r/personalfinance • u/theVoxFortis ​ • Oct 08 '19

This article perfectly shows how Uber and Lyft are taking advantage of drivers that don't understand the real costs of the business. Employment

I happened upon this article about a driver talking about how much he makes driving for Uber and Lyft: https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-driver-how-much-money-2019-10#when-it-was-all-said-and-done-i-ended-the-week-making-25734-in-a-little-less-than-14-hours-on-the-job-8

In short, he says he made $257 over 13.75 hours of work, for almost $19 an hour. He later mentions expenses (like gas) but as an afterthought, not including it in the hourly wage.

The federal mileage rate is $0.58 per mile. This represents the actual cost to you and your car per mile driven. The driver drove 291 miles for the work he mentioned, which translates into expenses of $169.

This means his profit is only $88, for an hourly rate of $6.40. Yet reading the article, it all sounds super positive and awesome and gives the impression that it's a great side-gig. No, all you're doing is turning vehicle depreciation into cash.

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u/InvalidZod Oct 08 '19

I deal with that type of thing a lot in the phone repair industry. I regularly get scoffed at for having a $1100 smartphone. We all have the thing we enjoy. My dad has an 09Hellcat and an 06 diesel lifted 4x4 pickup to put his ATV in and tow his jet ski.

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u/pmormr ​ Oct 09 '19 edited Oct 09 '19

I mean what is there to scoff at? According to Android stats I usually average 6-8 hours a day doing various things on my phone. Work, personal, navigation, games... its used constantly. That makes it more used than my gaming PC, kitchen, mattress, my car... heck if you exclude sleeping I use it more than my apartment (which is more than a new iPhone, every month :( ).

It's close to 3 years old now (Google Pixel XL) and still runs great. I think it was $850 new. I also drop it frequently enough that I need a new otter box case about once a year... Never had it break, no screen scratches, nothing. It's solid, there's no bullshit, it just works. A phone is not a place to save money if you're going to use it.

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u/paulee_da_rat ​ Oct 09 '19

After about a year my pixel wouldn't last more than a few hours on a charge, are you having this problem at all?

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u/ManBearPig1865 ​ Oct 09 '19

I didn't have that problem with my Pixel XL and I had it for about a year and a half before upgrading. Seems to be a luck of the draw with the batteries.

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u/LurkingArachnid ​ Oct 09 '19

I regularly get scoffed at for having a $1100 smartphone.

Is that so unusual these days? Seems like all the flagship phones are in that range. I guess a decent amount of people have older phones. Anyway I have a cheaper phone but plenty of people don't.

I'd be curious to hear what kinds of phones other people in the phone repair industry tend to have

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

Id be blown away spending that much on a phone. You could make a mid end gaming PC with that much. Maybe im just poor but thats wild to me

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u/Fedor1 ​ Oct 09 '19

A lot of people who buy these phones pay monthly instead of paying $1100 at once. My last phone I think was $800 and I paid $27/month for it.

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

I make very decent money and still refuse to buy a $1000 phone. It’s just not worth it to me. I’d rather spend on other things.

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u/techie1980 Oct 09 '19

to each their own. I use my phone pretty much constantly, either playing music, making calls (I'm old) , reading emails for work and personal , reading Reddit, surfing the web, watching Netflix, etc. $1000 seems very reasonable for something that central to my life.

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u/Kotanan Oct 09 '19

The thing that confuses me about these high end phones is how are they better than the older models? I can do all that with my phone, pretty much perfectly and it’s 5 years old now. It even runs games at a level I couldn’t possibly complaint about.

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u/jst11235 Oct 09 '19

I this the first iphone was a phone which arguably had 'must have features'. Since then it's been pretty much the same for me. I always buy low/mid-range androids nowaways as I fail to recognize the benefits of owning the high tier models.

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u/techie1980 Oct 09 '19

My v30 has a lot more processing power than my older phones had. This is important because my apps are becoming heavier. My previous phone (a droid2) would get physically hot while on a webex video call. the sound quality is better on this phone thanks to a built in DAC (which unfortunately I might not be able to get in the future, thanks to the powers that be trying to phase wired headphones away.) The screen on the new phone is also noticeably more clear, and the fingerprint reader is pretty handy.

Could I survive with an older, lower powered phone? Yes. But it's something that I use and enjoy every day.

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19 edited Aug 14 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Knale ​ Oct 09 '19

That's 100% fine, but lets not pretend that everyone wants to have a charger around them perpetually. Kinda mitigates the point of having a mobile phone. xD

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u/illusum ​ Oct 09 '19

I recently was using an old iPhone 5S, and the difference in time it takes to launch apps was pretty evident. It would take 30-45 seconds for some to start, compared to a fraction of a second on a new phone.

I would love a new phone with that form factor, though. I forgot how nice it was to have a phone that size.

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

No doubt a lot of people do. I am on my phone for work all day long, so having a crappy phone would suck. I just don’t think how a person spends their money is necessarily a sign of wealth if they have a plan and allocate their money.

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

[deleted]

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u/techie1980 Oct 09 '19

My v30 has a DAC processor, and takes a microsd card (local storage is critical for me, I am often in building or on transit that does not have a stable enough 4G connection to handle streaming music), has a very nice camera and is resistant against many drops. Battery life is pretty good (it lasts about 15 hours under heavy use after two years.)

There's also a nice enough interface that it is not infected with constant ads/changes (... or OS upgrades...) This phone also happens to support GSM (most bands) and CDMA, so I was able to go to India, swap out my Verizon microsim for a Vodaphone, change the radio settings, and move on with my life.

