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I've been curious about the 'sharing economy' but have not yet profited off it or 'worked in it'.
I've used Uber and Lyft as a consumer , which is the extent of it.
I've considered driving for uber but have heard mixed things including from Uber drivers.
I've noticed that on RelayRides there are some people with several cars on there. It looks like they are running this as a business rather than just making some spare money.
Is there anybody on here that makes their entire living or the majority of their living/income through these services?
Arguably one of my previous landlords did. Bought houses with lots of bedrooms and rented each room out. Of course house-sharing may not be what you're referring to, but it is sharing no less.
If it weren't for insurance issues, I'd buy a car for doing this. I'd probably just go through RelayRides though. Not driving people around town much as this would be too time consuming.
Arguably one of my previous landlords did. Bought houses with lots of bedrooms and rented each room out. Of course house-sharing may not be what you're referring to, but it is sharing no less.
If it weren't for insurance issues, I'd buy a car for doing this. I'd probably just go through RelayRides though. Not driving people around town much as this would be too time consuming.
I've been interested in airbnb. interesting about your previous landlord. I live in high cost L.A though so properties are really expensive.
Relayrides does claim to have a $1million insurance policy that covers the owners...but would have to look into that more too.
My son drove Uber for several months and is now back to driving Yellow. He has nothing good to say about Uber. He prefers having cash in his pocket each night rather than having to wait a week to get paid. He also claims that Uber takes 30%, not the 20% the article claims. Perhaps he was exaggerating. I cant find any information on the Uber website.
I also wonder how many Uber drivers actually declare Uber income. I was party to a conversation between my son and a friend of his who said he knew people driving uber and were happy with the part time income. I do know from long experience that most people do not understand cost. They look at the puny check the get each week, and do not relate that income to the gas and maintenance and others costs that generate that income. This is true for most people, not just Uber drivers.
One good thing to come out of the Uber revolution. The regular old taxi companies like Yellow are having to improve their rides and their service.
Oh ok interesting...just read the uber article. I did have a chat just yesterday with an uber driver and he did mention there are quite a few expenses. He said it's not that easy and he claimed to work 100 hours a week but still doesn't make much.
I think it would be interesting at least to try it though...but I do agree it would be pretty time consuming.
In L.A (and some other cities) uber has something called PLUS ,where the rates are significantly higher..but you need a luxury type car (BMW,Mercedes).
Yeah that's the thing about these new sharing services regarding insurance and legality they still seem to be in a gray area, but that's how it is with these disruptive technologies..seems like the big companies like uber that can hire the best attorneys eventually change the laws.
My son drove Uber for several months and is now back to driving Yellow. He has nothing good to say about Uber. He prefers having cash in his pocket each night rather than having to wait a week to get paid. He also claims that Uber takes 30%, not the 20% the article claims. Perhaps he was exaggerating. I cant find any information on the Uber website.
I also wonder how many Uber drivers actually declare Uber income. I was party to a conversation between my son and a friend of his who said he knew people driving uber and were happy with the part time income. I do know from long experience that most people do not understand cost. They look at the puny check the get each week, and do not relate that income to the gas and maintenance and others costs that generate that income. This is true for most people, not just Uber drivers.
One good thing to come out of the Uber revolution. The regular old taxi companies like Yellow are having to improve their rides and their service.
Interesting , the uber drive that I spoke to yesterday mentioned that. He said he used to be a taxi driver so he understood how the business worked. He also mentioned that with taxis you'd get tips too and the fares were much higher...there must be a reason that he's doing taxi versus cab now though.
Perhaps he moved from another area and it's harder to get into the taxi biz versus get an uber account, I didn't ask him.
It seems a lot of the uber drivers do have hybrids but not all of course. With gas prices low now of course this helps them too.
One situation I think would be annoying would be dealing with drunks which especially happens at night when I imagine the earnings are the best.
My son drove Uber for several months and is now back to driving Yellow. He has nothing good to say about Uber. He prefers having cash in his pocket each night rather than having to wait a week to get paid. He also claims that Uber takes 30%, not the 20% the article claims. Perhaps he was exaggerating. I cant find any information on the Uber website.
I also wonder how many Uber drivers actually declare Uber income. I was party to a conversation between my son and a friend of his who said he knew people driving uber and were happy with the part time income. I do know from long experience that most people do not understand cost. They look at the puny check the get each week, and do not relate that income to the gas and maintenance and others costs that generate that income. This is true for most people, not just Uber drivers.
One good thing to come out of the Uber revolution. The regular old taxi companies like Yellow are having to improve their rides and their service.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say "I also wonder how many Uber drivers actually declare Uber income" uber reports it to the IRS
I've been curious about the 'sharing economy' but have not yet profited off it or 'worked in it'.
I've used Uber and Lyft as a consumer , which is the extent of it.
I've considered driving for uber but have heard mixed things including from Uber drivers.
I've noticed that on RelayRides there are some people with several cars on there. It looks like they are running this as a business rather than just making some spare money.
Is there anybody on here that makes their entire living or the majority of their living/income through these services?
What is your experience with the sharing economy?
In Portland there are a few people on Airbnb who offer multiple rentals in various locations. Uber so far has been tied up in regulatory issues because of cab drivers and their employers
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