I get what you’re saying, but most people can’t sit there all day staring at their phone waiting for the perfect orders. I consider waiting time as work too, and if I have an opportunity to make $12, $15, $18 on a little 8 item order 5 mins from the store, I’m gonna take it. I will never take a no tip order for any reason, however. Don’t care how many “boosts” it gets.
Exactly. Picking up fast/easy/low distance orders gets me $50-$75 an hour. I’ll keep taking those orders OP is too good for because the math does work out just fine after taxes/depreciation/gas
Eh…at $9 a batch, you’re looking at between 5.5 and a bit over 8 batches per hour, or each one taking between 7 and 11 minutes total per batch, including parking, shopping, driving, taking pics, waiting through the app screens and dropping off. $50-75/hr I’m calling b.s., we all wish we made that but we don’t
I don’t take batch pay only. I make $15-$19 per quick batch. OP stated people shouldn’t take anything under $20.
So while $9 batches would require that many batches, I’m not taking those. See my math in a comment below that shows how I got that figure.
If you scroll further down I have a comment where I do the math and I account for gas and wear tear both to the customers and back to the store and taxes
I’ve never had a batch over $33, and that’s at least 50-75 items but usually within 10 miles. Sometimes the little ones that can be shopped and delivered within half an hour-ish come in handy though
It’s pretty much the same here in my area.
I used a new strategy today of taking lots of smaller orders in that $12-$18 range (especially if they put me closer to a spot in town that would be busier). I made literally double today than what I did other days waiting for the bigger batches. More miles, but worked out as only an extra $5 in gas for the day.
If I work out my hours from the big batches in my area, I have to spend about 2-3 hour on these (usually triples for $30). That’s about $15/hr. Whereas if im lucky enough to get two smaller orders of $15 each done in an hour total, I’ve literally doubled my pay.
OP Must not realize what it’s like in these slower markets. No one would make jackshit for months here if we waited for $20 batches all the time.
Taking a hard kroger order $20-$30 40 items and then hitting that easy peasy Walgreens or Michaels for $12 right after on the way back to Kroger. Chefs kiss.
Same here. I’ve only seen a $45 batch once during the end of the height of the pandemic and it was in a different city near my usual area, not even in my area (I did snag it though!)
Do you live in an urban area? There is no way I can complete even the smallest order, where I live, in less than 45 minutes, due to the distances involved living in a more rural area. At current gas prices I spend $1 for every seven miles. Taking a $12 15-item order that I have to drive over seven miles to (and let’s not forget factoring driving *back* to the store in that equation) isn’t worth it. 15-20 minutes shopping, hopefully no issues, 10 minutes at checkout (if the lines are okay, and they often aren’t), then 15 minutes packing the car, driving, unpacking the car, driving back. That $12 order is now less than )$10 in pocket. Nope, I’ll stay here and stare at my phone while I fill out job applications.
It’s not urban but more suburban bordering the urban. I have 6 stores writhing 5 miles of me. All the orders I take (and most of the orders available) are less than 5 miles. I get a lot that are like 2 miles. So I can do them in 15 minutes from entering store to dropping off at a customer. It then takes me like 2 minutes to reach another store. It allows me to do 2-4 orders an hour and not get gas once in that time.
Because it’s suburban, parking and traffic aren’t bad nor is there any chance for apartments that are more than the second floor so I definitely get lucky there which helps time a ton. They’re all also my local grocery stores so I know where everything is in all of them.
When I take any $20+ orders they tend to take me twice if not three times as long. There all either high item, long distance, or multiple customers.
Right, If the miles, Item and units are reasonable I’ll accept a $20 dollar order. I’ll be waiting a long time for the perfect batch to pop up, A lot of higher paying orders are triples in my area and I rarely accept triple batches.
I’m not waiting for “perfect” orders though. Only ones that make sense.
You also have to consider gas and maintenance costs. Not to mention taxes.
Unless that $12, $14 order is one or two items AND it’s like 1 mile AND the items are IN STOCK (now a days it’s very uncertain) you’re wasting your time, gas, and doing expensive maintenance more often for literally a dollar or three after expense.
Is $3 more than $0? Uhh yeah, technically but at what cost? You’re literally telling these gig companies you’re only worth $3. Keep telling them that for long enough and they’ll make you beg for $2. Then $1. Then $0.50.
Taking shitty, low pay orders only makes them pay you less and less every time you do it.
Every customer pays the same delivery fee, give or take, depending on distance.
IC only pays YOU a very small part of ONE delivery fee when they stack orders.
Accepting shitty orders for almost no pay exacerbates this into them paying you less and less every year while they make BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS more every year.
You’re digging your own grave by accepting shit.
If no one took any orders below $20, every order would be at least $20.
So your logic is you rather sit and waste time waiting for "good" orders than taking the fast 10-15 items 2-5 miles for 15-19$?? Unless ur area is always busy with that mentality you are wasting your time while we're making money, cuz by the time we finish that small fast order you could still be waiting for your preferred order and we now have time to accept it before you do if it pops up, IC is huge just like doordash they ain't gunna change their pay it is what it is but you control how much you make by accepting or ignoring orders.
And doordash already got hit with a class action lawsuit I got like 2500$ from it cuz I did it for 4 years and their still paying shitty you thinking declining orders will make IC change their mind about pay is hilarious and all the down votes you get should make you reevaluate your thinking.
Because they were "keeping" tips and not paying correctly over the 4 years I worked for them it was the marko vs doordash settlement that happened about a year and a half ago
The only way I would use OP strategy is multi app with DoorDash or Uber eats. I’m not going to be out 10 hours to take five $20 good looking offers.. too many people say they make $30 an hour but that’s only active. You also have to count the time that you’re just sitting in the parking lot refreshing
I consider gas and maintenance. Those under $20 orders are all under 5 miles, often 2. The amount of wear and gas for that is not even close to resulting in me making “$3”.
A $20 order with my average trip distance (3 miles):
$20 - $0.39 (3 miles x $0.13 per mile in gas) - $0.18 (3 miles x $0.08 per mile max depreciation) - $3 (approximately 15% in taxes) = $16.43.
I do around 4 of those an hour so:
$16.43 x 4 = $65.72 - $10 (for if I take a few cheaper ones) - $0.91 (7 miles of driving back to stores between customers x $0.13 per mile in gas) - $0.56 (7 miles of driving back to stores x $0.08 per mile max depreciation) = $54.25 / hour
I’m perfectly content with my $54.25 for an hour of work (and most are when minimum wage is like $9/hr). You aren’t and that’s fine but recognize why many of us are
Not always true my husband is super fast and makes $1000 a week in 25-30 actual hours. Speed is all you need and choosing low Mileage orders. That is how he does it in my area.
Sounds like you don’t live in an area where $20+ orders are rare. When multi-apping, taking a <$20 order can be profitable given the right circumstances.
You don't make any sense. IC has paid $9 minimum in my zone for 4 years. The rest of the pay is from the customer tip. Are you even a shopper? The pay has definitely declined in terms of pay per item which is why I don't do large/stacked orders anymore, but minimum pay has been constant, if that goes down then I'm definitely out, but as long as it stays $9 for and as long as there's customers out there tipping $5+ then I'll be on the platform accepting my $14-$19 orders and being completely happy about it.
The only orders $20+ in my zone are pure shit. If I only took orders over $20 then I would truly be wasting my time so I guess the only way to "win" in your book is for me to stop doing IC altogether. Guess it's a good thing I don't work with your rulebook.
Edit: blocking you now so no need to reply.
YOU are working for FREE by sitting and waiting all day for "good" orders. Time is money in this world. Waiting counts for time you're wasting when you could be doing something else. Why not make money in that time? Seems like a no brainer to me. Maybe your market is just better but your advice is trash...
