8 ms·
Don't forget the cost of parking at the airport. If you're gone for 10 days, that's almost $200.
by nostromo 14y ago
Don't forget the cost of parking at the airport. If you're gone for 10 days, that's almost $200.
- pg 14y agoYes, the free parking is the big appeal for users, not the money they could make if their car is rented out.
- mazumdar 14y agoWhile free parking is appealing for many users, it’s definitely not for many others because unlike Airbnb, the value of their possession (in this case, their car) is variable while the compensation (free parking and $10/day rented out) is fixed in the sense that it is pre-determined. With Airbnb, the compensation is variable and is set based on the owner's perceived value (which factors in the 'emotional piece of mind’ too among other things). It’s essentially a market based approach, and to get a wider acceptance from the supply-side, that’s what FlightCar needs to incorporate while preserving simplicity. As an optimist, I believe the creases will get ironed out eventually. It’s not going to be easy (never is) and it might take some time, but it will happen. Here’s a structure that comes to my mind: Tier 1 – Free parking and $10 for every day the car is rented out (like they have now) Tier 2 – Pay $X per day to park and Receive $Y for every day the car is rented out, where X is the market rate which in SFO’s case is $18 and Y is the daily rental-price you name.
- LucasCollecchia 14y agoWhile I think this is a good approach, since the service's main drawbacks involve cosmetic damage, it makes sense to launch using a payment model which favors lower-end cars. Once the damage issues are adequately addressed in practice Tier 2, or an equivalent, might become more attractive.
- angryasian 14y agowhy wouldn't you just take a cab vs paying that much for parking
- YuriNiyazov 14y agoBecause if you park on the street outside of the apartment where you live (which is many people, btw - very few people have a dedicated parking spot), then chances are you will get ticketed if you are gone while there's street cleaning happening. To prevent that from happening, you would have to arrange with your friends to move it while you are gone, or you would have to pay someone to do it. In the first case this is an inconvenience, in the second case it's an expense, and the downsides of letting someone else behind the wheel of your car are the same as renting it out.
- angryasian 14y agowhile a valid use case, I wonder if its the norm and how big this market is.
- YuriNiyazov 14y agoI wonder how familiar you are with urban living in the United States. At least within my circle of family and friends, this is very common.
- angryasian 14y agoI've lived in the two largest cities in the US. I'm very familiar with urban living. In NYC everyone takes cabs and don't own cars. In LA everyone drives and can hire very cheap cars to lax or shared shuttles. Its hardly a problem in either of the biggest urban centers in the US.
- YuriNiyazov 14y ago"In NYC everyone takes cabs and don't own cars." - Jesus man, have you ever been outside of Manhattan? If everyone in NYC doesn't own a car, why are there so many fucking cars there all the time? I grew up in Queens, in huge apartment buildings. Everyone there has cars with street parking that they have to move every time street sweeping comes around.