quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by ridgerat:
I drive for both Uber and Lyft here, on the side. While I started five years ago, driving around the University campus and downtown (making a lot of money), now I just do it on Saturday and Sunday early mornings.

There are so many people driving nowadays one cannot make as much money as before.

P250UA5 is correct on all his points above.

In addition to what these two members have said. The beauty of Uber is, you can work whatever hours you want. As few hours or as many hours as you want. You want to work, you just log on. Want off, log off the APP. Can also do UBER eats. Most drivers do both Lyft and Uber. Also if you do a long trip in one direction, you can program the app so that it tries to get you a ride/fare back where you came from.

To add to the set destination point:
Only usable twice a day on Uber (but can cheat the system by cancelling the destination 5-10 miles before you're there). I usually use at the end of the night when headed home, and on occasion to the airport in the morning, since IAH is about 4 miles from my office.

Lyft gives you 6 a day IIRC. No cheating the system with theirs.

You have to like interacting with people of all kinds. Lots of intoxicated people. I am not so sure about old ladies and doctor appointments. Most of them around here are not tech savy, and use cabs. It is not a long term commitment. I think snow removval is a better gig. The limo drivers for the casinos seem to do very well.

Can deduct .54 cents per mile for taxes. That will pretty much outpace your income and it will be a wash on paper.

Business savvy people like you and I know the real cost to operate and wear out a vehicle is pretty close to .54 cents.
The drivers who just count gas cost against the daily income think they are making money.

Depreciation is were it catches up to them.

All markets are different and you may do good but you will put a ton of miles on your car.

I do $100 worth of Gypsy cab rides per day. I turn Lyft on driving empty back across town and might get a ride back down town but usually not.

As my cash rides grew I phased out Lyft and now go weeks with out doing a ride on the Lyft platform.

I also only do Lyft because when a ride request comes across it tells you the name of the rider before you accept the ride(you have 15 seconds) I drive in Sioux City, Ia so I know a lot of the people looking for rides. Uber does not tell the name of the passengers until you accept the ride. I have picked up a few people on uber that i would pass on on the lyft platform. That is the main reason I don't do uber.

Sign up and try it and report back. Can't hurt much. A lot of people do it mostly to meet people.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:

quote:

Originally posted by cheni:
Most drivers don't make money on paper after deducting the mileage. That should tell you everything you need to know.

Could you explain that? You don't deduct mileage from your profit, you deduct it from your tax burden.

Mark, I posted this for you. It is an idea.

App for on-demand poop pickup, yard work helps landscapers do more business.
HERE IS THE STORY:

CHICAGO — Alex Nieder's landscaping business has always done well, taking him all over the northwest suburbs of Chicago, but it was an app for yard work — and dog poop — that changed his own income landscape.

He says they made $25,000 with Plowz and Mowz last year.

LINK: https://wgntv.com/2019/09/09/a...rs-do-more-business/

"It's just all the stuff that people don't want to do," Nieder laughs.

Regardless of how much you love your fur baby, you'll never hear a dog owner relishing the piles left behind. Which creates an opportunity Alex and others are happy to scoop up.

"I go on the app and check out exactly what they want me to do, and then go ahead and hit the accept button; and within 30 seconds, I'll know if they accept my bid," he said.

Since adding the poop pick up to the app's platform, jobs have been pouring in. Poop isn't pretty, but at least it's profitable.

I did it for six mos. because I have a 4 year unlimited miles warranty on my car and wanted to try it out. The stories were better than the money, which probably averaged $19-$25/hr. I didn't make enough to get a 1099 from Uber or Lyft.

I still run into one of my riders at my range all the time and we chat and shoot each other's guns. Another rider was an adult film star, one a bounty hunter, one an F-35 mechanic, lots of super hot girls in bikinis going to the pool/DJ party at a local casino and on and on. Never really met any jerks. It was super interesting and fun.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Mark, I posted this for you. It is an idea.

App for on-demand poop pickup, yard work helps landscapers do more business.
HERE IS THE STORY:

CHICAGO — Alex Nieder's landscaping business has always done well, taking him all over the northwest suburbs of Chicago, but it was an app for yard work — and dog poop — that changed his own income landscape.

He says they made $25,000 with Plowz and Mowz last year.

LINK: https://wgntv.com/2019/09/09/a...rs-do-more-business/

"It's just all the stuff that people don't want to do," Nieder laughs.

Regardless of how much you love your fur baby, you'll never hear a dog owner relishing the piles left behind. Which creates an opportunity Alex and others are happy to scoop up.

"I go on the app and check out exactly what they want me to do, and then go ahead and hit the accept button; and within 30 seconds, I'll know if they accept my bid," he said.

Since adding the poop pick up to the app's platform, jobs have been pouring in. Poop isn't pretty, but at least it's profitable.

