Back on Uber this weekend

Indeed. You would think it's common sense but common sense nowadays is rarer than a honest politician.

@Taku Ekanayake you are an inspiration.

 

I'd suggest the mornings when they're sober - too dangerous to use power tools when you're tanked.

 

yeah good call, I was thinking about this @Coastal. atm I'm looking at holding on to my properties. might be something I will be doing later in the track when I start more on the developing journey.

no tips on uber @Ed Barton. I have been given $5 cash tips on rare occasions.

 

I vote for mints ( if you feel it's necessary) but no bottled water!

It's an environmental nightmare - all that plastic filling up land fills and derived from our precious non-renewable resources.

Instead, give people who have their refillable bottles two mints!

Let's support non bottled tap water - it's good for you, safe and almost free.

 

UPDATE: Last night I did my first shift back. Was on the road for 7hrs, 10 mins. Made $279 and spent $25 on fuel. Worked out to be around $36/hour.

Still very much in demand and a lot of rides which was good. I finished up around 2am and it was still going strong.

One of my passengers was a law student in her final yr at uni. She has racked up $100K in HECS debt. My first thought was - oh no your poor servicing!

If anyone keen to join let me know - there is a referral program which gets us both paid

 

Good work taku

Out of that 280 less fuel does uber have to take out their percentage?

Are passengers happy to jump in a mazda 2 ? Do they get a discount because it's a small car?

 

Airbnb hosting would be icing on the cake.

 

Or combining the two where you have a motorhome which you can drive people for uber in while an airbnb sleeps in the back

 

Plus have a red light off one door who said pimpin ain't easy

 

Have you also considered the cost of the capital outlay for the vehicle, cleaning, maintenance, cleaning, insurance? What about the risk involved (both public liability and to yourself)? Working 7 hours on a Saturday night would invoke penalty rates in many jobs. Is this really a good return?

I think it's great that you're making an extra effort to get ahead, but given this is pseudo self employment, I'm not convinced that it's a good return.

 

Why would you consider the capital outlay if it is using a car you already have bought for personal use and that would be in your possession anyway?

 

When you factor in tyres, and general wear and tear, it's a lot less than the optimistic $36/hour unfortunately. There was a good post on whirlpool with a massive breakdown - it didn't look too good.

 

like I said, I was referring specifically to capital cost. tyres and wear and tear are not part of that.

personally I think uber suits some people/situations more than others and some cars more than others.

if someone has some spare timeband has a reasonably priced,reliable and easy/cheap to maintain car available anyway it is often well worth doing.

in @Taku Ekanayake s case, yes he might have some "hidden" costs to take into account but ultimately he could have stayed at home instead which would have meant no extra money, gone out with mates instead which would be even less money then when he started, or drive around for 7 hours and make 36 an hour. considering his motivation to top up the cash reserves I think he made the right choice.

I also think people don't consider the "hidden" benefits in something like this. there is no mucking about trying to find a casual job to fill in. there is no risk of said employer not paying you. there are no fixed hours whatsoever and no maximum hours on offer should the need /motivation to work more appear.

also, there is no time or money wasted on parking or getting to and from work.

considering how many people spend 2-3 hours round trip to and from work they would find their hourly rate a lot lower if this was included in their internal calcs.

 

You used the term "capital outlay" - maintanenence is considered apart of this.

 

No it isnt. an expense is not capital and it also wasnt considered capital in context of the post made that I was responding to.

ie capex vs opex.

 

@Peter_Tersteeg and @Glorion, yeah what you say is definitely valid, but it's more than what you have described. The beauty of uber is that you get complete freedom to work whenever you desire. You can fit it around your schedule. I could literally go online with Uber for 1 hour, then hit the gym, then clock back on for 3 hours, then catch up for lunch with mates, then go back online for 4 hours, have dinner, and then uber on your way home etc, etc...
I made $467 this week and I fit this around my schedule - this'll pay for my rent, groceries, and my monday-friday commute to work. I can bank my PAYG pay checks.
Last week I didn't make any extra form of income.

The flexibility of this is the true value of uber.

EDIT: to add - it's not a capital outlay for a car in my case - I have owned this car for 5 yrs, which was sitting in the drive losing value. It's generating revenue now

 

Cheers @datto. The $280 is what I take home. Uber already took their 20%. The total was around $350

 

Good on those taking advantage of it but I´m amazed something like Uber is allowed to exist.. are there not regulations, insurances, taxi unions, consumer protections, etc... ?

Totally illegal here, no Uber in Spain.

 

didn't uber relaunch in Spain a couple of months ago? also similar companies exist in Spain like cabify[/QUOTE]

 

Whilst obviously not the case here, consider what would happen if you were Uber'ing as a full time job and it's running 2,000 hours a year. In that time, at $36 per hour you've earned $72,000.

Assume an average speed of 40kph, that becomes 80,000 km per year, the car would likely need to be replaced within 5 years (if it's a good quality car, designed to run 400,000 km before needing replacement).

Over 5 years you've made $360,000

Assuming the car costs $30k to replace (I'm using round numbers to keep it simple). You're also going to need to service the car every 10,000 km, average of $500 each time, that's another $4,000 per year or $20,000 over 5 years. Registration and insurance, about $2,000 per year. Other incidentals is another $2,000. Your total going costs come to about $40,000 over 5 years.

So you've really made $320,000. Going back to an hourly rate this becomes $32 per hour. Not bad, but about the same as penalty rates in non skilled casual employment (the equivalent of working weekends).

Regardless of how many hours worked in a week, month or year, this type of work does contribute to the wear and tear of a vehicle so it does need to be counted. It doesn't matter if you use the vehicle for mixed use or full time business use.

* Hint: Keep a log book. You can claim some vehicle depreciation and costs. There is definitely a capital outlay and if you deny this you're missing out on some tax refunds.

Again you're also assuming a significant amount of risk. No work cover, Uber can (and does) fire drivers. If you have an accident and a passenger is injured, you're likely to face civil and criminal charges.

Uber is a form of self employment, but it's only obtaining a modest income with no chance of building a saleable asset. Most self employed people not only try to generate cash flow, but they're also building something that they can sell at some point in the future.

Certainly it's very well suited for some people. However it's human nature to ignore many of the real costs of earning an income.