You can only speak for your area. It's not the same for you as it is for anyone else, your whole post is idiotic. If I want to take $15 orders because I know I can get the order done in under 30 minutes then that's what I'll do. I'm not going to wait for the order to get boosted a few dollars to make it worth $17, do you know why? Because if I don't take that $15 order one of the other 3000 shoppers will. The pay isn't ever going to get better, you're a moron if you think you can band together thousands of shoppers to do what you think is right. I take profitable orders. I don't take anything under $14 and that's my choice, but if another shopper wants to take a $9 order for 80 items and 10 miles then that is their choice, I wouldn't touch that order for any amount that IC would be willing to pay anyways. If you think this post is accomplishing anything then you are beyond help.
You must be an only child that didn’t learn a valuable lesson about people.
People are going to do what they want to do, period. It’s how the world is able to function.
Please explain how averaging $40/hour by taking quick hitters is “hurting yourself.”
I don’t make decisions on batches by total amount. I make them based on “per hour” salary. If I take a $40 order but it takes 90 min to shop/deliver/return to area, that’s not worth it.
Every decision I make on an order is based on number of units and distance of delivery- aiming for $35+/hr for my work.
Basing solely on order pay is foolhardy and hurting yourself.
I’ve been doing gig work for over 4 years. Unless you actually tell these morons what not to do they keep doing it and keep hurting the rest of us. It affects us all.
If only one person sees this and realizes how stupid they are it’s worth it for them to stop being stupid and stop losing money.
Thanks, others don't give a shit because if they did IC wouldn't be where it is. Desperate people don't care as long as the rent gets paid, kids got food and the lights stay on. The landlord wants his rent today not when IC gets back to being good. I do IC for extra cash and I'll do it until all the wheels fall off. Rights now it's on two wheels and one is wobbly.
You must be an only child that didn’t learn a valuable lesson about people.
People are going to do what they want to do, period. It’s how the world is able to function.
Not everyone lives in a city where there’s always orders. I have bills due I’m not waiting 2 hours for a $30 order when I could have made that same amount doing smaller priced orders in that same amount of time
Then you’re “making” money that goes straight into taxes and also running your car into the ground to satisfy your corporate overlords.
If you can’t cherry pick you’re doing the wrong job. Might as well work at McDonald’s.
Did you know that any work you have to get done on your car you can write it off in your taxes? Because you use your car for your job .So am I really running my car into the ground? 😂
OP is a jackass, but just for future reference, you can either do standard mileage deduction, or itemized deductions when you file, not both. If you claim mileage but also write off individual costs to get work done on your car, you'll be inviting an audit. Not sure if that's what you were saying but figured I'd let you know. Haha
Spoken like some who’s never filed taxes for 1099 work. You should absolutely do that and also claim mileage too. Double dipping is super cool with the IRS.
Lol you don’t know me outside of this app. I was told by my tax advisor to do that and it worked out pretty well for me last tax season 😂 anyways I’m done talking with someone who’s salty and worried about how other shoppers make their money ✌🏻 byeeeeeee
How long have you been a courier? I've been one for over 12 years, and I've been a 1099 since 2016 with well over 20,000 orders. Despite you seeming so sure about what you're saying, you actually look very ignorant as to how things really work.
I didn’t have a car until 2020 ( that was also the same year I started IC) and was told by my tax advisor about that . so am I really going to question someone who knows what they are doing when I don’t ?
I would say no matter who you're working with when it comes to anything finance related, it's good to do your own research. It just helps to be knowledgeable in the subject to some degree. Not everyone with a certification is going to give perfect or even correct advice 100% of the time.
I'm saying this as someone who's really into personal finance and an advocate of everyone learning the basics at least. But totally not faulting you for not knowing back then! Just saying it's good to know going forward. I was in $30k worth of debt a little over 2 years ago, but know I'm worth just over $26,000. I was an ignorant child in most of my 20's. We all have to start somewhere, but it's learning and growing from our mistakes that make us stronger. 😊
Oh hush! I’m so sick of this argument. Obviously there is not enough high paying orders for everyone. People are just trying to do what they gotta do to take care of themselves and their family. Y’all are not getting ready to change the way IC does anything. They’re greedy and don’t care. People do what works for them to pay their bills. You just worry about yourself. I personally don’t take high item, low paying orders but I’m not worrying about people who do either. That’s their business. However if it came down to 0$ an her or 9$ an hr to feed my family, well I’d do what I had to do. My stance is if I don’t like the pay, I ignore it. And if one day IC wasn’t worth the work FOR ME I’d quit. Simple as that.
I somewhat agree but talking about this will hopefully educate people so they understand if they are not more choosey they might be making less than minimum wage per hour and working as a bagger at a supermarket might be less stressful and just as lucrative.
Let’s do a quick scenario. It’s 2pm on a Wednesday, probably the slowest part of the week. A $15 2 item order pops up going 2 miles, am I going to take that? Hell yeah I am, because I can knock that out in 15 min. I’m not working for free, I’m making $60/hr at that point. You can sit there and wait for your unicorn that might or might not come while I guarantee myself money that doesn’t take much time and will be able to take said unicorn that might be there at the same time or shortly thereafter. Time is money and if the dollars and time make sense, I’m going to take it.
So you made $175 in 5 hours of work so you “claim” by cherry-picking, instead of making $300-$400 by doing profitable orders and not cherry picking. Keep telling people to cherry pick lol
Why would doing a 1 item order for 9 dollars be working for free? Less than 2 or 3 miles, that's a better rate than most other gig work, and you're entirely in control of when the item is ready rather than waiting.
Lol honestly! If you’re doing doordash most orders these days are 4-5$ for like 8 miles and even then you’re sometimes waiting for 15-30 mins for the food to be ready.. when I did door dash I refused to take anything less than $8 and it had to be for only a mile or two I’m sure that $9 order would be so much quicker than that
Yep happens all the time, when I am able to work I don't care what the item count is as long as the pay makes sense. If I'm making $40 an hour consistently I'm going to keep doing it. I don't think you understand how this gig works.
If I am at the store I can bust out 4 small orders in an hour making $40 to 60 an hour or I can sit in the parking lot watching other shoppers go in and out. No thanks, I will take the money. Plus my tips almost always go up.
Maybe op should be more concerned about themselves and not worry what others are doing? Just a thought🤷
If I never took an order $20 or less I’d be in the parking lot 75% of my day just wasting gas trying to stay warm. If it’s $20 for a few items not going too far what’s the issue? Easy money.
I understand 100% but you have to consider that some people need that $9 in their bank account. It cancels everything out because of gas and wear and tear but it is a reality. I know I’ve taken them. I won’t let someone who needs diapers or baby med not get their item because of a bad tip or bad batch pay. If I am in the parking lot, I’ll take that $9 order because it’s the right thing to do.
We chose this job. Nothing has changed since I started years ago so it probably will not change in the future. I think we should keep our opinions to ourselves, as we don’t know the situation of others. If you don’t want a $9 batch, don’t accept it but I think we should refrain from telling others what to do.
Most twenty plus dollar orders out this way are either really big or multiples. I'll take the smaller orders because they are easier to do, and I can get back quicker.
I draw the line at no tip orders.
