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Makes sense, Uber's 30-50% cut is far too much. How can they compete with inDrive which only takes 10%. And on inDrive you set your own fare. Rides are 20-40%
by tristanj 2mo ago
Makes sense, Uber's 30-50% cut is far too much. How can they compete with inDrive which only takes 10%. And on inDrive you set your own fare.
Rides are 20-40% cheaper elsewhere, why would anyone pay extra for Uber?
- 486sx33 2mo ago30% is fair. Don’t like it start a cab company
- blovescoffee 2mo agoOne anecdote for a datapoint: Not sure if it's better now but I've lost a phone in an InDrive and I've lost an expensive bag in an Uber and it was significantly easier and less sketchy to get the bag back. I'm not a price sensitive rider so the insurance of a reputable 'comfort' tier Uber driver paid off. The InDrive driver made me get another ride to him then demanded $1000mxn (~$55usd) to return my phone. The Uber app had me pay ~$250mxn if I remember correctly and the driver promptly returned the bag.
- tristanj 2mo agoI have a controversial take: outside the US/Europe, Uber is mostly a tourist app. If you actually live in developing regions: 1) your income is much lower, and you are quite price sensitive. The Uber price premium (20-40%) hits much harder. 2) the Uber alternatives are noticeably cheaper for the exact same trip. Regarding your experience, if you were local, that inDrive driver likely would not have tried to extort $1000 MXN out of you. They saw you were a visitor and took advantage of you. In Nigeria or Uganda there are few tourists, so Uber cannot rely on a stream of price-insensitive travelers to fill their cars. It makes total sense why they struggled in (and gave up on) the local market there.
- mvdtnz 2mo agoYour take isn't controversial, it's just wrong. And you seem to be implying everywhere outside of USA and Europe is a developing region?
- tristanj 2mo agoYou claim it's wrong, yet don't bother to justify your position at all. I've ridden on Uber, Lyft, Bolt, Grab, inDrive, Careem, Yandex Go, Gojek, DiDi, Kakao T; and in my experience, outside the US/Europe (plus a few others), Uber is mostly for tourists. The alternatives are cheaper. > implying everywhere outside of USA and Europe is a developing region I'm not doing so at all. Those are separate sentences.
- deaux 2mo agoFYI the ones you named include ones priced exactly the same as Uber. Uber doesn't take the same cut in every country.
- tristanj 2mo agoI'm fully aware that Lyft, Careem, and Kakao T are on my list. But that doesn't change the fact that in every region I've been to, Uber is always the most expensive option. Or it's tied for the highest price, in duopoly markets like the US/Canada. The competitors inDrive, Bolt, or Yango almost always beat Uber on price.
- deaux 2mo agoThis too isn't true. Most of the services you listed only operate in one (or at most a small few) countries. I know for a fact that in some of them, Uber is not the highest price. Instead, in some of them, Uber and the ones you listed are tied for the lowest price, with other local apps being more expensive. You're misinforming here, giving bold statements based on not spending enough time in some of these countries, not knowing the local market well enough.
- tristanj 2mo agoYou didn't actually name any of the countries or local apps you're referring to. What are they?
- quirino 2mo agoMy experience in Brazil: Uber is way cheaper here. Compared to what I paid in San Francisco, I'd estimate a ~10x difference. And things here are rarely 10x cheaper. The difference in restaurants is probably less than ~2x. My point being it probably feels like less of a luxury for us than for people in the US. I'd say it's probably the most popular app too. I've never met people who used others.
- dhruvrrp 2mo agoUber isn't cheaper in India, but most people in urban areas prefer taking it over local alternatives or taxis. The cars are actually regular taxis, but the Uber tax is worth it over taxis for the convenience and potential safety/driver verification.
- timothymwiti 2mo agoIn Kenya it’s not just a tourist app. Very popular and well priced here.
- prmph 2mo agoUber in Ghana has fares that are not much higher than the others. In fact, many times Uber is cheaper. Not sure about Nigeria or Uganda though. And they even have a motorcycle ride option that is even cheaper. And, although Uber Ghana was noticeably more professional when they started, they have relaxed their standards so much in recent years. They are still a tad better than the others, but many drives flit between them and other ride-share companies. A driver does not suddenly become better because they happen to be driving for Uber, although I concede they might u their game based on what is expected of them.
- croes 2mo agoCould simply be because it’s a phone which nowadays is a considered bigger loss than a bag means bigger chance of extorting money to give it back.
- Loughla 2mo agoI would pay extra because I don't want the cognitive load of haggling on the cost. When I want/need A ride, it's because I'm either overloaded, away from home, or drunk. These are three times that I didn't want to bother with any more nonsense.
- samrus 2mo agoIts not that much. And you can just bypass it by accepting the first offer you get
- landl0rd 2mo agoIn a system where you are expected to haggle taking the opening price puts a pretty heavy tax on everything. It's more work to get to a vaguely similar equilibrium distributed slightly less evenly when you look at big markets for similar things.
- Sayrus 2mo agoIn a system where fees reach 50%, you are starting with a heavy tax no matter the starting price.
- bdangubic 2mo agohaggling when drunk is super fun
- mythrwy 2mo agobut haggling with drunks is not
- Waterluvian 2mo agoI’d sooner drink with hags.
- em-bee 2mo agoyour uber driver better not be drunk, so that's not a passenger problem, but only a driver problem
- itsamario 2mo agoInsurance goes up. Who knows how much liability they need to cover transportation. They likely deal with claims of being kidnapped or held hostage by driver on a regular basis.
- Razengan 2mo agoMan in some of the shitty countries I've had the misfortune of living in, taxi drivers were outright predatory and sometimes downright hostile. Uber was a godsend in such environments.
- augment_me 2mo agoPeople like the knowledge that they are not being ripped off by the person they are interacting with. On Uber you are essentially guaranteed that you are paying the absolute max that you would accept algorithmically, and the driver is getting the absolute least they would accept to drive for. If the balance shifts in any way, someone is ripping off the person they will interact with. Since the customer knows less about how much things should cost, they are more likely to be ripped off. People pay a 30% premium to ensure that they dont feel ripped off alone.
- rolandog 2mo agoThat means Uber is screwing the driver and customer the algorithmically maximum amount. It should be less, and it should be in the driver's favor. They should be able to afford a decent living.
- augment_me 2mo agoWell not really, if they were screwing people to the maximum people would be ordering cabs instead, the goal is to screw them for the maximal amount that they feel like they can to accept in the market that exists. Cabs might still screw you for more which is out of your control, so you don't take them.
- tristanj 2mo agoWhile I agree, Uber's cut has reached predatory levels. They take 50% of the fare in some markets. They're significantly overcharging riders and underpaying drivers. https://len-sherman.medium.com/ubers-long-and-winding-road-to-50-take-rates-1aaf4a574ae0 https://len-sherman.medium.com/ubers-long-and-winding-road-t...
- augment_me 2mo agoThat's the whole goal with the pricing model. Its not predatory because the customer is still paying for it. There is a choice to not pay and use a different service. If there are reasons to not do so, we are not at the predatory levels yet.
- itake 2mo agoCan't speak for InDrive's safety rating, but I would pay 30-50% more for Uber's safety tech (on a $5 ride) than a company with less funding. (I'm ex-Grab).