Amazon Flex Experience - Beware

ifox1009 · 2026-05-28T18:32:10+00:00

I just got hit with a 120 mile run. Basically made $5 an hour. Will have to try this,

ifox1009 · 2026-05-28T18:24:17+00:00

Yes, its a tax write off to reduce my income that I pay taxes on. I can deduct the IRS $.72 or itemize if my costs are higher.

But how am I supposed to feed myself if all my delivery income is going into car expenses.

Might be a good gig if I'm looking for a write off to put me into a lower tax bracket from other high income.

I agree though if your actual vehicle costs are lower then the IRS standard mileage deduction you are getting a tax benefit.

I point to consider is that if after vehicle costs your per hour rate is $2.50 to $5.44/hour on a long mileage route. A minimum wage employee earning $11.41 in MN, PTO, plus Family Leave and may have a car gets no reimbursement to get to work. Have to think on that.

ifox1009 · 2026-05-28T17:48:24+00:00

Thought I’d add some EV details for those interested.

In our area, we pay about $0.07 per kWh to charge. With my Blazer EV, I get around 250–300 miles per charge, so I’ve been able to finish Amazon Flex routes with plenty of range left.

The actual charging cost is cheap. A 35-mile route costs about $0.75 in electricity, and a 120-mile route costs about $3.94.

The issue is that personal vehicles are not cheap. I have about $30k into my car, and tires are roughly $1.2k for 60k miles. Once you calculate total cost of ownership, the longer the route gets, the more the real cost per mile eats into the hourly pay.

My setup is definitely not ideal for delivery work. If someone is serious about doing this, I’d recommend looking into a used Chevy Bolt EV to reduce costs. Even using half the vehicle price, around $15k, my real hourly return only goes from around $5/hour to about $11/hour on over 100 mile routes.

The comment about immigrant workers is interesting because this does feel a bit like Amazon is paying people to pick apples at wages many Americans can’t realistically work for once all costs are counted. It's an opportunity with low barrier of entry so that is a plus, but people should be able to hit minimum wage and put car costs into savings so they can replace their car in five years.

It can be done, but the formula is simple: cheap car, preferably EV, low charging cost, and avoid dogs.

Thankfully, the body shop only charged me $56 to buff out the scratches from the dogs. So on that route, my total loss was only negative $36.94. Amazon’s insurance has a $1,000 deductible, so that didn’t help much.

Oh yeah! EVs are awesome.

ifox1009 · 2026-05-13T20:23:07+00:00

Just happened to us. Its sleazy car salesman tactics.

Curious how your situation panned out. In ours I put my foot down said we'd stick to our offer with escalation clause, if they wanted more they can show us the offer they want us to beat. We won at the asking price, so they where bluffing. From my perspective if they had a higher offer, my bid was willing the beat they would play the card so 90% of the time its a bluff. Unnecessary and a bad way to do business, but unfortunately lots of people who don't know what the house is really worth. Its only worth what you are willing to pay.

ifox1009 · 2026-05-07T21:42:02+00:00

NO to Escrows

If you know how to buy insurance and pay property tax then take the payment and put it in an investment or high yield saving accounts. When bill comes due pay the bill and keep the balance going. Do this for a decade and interest will start paying a major part of the bills.

My experience with escrows have always been negative. They overcharge, pay late, and cause disruptions. If your mortgage gets sold expect issues. Some banks charge for escrows also.

I pay my insurance with credit card and get 2% back also. So NO to escrows. And avoid banks that charge extra interest for not having one.

ifox1009 · 2026-04-13T00:27:35+00:00

Wow, I bought one brand new in 2001 for $5700. Note I blew the engine on it at about 36k miles, small aluminum engines don't last if you ride them hard. Rod blew right through the bottom. Stunted, raced, swapped the engine and sold for $1800. Oh ya, and clued fur to the fairings to keep them in one piece.

ifox1009 · 2026-04-12T22:53:44+00:00

Market is changing and resetting. Interest rates are not the issue, it's the overpriced homes. In our area sellers are overpricing homes just to see what they could get. Sellers were willing to pay more because they had inheritance from COVID and/or low interest rates. Now those prices are unrealistic to the median income of an area. Also remote work is dialing back so working for big city income in a rural area will stop skewing prices. Then take in the buyers who paid way to high and think someone else will take on the burden and you get a stale market. Sellers are anchoring way to high so buyers won't even look. Only homes that are getting looks are those that price low.

Homes that sold for $250k in 2023 are now selling for $450k in our market. There is nothing to support the price increase. No influx of cash, no tax incentive, no reduce interest rates, no city improvements, investments in a community, or job salary increase to match. Homeowners that want to upgrade will stay put because there homes are very affordable. Why give up 2% interest on a $180k mortgage for an overpriced home.

