When it comes to side hustles, my favorite has always been delivering food with on-demand food delivery apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. To maximize your earnings, my recommendation is to sign up for all of these different apps. That being said, there are differences between each of these apps that you’ll need to know about. This post focuses on what it’s like to be a DoorDash Dasher in 2023.
I’ve been a Dasher since 2016, which makes me a grizzled veteran in the gig economy/food delivery world (the term Dasher is what DoorDash calls its delivery people). Before I started with DoorDash, I delivered food using apps like Postmates and Caviar, both of which launched in my city about a year before DoorDash.
What made DoorDash so appealing was the fact that it didn’t require me to use a car. In most cities, DoorDash Dashers can deliver using any type of vehicle they want. My brother often uses his skateboard, for example. I consider myself an avid cyclist, so using my bike to do deliveries made DoorDash a perfect side hustle for me.
I now have over 2,000 deliveries under my belt – and all while working a full-time day job as well. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about the best ways to make money with DoorDash. In this post, I’ll walk you through how DoorDash works, why you should consider becoming a DoorDash Dasher, and give you some strategies you can use to make delivering for DoorDash work for you.
Read on to learn more about what it’s like delivering for DoorDash in 2023. And if you’re ready to sign up to be a DoorDash Dasher, you can sign up here.
Why Become A DoorDash Dasher?
The first thing that’s worth addressing is why you might want to become a DoorDash Dasher. For me, being a Dasher makes a lot of sense for four main reasons.
1. Flexibility
The primary reason to become a DoorDash Dasher, in my view, is the flexibility that comes with it. With DoorDash, you can generally log in and accept deliveries whenever you want. You can also work for as long or as short as you want and accept or reject any delivery offers that come your way.
This flexibility means that you can fit DoorDash deliveries around your schedule. If you have a few moments to spare, simply log onto the app, do some deliveries, and make a little bit of extra money.
One of the best ways to fit DoorDash into your day-to-day life is to combine it with something that you already have to do. For example, one way a lot of people can fit DoorDash around their schedule is to work it into their commute. Back when I was working in a traditional office, I would almost always turn on my DoorDash app at the end of the day and wait for a delivery heading back towards my house. It essentially allowed me to monetize my commute home, allowing me to get paid for something I was already doing.
These days, I’m working from home, but whenever I go anywhere, I still always turn on my DoorDash app to see if I can pick up any deliveries going in the direction I’m headed. It’s an easy way to side hustle with DoorDash even with a busy schedule.
2. I Can Use My Bike To Do Deliveries
I mentioned this in the introduction, but one of the reasons gig economy apps like DoorDash are so appealing to me is because I can do deliveries using my bike, rather than a car. Indeed, through five years of deliveries, I’ve exclusively used my bike, even in the winter.
Depending on where you live, delivering with a bike is often faster than delivering with a car. This is particularly true in dense areas where you can bike through traffic and don’t have to worry about parking. Plus, you also get the benefit of improving your health and avoiding the costs associated with operating a car.
You aren’t limited to just using a traditional bike either. My brother often does his deliveries using a skateboard. I’ve recently started transitioning towards doing most of my deliveries using an electric bike or electric scooter. Try out various modes of transportation and see what works best for you.
3. The Reverse Latte Factor
Becoming a DoorDash Dasher can be very valuable financially thanks to a concept that I call the Reverse Latte Factor. Here’s how it works.
There’s a concept in personal finance called the Latte Factor (coined by David Bach, who wrote a great personal finance book called The Automatic Millionaire). The idea behind the Latte Factor is that we spend small amounts of money daily on things that we don’t really notice. If we save and invest that money, it can add up to hundreds of thousands or even a million dollars if given enough time.
The Reverse Latte Factor takes that idea and applies it in reverse. If we can end up with hundreds of thousands or even a million dollars by saving relatively small sums of money, then we can do the same by taking advantage of opportunities to earn extra income consistently. If we save and invest all of that extra income, it adds up, especially when given enough time.
