Re:End of the line for Uber?
by Barrin92 on Tuesday August 10, 2021 @08:05PM
(#28136365)
>why can't they just raise prices until they're no longer selling at a loss?
because competition exists. Same reason your local bakery can't sell bread at 50 bucks and make their owners millionaires. In a market economy you don't get to 'set prices' at arbitrary rates until you don't make losses.
Right-hailing companies have no differentiating features, there's dozens off them, they also have to compete with taxis, and if Uber was to raise prices someone else would eat their marketshare until they've got the same problem and they've all competed each other into the ground.
The entire flaw with the company is that building you an app that lets you hail a car isn't actually providing any surplus value to the tune of tens of billions of dollars and the only thing that keeps that illusion running is dumb Saudi money having nowhere to go
because competition exists. Same reason your local bakery can't sell bread at 50 bucks and make their owners millionaires. In a market economy you don't get to 'set prices' at arbitrary rates until you don't make losses.
Right-hailing companies have no differentiating features, there's dozens off them, they also have to compete with taxis, and if Uber was to raise prices someone else would eat their marketshare until they've got the same problem and they've all competed each other into the ground.
The entire flaw with the company is that building you an app that lets you hail a car isn't actually providing any surplus value to the tune of tens of billions of dollars and the only thing that keeps that illusion running is dumb Saudi money having nowhere to go