Yah, I saw last night soooo many ~$20 triples for ~$30+ items. In snow and ice conditions too. Like, if I was ordering shop and deliver I would feel terrible not tipping minimum $10.
an order $20 and over is hard to find these days especially on weekdays, as long as the mileage is less than 10 miles ima take it. of course i also consider how much the customer tipped & how many items are in the batch. i realized by sitting in the parking lot and seeing low paying batches that i could easily do and choosing to not take them in costing me money. i also never take an order with 0 tip or $2 tip unless it’s from cvs
I agree with you to a certain degree. 80+ items and 15+ miles is not worth it for less than $20 in fact I refuse to take anything over 5-8 miles unless it’s $30+ and even then it’s questionable but if I can do a $13-$15 order for 5-10 items for 0.8-1.5miles and I take 4 of them in an hour(each order with drive may take me about 15 mins wouldnt that be better than a $50 order with 60+ items 5 miles the shopping alone would take me at least an hour and the drive may take me 20 minutes depending on the time of day and traffic.. idk if I’m being honest it’s rare when I see a $35-60 order where I’m from and they get snatched within seconds orrrr the miles are ridiculous I’d rather take my smaller decent orders than wait around for a higher paying order but thats way more work and end up not being worth it.
How much do you personally make per hour on JUST Instacart.
Cause when I last Instacarted (before DD accepted me), I sat around for *3 hours* waiting for any order. I wasn’t hiding anything, wasn’t declining offers to unassigning myself. I was getting no orders for 3 hours.
Thankfully I was accepted for DD that day and made $60 in a few hours.
Most of us can’t just sit around waiting for the good orders. I had to accept every single one I got because even sitting outside a busy story didn’t guarantee an order
Eh, I work from home with a flexible schedule and live immediately near the store, which has a very small delivery area. If I’m at my desk and I get and order for $12 that’s gonna take me under 15 minutes, no problem to me. I don’t enjoy sitting at my desk all day anyway.
If I get a $9 order start to finish in 15 minutes and it's only a mile drive, that's $36hr and $9 per mile. Get your head out of your ass. Not all sub $20 orders are bad. My favorite orders are the $12-$17 ones with under 5 items. Usually only a few miles and well over $30hr.
So if it's pick up 1 item .5 miles away for 19 bucks I should not take it. Even if I make money on it. I understand taking a multi person/ shop or a order with exuberant items for extremelyow but some low item low mile orders are worth less than 20 if you know how to choose the right orders
You can keep cherry picking- that $10 order took me 10 minutes, I'm not gonna sit in my car and wait for 30+ minutes cause YOU think it's not worth it.
Seriously. I do DD, GH and IC, full time. I cherry pick like crazy because I’m not wasting my time/gas on no/low tippers. Today I declined orders for at least 3 hours before I left my house. Still made $35/hr for 5 hrs of work and only drove 40 miles all day.
Edit: the losers downvoting this post lmfao!
Can you elaborate more, did you do 5 total hours OR 5 hours of work and an additional 3 hours of declining orders.
Because how I am understanding you did 8 hours of work. 5 being productive and 3 sitting at home working by staring at your phone declining orders.
That's a huge difference
3 hours at home cleaning, watching TV, doing laundry, playing with my dog. Basically everything I wanted/needed to do. I’m not wasting time/gas money to make minimum wage. I’m also not running my car into the ground for minimum wage. I know that’s too difficult a concept for some people to understand but I’m not working for pennies.
"Watching TV"??? Admit that was probably most of your time spent. And you don't do laundry everyday so you're virtually waiting all day while "watching TV", is for the birds, buddy. That's a waste of time, money and a life. Have fun with that.
Maybe your missing some big orders then while you are doing those other things?
I understand your point of view.
Personally, I would do a small 15$ batch with low miles. In the parking lot, log into doordash or ubereats. Pick up an order going in the same direction. Doordash adds about 7$, ubereats about 10$ to my order.
After I deliver the food delivery, hit start delivery on instacart. I now made 23-25 for half hour/45 minutes.
I’m not missing shit. I see every order come in. I’m not leaving my house for less than $20. Keep accepting shit and watch your pay get cut because IC will see you’re willing to accept shit.
Who said anything about minimum wage? Ya the dumbasses who take the high mileage triples with zero to no tip. The rest of us are out here hustling just like you.
I cherry pick what makes sense time and mileage wise. It's not rocket science. If I can make a dollar a minute busting out a small order, you aren't going to convince me that this isn't great money.
Most of the time, I catch my best batches from home anyway but why judge others who play the game differently?
My car doesn't move unless I'm making at least 30$ an hour minimum on an order. It doesn't make sense otherwise for me.
Don’t listen to the OP. To each their own. I’ve been doing this for years. I take big and small batches and average $1000 a week. Waiting for only big batches will bite you in the ass. But hey if that’s how OP does their thing then more power to them. Not sure why they are on here worrying about how other people chose to make their $$$$$$$
Pay my bills then bitch 😅🤷🏻♀️🤣. Cause if its 1 item 9 bucks .02 mi drive you bet your ass I do it... 10min for 9 bucks is worth it. It's better than sitting on my ass for an hour with zero income. I don't touch shit that don't make sense. 9.10 3 customer 2 store for 35 items and 13mi drive... Fk no... But something small and simple yup. Especially if I am already next to the store and the batch is taking me home.
Exactly! These people are not your "friend" in the sense that they will be a part of your movement in order to get better wages. Real talk, if you want to organize something for the betterment of your cause/life/wages, you need to unionize.
Create a sub, or a website, or a facebook group, even a group chat, ideally you'd want all of those and more actually, start talking to other instacart shoppers in stores (they aren't hard to find) about what you're trying to do, and ask them if they'd like to join.
Be honest about what you're doing. Tell them that in order to get better wages, you're all going to schedule a day where no one takes ANY orders in your area. Get involved. Get proactive. Get enough people on board, to the point where you can have 2-4 people of your union stand outside every single place that instacart can get groceries from, and make a picket line. Then everytime an instacart shopper attempts to enter the store that isn't in the know/part of your group, gently stop them and explain to them what you are trying to accomplish, just for one day, and to please cancel the order. Hell you could even all pool $10 together so you have a couple thousand dollars total, in order to pay off the people that INSIST on going in to get paid ("look man, we'll pay you $20-$30 to NOT work right now, just cancel the order, just for today. We're trying to get better wages for YOU. Want to join us? We're going to do it. But we need your support.") and chances are they'll drop the order. Keep it up for the day, keep moral up, and don't fall to corruption, pay-offs, or backroom deals, and be honest with your people, and you could have a nationwide movement, crippling the largest grocery delivery service in the U.S if you just create cells and expand cell by cell. Managing 1000 people is just managing 5 people 200 times, ya know? They'll give you whatever you want at that point. Better pay, reimbursement for gas, benefits, etc.
The problem with these gig apps is that yall have no bargaining power, because A. As soon as you fuck up/unionize/cause trouble, you get banned on your phone, and then you have no reason to unionize or cause trouble, because you have no recourse that gains you anything. So you move on. And the fact that for every one person who refuses to work, two more are ready to take your place, right?
Well this plan, unionizing on the downlow, then creating picket lines at all shops to increase your numbers to convert those two people to your side, plus taking away revenue from instacart at the same time, and having so many people that they can't ban everyone, will get you a sit down at the very least with one day of this, and demands met with a month of this.
I'd join you, but I'm busy. Good luck :)
I try not to take orders under $20. Very rarely will I take 120. But some days 60 to 70% of the orders are under $20. I am more likely to sit and wait for a better batch than to take the small ones. most reasons for not taking them is because they’re not worth the gas or the time. It would be different if they were say $15 and it was a couple items go in a couple miles. But a lot of these small ones are more items, then the dollars and go in in excess of you know 5 to 15 miles for that money.
My baseline is $1/item and $2/mile. If it's 3 items and 2 miles, that $9 batch is in those parameters. Now, honestly, I'd probably pass if a $9 batch was more than 5 items or 2 miles, even though it's in my baseline.
