BlaBlaCar raises $200M at $1.4B valuation

Re:BlaBlaCar raises $200M at $1.4B valuation by Shivetya on Tuesday September 22, 2015 @08:21AM (#10258059)

I don't see it. So they compare a ride via BlaBlaCar to the train but are there additional hidden costs? Is that 20 Euro fee the money paid to BlaBlaCar or the person you are riding with? Is there some understanding of paying the driver more for fuel? Really I don't see the valuation as they clearly state they are not there to generate profit for those offering the rides. Unless there is expected to be some sort of change where costs go up I still see people simply short circuiting the system should the price go up.

Also, where is liability? Uber was fine until it started making a dent in established businesses. This hasn't yet but will get notice because of the headlines.

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Re:BlaBlaCar raises $200M at $1.4B valuation by seren on Tuesday September 22, 2015 @08:29AM (#10258092)

You are paying through the app, the driver gets most of it, and Blablacar takes a few percent. Regarding the price, I think the application is recommending a price given the distance, gas price, possibly the type of car, and availability. But ultimately the driver is free to set any price.

Historically they launched with home-work travel, but as you mentioned, after a while people were short circuiting the system. On longer, occasional, travel there are much less chance that you will ride twice with the same person.

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Re:BlaBlaCar raises $200M at $1.4B valuation by dandlift on Tuesday September 22, 2015 @09:04AM (#10258259)

Source? I had a few trip with blablacar and I always paid in person. There was this legend that this was the case only for the Italian market, but you had to pay through the app in other countries. But as far as I can tell the platform works the same in Italy, UK and France. I once had a trip from London and again, I paid the driver directly.

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Re:BlaBlaCar raises $200M at $1.4B valuation by seren on Tuesday September 22, 2015 @10:10AM (#10258652)

This is from hearsay, but from what I understand from the (french) site you are paying Blablacar when reserving, and then you give a code to the driver IRL before the ride, so that he/she can redeem the payment. So you don't pay "directly" the driver.

Here is a link to the UK site : https://www.blablacar.co.uk/faq/question/how-are-the-booking...

So the booking fee perceived by Blablacar is about 10% of the cost of the ride.

It is possible you used an earlier iteration or that different market have different prices. It is very possible booking is free in new markets.

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Re:BlaBlaCar raises $200M at $1.4B valuation by Fradow on Tuesday September 22, 2015 @10:35AM (#10258820)

Source: using the service every month.

In the beginning, you would pay the driver in person.

After a while, they added the option to pay on the site directly, with a fee (or perhaps without, I can't remember).

Lately (a few years ago, can't recall the exact moment), this is the only available payement option. You cannot book a trip without paying via credit card, at least in France.

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Re:BlaBlaCar raises $200M at $1.4B valuation by dandlift on Tuesday September 22, 2015 @11:42AM (#10259290)

Seren and Fradow you are right, checked again now. Seems like the Italian site is still in the process of introducing the booking fee, while for the majority of the trips you can still contact the driver directly. This all makes sense now.

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