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Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

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Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#111

Post by vkou »

fierro wrote: post #79
sherlock_h wrote: post #31

Over the long run, at least in the U.S. it seems like Uber/Lyft are edging towards a comfortable duopoly. Usually their prices move in lockstep (each has insights into the other company's prices through email receipt intelligence, credit card intelligence, webscraping, etc.). And their services are fairly exchangeable. For either one to win there needs to be either a massive cost advantage or some sort of stickiness…

don't discount the ability for either company to build that stickiness. They know this is important. Think credit cards, collaboration with last-mile transportation (Uber + Bird), discounts on restaurants, things of that nature. They can and are working towards building more of a brand ecosystem.

Restaurants are the most price-sensitive, tight-margin business you can think of. Groupon was a famous disaster for them.

Who is going to pay for these discounts? Uber's investors?

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#112

Post by reitzensteinm »

phamilton wrote: post #37
sherlock_h wrote: post #31

Over the long run, at least in the U.S. it seems like Uber/Lyft are edging towards a comfortable duopoly. Usually their prices move in lockstep (each has insights into the other company's prices through email receipt intelligence, credit card intelligence, webscraping, etc.). And their services are fairly exchangeable. For either one to win there needs to be either a massive cost advantage or some sort of stickiness…

> comfortable duopoly I don't think they have hit true market dynamics yet (rides are subsidized), so comfortable might be a strong word here.

Do you have a source for the ride subsidization? My understanding is that for mature markets they're making a decent profit; their losses from subsidies are from new markets, or new initiatives in existing markets (Pool, Eats etc).

There have been a number of "Uber is cheaper than taxis because they are losing money" newspaper articles, but they usually point to the loss of the company as a whole.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#113

Post by astura »

exabrial wrote: post #20

This last Sunday morning, Uber made 3 charges to my checking account totaling over $1.1k total, for three rides at 6:59am, 7:00am, and 7:01am. I haven't used them in about 2 years (they put me in a car with a guy that admitted to sexually assaulting his drunk female passengers). It was a nightmare trying to get ahold of their customer service to return my money. They have no phone numbers, it's all bots that answer t…

Why bother contacting Uber at all? Just call your bank and report the charges as fraudulent.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#114

Post by ghaff »

lozaning wrote: post #108
ecshafer wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would anyone really care that much. If my company told me to use Lyft over uber or reversed it wouldn't cause any duress. I just need to get from the airport and back or whatever, its hard to have a preference here.

Without status everything is fungible. That changes drastically as your status on any given provider goes up. Making me take anything but United means no business class upgrade, making me take anything but Uber means im waiting way longer to be picked up from anywhere, making me not stay at SPG means no room upgrade or check-in/checkout perks.

I mostly use Lyft and don’t really see a big difference with Uber. But I agree with your basic point. Status tends to be more valuable to me than any points. The flip side of that is it’s not worth unnatural acts to stay at a particular hotel chain if it’s net more comfortable and convenient to book elsewhere.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#115

Post by joshe »

hcnews wrote: post #62
joshe wrote: post #26

What is Uber's long term moat/pricing power? To compete in a local market you just need to sign up 5000 or so drivers. At a $5 signup bonus that costs like $25,000. You can just be the third app, most drivers already swap between Lyft/Uber. You could even form a drivers cooperative and just give all the charges to drivers (like farmers do). Regulatory capture seems like the only real route to sustainable profits with…

Like others have said, getting drivers is much more costlier than 5$. Another bigger aspect is maintaining drivers and riders on your platform. Maintaining platforms is much harder than people give credit (e.g. netflix).

Notice how Netflix has rushed to create content?

If they hadn't, the entertainment companies would have just taken all their profits.

I don't know what Uber's equivalent moat is, but they are desperate to find it.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#116

Post by jessriedel »

nostromo wrote: post #24
liquid153 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has happened to me, I was uber pissed. The Uber driver waited less no more than 2mns Max.

It's fairly rude to make them wait at all. They're not being paid while they're waiting for you.

When you order an Uber, you are buying an included 2 minutes of wait time plus the option to pay by-the-minute for wait time thereafter. This is part of the contract. One way you can tell is that if they wait 90 seconds for you and then you cancel, you get a bill for ~$5.

Shared rides (Uber Pool) is different. In that case, you're making other riders wait and, unlike the driver, there's no reasonable way to compensate them for the time. Thus, being late is rude.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#117

Post by jmalicki »

joshe wrote: post #94
liquid153 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1mn-2mn wait is rude? What world do you live in?

Why make a driver wait?

Because they're waiting for me a 3 minute walk away from the location where I requested they pick me up?

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#118

Post by komali2 »

burlesona wrote: post #100
justfor1comment wrote: post #80

Uber is getting more expensive with time as they try to consolidate losses. For my commute to work nowadays Express Pool costs the same as UberX did a year ago. And of course express pool includes overtly long sight seeing detours and dangerous pick up/drop off points. This is getting prohibitively expensive and I plan to switch to an electric scooter + public transit in a few months.

I highly recommmend the electric scooter. So fast and so fun. I got this one: https://ecorecoscooter.com/product/l5

Or, a bicycle. You can get a good one on craigslist for a hundred bucks if you're patient. You may get a bit sweatier but you'll get an exercise ;)

Or, there's no hills, and you go your own pace, and it's fine.

Having tried both I do feel bicycles are safer - those tiny scooter wheels shake me to pieces.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#119

Post by komali2 »

justfor1comment wrote: post #80

Uber is getting more expensive with time as they try to consolidate losses. For my commute to work nowadays Express Pool costs the same as UberX did a year ago. And of course express pool includes overtly long sight seeing detours and dangerous pick up/drop off points. This is getting prohibitively expensive and I plan to switch to an electric scooter + public transit in a few months.

> dangerous pick up/drop off points

Dangerous in what way? By what measure?

> public transit

How does the previous danger measurement compare to your average ride on public transit?

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#120

Post by cwkoss »

jartelt wrote: post #95
maaaats wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one could reliably order an Uber that would be great. But no way Im waiting outside in -10C while the app lies about someone about to pick me up.

More accurate pickup times would really help. I've rushed outside numerous times after being given a 2 minute ETA. Pretty much every time I end up waiting outside for 5-10 more minutes after the ETA changes to a longer time. If I knew the ETA was accurate, I would be more vigilant about being roadside at the correct time.

I have never had an Uber arrive as fast as the estimate. Usually takes about twice as long as app displays when requesting the ride.

Also, there is absolutely no recourse if a driver starts driving in the opposite direction of you. I had a 3 min estimate, then driver drove 15 mins away. Called driver and he had the audacity to ask me to cancel the trip (so I'd still be charged). Was 30 minutes late and had to contact support to get the cancellation fee waived. Uber used to be the faster way to get to work than walking/bussing, but no more.

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