Consider this. Earning an extra $10 per day means you’ll end up with $3,650 by the end of the year. If you invest that amount each year for 30 years and average a 7% annual rate of return, you’ll end up with over $368,000. Double it to $20 per day and you’re looking at over $735,000. Make it $30 per day, and you’ll end up a millionaire!
4. It’s Fun
Perhaps most importantly, I Dash because it’s fun for me, There’s something about going out and completing these little tasks that I find very satisfying, In a way, it sort of gamifies my life. It also probably helps that I’ve been doing it so long that I know the best ways to make DoorDash as stress-free as possible.
Do any of these reasons make sense for you? If so, then you may want to consider becoming a Dasher with DoorDash.
How To Become A DoorDash Driver
I signed up for DoorDash back in 2016, so the signup process for me was different compared to what it’s like today. Back then, you had to first apply online, then go into the local DoorDash office to do an in-person orientation.
Today, you do the entire signup through the app. Once approved, DoorDash will mail you your activation kit, which includes a DoorDash delivery bag and a Dasher card for you to use for any orders that aren’t already prepaid. If you’ve signed up to deliver with a car, you’ll also need to provide your insurance information.
Note that in the past, DoorDash offered decent referral bonuses, but these days, the referral bonuses either don’t exist or are so small that they’re not even worth thinking about.
The ultimate takeaway is that signing up for DoorDash is easy and doesn’t cost you anything other than the small amount of time it takes to fill out some forms. You can do it all while sitting on your couch. If you have any interest in side hustling, I think it makes sense to sign up for DoorDash to at least have it in your back pocket.
DoorDash Dasher Delivery Process
When you’re ready to start receiving orders, you’ll hit the Dash Now button in your Dasher app. In general, I’ve found that I can usually start Dashing whenever I want, but in some circumstances and depending on your market, you may have to schedule yourself in advance to be able to start accepting deliveries. It’s important to note that scheduling doesn’t actually do anything besides making it so you can Dash during those times – you don’t get punished if you schedule yourself and then don’t do deliveries – so it can sometimes make sense to schedule yourself in advance just to make sure you’re able to accept deliveries if you want.
One unique thing about DoorDash is the way they set up their delivery zones. For most apps, delivery zones typically make up the entire city that you’re working in. DoorDash, on the other hand, makes their delivery zones much smaller, based more around neighborhoods rather than entire cities.
For example, here are the delivery zones in my market:
You’ll only get deliveries in the zones your Dashing in, but sometimes a delivery might take you outside of your zone. In that case, you’ll still only get deliveries in your previous zone, so you’ll need to either switch zones or go back to the zone you were working in.
As for the deliveries themselves, when you get an order, DoorDash will give you certain information that will help you decide whether to accept or reject the order. The order will tell you what it pays, the restaurant you’ll be picking up from, and a map showing you where the order is going.
Most orders are prepaid, which means you can simply walk into the restaurant and pick up the food when it’s ready. In my experience, DoorDash does a good job of timing when orders are sent to you so that when you arrive at the restaurant, the food is ready. This is in contrast to an app like Grubhub, where you’ll often show up and find that the restaurant received the order at the same time you received it.
A small number of restaurants will require you to pay with the Dasher red card when you arrive (this is a prepaid debit card that DoorDash sends you when you sign up). You’ll know in advance if it’s an order that you have to pay for with the red card. These orders typically aren’t a problem unless it’s a restaurant that has a long line.
Finally, there are a few restaurants that make you order and pay for the food yourself (you pay using the red card). Again, the app will tell you this information in advance, so you’ll be able to decide whether it makes sense for you to accept this type of order. These orders can sometimes work out, but you have to think carefully about whether it makes sense for you because they will necessarily take more time since you have to order and wait for the food. There are certain fast-food restaurants where I’ll accept these types of orders because I know they’re fast, but more often than not, I reject orders like these.
How Much Does DoorDash Pay?
In this section, we’ll look at how much you can expect to make as a Dasher for DoorDash.
How Does DoorDash Calculate Dasher Pay?
DoorDash tells you upfront what you’ll receive for any order that you accept. Every DoorDash payment consists of three parts: (1) a DoorDash base pay; (2) a “peak pay” bonus if any are in effect; and (3) whatever the customer gives you as a tip.