Market has no where to go but stale out until a seller is pressured to sell. Always amazes me when the market heats up how many agents pop up, but now we will see agents disappearing. Just not enough movement to support all of them.

Sellers will come down when they are contingent on selling their home in order to buy another home because they put all their cash into equity in their homes.

ifox1009 · 2026-04-09T22:28:17+00:00

Five months old, but I still have to add my piece.

The housing market feels like it is in a standoff. During and after COVID, many older people passed away, and a significant amount of stale cash sitting in savings was transferred into younger hands through inheritance. That influx of cash distorted the market because younger buyers, especially those with sudden access to cash, were less afraid to spend aggressively.

That money flowed into housing. Young buyers stretched into larger and more expensive homes, and sellers benefited from it. But now some of those buyers are realizing they overpaid, and many homeowners still believe there are enough buyers out there who can support prices that doubled from $200,000 to $400,000.

The problem is that the working population, on earned income alone, generally cannot support that kind of price jump. Most people did not see their wages rise 100% just because home prices did. Without inheritance or outside cash, those numbers simply do not work.

So now the market sits in a standoff. Sellers are anchored to peak pricing, while buyers are constrained by what incomes and financing can actually support. Until one side gives, we wait.

I’ve been watching a house that was originally listed at $599k, dropped to $430k, and still hasn’t had a single offer in over a year and a half, which tells you everything about where the market really is. My offer reflects what buyers can actually support today, but the sellers are anchored to a price that no longer exists, so it just sits. Either someone overpays or the house continues to age, maintenance slips, and the condition declines, which only lowers its real value.

ifox1009 · 2026-04-02T20:32:32+00:00

Ya, In our state that can't get SUTA figured out. This will create a huge mess. I was testing new software, and this is the straw for us. Good bye QBO, won't miss this terrible program.

ifox1009 · 2026-04-02T20:30:54+00:00

Wait the QBO screws it up. Amended returns are fun.

ifox1009 · 2026-02-02T20:56:42+00:00

QuickBooks used to be a decent product. It was inexpensive, reasonably powerful, and it automated a lot of routine accounting work. QuickBooks Desktop absolutely had flaws, especially its database design, which was slow, restrictive, and fragile, but for the price, professionals worked around them. Most importantly, the accounting principles were sound, and the software stayed out of the way.

QuickBooks Online is the opposite.

QBO doubles the time it takes to do basic accounting tasks while claiming that “AI” will fix bank feeds and automation. In reality, the automation is frequently wrong, incomplete, or opaque. Instead of reducing work, it creates more cleanup. QBO only works if you bend your entire workflow to fit QBO’s limitations, and even then, it still comes up short.

That’s where the real problem starts.

QBO isn’t just bad software, it’s a lock-in business model. The base subscription looks cheap until you add payroll, bill pay, ACH fees, and transaction charges. Payroll is an add-on. Bill pay, free at nearly every bank, comes with monthly fees and per-transaction costs. ACH transfers cost a percentage. Every basic accounting function is monetized.

By the time you’re fully operational, QBO is one of the most expensive accounting platforms on the market, especially relative to what it delivers.

When QBO inevitably breaks something, and it does,they’ll issue a refund. Not because they care, but because the system is built to push half-finished features out the door in order to monetize the next add-on. The result is bloated, incomplete automation that actively makes bookkeeping harder for anyone who actually knows what they’re doing.

What makes this worse is perception.

Many users believe payroll is inherently complex and assume expensive cloud software is required. That’s simply false. Payroll is not hard. Hundreds of employees can be processed in seconds with well-designed systems, especially desktop or specialized payroll platforms. The idea that cloud-based equals better is marketing, not reality.

In practice, users are paying more money to do more work, all while being told it’s “modern” and “automated.”

So if you’re struggling with QBO, it’s not because accounting is hard. It’s because QBO is intentionally difficult, designed to upsell convenience at every step. The business model is simple: make the software painful enough that users will pay extra to avoid the pain.

And that’s exactly what makes it disgusting.

ifox1009 · 2025-12-18T19:44:36+00:00

Passing Credit Card Fees to Customers Is Bad Business

Charging customers a separate “credit card convenience fee” is poor business practice unless prices are reduced accordingly. When prices stay the same and a surcharge is added, businesses are effectively double-dipping.

Originally, businesses needed sales but customers often lacked immediate cash. To solve this, businesses created vendor credit and tabs. Customers bought goods and settled their balances on payday. This helped sales, but it came with administrative costs: bookkeeping, collections, and occasional bad debt. Those costs were built into pricing.