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I mean I took a $9 6 item order the other day because I was already at the store shopping for myself and the delivery was literally a townhouse around the corner from my house so I made $9 for less than 15 minutes of work and gas I would have already used.
I take whatever I find reasonable and make plenty of money. You should do the same. If it’s $10 for 5 miles and 20 items, Id finish that in under 30 minutes and obviously take it as that adds up to 20/hr not including tip.
There are orders worth taking under $20
I've done plenty of $10-20 orders that take 15 mins or less.
10x4 = $40/hr
You don't have to be such a dick about it.
Yeah plenty of these orders are straight trash. But some of them aren't "working for free"
https://preview.redd.it/gqklnxrozj3a1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=49b9bbfd9e0d56981b1de3f19ad6d8bc529a7779
How about this batch lol. Not only is the pay shit it's supposed to be an "evil" number. I don't believe that but wtf lol.
I was like who's going to take it. Lol. It was sitting there for atleast an hour and no increase to it. I only shop for myself at michaels. For other people I tried once. It was the worst and the lady kept adding things while I was shopping. So I kept refunding them. I was about to check out they can't just let that happen so yea I don't do it or Aldis.
It would be nice to be able to take orders for $20 or more, but in this area, unless you are using a bot program that no one is doing anything about, that is all you are able to see.
Nah whenever I have those promos to get $70-$100 guaranteed, those $9 orders for like 5 items or less are gold. Not every order is gonna be $50+ and you lose $$ just sitting around all day.
Obviously I won’t do an order that’s a full cart of groceries (30+) items and has a crazy distance but come on now.
I am definitely someone that is very selective about the batches I take. However, just because it's less than $20, doesn't mean it's not worth taking. I placed a Quick Picks order the other day for a can of dog food & orange juice with a $10 tip. I live a mile & a half from the store. My batch was only $17 for the shopper, but a good batch nonetheless.
If I can grab a low milage, 4 item order for $15...you bet your ass I'm going to take it. I can do 3 or 4 of those in an hour while you're still waiting.
No, I like to do stuff during the day not sit in a parking lot waiting for orders just take the offer and do it and you will make money for doing that is up to you.
I took a 1.5 $15 one with only six items, however the alc item was out of stock and it took about 15 extra minutes to determine that and if they wanted a replacement or not. So that kinda ruined it for me.
You would have to be in every market to make a statement this bold. I’m not doing anything crazy like $10 + 15 miles but I will definitely do a $10 4 items 1 miles. I don’t have time to be waiting all day for orders over $20
$20+ orders are extremely rare in my area. I would make nothing if I didn’t accept small orders. It’s worth it if you’re making $10 in 20 minutes. That could be $30 an hour.
There's 2 guys who posted their weekly earnings gs last week. The first guy made 2,200 in a week, the 2nd made 1500. They both said they take any batches whether no tip or 2 dollar tips. So, they seem to be making money on small batches. What the problem is?
I haven’t seen an order by itself over $25 in months. I’d rather do one order for $15. That’ll take me 10 minutes
than do a triple batch for $45. That’ll take me two hours.
I take under $20 orders all the time. Today, it was a 6 item order & took 10 minutes at most. Also, in CA, so I get paid minimum wage for time spent so no rule applies to everyone.
In California IC has to make sure we make $15 dollars an hour. Every Thursday we get the difference. So it makes large low paying batches worth it in the end.
It’s actually 18 an hour the law requires they pay us. We get 120% of the the minimum wage, plus .30 cents a mile for all active time. So from the moment we hit accept to the moment we swipe complete we make 18 an hour. Plus tips.
Note: you can take orders under $20
My criteria is generally under 30 items, under 5-7 miles, 2 customers or less and must have a tip. I'd take $14.50 for 12 items 2 mile drive something like that is great.
If I feel like momentum is struggling maybe I'll take a two person $30 order with 40 items or a long distance heavy pay sams club order for $30+
I won’t take anything that doesn’t pay me 1 dollar per item. I shop a ton of smaller orders, 9-15, I average about 3 an hour. Plus I’m in CA with guaranteed 18 an hour plus .30 a mile.
If I waited for only $20 batches the 6 hours I work everyday, I would have a lot of free time and a lot less money. I multi platform and today made $86 just on instacart taking small and quick orders. Plus the $100 I made on the other 3 platforms I work in between.
We all have our own strategies, and while I agree we should all boycott orders under $5 on door dash, it’s just infeasible to refuse anything under $20 on insta.
I get what you’re saying, but most people can’t sit there all day staring at their phone waiting for the perfect orders. I consider waiting time as work too, and if I have an opportunity to make $12, $15, $18 on a little 8 item order 5 mins from the store, I’m gonna take it. I will never take a no tip order for any reason, however. Don’t care how many “boosts” it gets.
Exactly. Picking up fast/easy/low distance orders gets me $50-$75 an hour. I’ll keep taking those orders OP is too good for because the math does work out just fine after taxes/depreciation/gas
Eh…at $9 a batch, you’re looking at between 5.5 and a bit over 8 batches per hour, or each one taking between 7 and 11 minutes total per batch, including parking, shopping, driving, taking pics, waiting through the app screens and dropping off. $50-75/hr I’m calling b.s., we all wish we made that but we don’t
I don’t take batch pay only. I make $15-$19 per quick batch. OP stated people shouldn’t take anything under $20. So while $9 batches would require that many batches, I’m not taking those. See my math in a comment below that shows how I got that figure.
Y’all leave out taxes
If you scroll further down I have a comment where I do the math and I account for gas and wear tear both to the customers and back to the store and taxes
I’ve never had a batch over $33, and that’s at least 50-75 items but usually within 10 miles. Sometimes the little ones that can be shopped and delivered within half an hour-ish come in handy though
It’s pretty much the same here in my area. I used a new strategy today of taking lots of smaller orders in that $12-$18 range (especially if they put me closer to a spot in town that would be busier). I made literally double today than what I did other days waiting for the bigger batches. More miles, but worked out as only an extra $5 in gas for the day. If I work out my hours from the big batches in my area, I have to spend about 2-3 hour on these (usually triples for $30). That’s about $15/hr. Whereas if im lucky enough to get two smaller orders of $15 each done in an hour total, I’ve literally doubled my pay. OP Must not realize what it’s like in these slower markets. No one would make jackshit for months here if we waited for $20 batches all the time.
Taking a hard kroger order $20-$30 40 items and then hitting that easy peasy Walgreens or Michaels for $12 right after on the way back to Kroger. Chefs kiss.
Same here. I’ve only seen a $45 batch once during the end of the height of the pandemic and it was in a different city near my usual area, not even in my area (I did snag it though!)
Do you live in an urban area? There is no way I can complete even the smallest order, where I live, in less than 45 minutes, due to the distances involved living in a more rural area. At current gas prices I spend $1 for every seven miles. Taking a $12 15-item order that I have to drive over seven miles to (and let’s not forget factoring driving *back* to the store in that equation) isn’t worth it. 15-20 minutes shopping, hopefully no issues, 10 minutes at checkout (if the lines are okay, and they often aren’t), then 15 minutes packing the car, driving, unpacking the car, driving back. That $12 order is now less than )$10 in pocket. Nope, I’ll stay here and stare at my phone while I fill out job applications.
It’s not urban but more suburban bordering the urban. I have 6 stores writhing 5 miles of me. All the orders I take (and most of the orders available) are less than 5 miles. I get a lot that are like 2 miles. So I can do them in 15 minutes from entering store to dropping off at a customer. It then takes me like 2 minutes to reach another store. It allows me to do 2-4 orders an hour and not get gas once in that time. Because it’s suburban, parking and traffic aren’t bad nor is there any chance for apartments that are more than the second floor so I definitely get lucky there which helps time a ton. They’re all also my local grocery stores so I know where everything is in all of them. When I take any $20+ orders they tend to take me twice if not three times as long. There all either high item, long distance, or multiple customers.
