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DoorDash raises minimum pay to $29.93 per hour in NYC

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Re: DoorDash raises minimum pay to $29.93 per hour in NYC

#171
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What law are you referring to, and a minimum of $20 per hour for what? Wouldn't your interpretation mean I can sign up for DoorDash, keep the app open, never accept a delivery, and be guaranteed $20/hr?

https://nypost.com/2023/12/01/business/uber-doordash-and-gru...

That states they can choose hourly minimum or "or pay per delivery at about 50 cents a minute" which is in line with $29.93 per hour for what DoorDash calls "active" work.

Re: DoorDash raises minimum pay to $29.93 per hour in NYC

#172
post #50
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They aren't really viable business models to begin with. Only VC funding can keep these online platform up.

That's a somewhat outdated narrative to still be parroting. Uber just got included into the SP 500. One of the pre-requisites for that is being profitable on a GAAP basis.

> That's a somewhat outdated narrative to still be parroting.

It's not. Most of those "innovators" are still posting losses in the hundreds of millions

> Uber just got included into the SP 500. One of the pre-requisites for that is being profitable on a GAAP basis.

Because you can somehow lose a billion dollars a year for 10 years, become a publicly traded company with a steatement "we don't even know if we'll ever turn a profit", still continue operating at a huge loss for several years, write off 6 billion in losses, and finally become profitable enough to be included in S&P.

Any any other, sane world, Uber would be gone after two years of losing a billion dollars a year. Not crawl into S&P after 10 years of unsustainable losses.

Re: DoorDash raises minimum pay to $29.93 per hour in NYC

#173
post #18

The platform fees and the insane menu price markups that restaurants apply for delivery app orders have made it impractical to use Uber Eats & DoorDash for a couple years now IMO. I only ever consider using them when offered at least 50% off. Mandated minimum earnings will benefit the drivers, but that won't help drivers that have to quit the platforms because people stop using them.

It was never a sustainable business model to begin with. It takes 10 minutes for a chef to make my meal, and 25 minutes for someone to come to the restaurant, pick it up, and drive it to my house. The only way it works is if someone else's time is an order of magnitude less valuable than yours.

Most of my favorite local restaurants use other platforms now. It's been 3 years since I've last used Uber or DD. If they don't deliver, I just go pick it up myself.

Re: DoorDash raises minimum pay to $29.93 per hour in NYC

#174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's "active work" though. So you're also going to be spending a lot of extra time sitting in your car waiting for delivery offers to come in. Outside of lunch and dinner hours, you'll probably be spending an equal amount of time idle as you are "active" according to DD.

I'm aware, that's why I counted just 25 (active) hours per week.

But that 25 active hours per week requires about 50 hours of working. You're just not paid for the 25 hours where you are waiting for an offer to come in. There's only about 3 hours per day when you can consistently get an offer within minutes of finishing one.

And don't forget DoorDash doesn't pay for gas or other required maintenance from the extra use on your car.

Re: DoorDash raises minimum pay to $29.93 per hour in NYC

#175
post #147

DoorDash is being misleading when they imply that NYC required a minimum wage of $29.93/hr for delivery workers. DoorDash could comply with the bylaw by paying its contractors $17.96/hr for the full time they work (including time waiting for orders). But DoorDash instead chose to use the "Alternate Method" which has a 67% higher minimum wage, but only for the time the contractor is actively delivering food (not stand…

The other part of this is that Doordash workers need to pay for their own delivery vehicles (gas, upkeep etc.) which factors into the actual wages they get. They are not making significantly more than minimum wage workers.

The delivery vehicles being used in NYC are almost entirely e-bikes, so the expense is not as big as you might be thinking. It's certainly nothing close to the cost to gig workers for running an Uber car.

Re: DoorDash raises minimum pay to $29.93 per hour in NYC

#176
post #147

DoorDash is being misleading when they imply that NYC required a minimum wage of $29.93/hr for delivery workers. DoorDash could comply with the bylaw by paying its contractors $17.96/hr for the full time they work (including time waiting for orders). But DoorDash instead chose to use the "Alternate Method" which has a 67% higher minimum wage, but only for the time the contractor is actively delivering food (not stand…

Does this also introduce a bad incentive for drivers to delivery food slowly? Or do delivery apps account for that somehow already?..

I'm pretty sure Doordash tracks that and will boot drivers that don't deliver quickly as that affects their bottom line.

Re: DoorDash raises minimum pay to $29.93 per hour in NYC

#177
post #147

DoorDash is being misleading when they imply that NYC required a minimum wage of $29.93/hr for delivery workers. DoorDash could comply with the bylaw by paying its contractors $17.96/hr for the full time they work (including time waiting for orders). But DoorDash instead chose to use the "Alternate Method" which has a 67% higher minimum wage, but only for the time the contractor is actively delivering food (not stand…

The other part of this is that Doordash workers need to pay for their own delivery vehicles (gas, upkeep etc.) which factors into the actual wages they get. They are not making significantly more than minimum wage workers.

I'd estimate in NYC that 90% of deliveries I get are made by bicycle, so their average expenses are comparatively very low.

Re: DoorDash raises minimum pay to $29.93 per hour in NYC

#178
post #147

DoorDash is being misleading when they imply that NYC required a minimum wage of $29.93/hr for delivery workers. DoorDash could comply with the bylaw by paying its contractors $17.96/hr for the full time they work (including time waiting for orders). But DoorDash instead chose to use the "Alternate Method" which has a 67% higher minimum wage, but only for the time the contractor is actively delivering food (not stand…

Does this also introduce a bad incentive for drivers to delivery food slowly? Or do delivery apps account for that somehow already?..

Nit: Most food delivery workers in NYC are on e-bikes or mopeds. There are surely some drivers but it is prohibitively difficult to use a car for food deliveries in nearly all of Manhattan and decent portions of Brooklyn/Queens/the Bronx.

As it is there is public outcry about dangerous and aggressive riding behavior from food delivery workers. It is not strictly a bad idea to tilt the incentive structure so that while you can earn a little extra on tips for completing more deliveries, it's not such a huge part of your earnings that you need to cut corners, ride the wrong way on one-way streets, ride on sidewalks etc. to hyperoptimize your delivery rate.

Re: DoorDash raises minimum pay to $29.93 per hour in NYC

#179
post #131

As an old person, I'd like to point out that my hometown of New York City had a dynamic, world class restaurant scene, including a cornucopia of home delivery, long before the tech platform companies found a way to siphon ~40% of consumer spend out of the local restaurant economy in exchange for some friction reduction. We were doing great. But you had a drawer full of paper menus and had to call the restaurant.

And if you called the restaurant enough, you typically got on a first name basis with them and had incredible customer service. Now you're just another customer #47523 that created order #37324.

We had friends who got Domino's every Thursday. On days when they hadn't called by a certain time, Domino's would call them and ask if they wanted their usual.

(This was in Tegucigalpa in the '90s, fwiw)

Re: DoorDash raises minimum pay to $29.93 per hour in NYC

#180
post #131

As an old person, I'd like to point out that my hometown of New York City had a dynamic, world class restaurant scene, including a cornucopia of home delivery, long before the tech platform companies found a way to siphon ~40% of consumer spend out of the local restaurant economy in exchange for some friction reduction. We were doing great. But you had a drawer full of paper menus and had to call the restaurant.

Has the local restaurant scene recovered from the lockdowns? I live in a smaller city and we have recovered some but it's nothing like it was. I heard it was particularly rough in NYC.

There are still more amazing places to eat in NYC than you could comfortably visit in a lifetime. I can't even keep up with the new places that open in my own neighborhood.
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