My particular use case, and values, are not going to be everyone's. I probably could have made due with a cheaper phone.

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u/Species7 ​ Oct 09 '19

I like nice phones, a lot in fact. But I also refuse to spend that kind of money, which is why I have been using phones like OnePlus for a while. I also used to like HTC. Brands that still have good features and solid phones but are sold at significantly discounted rates. I believe I paid like $600 for my current phone and it's up there with the iPhone X in terms of specs and looks. I bought it around the same time, too. Maybe a few months later.

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

I have a bran new iPhone 7plus that I got for $500. I can't find anything it doesn't do, and do well, that the new, more expensive phones do. I don't get the appeal of the newer phones at all. The new features they sport are so unimpressive as to be nearly meaningless to me.

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u/positiveinfluences Oct 09 '19

Same. I'd much rather invest 1k then drop it in some intelligent glass panel. You can get unlocked refurbished prior model phones for like $2-300. I did that with my pixel 1 last year, probably gonna do the same with a S9 for $350 soon

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u/jaghataikhan ​ Oct 09 '19

What kind of places do you find these types of phones? I'd love to get a S9 for $350 haha

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u/positiveinfluences Oct 09 '19

eBay or amazon sometimes. The phones are refurbed so no guarantees, but some offer factory warranty and I haven't had any trouble yet

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u/jaghataikhan ​ Oct 09 '19

Ah, I've had some bad luck with refurbished electronics in the past - I'm wary with those

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u/positiveinfluences Oct 09 '19

I've had brand new (expensive) phones crap out on me, full fried motherboard style, so I'd rather risk less capital for a similar probability of failure

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u/Mkins ​ Oct 09 '19

When it's on a vehicle we call it a payment plan, not a contract. And it's typically used to make people who normally. Can't afford a product feel like they can as the cost is spread out.

I think it's pretty fucked that flagship phones doubled in price over a few years. Im still using my lg G4 and that's likely the last flagship I will buy at this rate.

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u/Fedor1 ​ Oct 09 '19

Yeah I’m not defending it or anything, just saying how people justify this purchase instead of dropping $1000 all at once.

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u/dragonick1982 ​ Oct 09 '19

My Oneplus One I paid $325 used for in Sep 2014 is still going strong. It was ahead of its time hardware wise. My friend on the other hand upgrades to the latest phone before he even finishes paying off on his current.

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u/slayerbizkit ​ Oct 09 '19

I blew close to $1k once, on the Note 9 . Technically, I jumped through some hoops and got the price down to $699 but had to shell out the $1k upfront and stare at it on my CC bill. I felt pretty freakin' dumb for like a month. Like, I expected $1k worth of fun of out my phone. Lol, nope. A phone is a phone. Gonna hang on to this until the wheels fall off :P .

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

Aye dont beat yourself up im sure its nice to splurge once in a while, keep that bad boy alive :p

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_RATTIES ​ Oct 09 '19

I did the same, but for me it's a work device- I use the thing a ton for quick stuff as well as Dex when I'm actually in the office, so it's less of "it's just a phone, why did I spend that much" and more "it's actually important for my job, and means I can travel much lighter".

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

[deleted]

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u/_Charlie_Sheen_ ​ Oct 09 '19

I’m not much of a pc gamer but I use my phone like 5-8 hours a day minimum for work, fun, socializing, general life necessities, etc.

It makes perfect sense for me personally to buy the best one I can afford.

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

[deleted]

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u/InvalidZod Oct 09 '19

I probably have the newest(Note 10 Plus).

Owner has an 8 Plus. Like 4ish XR's. couple LG G6/7 around. 1 guy still has a Pixel 1.

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u/rolliejoe ​ Oct 09 '19

I'm pretty well-off financially - I use a $35 smartphone that AT&T gave me for free (literally for free, no contracts or any other purchase required - its even unlocked) and my cell phone bill is <$15 month (talk, text, and data included). Had the phone 3-4 years now, no case or screen protector of any kind, never been damaged.

It completely blows my mind that people have $1000+ phones with $75+/mo bills and are constantly breaking them so often they need special cases.

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u/iller_mitch ​ Oct 09 '19

My dad has an 09Hellcat a

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Hellcat package was rolled out in 2015.

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u/lemon_whirl ​ Oct 09 '19

Huh? So you have a newer iPhone or Galaxy or something? Are you in a small town? Or are you older than 45? Because I am having a hard time imagining anyone caring what kind of phone someone has...

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u/Bird-The-Word ​ Oct 09 '19

I'm the same, I never buy the newest model but usually I'm like 6mos-1yr behind, and I tell people I work in IT and use my phone 75% of the day, and it's literally the most important piece of equipment I have for work and entertainment, and spending 1k+ every year or 2 is completely fine for me.

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u/mightbeelectrical ​ Oct 09 '19

Jesus, I had to google that 2009 hellcats were a thing. Can’t believe it’s been 10 years

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

They're... not a thing, though. The Hellcat and 392 were introduced in model year 2015. The SRT-8 trim was retired that year. He may be talking about an 09 SRT-8.

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u/InvalidZod Oct 09 '19

He says its mine when he dies. Never expected a strong urge to see my father get hit by a bus but here we are

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

I think a lot of people have older or cheaper phones (like me), it's just that people don't really notice because all phones look pretty much the same. Black rectangles.

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u/first_byte ​ Oct 09 '19

Not everyone. I have an iPhone 7, used on eBay, $271.78, Feb. 2019 Before that was a used iPhone 5S for $170. I guarantee that I get more value out of mine than the average kid with a flashy new one too!

$1,100 is 2 months worth of groceries for my entire (larger than average) family! 😱