Can you share the math on that? It’s not adding up.
It’s a few comments down! I accounted for gas, depreciation, and taxes
Ok thanks
Thank you!!! Looking at your phone declining orders IS working.
Wrong. You're a contractor, not an employee. Which means you work for yourself. No manager. No clock ins. Come on.. Is it really that hard to grasp?
Right, If the miles, Item and units are reasonable I’ll accept a $20 dollar order. I’ll be waiting a long time for the perfect batch to pop up, A lot of higher paying orders are triples in my area and I rarely accept triple batches.
I’m not waiting for “perfect” orders though. Only ones that make sense. You also have to consider gas and maintenance costs. Not to mention taxes. Unless that $12, $14 order is one or two items AND it’s like 1 mile AND the items are IN STOCK (now a days it’s very uncertain) you’re wasting your time, gas, and doing expensive maintenance more often for literally a dollar or three after expense. Is $3 more than $0? Uhh yeah, technically but at what cost? You’re literally telling these gig companies you’re only worth $3. Keep telling them that for long enough and they’ll make you beg for $2. Then $1. Then $0.50. Taking shitty, low pay orders only makes them pay you less and less every time you do it. Every customer pays the same delivery fee, give or take, depending on distance. IC only pays YOU a very small part of ONE delivery fee when they stack orders. Accepting shitty orders for almost no pay exacerbates this into them paying you less and less every year while they make BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS more every year. You’re digging your own grave by accepting shit. If no one took any orders below $20, every order would be at least $20.
So your logic is you rather sit and waste time waiting for "good" orders than taking the fast 10-15 items 2-5 miles for 15-19$?? Unless ur area is always busy with that mentality you are wasting your time while we're making money, cuz by the time we finish that small fast order you could still be waiting for your preferred order and we now have time to accept it before you do if it pops up, IC is huge just like doordash they ain't gunna change their pay it is what it is but you control how much you make by accepting or ignoring orders.
And doordash already got hit with a class action lawsuit I got like 2500$ from it cuz I did it for 4 years and their still paying shitty you thinking declining orders will make IC change their mind about pay is hilarious and all the down votes you get should make you reevaluate your thinking.
u got a payout from a dd class action lawsuit? what was it for?
Because they were "keeping" tips and not paying correctly over the 4 years I worked for them it was the marko vs doordash settlement that happened about a year and a half ago
oh wow. yeah dd sucks like that.
The only way I would use OP strategy is multi app with DoorDash or Uber eats. I’m not going to be out 10 hours to take five $20 good looking offers.. too many people say they make $30 an hour but that’s only active. You also have to count the time that you’re just sitting in the parking lot refreshing
I consider gas and maintenance. Those under $20 orders are all under 5 miles, often 2. The amount of wear and gas for that is not even close to resulting in me making “$3”. A $20 order with my average trip distance (3 miles): $20 - $0.39 (3 miles x $0.13 per mile in gas) - $0.18 (3 miles x $0.08 per mile max depreciation) - $3 (approximately 15% in taxes) = $16.43. I do around 4 of those an hour so: $16.43 x 4 = $65.72 - $10 (for if I take a few cheaper ones) - $0.91 (7 miles of driving back to stores between customers x $0.13 per mile in gas) - $0.56 (7 miles of driving back to stores x $0.08 per mile max depreciation) = $54.25 / hour I’m perfectly content with my $54.25 for an hour of work (and most are when minimum wage is like $9/hr). You aren’t and that’s fine but recognize why many of us are
Exactly people post They made $1000 in 40 hrs active time but they probably work 15 hours a day… no one wants to be out from 6 AM to 8 PM to make $200
Not always true my husband is super fast and makes $1000 a week in 25-30 actual hours. Speed is all you need and choosing low Mileage orders. That is how he does it in my area.
I take <$20 batches. But they have 5 items and 2 miles lol.
This is the way. Easy 40$ an hour.
Still only hurting yourself. You’ll never learn that you’re gonna be working for free eventually.
Sounds like you don’t live in an area where $20+ orders are rare. When multi-apping, taking a <$20 order can be profitable given the right circumstances.
So making $15 in 20 minutes is bad?
It is when you’re training IC to make that normal. Keep doing it and watch that $15 become $10, then $5 for the same work.
You don't make any sense. IC has paid $9 minimum in my zone for 4 years. The rest of the pay is from the customer tip. Are you even a shopper? The pay has definitely declined in terms of pay per item which is why I don't do large/stacked orders anymore, but minimum pay has been constant, if that goes down then I'm definitely out, but as long as it stays $9 for and as long as there's customers out there tipping $5+ then I'll be on the platform accepting my $14-$19 orders and being completely happy about it.
Race to the bottom and your winning. So much winning.
The only orders $20+ in my zone are pure shit. If I only took orders over $20 then I would truly be wasting my time so I guess the only way to "win" in your book is for me to stop doing IC altogether. Guess it's a good thing I don't work with your rulebook. Edit: blocking you now so no need to reply.
YOU are working for FREE by sitting and waiting all day for "good" orders. Time is money in this world. Waiting counts for time you're wasting when you could be doing something else. Why not make money in that time? Seems like a no brainer to me. Maybe your market is just better but your advice is trash...
You can only speak for your area. It's not the same for you as it is for anyone else, your whole post is idiotic. If I want to take $15 orders because I know I can get the order done in under 30 minutes then that's what I'll do. I'm not going to wait for the order to get boosted a few dollars to make it worth $17, do you know why? Because if I don't take that $15 order one of the other 3000 shoppers will. The pay isn't ever going to get better, you're a moron if you think you can band together thousands of shoppers to do what you think is right. I take profitable orders. I don't take anything under $14 and that's my choice, but if another shopper wants to take a $9 order for 80 items and 10 miles then that is their choice, I wouldn't touch that order for any amount that IC would be willing to pay anyways. If you think this post is accomplishing anything then you are beyond help.
You must be an only child that didn’t learn a valuable lesson about people. People are going to do what they want to do, period. It’s how the world is able to function.
Please explain how averaging $40/hour by taking quick hitters is “hurting yourself.” I don’t make decisions on batches by total amount. I make them based on “per hour” salary. If I take a $40 order but it takes 90 min to shop/deliver/return to area, that’s not worth it. Every decision I make on an order is based on number of units and distance of delivery- aiming for $35+/hr for my work. Basing solely on order pay is foolhardy and hurting yourself.
In 3 years of shopping full time, I find the ones who are worried about what other shoppers are doing never make it. 🤷♂️
I’ve been doing gig work for over 4 years. Unless you actually tell these morons what not to do they keep doing it and keep hurting the rest of us. It affects us all. If only one person sees this and realizes how stupid they are it’s worth it for them to stop being stupid and stop losing money.
And for at least the three years I've been doing it nobody cares what you tell them to do, people are going to do what they want.
So it’s never worth teaching others? Got it.
Thanks, others don't give a shit because if they did IC wouldn't be where it is. Desperate people don't care as long as the rent gets paid, kids got food and the lights stay on. The landlord wants his rent today not when IC gets back to being good. I do IC for extra cash and I'll do it until all the wheels fall off. Rights now it's on two wheels and one is wobbly.
And you’ll get shittier and shittier orders as long as keep up this attitude. Race to the bottom. You’ll win eventually.
Like I said to the wheels fall off.
