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Comment by KerrickStaley | Hacker News Reader

A counter-anecdote to your anecdote: When I was in Taipei my friends and I tried to get a cab to Jiufen. The cab driver told us there was a special fixed rate for the trip and quoted us a number that seemed reasonable but was actually around a 50%-100% markup over the mileage/time-based price. So we called an Uber and saved about 50% vs what the cab quoted. The driver couldn't change the price and trick tourists.

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I doubt the driver was trying to trick tourists. I've taken taxis to jiufen on a few occasions and drivers always typically want a fixed price that varies with each driver. This is with Taiwanese friends doing the negotiating.

I think it's somewhat understandable given it's a long way out of Taipei City and there's no guarantee of being able to find a return fare.

To me it sounds clear that uber has benefits there in that case, unlike the grandparent is claiming. Most consumers favour constant prices without surprises, and dislike negotiation processes.

Only because they force the driver to eat the loss (Or pay him with VC money).

If there is no guarantee of a fare back, this kind of pricing is not sustainable long-term.

I took an Uber from Taipei City to TPE airport. I was charged for the a "return fee" to account for the inconvenience of such an out-of-the way trip.

It was still dirt-cheap compared to a equivalent trip in the US.

Why not? It's definitely sustainable. The loss can be offset by the gains. And if the gains outweigh the loss then it's sustainable.

It's sustainable - if prices for regular rides rise to compensate for the losses drivers take on less profitable ones.

... and all of a sudden, you are back to taxi pricing.

I feel this is the issue with Uber, the price doesn't take into account the destination and probability of finding a return route customer. For example, I've talked with lyft drivers in Seattle who have picked up people in downtown who then say their destination is Tacoma or even Olympia (which can take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours depending on traffic). That's 1 to 2 hours away from anywhere the driver normally operates, and with very little chance of finding a fare for the return drive. It would be fair if the fare was adjusted to take into account these important variations.

That's not true at all. Most consumers in Taiwan, myself included when I lived there, prefer to negotiate a set price for a longer distance trip.

Uber was an enormous improvement in SF and in Beijing (where there just aren't enough cabs). In Taiwan it's a sizable step backwards.

On a weekend evening the road to 九份 is just one huge traffic jam.

So it's not unreasonable that taxi drivers charge a special rate. It's a lot of extra hassle.

But I'm surprised Uber actually took you there.

Do they technically serve the whole of Greater Taipei?

Such practices are extremely common in mainland China as well, despite various degrees of regulation.

and then there's the Italian Bistro (and Italian pricing to tourist in general, including taxis and cafes):

"The third and most mysterious piece of non-absoluteness of all lies in the relationship between the number of items on the check, the cost of each item, the number of people at the table and what they are each prepared to pay for."

you're only seeing half the issue, i'm guessing that you only took a one way trip to jiufen? the driver's probably charging you for roundtrip because that's actually what he has to do, he'll have an empty cab on the trip back to taipei.

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