No poop for me. I generally pass on one-time/on-demand jobs as my schedule is pretty well booked during the growing season. I appreciate that idea though.

Thats funny that the guy uses plowz to make money. I was thinking as Mark123 likes plowing snow and, he wants to offset the cost of a vehicle, go sign on the line for a nice brand new $70,000.00 diesel Dodge. Get the biggest damn engine they offer. Buy a sweet Western 8 footer with wings and remote. A new plow light. Over size tires and lift kit. Uber123 snow removel. Brilliant! Spend some money and make some money. You'll be stylin' in yer new Dodge.

My uncle did it for a year or two after retiring. I don't know how many days a week it was. He said it paid for golf, up until the point he was involved in an accident. His deductible completely wiped out his profit.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rusbro,

Yeah, the more I read the more it seems this is not for me. Thanks everyone. Feels like I dodged a bullet.

I drove for Dominoes when I was in college. The fact that I was converting my car to cash became abundantly clear to me the night the fuel pump gave up mid-shift. Fortunately there was an auto parts store still open, I had tools in the truck, and it was a ‘69 Chevy with plenty of access. I think I lost less than and hour out of that shift before I was back on the road.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:
The fact that I was converting my car to cash became abundantly clear to me

Yep. What appears to be decent income in the short term becomes poor income or a loss in the long term.

quote:

His delectable completely wiped out his profit.

At least it didn't leave a bad taste in his mouth.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
My Step Daughter and Husband just started with Door Dash. Sounds like a similar concept to Uber. Sort of works the same way, also via an app but not for people, only take out food orders. Short local runs.

So far they like it, but it's too soon to tell really. MIGHT be worth a look.

As I understand it...
A fee is included in the food bill and pre paid. Driver gets paid by the delivery by DoorDash and also keeps any tips received at the door.

You choose hours to be "on call".
Get delivery request via the app.
You can accept or ignore the request.
GPS directions to the store and to the customer provided via the app.
Pick up order at restaurant.
Notify customer when arrived via text.
Deliver to door.

https://www.doordash.com

More thread drift...sorry. I know for fact that door dash and other platform similar in scope take
22% out of the food vendors advertised price.

The deal has zero to do with the restaurant.

quote:

Originally posted by bigmule:

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
My Step Daughter and Husband just started with Door Dash. Sounds like a similar concept to Uber. Sort of works the same way, also via an app but not for people, only take out food orders. Short local runs.

So far they like it, but it's too soon to tell really. MIGHT be worth a look.

As I understand it...
A fee is included in the food bill and pre paid. Driver gets paid by the delivery by DoorDash and also keeps any tips received at the door.

You choose hours to be "on call".
Get delivery request via the app.
You can accept or ignore the request.
GPS directions to the store and to the customer provided via the app.
Pick up order at restaurant.
Notify customer when arrived via text.
Deliver to door.

https://www.doordash.com

More thread drift...sorry. I know for fact that door dash and other platform similar in scope take
22% out of the food vendors advertised price.

The deal has zero to do with the restaurant.

The owner of a long time established upscale pizza/subs/Italian to go/delivery food with a small eat in area told me that Uber eats takes 25% from him. But he gets so much additional business that he makes a lot more money doing uber eats, and the order comes electronic, so no labor to take the order and he doesn't need to employ as many delivery drivers either.

Make sure to touch base with your insurance company. There are exclusions in some policies. We had a hail claim a couple years ago and we had to certify (verbally) that the car was not used in business or for UBER or LYFT.

I'm a CPA and every time I see a thread about UBER/Lyft I see postings that the cash is great and after claiming the standard mileage allowance (54.5 cents/mile) there's no taxable income. People sometimes actually call it a paper loss. The 54.5 cents is the computed average cost of owning a car - gas, oil, cost of car, etc. If you're not making more than 54.5 cents a mile, then you're probably loosing money.

I was on a flight right after Thanksgiving and the guy next to me was flying to see his brother in Florida. His brother had a seasonal business and like you was slow in the fall/winter so he started putting up Christmas lights. The company designs what goes on the house, puts up the lights, takes down the lights, and stores them until next year. His brother had as much work as he could handle. Was running multiple crews.

If someone with references offered that sort of service we'd be all over it.... my wife loves holiday lights and I'm now too old and too fat to climb the ladders to put out the lights. But I sure like having a happy wife.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

His delectable completely wiped out his profit.

At least it didn't leave a bad taste in his mouth.

From some of the stories I've read, If I were doing it I'd have a dashcam INSIDE the vehicle, for my own protection.

quote:

Originally posted by cheni:
Uber is a great deal for the passengers and the uber company (even though they never made a dime of profit yet)

Uber is a terrible deal for the drivers.

Yep