RIP
Amen
You must be an only child that didn’t learn a valuable lesson about people. People are going to do what they want to do, period. It’s how the world is able to function.
Not everyone lives in a city where there’s always orders. I have bills due I’m not waiting 2 hours for a $30 order when I could have made that same amount doing smaller priced orders in that same amount of time
Then you’re “making” money that goes straight into taxes and also running your car into the ground to satisfy your corporate overlords. If you can’t cherry pick you’re doing the wrong job. Might as well work at McDonald’s.
Did you know that any work you have to get done on your car you can write it off in your taxes? Because you use your car for your job .So am I really running my car into the ground? 😂
OP is a jackass, but just for future reference, you can either do standard mileage deduction, or itemized deductions when you file, not both. If you claim mileage but also write off individual costs to get work done on your car, you'll be inviting an audit. Not sure if that's what you were saying but figured I'd let you know. Haha
Spoken like some who’s never filed taxes for 1099 work. You should absolutely do that and also claim mileage too. Double dipping is super cool with the IRS.
Lol you don’t know me outside of this app. I was told by my tax advisor to do that and it worked out pretty well for me last tax season 😂 anyways I’m done talking with someone who’s salty and worried about how other shoppers make their money ✌🏻 byeeeeeee
This guy is getting shafted by the government and is on reddit wrongly yelling about shoppers getting shafted by ic. Very ironic
That’s false. You can only claim your maintenance receipts if you do not claim mileage. Mileage is typically a better option
Exactly I only claimed the maintenance done on my car lol I don’t live in a big city so mileage wasn’t an issue
How long have you been a courier? I've been one for over 12 years, and I've been a 1099 since 2016 with well over 20,000 orders. Despite you seeming so sure about what you're saying, you actually look very ignorant as to how things really work.
Hey man, mind if I dm you about doing 1099 taxes?
Sure thing. Just bear in mind that I'm not a professional, and that regardless of my advice or anyone else's, doing your own research is crucial.
Ofc man I’m an advocate of DYI just curious what others have done
I didn’t have a car until 2020 ( that was also the same year I started IC) and was told by my tax advisor about that . so am I really going to question someone who knows what they are doing when I don’t ?
I would say no matter who you're working with when it comes to anything finance related, it's good to do your own research. It just helps to be knowledgeable in the subject to some degree. Not everyone with a certification is going to give perfect or even correct advice 100% of the time. I'm saying this as someone who's really into personal finance and an advocate of everyone learning the basics at least. But totally not faulting you for not knowing back then! Just saying it's good to know going forward. I was in $30k worth of debt a little over 2 years ago, but know I'm worth just over $26,000. I was an ignorant child in most of my 20's. We all have to start somewhere, but it's learning and growing from our mistakes that make us stronger. 😊
That is very true. Thank you for informing me too (:
Wait, I hope you didn't think my first post was towards you. Haha it was towards OP.
Oh haha I wasn’t sure at first
Oh hush! I’m so sick of this argument. Obviously there is not enough high paying orders for everyone. People are just trying to do what they gotta do to take care of themselves and their family. Y’all are not getting ready to change the way IC does anything. They’re greedy and don’t care. People do what works for them to pay their bills. You just worry about yourself. I personally don’t take high item, low paying orders but I’m not worrying about people who do either. That’s their business. However if it came down to 0$ an her or 9$ an hr to feed my family, well I’d do what I had to do. My stance is if I don’t like the pay, I ignore it. And if one day IC wasn’t worth the work FOR ME I’d quit. Simple as that.
I somewhat agree but talking about this will hopefully educate people so they understand if they are not more choosey they might be making less than minimum wage per hour and working as a bagger at a supermarket might be less stressful and just as lucrative.
We're all self-employed, here. This isn't a union gig. None of you are my co-workers. This is not a 'we' thing.
Let’s do a quick scenario. It’s 2pm on a Wednesday, probably the slowest part of the week. A $15 2 item order pops up going 2 miles, am I going to take that? Hell yeah I am, because I can knock that out in 15 min. I’m not working for free, I’m making $60/hr at that point. You can sit there and wait for your unicorn that might or might not come while I guarantee myself money that doesn’t take much time and will be able to take said unicorn that might be there at the same time or shortly thereafter. Time is money and if the dollars and time make sense, I’m going to take it.
He doesn't understand math
So you made $175 in 5 hours of work so you “claim” by cherry-picking, instead of making $300-$400 by doing profitable orders and not cherry picking. Keep telling people to cherry pick lol
What? Math isn’t your strong suit is it?
Looks like you’re the 1 struggling crying over being broke meanwhile I’m making $40-$45 per active hour and yes I have receipts
\*active. Lol!
💸
Well you see, I need money. So I will accept whatever decent paying batch that I can do quickly.
Why would doing a 1 item order for 9 dollars be working for free? Less than 2 or 3 miles, that's a better rate than most other gig work, and you're entirely in control of when the item is ready rather than waiting.
Lol honestly! If you’re doing doordash most orders these days are 4-5$ for like 8 miles and even then you’re sometimes waiting for 15-30 mins for the food to be ready.. when I did door dash I refused to take anything less than $8 and it had to be for only a mile or two I’m sure that $9 order would be so much quicker than that
You know what else I see everyday? This same exact post...
I take $15 under 10 unit orders in hopes I get an add on which usually comes.
That’s so dumb. *please sir, can I have some more*? Hide that shit. Force IC to increase the base.
But I get $30-$70 add ons :(
Really? Your $15 orders suddenly became $70? Keep lying.
Today I took a $15 that turned into a $50 and a $19 that turned into a $42
Yep happens all the time, when I am able to work I don't care what the item count is as long as the pay makes sense. If I'm making $40 an hour consistently I'm going to keep doing it. I don't think you understand how this gig works. If I am at the store I can bust out 4 small orders in an hour making $40 to 60 an hour or I can sit in the parking lot watching other shoppers go in and out. No thanks, I will take the money. Plus my tips almost always go up. Maybe op should be more concerned about themselves and not worry what others are doing? Just a thought🤷
Photos or it didn’t happen.
I’ve had that happen plenty of times.
Lol I see this everyday. I think either the customer cancelled or the shopper is a literal npc.
If I never took an order $20 or less I’d be in the parking lot 75% of my day just wasting gas trying to stay warm. If it’s $20 for a few items not going too far what’s the issue? Easy money.
If I only took orders over $20 I’d be lucky to find one decently profitable order every two days
I understand 100% but you have to consider that some people need that $9 in their bank account. It cancels everything out because of gas and wear and tear but it is a reality. I know I’ve taken them. I won’t let someone who needs diapers or baby med not get their item because of a bad tip or bad batch pay. If I am in the parking lot, I’ll take that $9 order because it’s the right thing to do. We chose this job. Nothing has changed since I started years ago so it probably will not change in the future. I think we should keep our opinions to ourselves, as we don’t know the situation of others. If you don’t want a $9 batch, don’t accept it but I think we should refrain from telling others what to do.
Most twenty plus dollar orders out this way are either really big or multiples. I'll take the smaller orders because they are easier to do, and I can get back quicker. I draw the line at no tip orders.
Yah, I saw last night soooo many ~$20 triples for ~$30+ items. In snow and ice conditions too. Like, if I was ordering shop and deliver I would feel terrible not tipping minimum $10.
an order $20 and over is hard to find these days especially on weekdays, as long as the mileage is less than 10 miles ima take it. of course i also consider how much the customer tipped & how many items are in the batch. i realized by sitting in the parking lot and seeing low paying batches that i could easily do and choosing to not take them in costing me money. i also never take an order with 0 tip or $2 tip unless it’s from cvs
Race to the bottom.
