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You say "losing money", but I want to quantify that for those reading along:
IRS allows us to claim $0.655 per mile in expenses. DoorDash's $2 base fee covers only the expenses on a 3 mile trip.
A 10 mile trip costs $6.55. DD pays $2.
But that's not the end of it. That 10-mile trip took me at least 4 miles outside of my zone. I need to get back to it before I can reasonably expect to receive offers again. I need about $9.17 before I earn one red cent. All that driving and waiting for your food took me about an hour. Just to make minimum wage, I need to gross $16.42. DD pays $2. I need about a $15 tip from you to make minimum wage.
at that point, just quit. Right?
Pretty much, yeah. Don't accept that particular order, unless it is stacked on another order that shares much of the trip.
That doesn't make sense.
Doordash doesn't pay you based on the order? Customers are charged more based on how much they order (everything has an upcharge), so I assumed some of that extra money went to the drivers. There's also I think 2 mandatory fees: a delivery fee and a maintenance fee or some shit. I don't know if these scale based on how much you order or how far the delivery is etc, but it's a lot of money. Way more than $2.
I just find it hard to believe the app could exist at all with drivers having the experience you described. Or maybe I misunderstand you. Are you saying that delivery would make you $8.55? (not counting your expenses, obviously.)
DD pays $2-$3 per order in my markets. It is not based on size of order. It is not based on distance. I have seen small, short-distance orders offered for $3, and large, long-distance orders for $2.
They will occasionally offer "peak pay" of an additional $1. This is usually for 2-4 hours an evening, Friday through Sunday. Sometimes, during very busy times in undesirable markets, that will rise to $2 for an hour or two. Rarely (1-2 hours a month) more.
Shop and deliver orders seem to add a per-item fee, but makea no allowance for mileage.
The only other pay I receive from DD is the occasional half-pay when I arrive at a closed store. Uber Eats pays only $3 for this. N
Some markets might have a higher base pay, and/or higher peak pay, but those are still not based on order size or distance. If DD is charging fees based on the size of orders, they are not passing that on to the driver delivering your order.
On average, (counting both short distance and long distance orders together) the base pay does not quite cover the $0.655 per mile that the IRS says I can claim as my expenses. Effectively, the only money I can count as "income" from DD is peak pay and tips.
UberEats has a much more complicated algorithm that seems to be based primarily on actual mileage, but I don't think it takes the cost of the order into account either.
-sigh- speaking from experience, it doesn't cost you $0.65 a mile to drive. Perhaps you could make that argument if you bought and insured a new gas guzzler specifically for delivery driving, only took it to the dealership for maintenance/repairs, and only filled up with premium. If you're doing that, then... you should probably work for someone who makes decisions for you.
The $0.655 per mile is the IRS rate for travel, and is intended to cover gas, maintenance, depreciation, etc.
You are not counting the replacement cost of the vehicle in your calculations. Once you deplete your current vehicle of all of its value, you have to acquire another vehicle, functionally equivalent to the vehicle you started with. If you don't do that, your "income" is partially from depleting the value of your asset.
Most drivers make that specific error, because it is not a straightforward calculation, and varies considerably on the driver's specific circumstances. I use the IRS numbers in an attempt to normalize widely disparate expenses.
Even if it does indeed cost you far less than $0.655 per mile, your AGI will be based on the assumption that you do pay that number.
lol yeah sure. I don't know what kind of car you're exclusively using for delivery driving, but by your logic mine was covered very quickly. So no, it definitely didn't cost me $0.65 a mile to drive with that in mind.
That's fine.
The only thing it really tells me is that you are better off using the standard mileage deduction than itemizing your actual vehicle expenses.
I guess you missed the part where your $0.65/mile driving cost argument totally breaks down.
I already addressed that you are not adequately accounting for replacement costs. I further doubt you are adequately accounting for repair costs as well. You're probably "saving" money doing your own repairs, and not counting the value of your labor as your own mechanic. You're probably not accounting for insurance costs either. I'd bet the cash in my pockets that you're underestimating miles driven on your insurance, significantly lowering your rates.
If you are not budgeting $0.655 per mile for vehicle expenses, you are one major repair away from hardship.
It is far more likely that you are not correctly accounting for your expenses than you are significantly below that number over the long run. Using a common, $0.655 per mile estimate negates the effects of all the "tricks" used to artificially lower costs.
I trust the IRS's numbers far more than I trust some random Lemming.
Can you read? I mean obviously you can but your selective comprehension is baffling. I already told you my car has been "replaced." Actually it's been replaced multiple times over and it's still going. Your petty assumptions about my situation are frankly wrong, and when I compared deducting the mileage rate vs itemized deductions, the mileage rate was so much better I wondered why anyone would consider itemizing. Drive cheap, efficient cars my friend, you can really game that mileage rate.
Also do you really think the IRS has local couriers driving tiny used cars in mind when they're creating their mileage deduction? No, they don't.
Well, just hop on a bicycle, and you can lower your per mile expenses to almost nothing!
I stand by my use of the IRS numbers fot demonstrating this point. The methodology used to calculate those numbers is reasonable and sound. Your own methodology is... not.