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If I wanted to build a legitimate middle man platform - solve contractor/customer match up, and intermediate payments, how should that service be built? Under t

by jwatte 11y ago

If I wanted to build a legitimate middle man platform - solve contractor/customer match up, and intermediate payments, how should that service be built? Under the theory of this lawsuit, can such a service be built at all, or would it automatically look like an employer?

domdip 11y ago
You might start by following the "Independent contractor vs employee" guidelines. Of, say, California and the IRS. http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_independentcontractor.htm http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_independentcontractor.htm http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Independent-Contractor-Self-Employed-or-Employee http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employ...
analog31 11y ago
One possibility is to find a market where the contractor is really a contractor. Nobody forced Uber to enter the cab business. They could match up contractor/customer payments for lawyers, Bobcat drivers, riverboat pilots, etc. There are truck drivers who are owner-operators. How's that work? Something like that might be a good business to go into? How do agents work in the music business?
secabeen 11y ago
It would look like a lead generation system with a payment module. You would direct interested parties to each other, and process payments as directed. What they actually contracted to do you would not track.
rayiner 11y ago
It looks more like EBay and less like Uber. The more you exercise control over prices, quality, and service, the more you offer a service instead of just being a middleman. I take Uber several times a week. I think of it as the service. E.g. when the driver takes a shitty route, it's never been the driver's fault. They're just blindly follow the company-provided navigation. So I never leave a less than five star review and whenever I file a request for rate adjustment (maybe once a month), I take care to point out I'm blaming the app, not the driver.
- tedunangst 11y ago
  Solution for Uber: allow drivers to set prices. I wonder how long that would last.
dakidd28 11y ago
yes you could just charge a membership fee to utilize the app

by jwatte 11y ago

domdip 11y ago

You might start by following the "Independent contractor vs employee" guidelines. Of, say, California and the IRS. http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_independentcontractor.htm http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_independentcontractor.htm http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Independent-Contractor-Self-Employed-or-Employee http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employ...

analog31 11y ago

One possibility is to find a market where the contractor is really a contractor. Nobody forced Uber to enter the cab business. They could match up contractor/customer payments for lawyers, Bobcat drivers, riverboat pilots, etc. There are truck drivers who are owner-operators. How's that work? Something like that might be a good business to go into? How do agents work in the music business?

secabeen 11y ago

It would look like a lead generation system with a payment module. You would direct interested parties to each other, and process payments as directed. What they actually contracted to do you would not track.

rayiner 11y ago

It looks more like EBay and less like Uber. The more you exercise control over prices, quality, and service, the more you offer a service instead of just being a middleman. I take Uber several times a week. I think of it as the service. E.g. when the driver takes a shitty route, it's never been the driver's fault. They're just blindly follow the company-provided navigation. So I never leave a less than five star review and whenever I file a request for rate adjustment (maybe once a month), I take care to point out I'm blaming the app, not the driver.

tedunangst 11y ago
Solution for Uber: allow drivers to set prices. I wonder how long that would last.

dakidd28 11y ago

yes you could just charge a membership fee to utilize the app