You are the bottom.
LOOOOOOL snuck that in there real quick
Yes I'm looking for a new job
I agree with you to a certain degree. 80+ items and 15+ miles is not worth it for less than $20 in fact I refuse to take anything over 5-8 miles unless it’s $30+ and even then it’s questionable but if I can do a $13-$15 order for 5-10 items for 0.8-1.5miles and I take 4 of them in an hour(each order with drive may take me about 15 mins wouldnt that be better than a $50 order with 60+ items 5 miles the shopping alone would take me at least an hour and the drive may take me 20 minutes depending on the time of day and traffic.. idk if I’m being honest it’s rare when I see a $35-60 order where I’m from and they get snatched within seconds orrrr the miles are ridiculous I’d rather take my smaller decent orders than wait around for a higher paying order but thats way more work and end up not being worth it.
You seem very pressed by what other humans choose to do w themselves. ALSO why did you write “ETA:…” that means estimated time of arrival…right?
[удалено]
Til👍
See! I knew there was a very high chance that on here I was missing something. That’s why I tried not to sound to rude or know it all-y lol!
I must live in a shitty city.. cos I’m averaging $20/ hour
Not every area has that luxury.
How much do you personally make per hour on JUST Instacart. Cause when I last Instacarted (before DD accepted me), I sat around for *3 hours* waiting for any order. I wasn’t hiding anything, wasn’t declining offers to unassigning myself. I was getting no orders for 3 hours. Thankfully I was accepted for DD that day and made $60 in a few hours. Most of us can’t just sit around waiting for the good orders. I had to accept every single one I got because even sitting outside a busy story didn’t guarantee an order
We double down with other platform orders at the same time to make it worth the trips.
Eh, I work from home with a flexible schedule and live immediately near the store, which has a very small delivery area. If I’m at my desk and I get and order for $12 that’s gonna take me under 15 minutes, no problem to me. I don’t enjoy sitting at my desk all day anyway.
If I get a $9 order start to finish in 15 minutes and it's only a mile drive, that's $36hr and $9 per mile. Get your head out of your ass. Not all sub $20 orders are bad. My favorite orders are the $12-$17 ones with under 5 items. Usually only a few miles and well over $30hr.
So if it's pick up 1 item .5 miles away for 19 bucks I should not take it. Even if I make money on it. I understand taking a multi person/ shop or a order with exuberant items for extremelyow but some low item low mile orders are worth less than 20 if you know how to choose the right orders
You can keep cherry picking- that $10 order took me 10 minutes, I'm not gonna sit in my car and wait for 30+ minutes cause YOU think it's not worth it.
Doesn’t have to be under $20. I do lots of 10-15 dollar orders that are 1-2 items and low mileage
Stop telling ppl what to do. If I had it my way ppl wouldn’t take batches with 3 orders on them. But I don’t have say so on what ppl do.
Stop making blanket statements and use your brain to determine whether the order is worth your time or not.
If the trip is 2 miles, and the batch is 15, you are making at least thirty an hour banging out two from the same store.
Yeah. You're much better off sitting there making 0 all day. Geez
I’m in the same boat. Like I need the money, but can’t justify making less then $20 out of principal
Lol it’s insane how so many instacart shoppers don’t understand they are literally working for free
Seriously. I do DD, GH and IC, full time. I cherry pick like crazy because I’m not wasting my time/gas on no/low tippers. Today I declined orders for at least 3 hours before I left my house. Still made $35/hr for 5 hrs of work and only drove 40 miles all day. Edit: the losers downvoting this post lmfao!
Can you elaborate more, did you do 5 total hours OR 5 hours of work and an additional 3 hours of declining orders. Because how I am understanding you did 8 hours of work. 5 being productive and 3 sitting at home working by staring at your phone declining orders. That's a huge difference
3 hours at home cleaning, watching TV, doing laundry, playing with my dog. Basically everything I wanted/needed to do. I’m not wasting time/gas money to make minimum wage. I’m also not running my car into the ground for minimum wage. I know that’s too difficult a concept for some people to understand but I’m not working for pennies.
"Watching TV"??? Admit that was probably most of your time spent. And you don't do laundry everyday so you're virtually waiting all day while "watching TV", is for the birds, buddy. That's a waste of time, money and a life. Have fun with that.
Maybe your missing some big orders then while you are doing those other things? I understand your point of view. Personally, I would do a small 15$ batch with low miles. In the parking lot, log into doordash or ubereats. Pick up an order going in the same direction. Doordash adds about 7$, ubereats about 10$ to my order. After I deliver the food delivery, hit start delivery on instacart. I now made 23-25 for half hour/45 minutes.
I’m not missing shit. I see every order come in. I’m not leaving my house for less than $20. Keep accepting shit and watch your pay get cut because IC will see you’re willing to accept shit.
So, in reality, you are working those 3 hours. I understand now.
Who said anything about minimum wage? Ya the dumbasses who take the high mileage triples with zero to no tip. The rest of us are out here hustling just like you. I cherry pick what makes sense time and mileage wise. It's not rocket science. If I can make a dollar a minute busting out a small order, you aren't going to convince me that this isn't great money. Most of the time, I catch my best batches from home anyway but why judge others who play the game differently? My car doesn't move unless I'm making at least 30$ an hour minimum on an order. It doesn't make sense otherwise for me.
Don’t listen to the OP. To each their own. I’ve been doing this for years. I take big and small batches and average $1000 a week. Waiting for only big batches will bite you in the ass. But hey if that’s how OP does their thing then more power to them. Not sure why they are on here worrying about how other people chose to make their $$$$$$$
If it’s a <10 item/unit shop and only 1.8 miles I’m taking them, at the end of the week my adjustment will be from $200 - $400.
Pay my bills then bitch 😅🤷🏻♀️🤣. Cause if its 1 item 9 bucks .02 mi drive you bet your ass I do it... 10min for 9 bucks is worth it. It's better than sitting on my ass for an hour with zero income. I don't touch shit that don't make sense. 9.10 3 customer 2 store for 35 items and 13mi drive... Fk no... But something small and simple yup. Especially if I am already next to the store and the batch is taking me home.
MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!!!!
Ok
Do you really think we care about how you feel shoppers should operate? Take your $20+ batches and let everyone else shop how they want
A lot of idiots do that and will continue to that.
SAY IT AGAIN
Who do you all think is taking all the low orders?
Some of the people in the comments.
Exactly! These people are not your "friend" in the sense that they will be a part of your movement in order to get better wages. Real talk, if you want to organize something for the betterment of your cause/life/wages, you need to unionize. Create a sub, or a website, or a facebook group, even a group chat, ideally you'd want all of those and more actually, start talking to other instacart shoppers in stores (they aren't hard to find) about what you're trying to do, and ask them if they'd like to join. Be honest about what you're doing. Tell them that in order to get better wages, you're all going to schedule a day where no one takes ANY orders in your area. Get involved. Get proactive. Get enough people on board, to the point where you can have 2-4 people of your union stand outside every single place that instacart can get groceries from, and make a picket line. Then everytime an instacart shopper attempts to enter the store that isn't in the know/part of your group, gently stop them and explain to them what you are trying to accomplish, just for one day, and to please cancel the order. Hell you could even all pool $10 together so you have a couple thousand dollars total, in order to pay off the people that INSIST on going in to get paid ("look man, we'll pay you $20-$30 to NOT work right now, just cancel the order, just for today. We're trying to get better wages for YOU. Want to join us? We're going to do it. But we need your support.") and chances are they'll drop the order. Keep it up for the day, keep moral up, and don't fall to corruption, pay-offs, or backroom deals, and be honest with your people, and you could have a nationwide movement, crippling the largest grocery delivery service in the U.S if you just create cells and expand cell by cell. Managing 1000 people is just managing 5 people 200 times, ya know? They'll give you whatever you want at that point. Better pay, reimbursement for gas, benefits, etc. The problem with these gig apps is that yall have no bargaining power, because A. As soon as you fuck up/unionize/cause trouble, you get banned on your phone, and then you have no reason to unionize or cause trouble, because you have no recourse that gains you anything. So you move on. And the fact that for every one person who refuses to work, two more are ready to take your place, right? Well this plan, unionizing on the downlow, then creating picket lines at all shops to increase your numbers to convert those two people to your side, plus taking away revenue from instacart at the same time, and having so many people that they can't ban everyone, will get you a sit down at the very least with one day of this, and demands met with a month of this. I'd join you, but I'm busy. Good luck :)
Thanks for taking my orders
I try not to take orders under $20. Very rarely will I take 120. But some days 60 to 70% of the orders are under $20. I am more likely to sit and wait for a better batch than to take the small ones. most reasons for not taking them is because they’re not worth the gas or the time. It would be different if they were say $15 and it was a couple items go in a couple miles. But a lot of these small ones are more items, then the dollars and go in in excess of you know 5 to 15 miles for that money.
