A little over a year ago, we were the first to tell you of an "Uber for snow removal" app in development called Yeti — not to be confused with the lovable, ever-charitable Boston Yeti, who can sometimes be found wandering the streets.
After Yeti's release was delayed from last winter, the app is now out for iOS, opening the floodgates for snow removal ecommerce. Like Uber, the app connects those who need help removing snow with "Yetis," people who sign up on the app to make money from their snow shoveling prowess. The app currently only supports snow removal for cars and will open up for other surfaces, such as sidewalks and driveways, next season. An Android version is expected to come out next winter.
With a big snowstorm expected to hit Boston tomorrow, Barry told me Yeti's coverage area will include Boston's South End, most of downtown, Dorchester and Roxbury. He said other areas can become "unlocked" once they reach enough demand.
"The point here is to ensure we can provide really high-quality service everywhere we operate," Barry said in an email. "I'd rather miss a few sales from users in low adoption neighborhoods than take their money but provide a really sub-par experience. So the best thing any potential users can do to get service in their area is download the app!"
Barry said Yeti's pricing starts at $15 per snow removal job and increases based on snowfall and current demand. "Depending on current conditions, tomorrow could reach $40 by the end of the storm," he said. Similar to Uber, the app will give customers the exact pricing before they agree to the order. After the order is placed, the pricing will be locked in.
Snow shovelers using the app get to keep a 70-85 percent cut for every job, meaning that if every job takes 20-30 minutes to complete and there is enough demand, they could be making about $11 a car and $22 an hour.
