All platforms like to remind their drivers that a low acceptance rate is bad for business. But, does your Uber acceptance rate matter?
Are high acceptance rates actually required? Do acceptance rates really affect drivers?
Keep reading for RSG contributor Tyler Philbrook’s response to these questions and more.
Ubers New Math for Acceptance Rate
In a recent Forbes article discussing Ubers “new math”, one of the things mentioned was how Uber possibly selects not just how much they charge customers, but even how they choose the drivers that get the rides.
One concern we heard from this is that many drivers fear their acceptance rate may be too low, and Uber may deactivate them.
Though it’s true these companies make a big deal of your acceptance rate, constantly telling you when it’s low, and to get it up for added benefits, for the most part, as a driver, your acceptance rate does not matter.
Related:
Why Acceptance Rates Matter To Companies & Customers
For companies, your acceptance rate matters a lot.
This is why they try incentivizing you to keep the acceptance rate high by giving you rewards, more upfront information on requests, or direct customer service contact.
Customers even care about your acceptance rate, though they may not realize it at first.
When a customer puts an order in for delivery or a ride, they want to get that service as fast as possible. And the company wants the driver to be there as fast as possible, too.
This leads to happy customers and more orders going out because things are being done faster.
Why Your Acceptance Rate Doesn’t Really Matter
As a driver, your ultimate goal is to make as much money as possible. To accomplish that goal, the acceptance rate is not what matters.
If you get 100 requests that make $5 each, you’ve made $500, but if it takes you 45 hours to earn that, you’ve just made $11.12 an hour.
If however, you make $10 per order and do 50 orders, you also make $500 but do it in half the time making you $22.24 an hour.
You will not get $10 per request if you accept every order. Most likely you won’t get $10 per request if you accept half of the orders.
My highest acceptance rate is Uber Eats, and it’s 26%. My income, though, has gone way up since I started accepting less.
It used to be between $15 and $18 an hour, and now I make between $18 and $25 an hour. Anything less than $20 an hour I consider to be a bad day.
Cherry-picking your rides may seem scary at first because of how much pressure these companies put on you, but they do it for them. You have to continue to do what makes sense for you.
Related:
Why Your Acceptance Rate Could Matter
In the past, Uber would deactivate you if your acceptance rate got too low. After a lawsuit and policy change, though, that’s no longer the case.
However, that doesn’t mean that you get nothing for having a high acceptance rate.
Bonuses
First, Uber, Lyft, and other companies offer bonuses for doing so many rides and having a high acceptance rate.
Discounts
If my rate was 70% or higher, I would qualify for Uber Pro, and I’d get things like discounts at 7-11, help with health insurance, vehicle discounts, and a lot of other things. Some of the benefits may be worth it to you, enough to decrease your pay to increase the benefits.
For most, the benefits are not worth the decrease in pay. Most of the benefits that the companies offer you can find on your own anyway, or with the added income, the discount doesn’t balance out anyway.
Make Customers Happy
Another reason you may consider increasing your acceptance rate is that it does make customers happy, and happier customers tip more. I’ve not seen enough of a benefit on this myself, but maybe it’s different in your market.
Find out why this driver accepts 99% of his ride requests:
No Constant App Reminders
Finally, it’s far less frustrating to have a higher acceptance rate than to have a low one. The apps won’t constantly remind you that your rate is low, but also you aren’t getting request after request and denying them.
Sometimes you deny so many requests that you start to feel you should just accept one that’s almost decent just so you have something to do.
Every time I do this, I regret it. It’s never worth it and always decreases my per-hour and per-mile earnings.
Do Your Own Math
If you’ve been a driver that accepts every ride out of fear of being deactivated, losing benefits, or making less money, now is the time to sit down and do your own math to see if it’s actually worth it to continue to drive this way.
Take a week and drive only accepting requests that meet your minimum per mile amount and see if your income goes up or not.
If your acceptance rate gets too low you can always go back to accepting every ride and with enough time you’ll make it back to your 100% acceptance rate.
But, I think once you try it, you’ll realize how much more you make, how much you were losing before, and you’ll keep your acceptance rate lower.
Takeaway for Drivers
While your acceptance rate is somewhat important, it’s not necessarily vital to have a high acceptance rate to keep your job.
It’s up to you to weigh the perks of a high acceptance rate versus the earnings you make by being more choosy.
This can even differ from market to market, so if you haven’t given being picky a shot, try it out for a week or two and compare it to your average earnings when you accept all or most requests.
Keep in mind that your acceptance rate is different from your cancellation rate. All in all, play around with your options and weigh the pros and cons and how they affect your earnings.