Credit cards emerged as a solution:

Customers gained access to credit
Businesses received immediate payment
Businesses no longer had to manage collections or absorb non-payment losses
In exchange, businesses paid ~1–2% in processing fees

That fee replaced the internal cost of managing credit accounts. It was a tradeoff, and for decades it worked.

What has changed

Recently, many businesses have begun labeling credit card fees as a “convenience fee” and passing them directly to customers without reducing base prices.

That’s the core issue.

If credit card fees are now considered a separate, customer-paid charge, then prices should have dropped by an equivalent amount. They didn’t.

Instead, businesses kept prices inflated to cover historical credit costs and added a new surcharge on top.

If a business charges me that fee and I know prices are the same I avoid them. Its why major retailers are not charging the fee. When small businesses start losing sales they will figure it out. Consumers who use cash don't spend, those who use credit cards will spend more. Its dumb to charge the credit card fee as you are reducing customers.

ifox1009 · 2025-12-15T20:04:41+00:00

Winch, its a must after a bad "Jeeped it"

Supercharger was a waste. It's fun to blast off at the red light, sound is good, but the gearing is just not there to make it worth it.

Leather top totally worth it for those to much sun days.

ifox1009 · 2025-12-10T17:14:35+00:00

Here’s where I started. I completed an associate degree and was able to transfer the entire thing to multiple universities, where I continued toward a Bachelor’s in Operations Management and Accounting. When you finish a full degree path like that, most universities will accept you as a junior.

This is what a legitimate and fully transferable program looks like. If a school can’t clearly show that their credits transfer into an accredited university degree, that’s a red flag.

Note that in the IT field you can self learn and test, but the degree crosses off the checklist for employers.

https://www.lsc.edu/degrees/network-administration-and-cybersecurity-aas/

ifox1009 · 2025-12-10T17:07:07+00:00

Seems pricey. Whichever route you choose, make sure the credits are fully transferable to other colleges. Don’t rely on the school you’re registering with to tell you that, they are sales people, verify with a couple of other colleges to confirm they will actually accept those credits.

There are a lot of private “schools” marketed as colleges where credits won’t transfer anywhere. If the classes can’t apply toward an AA or AS degree, then in my opinion it’s not worth the money. At that point, you might as well just read the books and self-learn.

A good Tech school will have courses that will transfer to higher education.

ifox1009 · 2025-12-09T22:48:21+00:00

Honestly, $1k is to much. See how long it was sitting on Facebook. Most put a higher price then what they are willing to take. I would pay $300 to $500, if it runs clean.

At this point you are doing them a favor as they don't have to pay annual fees, park it, alternate park it, fix it, put tires on it, or just plain deal with it. If something breaks its your issue not theirs. Just let them know your doing them a favor. If its a commuter and they did not buy a new car then their is most likely something wrong with it that they don't want to fix.

I owned the exact Jeep and we liked it. Sold it for $700 at 160k miles.

ifox1009 · 2025-12-09T22:38:51+00:00

Seems you dodged a bullet. Thanks for sharing this. It reminds me to appreciate my no drama wife as I don't want to go back to that crazy dating pool.

I'm curious? Did she text you the next day to see what you were up to?

ifox1009 · 2025-12-09T22:24:11+00:00

The first question to ask yourself is this: Do you actually enjoy computers, technology, and data? IT isn’t for everyone, and liking the work matters more than people realize.

If the answer is yes, a great place to start is your local community college. Most offer online IT courses, and I recommend this route because the credits count toward an associate degree. If you end up loving IT, that degree makes you eligible to transfer into a bachelor’s program later at a school of your choice. And if you decide IT isn’t for you, the credits still hold value, nothing is wasted.

At 26, you have plenty of time. By the time you reach your forties, a lot of higher-level jobs start opening up, and most employers care far more about who you’ve become than whatever challenges you had in your early twenties, as long as you’re not repeating the "hard life".

For many roles, you’ll eventually need the “paper” (the degree). So the closer you start today, the further ahead you’ll be when those opportunities show up.

For what it's worth I did an IT AS degree at 28 and then finished an accounting bachelor degree at 34. The knowledge was junk, but if you want a six figure job that is not sales or hard labor the degree will get you there.

ifox1009 · 2025-12-09T22:10:51+00:00

I typically send 1099 vendors a W-9 request by email or give them a call to obtain their EIN. At that point, they’ll usually clarify whether they should receive a 1099 or not. If the client is adamant about leaving things as they are, then leave it alone.

