When I sell you my Smurfs collection on EBay, I set the terms of sale and you bid. You and I come to agreement on the terms of the transaction, within some limits that EBay, as the platform, sets.
When I sell a ride to you on Uber, Uber sets the price, tells me where to pick you up, and even dictates the route I should take. I don’t even get to see where I’m taking you until after I accept the ride.
On EBay, you and I are negotiating with each other. On Uber, the driver has no say in what the offer to the passenger is.
You know your statement is categorically untrue right.
"Uber sets the price"
In California, the driver sets their own price.
"tells me where to pick you up"
Given that this is a taxi service. The driver has to know where to pick up. In fact, how is this different from EBay? Does the seller become an employee because ebay tells the seller where to ship the goods?
"even dictates the route I should take"
No it doesn't. Most drivers use google maps.
"I don’t even get to see where I’m taking you until after I accept the ride"
That's also categorically untrue in California. The driver gets to see the trip before accepting.
Of course, all of these rolled out because of AB5. The question is: can you tell me why the driver is an employee?
When I sell you my Smurfs collection on EBay, I set the terms of sale and you bid. You and I come to agreement on the terms of the transaction, within some limits that EBay, as the platform, sets.
When I sell a ride to you on Uber, Uber sets the price, tells me where to pick you up, and even dictates the route I should take. I don’t even get to see where I’m taking you until after I accept the ride.
On EBay, you and I are negotiating with each other. On Uber, the driver has no say in what the offer to the passenger is.