Learn about the Ride marketplace profit model, lead fees, and how listing on Ride generates revenue for your business.
Think of Ride as your fleet’s growth engine. While your direct website is where you serve repeat local customers, the marketplace is where we find new customers for you, handling the marketing, insurance logistics, and sales tax remittance in exchange for a percentage of the booking.
Marketplace vs. Direct: The Revenue Split
| Feature | Marketplace (Ride.cars) | Direct (your website) |
| Who finds the guest? | Ride (we pay for the ads/SEO) | You (you drive your own traffic) |
| Your payout | 80% |
100% minus credit card processing fees
|
|
The "Lead Fee"
|
20% | $0 |
| Insurance Setup |
Automatic coverage with $0 host deductible is applied by the system.
|
Choice-based. Guest selects package. |
|
Sales Tax
|
Handled by Ride.cars | Handled by the host. |
What are you paying for?
The lead fee (the 80/20% split) isn't just a transaction fee; it covers the operational costs of growing your business:
- Marketing spend: We actively spend money to put your cars in front of travelers who are looking for professional rentals. This is "found money"—revenue from customers who never would have seen your private website.
- Sales tax automation: For Marketplace bookings, Ride.cars handles the collection and remittance of sales tax.
- Trust & security: We handle the driver's license verification and provide the marketplace infrastructure that makes travelers feel safe booking with a professional host.
- Instant credibility: Listing on a global marketplace provides the trust travelers need to book with a professional host they haven't met yet.
- Insurance: The system applies comprehensive and collision protection to every booking with a $0 host deductible, ensuring you pay nothing out of pocket for covered physical damages.
The Insurance Logic: Automatic vs. Choice
Insurance is applied differently depending on how the customer finds you. This is a critical distinction for your operational workflow:
- Through the marketplace (Ride): To ensure every vehicle is protected on our platform, comprehensive insurance from Mobilitas is automatically applied to every Marketplace booking. You do not need to manually verify the renter's insurance or offer different packages; the system ensures the trip is covered before it begins.
- With direct rentals: You give your renters choice. During checkout on your own website, renters can choose between different protection levels (Auto Basic or Auto Essential) or, if permitted, provide their own third-party insurance for your manual verification.