In the past, DoorDash had a system where they essentially stole tips by subsidizing low tip orders with higher tip orders, but after some very public backlash, DoorDash changed this system to one where Dashers always get 100% of the tip.
As to how the pay is determined, as far as I can tell, there’s no real formula that determines how much DoorDash pays for each order. It’s supposedly based on a combination of distance, time, and “desirability,” but this is a vague formula that doesn’t tell us much. The lowest I’ve ever seen for an order is $2, which means DoorDash is only paying $2 and the customer tipped $0 (you should obviously reject an order like that).
On the flip side, there’s theoretically no upper limit to how much a delivery order can pay. The most I’ve ever received for a single order was $44. This was a fairly large order that included a really high base pay and a large customer tip. I have no idea why the base pay was so high for this particular order, but I was of course happy to accept it.
In general, you’ll find most orders pay somewhere between $3 and $8 per delivery, with occasional better orders hitting $9 or more. I find that for the most part, the orders that I consider acceptable are in the $5 or more range. However, what you consider acceptable is going to be based on your specific circumstances, so you don’t necessarily want a hard number when deciding which orders you’ll accept or reject. We’ll discuss in greater detail how to decide if an order is worth it in the strategies section of this post.
*Note, in select markets, DoorDash has also added a feature called “Earn by Time.” It’s beyond this post to talk about it, but you can learn more about how Earn by Time works in this post.
How Much Can You Make Per Hour As A DoorDash Dasher?
What you can make on an hourly basis with DoorDash will depend on a few factors: (1) the market you work in; (2) how efficient you are with deliveries, including knowing which orders to accept or reject; and (3) whether you are multi-apping or only using DoorDash.
It’s important to remember that when you do deliveries with DoorDash, you’re getting paid, not for the time you work, but for the tasks you complete. It’s a subtle distinction, but it makes a big difference. In practical terms, what this means is that you have some control over what you’re able to make. The more deliveries you can complete in a given period, the more you’ll end up making.
Most people don’t think of it this way, but an app like DoorDash does require some degree of skill. I’ve been doing deliveries for so long that I’ve gotten to the point where I know the orders that I should accept or reject. I’m also able to move quickly between deliveries because I know my neighborhood and work area very well. The short of it is, someone that is more efficient and a little smarter with the orders they accept or reject is going to make more than someone who is accepting the wrong orders or isn’t doing things more efficiently.
That said, how much can you expect to make? You’re going to see a lot of different numbers. Some sources will tell you that Dashers make as little as $1.45 per hour. Most sources will probably give out a figure somewhere around $15 to $25 per hour.
I’d say if you’re doing DoorDash by itself and not using any other apps, you’re probably going to make somewhere between $15 and $25 per hour over the long run.
But, if you’re able to mix in other apps as well, you’ll find that it’s possible to make much more than that. This gets me to my next point…
How I Make $40 Or More Per Hour With DoorDash
I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true – I’m able to consistently average $30 to $40 per hour doing deliveries (and this has been especially true with the pandemic).
The reasons I’m able to do this are several-fold. First, I’ve been doing DoorDash for a long time (since 2016), so I know which orders to accept or reject and how to quickly complete deliveries.
Second, I use DoorDash as a side hustle, rather than as my primary source of income. This is important because it means I can limit my working hours to peak times when delivery demand is at its highest.
The final reason, and perhaps most important, is that I utilize multi-apping strategies. The general gist of multi-apping is that you run multiple delivery apps at the same time. The idea is that you want to accept orders from different apps going in similar directions. So, for example, if you pick up a DoorDash order, you might also be able to pick up a nearby Uber Eats order going in the same direction. If you’re even luckier, you might pick up a Grubhub order as well. By doing this, you can double or triple your earnings while still completing all of your deliveries on time.
You can do the math to see how multi-apping makes a high hourly rate possible. In my experience, I’ve found that most of the deliveries I accept are in the $5 to $8 range. I’ve also found that, given where I live, I’m able to get around 5-6 deliveries completed in an hour during peak times. Doing the math, you can see the range of income I can earn on an hourly basis with these numbers.
