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What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

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Re: What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

#121

Post by JacobAldridge »

chii wrote: post #115
gpm wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really simplistic view: Before the hour of work I had $10003 of vehicle, $0 in my pocket, and an hour of time. After the hour of work I had $10000 of vehicle, and $3 in my pocket. With the assumption that you are going to eventually pay that $3 back into your vehicle, by paying for repairs or buying a new one, you basically just "borrowed" money from your vehicle.

> you basically just "borrowed" money from your vehicle. so wouldn't it then make more sense to just sell the vehicle for $10003, then place that money in an interest earning asset like a bond, rather than "borrow" from the value of the vehicle?

But then you have no car to get your kid to school (etc).

Re: What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

#122

Post by wnoise »

chii wrote: post #115
gpm wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really simplistic view: Before the hour of work I had $10003 of vehicle, $0 in my pocket, and an hour of time. After the hour of work I had $10000 of vehicle, and $3 in my pocket. With the assumption that you are going to eventually pay that $3 back into your vehicle, by paying for repairs or buying a new one, you basically just "borrowed" money from your vehicle.

> you basically just "borrowed" money from your vehicle. so wouldn't it then make more sense to just sell the vehicle for $10003, then place that money in an interest earning asset like a bond, rather than "borrow" from the value of the vehicle?

If you weren't dependent on the vehicle to be able to travel, sure. Or as a backup home if you get evicted.

Re: What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

#123

Post by smt88 »

chii wrote: post #115
gpm wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really simplistic view: Before the hour of work I had $10003 of vehicle, $0 in my pocket, and an hour of time. After the hour of work I had $10000 of vehicle, and $3 in my pocket. With the assumption that you are going to eventually pay that $3 back into your vehicle, by paying for repairs or buying a new one, you basically just "borrowed" money from your vehicle.

> you basically just "borrowed" money from your vehicle. so wouldn't it then make more sense to just sell the vehicle for $10003, then place that money in an interest earning asset like a bond, rather than "borrow" from the value of the vehicle?

Most Americans can't manage daily necessities (groceries, childcare, doctor's visits, etc.) without a car.

Then maybe you ask why they don't have a cheaper car.

Generally, a cheaper car costs far more to maintain. The total annual cost of ownership of a 2-year-old Camry is far lower than a 10-year-old Camry. But to get that lower cost, you have to temporarily convert more of your money into that car asset.

End result: your cash is stuck in your car, and DoorDash/Uber/whatever lets you liquidate it without selling your car.

Re: What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

#124

Post by rahimnathwani »

marcell wrote: post #30

> “These orders don’t pay for our expenses or our time. We actually lose money when we take those orders. If I pick up an order that is 10 miles away and deliver it 6 miles I’m traveling 16 miles for a $3 order — so I have lost money. I’m in the negative when I account for gas, wear and tear, and other expenses. Not to mention my time.” This begs an obvious question: why are people choosing to do this if it pays $0/h…

"why are people choosing to do this if it pays $0/hr?"

The article explains this: "the DoorDash pay model appears aimed at having workers deliver food effectively for free in hopes of collecting tips."

Re: What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

#125

Post by JacobAldridge »

marcell wrote: post #30

> “These orders don’t pay for our expenses or our time. We actually lose money when we take those orders. If I pick up an order that is 10 miles away and deliver it 6 miles I’m traveling 16 miles for a $3 order — so I have lost money. I’m in the negative when I account for gas, wear and tear, and other expenses. Not to mention my time.” This begs an obvious question: why are people choosing to do this if it pays $0/h…

I was surprised to learn recently - and it may just be one of the rideshare companies in one country, or it may be more widespread - that the driver may not be told the final destination until they have accepted and started the ride.

So you might keep doing loops back to the airport (or a good restaurant precinct) because most of the jobs are OK; but it’s only when I hop in the car for a $10 ride to the next suburb that you discover you’ll lose money on this ride.

Re: What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

#126

Post by [deleted] »

cc439 wrote: post #71
marcell wrote: post #30

> “These orders don’t pay for our expenses or our time. We actually lose money when we take those orders. If I pick up an order that is 10 miles away and deliver it 6 miles I’m traveling 16 miles for a $3 order — so I have lost money. I’m in the negative when I account for gas, wear and tear, and other expenses. Not to mention my time.” This begs an obvious question: why are people choosing to do this if it pays $0/h…

"However, if a worker rejects too many jobs too frequently, they may receive fewer job offers as a result." They take those jobs because they lose all access to the chance of profitable jobs otherwise. The people working for door dash aren't exactly the sort of person with the ability to fully understand probabilities and statistics either. I'd say it's fair to assume their business model works by bullying the same p…

[deleted]

Re: What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

#127

Post by devmunchies »

bobloblaw45 wrote: post #2

I drove for DoorDash for about a month. What killed me was the wait between deliveries. I think it was like 45 minutes on average and when I did get a delivery it was like a tiny $7 delivery. There would be 2 hour stretches of times pretty often. But then once in awhile I'd get a string of maybe 3 or 4 runs that paid like $12. over 2 or 3 hours.It was too inconsistent. Had no idea if I ever got tips, from my understa…

>There's just too many drivers I think.

interesting, I'm desperate for more drivers.

I run a side business that delivers cookies, drivers do just under 30 deliveries a day (about 3-4 every hour) and make minimum wage plus 100% of tips are split at the end of pay period. it ends up being about $3/delivery in tips, which is an extra $9/hr for a total of $21/hr (minimum wage is $12). A driver could theoretically make over $50k/yr if they worked 6 days a week, but most choose not to (4-5 days a week).

I've put a lot of work into the software to make it as efficient as possible so driver can get more orders and tips.

My business: https://cravecookie.com/

Re: What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

#128

Post by drmpeg »

noonespecial wrote: post #60
cold_fact wrote: post #50

This is why when I do order from Doordash, I only tip in cash and make sure to write it in the comments. Still the best online delivery by me even if they are a shit company. Hate Grubhub more.

I do also. As I hand them the cash I say very deliberately, "Thank you. This is for you, not them". I've been doing it for ubers lately as well.

Same here. I like to say "Don't tell anybody".

Re: What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

#129

Post by PhasmaFelis »

pbreit wrote: post #100
BurningFrog wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This begs an obvious question: why are people choosing to do this if it pays $0/hr? The obvious answer is that it actually pays more.

Not necessarily. I think it’s a combination of easy money and lack of understanding of net income.

Even the most clueless and innumerate person is going to notice when they've been working and getting paid for a month, haven't paid any bills yet or bought anything but food and gas, and still have $0.

Re: What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

#130

Post by csmiller »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #10
mushufasa wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> There's just too many drivers I think. That's fascinating. Seems like the free market really would drive the wage to 0. DoorDash's "innovation" is the black box to obscure the fact. If they paid more fairly like their competitors, they wouldn't be growing as fast. Seems kindof like a cyberpunk future, with corporations negating regulations through advanced technology. Also in those cyberpunk futures, society break…

Wages can't drop to zero unless there's an infinite supply of labor. As time has gone by fewer and fewer of the gig economy drivers I see speak English, and fewer of them are the person whose name/face is on the account, so I suspect the pseudo-infinite labor supply is working as intended.

I’ve always wondered what was going on when the driver didn’t match the person listed in the app. Doesn’t seem like there would be any benefit? (For me it’s often a male driver who is displayed as female in the app)
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