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Uber's Loss Exceeds $800M in Q3 on $1.7B in Net Revenue

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Re: Uber's Loss Exceeds $800M in Q3 on $1.7B in Net Revenue

#4
Presumably this is intentional -- Uber could raise prices and make more money, but right now they're choosing to keep prices very low in order to undercut Lyft and the cab companies with the assumption that having a monopoly will return more profits in the future.

At least anecdotally, here in SF Lyft is almost always more expensive than Uber.

Re: Uber's Loss Exceeds $800M in Q3 on $1.7B in Net Revenue

#5
post #4

Presumably this is intentional -- Uber could raise prices and make more money, but right now they're choosing to keep prices very low in order to undercut Lyft and the cab companies with the assumption that having a monopoly will return more profits in the future. At least anecdotally, here in SF Lyft is almost always more expensive than Uber.

Lyft may be more expensive on paper but I always use it instead of Uber where it is available and they send me so many discounts and coupons that I almost never pay the full price.

Re: Uber's Loss Exceeds $800M in Q3 on $1.7B in Net Revenue

#6
Uber is making the rest of us in SV look terrible.

1. Collect a huge pile of money at sky-high valuations from those who really should know better.

2. Ignore any sensible unit economics and undercut local taxi/transport services until those small businesses go bankrupt since they don't have Uber's money pile.

3. Evade local regulations that everyone else follows in the name of 'innovation' even though the reality is they are just taking a free pass on conducting background checks, and skipping safety guidelines.

What's the endgame here? When they replace all taxis, do they really think they can just permanently ignore all driving laws?

Re: Uber's Loss Exceeds $800M in Q3 on $1.7B in Net Revenue

#7
post #4

Presumably this is intentional -- Uber could raise prices and make more money, but right now they're choosing to keep prices very low in order to undercut Lyft and the cab companies with the assumption that having a monopoly will return more profits in the future. At least anecdotally, here in SF Lyft is almost always more expensive than Uber.

I tried Lyft the other day, but after they charged me $25 as an "authorization hold" without notification, I cancelled my ride and decided to stick with Uber. Note that Uber's auth charge is usually around $1. $25 may not be a significant amount for some, but it's non-trivial for a college student like myself.

I would have been happy had they just notified me first instead of my bank. Terrible UX to be frank. I actually got in contact with Lyft support on Twitter, but they did not care and just claimed that it was "standard policy".

Re: Uber's Loss Exceeds $800M in Q3 on $1.7B in Net Revenue

#8
post #4

Presumably this is intentional -- Uber could raise prices and make more money, but right now they're choosing to keep prices very low in order to undercut Lyft and the cab companies with the assumption that having a monopoly will return more profits in the future. At least anecdotally, here in SF Lyft is almost always more expensive than Uber.

Lyft may be more expensive on paper but I always use it instead of Uber where it is available and they send me so many discounts and coupons that I almost never pay the full price.

Out of curiosity, why do you prefer Lyft?

Re: Uber's Loss Exceeds $800M in Q3 on $1.7B in Net Revenue

#9
post #4

Presumably this is intentional -- Uber could raise prices and make more money, but right now they're choosing to keep prices very low in order to undercut Lyft and the cab companies with the assumption that having a monopoly will return more profits in the future. At least anecdotally, here in SF Lyft is almost always more expensive than Uber.

[deleted]

Re: Uber's Loss Exceeds $800M in Q3 on $1.7B in Net Revenue

#10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lyft may be more expensive on paper but I always use it instead of Uber where it is available and they send me so many discounts and coupons that I almost never pay the full price.

Out of curiosity, why do you prefer Lyft?

I am not the person you're replying to, but I used to switch back and forth between Lyft and Uber and use whichever was cheaper at the moment.

But Uber kept sending me drivers who were like 0.5 miles away or more, in SOMA at rush hour, and after the second time I waited ten minutes and then the driver canceled, I decided I was willing to pay a small surcharge to get a drive in less than 5 minutes and for it to, you know, actually happen.

I should probably try out Uber again to see if they've resolved their problems with driver supply. This was SOMA (5th & Bryant) at like 5:15-6:00pm, several times over the course of a month.

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