If I complete 5 deliveries per hour and average $5 per delivery, I’ll make $25 per hour. If I can make $6 per delivery, I’ve increased my hourly rate to $30 per hour. At $7 per delivery, we’re looking at $35 per hour and at $8 per delivery, we’re at $40 per hour. You can do the same math simply by calculating how many deliveries you think you can complete in an hour plus what you can expect to average per delivery.
In my experience, if you only run DoorDash, you’re probably getting a max of 3-4 deliveries completed per hour. And you can see just how much that can impact your earnings. But if you multi-app and can squeeze out just a few more deliveries in the same amount of time, you’ll that DoorDash and all of the other delivery apps can work out very well.
Of course, I don’t know your market. This is just based on my own experience in a medium-sized city, working in a dense downtown area.
Don’t Fall For The “Total May Be Higher” Trap
A quick note regarding the “total may be higher” language that you’ll see whenever you receive an order. You’ll notice that the payment information will always have this note that says your payment can be higher than what is shown. The general advice – don’t fall for this trap!
In practice, your payment will rarely be higher than the amount shown on the screen. The rare time that you can receive a higher payment than what is shown is if the order is really big, in which case the tip can push it higher than the amount shown. But, this only ever happens with really big orders. And I’ve found that in that situation, the pay shown in advance will tend to be higher than normal (typically $9 or more).
In short, don’t chase small orders thinking you might get paid more after delivery. It never (or at least rarely) happens.
DoorDash Dasher Ratings And What Do They Really Mean?
One thing that I think a lot of new DoorDash Dashers get confused about is the DoorDash ratings. You’ll notice that DoorDash rates you in four categories. These include the following:
- Customer Rating. This is the rating you get from customers on a 1-5 scale. The rating is based on your last 100 ratings, so it can take a long time for this rating to ever change. The vast majority of customers never rate you at all.
- Acceptance Rate. This is the percentage of orders sent to you that you accept. It’s based on your acceptance rate for your last 100 orders that were sent to your phone, so this number will change a lot.
- Completion Rate. Completion rate is the percentage of orders that you accept and complete. Incomplete orders occur when you accept an order and then don’t complete it (either because you unassign it or it doesn’t get delivered for whatever reason). They base this rating on your last 100 accepted orders.
- On-Time or Early Rate. This is the percentage of orders that you complete within the estimated delivery time. In my experience, this number never seems to change. I’ve completed nearly 2,000 orders and my on-time or early rate has always remained the same and never changes no matter what I do.
Here’s a look at my ratings so that you can get an idea of what your Dasher ratings can look like:
When you see these ratings, you might get confused about which ones you need to worry about. There are only two ratings that actually matter – customer rating and completion rate.
DoorDash makes clear that if your customer rating drops too low, you are at risk of deactivation. You can avoid problems with this rating by making sure you give good service and that customers have no reason to rate you poorly. That means be polite, deliver your food on time, and try to make sure their orders are correct if you can.
Completion rate is also another factor that DoorDash makes clear has to remain above a certain level or else you risk deactivation. In general, if you accept an order, you want to try your best to complete that order. There are times when strategically it makes sense to drop an order that you accept (for example, if the wait at a restaurant is too long or if you accept a stacked order, but only want one of those orders because the other one is going too far away). My general advice here is to do your best to keep your completion rate at 90% or higher. I try to give myself a percentage cushion so that I can unassign orders without my completion rate dropping into any dangerous territory.
Finally, the acceptance rate is the one I find most people get confused about. The definitive answer is that your acceptance rate does not matter. Because you are an independent contractor, you have the right to reject any order that you don’t mean to do. Putting any sort of requirement to accept a certain number of orders would risk DoorDash having to classify you as an employee, which they would never do. Indeed, DoorDash makes clear that you have the right to reject any orders you want:
You might ask why DoorDash includes this category if it doesn’t actually mean anything. My theory is they do this to essentially trick less experienced Dashers into accepting orders that otherwise wouldn’t make sense. A lot of people see this category and assume it must mean something. It doesn’t though. My acceptance rate rarely gets above 50% and often hovers in the 20%-30% range.