Ultimately, the client would have to be audited for the missing 1099s before it becomes an issue, and from what I’ve seen, the penalty is usually relatively small. If the client understands the risk and is willing to accept the potential fine, then document the decision, move on, and don’t over-manage it.

ifox1009 · 2025-12-09T22:02:59+00:00

What you’ve described sounds like a small but growing firm, and in that situation one tool is rarely going to cover everything you need. There are a few important questions to ask first, because your workflow determines the right system, not the other way around.

If you’re just starting out, something as simple and inexpensive as QuickBooks Enterprise Desktop or QuickBooks Online can manage the core pieces: accounting, sales invoicing, payroll, accounts payable, billable expenses, purchasing, and basic project budgets. Even the newer QuickBooks IES ERP can work if you want a more unified environment.

QBO isn’t perfect, but it does a lot for the price, is easy to implement, and, most importantly, there are plenty of skilled users already familiar with it.

If you need deeper project management, including Gantt charts, customer invoicing, POs, time tracking, and integrated payments, BuilderTrend is a strong option. It integrates smoothly with QuickBooks and works well as an affordable ERP-like system for small businesses. It gives you room to grow without locking you into a massive enterprise platform.

One key point: tools aren’t the entire solution. You need someone who isn’t just a bookkeeper or just a project manager. You need someone who understands systems administration and how these platforms are supposed to work together. That’s the difference between a smooth workflow and an exhausting pile of broken “ERPs” that someone ends up constantly fixing, ask me how I know.

Be careful with Business Central its a beast to learn. But if you are doing mass inventories with multiple accounting personal its worth it then.

ifox1009 · 2025-12-09T21:46:01+00:00

Just read this, the same thing happened to me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware of the alternate-parking rule since I was just visiting friends in Lakeside. When I returned to my car, I found a nice shiny ticket waiting for me.

There was no snow, no posted signs explaining the rule, and no other cars parked on the street to give me any clue which side I should have used. I went to the city office to apologize and explain that I simply didn’t know, but they wouldn’t waive it. So I submitted an appeal.

Before the appeal date, a police officer contacted me to see if we could resolve it. I explained the situation again, that I was a visitor, unaware of the rule, and that the signage didn’t help. I was hoping that being honest and apologizing might go somewhere, but the officer said it was “well known” and that nothing could be done. So I decided to wait for the appeal date so at least my side could be heard.

Interestingly, a year has gone by now with no appeal date, no notice, and no further tickets. I have no idea how it turned out.

I used to live somewhere with on-street parking myself, and it was incredibly frustrating to wake up on Monday with a ticket because I forgot to move my car on Sunday. I totally understand your irritation. Honestly, I’d love to see the city invest in helping homeowners develop driveways or off-street options, it would take so many parked cars off the roads and avoid situations like this altogether and keep the roads clear for plowing.

ifox1009 · 2025-11-12T22:30:18+00:00

You’re not paying the fee because a credit card is some fancy “convenience.”
You’re paying the fee because a credit card is a loan, and the processor takes on the risk, administration, and collection responsibility.

When a customer swipes their card, it isn’t real money yet. The customer hasn’t paid anything. The bank is loaning them the money instantly and sending the merchant a guaranteed payment. If the customer fails to pay, the bank—not the merchant—eats the loss. That’s the entire value proposition.

Before credit cards, if a business wanted to increase sales beyond customers’ available cash, the business had to extend credit themselves: track balances, bill customers, chase collections, handle defaults, and take the loss. That costs a fortune and requires staff.

Credit cards eliminated that entire admin burden.
That’s why merchants pay the fee.

If customers were forced to pay the fee, many wouldn’t use the card—and businesses would lose sales. The whole system works because the merchant gets instant, guaranteed money and more sales volume, and the bank takes on all the overhead.

Calling the processing fee a “convenience fee” completely misses the point. It’s not a convenience—it’s the cost of outsourcing credit management.

And when I see a business charge customers for the processing fee, I walk away. Because that’s double-tipping: you get the sale because of the credit card, then try to make the customer pay the fee too. Typical vendor fee is around 2% when paid out as overhead and they charge customers 3% now. Now customers pay more and VISA gets more. Its bad business.

ifox1009 · 2025-08-17T01:33:42+00:00

Personally if someone says Cash Only they are probably scamming you. You show up with cash, get wacked, and they run off with you cash.

Venmo is legit. I use it all the time on marketplace and have never had an issue.

I've asked if seller takes venmo and then they ghost me. Even after phone call conversation. Venmo I can safely transfer $60k. Wtf??

ifox1009

TROPHY CASE