How Much Does Uber Really Take from Driver Earnings? | Driver Diary with Sergio

Uber says it's only taking 20% of the fare, but also says it's been adjusting fares due to higher expenses. Considering that, how much is Uber really taking from driver earnings? In his latest edition of "Driver Diary," Senior RSG Contributor Sergio Avedian looks at Uber's take rate.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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I'm Harry, the founder of The Rideshare Guy. I started driving for Uber and Lyft in 2015 and eventually quit my day job as an aerospace engineer to run The Rideshare Guy full time.

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[onedaily]

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[rickince]

They want it to be impossible for the driver's to be able to figure out what's going on and by doing that the drivers really aren't independent contractors. Same with Lyft

[d.fenestrator]

How can Wridz, a small mom and pop competitor, gets insurance rates that are a fraction of Uber's? Uber is definitely using insurance as a profit center. I wonder if that's mentioned somewhere in their SEC filings.

[WilliamLewis-ry]

Agree with you 100% take rate is what % we get from what the customer pays we should not be subsidizing Uber and Lyfts expenses nobody helps us with ours. BTW do you think there are any real independent contractors are making less then they were 4 or 5 years ago. Absolutely not but we make less on almost every ride while the customers are paying more something is wrong there

[ezflip]

I noticed some rides Uber taking 70% of the fare, I have been driving for 7 plus years

[Jllr]

Yes! I have a regular customer and usually she goes from point a to airport (40) miles and its about $80 and pay out is maybe $40. But on peak times the fare is about $120/130 (comfor) but pay out is maybe $10/15 more. (50/60) Shouldn’t “external
expenses” like insurance stay the same. For sure something shady going on.

[scarletbegonias]

My Acceptance Rate is wayyy down and Uber gives me a hard time about it constantly. F Them

[ChadBrown-mplc]

I spoke with an attorney who is representing a passenger who was injured during an uber ride in Puerto Rico. He believes that uber is self insuring. There is no insurance cost. Uber basically hires an insurance company to process the claims. There is no insurance. They just pay the claims.

[scoopflag]

Bingo! Sergio you nailed it again. The jig is up. Busted! It's a roundabout way to pay shareholders

[christopherkefalas]

I'm in the insurance business and I can tell you with 100% certainty that Uber is lying on their cost of insurance by a lot! There's no way commercial insurance would be anywhere even in the vicinity of $50 for a trip from West Hollywood to Disneyland. I looked it up on the map. I mean they're lying so much. It's unbelievable. And if they are actually paying that then somebody needs to get fired. Whoever negotiated that deal because that is so overblown. They're probably paying a fifth of that

[rogeriocarvalho]

That’s why I never take a ride request that is less than $1 per mile. So far so good, my car has less miles on the road. I zero out my odometer every time I start my Uber and it’s working wonderfully for me. 👍😃

[robthornton]

Colorado is about 55% fuggin bs. And they try and tell us, 26%.. but I ask customers how much they paid. Gotta find something new.

[baldisaerodynamic]

There is no way insurance cost changes with each trip either.
I think their insurance costs are based on an algorithm

[therealkylewood]

In Columbus, OH, Uber and Lyft take 50-70%. They claim they only take 30%, but really 30% is my take rate on most trips. Crooks!!!

[j.scroggins]

In my experience uber has been taking 50 to 70% take rate on every ride.

[bmac]

If I give a ride where the passenger pays $100.00, I'm lucky if I get $30. The insurance company will get anywhere from $25 to $30 and Uber gets the rest. If you're keeping score that's over $40 and the lionshare of the fare.

[abrecos]

They should take their 20% and that's it, like in the good old days. Gas, car maintenance, and insurance are getting higher almost every month besides inflation nationwide. That is not fair for Uber to cut 50 or sometimes even more percent from riders' pay.It's my car, my time, my gas, my safety on my side, and your application and insurance with 2500$ deductible from your side. For example, for ride from Doylestown PA to JFK they offer me on comfort level only 130 dollars. It's 95 miles and almost 2 hours drive time and, because I can't drive in NY all this doubled its 4 hours and 190 miles at the end, and its 68 cents per mile. No, thank you very much. Uber CEO should start telling the real numbers that they deducted from each ride instead of straight lying about 20% that long go. Sergio you the man, respect to you brother!

[yaronguetae]

Sergio you are only looking at California!! Take miami where the passengers pays 100 and the driver is lucky to get $30.
I have personally seen uber charge $90 for a ride and I only received $16.

[prodgers]

Uber takes 30% service fees and 25% booking fees, which equals a total take of 55%.

[MarkMcInerney-if]

Great series, Sergio. Why do they get to deduct their expenses before calculating take rate? If we use the IRS formula for reporting income and expenses the amount the rider pays is MY gross income, anything that is removed from that amount before I get paid is considered MY expenses along with my actual expenses or the IRS standard mileage deduction plus other expenses not covered under the standard deduction, like cleaning supplies, phone bill, home office, etc. and is deducted from the gross income resulting in MY net income. It is on that amount that I will pay taxes. The platform's take is one line on MY tax return, divide that amount by the gross and the result is THEIR take rate. I did not enter into an agreement with a separate entity that gets first dibs on the moneys. Commercial insurance is the platform's responsibility and part of their take. Uber and Lyft, stop with the BS already, we are not stupid.