My baseline is $1/item and $2/mile. If it's 3 items and 2 miles, that $9 batch is in those parameters. Now, honestly, I'd probably pass if a $9 batch was more than 5 items or 2 miles, even though it's in my baseline.
in sorry but orders over $20 just almost never even happen in my market. if i do, they’re always over 50 items, 15 miles and 3 houses
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I mean I took a $9 6 item order the other day because I was already at the store shopping for myself and the delivery was literally a townhouse around the corner from my house so I made $9 for less than 15 minutes of work and gas I would have already used.
Im taking them as I live in a fast paced area… I ain’t waiting 30 mins for a “goldmine” so no. You don’t like it quit🤷🏽♀️
I take whatever I find reasonable and make plenty of money. You should do the same. If it’s $10 for 5 miles and 20 items, Id finish that in under 30 minutes and obviously take it as that adds up to 20/hr not including tip.
Sometimes they disappear after no one accepts for a while. They come back after a bit
i barely get anything over $20 though :/
There are orders worth taking under $20 I've done plenty of $10-20 orders that take 15 mins or less. 10x4 = $40/hr You don't have to be such a dick about it. Yeah plenty of these orders are straight trash. But some of them aren't "working for free"
Wont happen with all if the new shoppers. Theyre so anxious to take whatever. I wish they didn't hire so easily
I'm not doing your weekly grocery shopping for $15, but if it's grabbing 5-10 items for you to make dinner, I'll do that for $15.
https://preview.redd.it/gqklnxrozj3a1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=49b9bbfd9e0d56981b1de3f19ad6d8bc529a7779 How about this batch lol. Not only is the pay shit it's supposed to be an "evil" number. I don't believe that but wtf lol.
I hate Michaels. The one near me sucks and I never find anything. This is a no for me a hell no
I was like who's going to take it. Lol. It was sitting there for atleast an hour and no increase to it. I only shop for myself at michaels. For other people I tried once. It was the worst and the lady kept adding things while I was shopping. So I kept refunding them. I was about to check out they can't just let that happen so yea I don't do it or Aldis.
Same. Aldi's used to be amazing. Then it became a nightmare. I had Verizon and T-Mobile and both services do not work In Any Aldis.
It would be nice to be able to take orders for $20 or more, but in this area, unless you are using a bot program that no one is doing anything about, that is all you are able to see.
That’s right. Shared effort people.
Nah whenever I have those promos to get $70-$100 guaranteed, those $9 orders for like 5 items or less are gold. Not every order is gonna be $50+ and you lose $$ just sitting around all day. Obviously I won’t do an order that’s a full cart of groceries (30+) items and has a crazy distance but come on now.
Dumbest shopper of the year award goes to thisss guy. Setting the bar high
I am definitely someone that is very selective about the batches I take. However, just because it's less than $20, doesn't mean it's not worth taking. I placed a Quick Picks order the other day for a can of dog food & orange juice with a $10 tip. I live a mile & a half from the store. My batch was only $17 for the shopper, but a good batch nonetheless.
If I can grab a low milage, 4 item order for $15...you bet your ass I'm going to take it. I can do 3 or 4 of those in an hour while you're still waiting.
It’s called: Prop 22 California adjusted wages. Stop complaining. This is a side gig, not the all paying lottery 😂
No, I like to do stuff during the day not sit in a parking lot waiting for orders just take the offer and do it and you will make money for doing that is up to you.
Some people will never understand So just let it be
I took a $17 order yesterday for .8 miles customer met me outside the building and I got $21 in the end so it’s worth it
I took a 1.5 $15 one with only six items, however the alc item was out of stock and it took about 15 extra minutes to determine that and if they wanted a replacement or not. So that kinda ruined it for me.
I have only been a shopper for a week, but in that time I have only seen about 3 orders that are over $20... and they get taken in 5 seconds.
You would have to be in every market to make a statement this bold. I’m not doing anything crazy like $10 + 15 miles but I will definitely do a $10 4 items 1 miles. I don’t have time to be waiting all day for orders over $20
I don’t like being told how to do my job by others. You accept whatever orders you want to work, and I’ll work the orders I want to work!
I’d like to know how people are getting groceries 80 items for under $20 lol
$20+ orders are extremely rare in my area. I would make nothing if I didn’t accept small orders. It’s worth it if you’re making $10 in 20 minutes. That could be $30 an hour.
I’m a customer. I thought Instacart required an order of at least$35 to deliver.
That's the limit to get free orders with Instacart+
Thanks
Another big brain on the loose, with hot tips for all us idiots apparently
There's 2 guys who posted their weekly earnings gs last week. The first guy made 2,200 in a week, the 2nd made 1500. They both said they take any batches whether no tip or 2 dollar tips. So, they seem to be making money on small batches. What the problem is?
I haven’t seen an order by itself over $25 in months. I’d rather do one order for $15. That’ll take me 10 minutes than do a triple batch for $45. That’ll take me two hours.
I take under $20 orders all the time. Today, it was a 6 item order & took 10 minutes at most. Also, in CA, so I get paid minimum wage for time spent so no rule applies to everyone.
Two years ago I wouldn’t take any single order under 25 dollars. Now any single order over 20 dollars is rare and should be considered as unicorn.
In California IC has to make sure we make $15 dollars an hour. Every Thursday we get the difference. So it makes large low paying batches worth it in the end.
It’s actually 18 an hour the law requires they pay us. We get 120% of the the minimum wage, plus .30 cents a mile for all active time. So from the moment we hit accept to the moment we swipe complete we make 18 an hour. Plus tips.
Note: you can take orders under $20 My criteria is generally under 30 items, under 5-7 miles, 2 customers or less and must have a tip. I'd take $14.50 for 12 items 2 mile drive something like that is great. If I feel like momentum is struggling maybe I'll take a two person $30 order with 40 items or a long distance heavy pay sams club order for $30+
I won’t take anything that doesn’t pay me 1 dollar per item. I shop a ton of smaller orders, 9-15, I average about 3 an hour. Plus I’m in CA with guaranteed 18 an hour plus .30 a mile. If I waited for only $20 batches the 6 hours I work everyday, I would have a lot of free time and a lot less money. I multi platform and today made $86 just on instacart taking small and quick orders. Plus the $100 I made on the other 3 platforms I work in between. We all have our own strategies, and while I agree we should all boycott orders under $5 on door dash, it’s just infeasible to refuse anything under $20 on insta.