In addition to those four categories, there’s also a new category titled “Contract Violations.” This one is a bit annoying. If you arrive at a restaurant really late or deliver the food really late, you risk getting a contract violation. The idea is that when you accept an order, you have agreed to arrive at the restaurant by a certain time and to deliver the food by a certain time.
My only contract violation so far was when I arrived at a restaurant 13 minutes after the stated pick-up time. My guess is that if you’re 10 minutes late or more, you might get a contract violation. I’m not sure how late you can deliver an order, but I’m guessing it’s probably similar criteria.
I’m not sure exactly, but if you get too many contract violations, you risk deactivation. These contract violations slide off your record after 100 eligible deliveries, so if you do get 1 or 2 violations, they’ll eventually slide off your ratings. I’ll update this when I see what happens with my lone contract violation.
DoorDash Strategies
If you want to make the most money you can with DoorDash, you’ll need to use the right strategies. With the right strategies, you can make a decent amount each week with DoorDash. Here are some ideas you can use to make the most money dashing.
1. Think Like A Business
One of the critical things to remember when you’re Dashing is that you are an independent contractor and not an employee. The mistake I see a lot of new Dashers make is treating DoorDash as similar to any other job. But that’s not what it is – when you’re an independent contractor, you’re essentially running your own delivery business.
Since you’re running your own delivery business, it’s important to approach every delivery as you’d approach any business decision. No business would ever accept a job or client that wasn’t profitable, and you need to think the same way with every delivery offer that comes your way.
Ask yourself some questions whenever an order comes to you. Where is the order going? Is it going to a house, apartment, hotel, or hospital? How fast can you complete it? Is it from a restaurant that is likely to be quick or slow? All of these factors weigh in on whether you want to accept or decline a delivery request. It’ll take some practice, but eventually, you’ll get a good idea of which orders are worth it and which are ones to avoid.
2. Set Your Own Delivery Rates
While you can’t exactly set your own rates, you can still effectively set your own rates by only accepting orders that meet your criteria. Unfortunately, there are no universal criteria to determine what orders are worth accepting and which you should decline. It’s going to be heavily based on your market and your own experiences.
For example, some people will set a general rule that any order under a certain dollar amount is an automatic rejection. I disagree with this approach because there can be times when these small orders can make sense simply because of how fast you can complete them or because they’re going in the right direction. Similarly, some high-paying orders can end up being unworthwhile because they’re going the wrong way or are coming from restaurants that take a long time to prepare orders.
In general, whenever you see an offer, think about how long it will take to complete and where the order is taking you. Ideally, you want to avoid orders that take you outside of the busy areas.
My friend Ron over at Entrecourier uses what he calls the 50-Cent Rule. In general, if he believes he can complete an order and make 50 cents per minute for that order, he’ll take it. Thus, if he gets a $6 order, he’ll accept it if it’s likely he can complete the order in 12 minutes or less. There’s going to be some nuance here, but that’s not a bad rule of thumb to use until you figure out what works in your market.
3. Don’t Be Afraid To Cancel Orders That Aren’t Going Well
Sometimes, you have to know when to quit. Inevitably, you’ll end up in a situation where an order simply isn’t going well and is taking far longer than expected. The most common scenario is one where you’re picking up an order and find that the restaurant is really busy and your order isn’t ready yet.
You’re paid for the tasks you complete, not the time you spend working, so any time spent sitting around is ultimately going to hurt your bottom line. If it doesn’t seem like the wait will be much longer, then it’s likely worth waiting. But if you get the sense that the order isn’t going to be ready for a long time, it may make sense to unassign the order and move on to another one.
As mentioned in the section on Dasher ratings, you have to keep your completion rate above a certain level to avoid deactivation. This generally shouldn’t be too difficult to do, but it’s worth keeping a bit of a buffer with your completion rate so that you can have some flexibility with unassigning bad orders.
4. Use DoorDash While You’re Traveling
A little-known benefit of DoorDash is that you can Dash in any city that DoorDash operates in. This opens up some interesting possibilities.
