operate. I'm driving for $0.10/mile PROFIT - that's $10 for 100 miles. Let's say you're right and actual cost is $0.30/mile so I'm driving for $0.38/mile and get a whole $38.00 for driving 100 miles and killing 3 hours to do it..... My lifestyle requires more than this.....

You're total Lyft pay stub looks good on top and the hourly rate looks good. The other two, if I read them right, are what I'm getting at - $140 for 20 hours??? and $60 for 9 hours??? That's $6 or $7 an hour......

 

[tb1984]

No - I've busted my hump in whatever I've done. Since everyone is showing numbers - here they are:

DFW Rates (after Uber cut) - $0.08/minute and $0.68/mile. After you take out the cost to operate (and yes I use $0.575 because other than gas I'm not going to determine all costs of ownership, and split personal vs. business costs for the vehicle, the IRS provides a reasonable assumption) I'm driving for $0.10/mile PROFIT.

Being a business owner, as you so proudly portray, its about PROFIT, not revenue. So, if you think making $10.00 in PROFIT for driving 100 miles and killing at least 3 hours to get that $10.00 in PROFIT is a good deal go for it. You can't make it up on volume - you can drive your a$$ into the ground and its always going to be $0.10/mile PROFIT. "Making Money" is NOT bringing in a top line and ignoring cost. "Making Money" is clearing a PROFIT after expenses so you have free cash flow to SPEND.

I don't know about you but my life style needs more than that to sustain. Either the rates in your city are much better, or you're life style is low budget.

There you go. When you started this thread, you assumed that everyone else is in situations like yours, but it is not.

 

[vesolehome]

It's pretty simple. You can't make money driving for Uber.
But, for those looking for cashflow, you can get money in your bank account every week driving for Uber.
It will catch up to you though. If you drive enough, car problems, price of gas will go up. Need tires, breaks sooner than you would if you weren't driving for Uber.
But if you're like most, living paycheck to paycheck, this IS a way to get money into your account each week but you won't be "making money".

 

[Vegas Dave]

If you're thinking about driving for Uber/Lyft, or just signed up, STOP RIGHT THERE. Put your car keys down and listen to this - you cannot and will not make any money doing this job. I signed up thinking this would be a way to make some cash while looking for a real job - WRONG. You'll drive many many hours, and make virtually no money.

Spend the time you'd be driving for Uber, and use it to get a real job.

Please, please listen to this advice.....

 

[Vegas Dave]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you obviously have not learned how to work in this field. I average $25 to $40 an hour every night, and never work over 6 to 8 hours. You can make $800 to $1000 a week, and every week if you work the system right. Be in the right places, work the right hours, don't drive all over looking for rides, know where the fares are in your area. 24 hrs a day, in every city across America, someone needs a ride some where, be there. You can always quit and look for that average job, and be under paid and over worked like the rest, work the system right and make $75,000 this year and enjoy your time off.

 

[vesolehome]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you obviously have not learned how to work in this field. I average $25 to $40 an hour every night, and never work over 6 to 8 hours. You can make $800 to $1000 a week, and every week if you work the system right. Be in the right places, work the right hours, don't drive all over looking for rides, know where the fares are in your area. 24 hrs a day, in every city across America, someone needs a ride some where, be there. You can always quit and look for that average job, and be under paid and over worked like the rest, work the system right and make $75,000 this year and enjoy your time off.

Vegas sounds much different than Detroit. There's no way to make the here in 6-8 hour shifts. Too many drivers. Too few "real" surges. Too sprawled out.