Whenever I travel, I always bring a delivery bag with me. Over the years, I’ve done deliveries in almost every major city I’ve visited. Since I don’t use a car to do deliveries, when I’m visiting another city, I’ll use their bikeshare system. It’s a fun way to explore a new city and make some money while doing it. You might even find a local restaurant you want to visit.
The Downsides Of Being A DoorDash Dasher
In my experience, DoorDash is the best of the big three food delivery apps (i.e. DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub). Despite this, DoorDash isn’t perfect. In this section, we’ll go through some of the downsides and problems with DoorDash. But as I’ve mentioned before, you should never use only one delivery app – everyone should multi-app whenever they can.
Heavily Tip-Reliant. Back in the early days, DoorDash used to pay $6 per delivery, no matter how far the delivery was going. When combined with tips, doing just a few deliveries could be very lucrative. Today, about 50% of your earnings are going to come from tips. If you aren’t getting tips, you aren’t going to make much. Luckily, DoorDash tells you what you’ll make in advance, so you’re at least not guessing when you accept an order. Still, depending on how you view it, the fact that DoorDash is only contributing to half your pay can be a downside.
Small Delivery Zones. The small delivery zones can sometimes have the annoying impact of forcing you to end your Dash and then start a new Dash. I sometimes accept deliveries that take me out of my delivery zone and then I’m forced to log out and start a new Dash in my new zone or head back to where I was. This is really more of an annoyance than a real problem, but just something worth pointing out.
Contract Violations. The new “contract violations” language that DoorDash added creates a new wrinkle to the delivery game. DoorDash can hit you with a contract violation if you’re late arriving at the restaurant or delivering the food, but as most of us in the delivery world know, sometimes that’s simply not our fault. Another common issue that could potentially lead to contract violations is a situation where the customer falsely claims the order wasn’t delivered to try to get free food. I don’t know how DoorDash is addressing this situation, but it seems like these false claims can lead to contract violations and potentially getting deactivated.
Frequently Asked Questions About DoorDash
You probably have a lot of questions about DoorDash. Check out the posts I’ve written to answer some of the frequently asked questions about DoorDash.
- When can I start dashing?
- How do I change my delivery starting point?
- How can I cancel an order?
- What do I do if items are missing from my order?
- What do I do if the app crashes on me?
- Does the acceptance rate in the app matter?
- Can I do deliveries in another state?
- Does my customer rating matter?
- What is sent in the activation kit?
- How does tipping work on DoorDash?
- Why am I not receiving any orders?
- How does the red card work?
- When do deliveries stop?
- How far will most deliveries go?
- When will I get paid?
- Can people pay with cash?
- How much can I make in a week delivering for DoorDash?
- Why is no one picking up my order?
- What gear will I need when delivering food?
- How do I get paid?
- Is it safe to deliver on DoorDash?
- Can I pick up my order?
- What payment methods are accepted?
- Does DoorDash deliver to hotels?
- Does DoorDash perform a background check when applying?
- What are some scams to watch out for?
- Will DoorDash pay for gas?
Final Thoughts
Of the big three delivery apps (DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub), DoorDash is the delivery app that I rely upon the most. This might not be true in every market, but I find that DoorDash is the busiest, and as a result, I’m able to make the most money via DoorDash. The orders are also generally ready by the time I arrive, which means I’m able to keep doing deliveries and making money without a lot of wasted time.
Of course, I would not rely on DoorDash solely by itself. Instead, it’s best to multi-app and string together multiple deliveries at the same time from different delivery apps. This is the strategy that will allow you to maximize your earnings.
Hopefully, this post gives you some insight into how delivering with DoorDash works and how you can use the app to your advantage.
If you’d like more information about other delivery apps, feel free to check out these posts:
- Uber Eats Driver: Delivering For Uber Eats
- Grubhub Delivery Driver – What It’s Like Delivering For Grubhub
- Shipt Shopper App: My Grocery Delivery Side Hustle
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
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- Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
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- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
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- Fairwinds Credit Union ($100) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
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- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link.Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($20) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- Netspend ($20 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $20 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $20 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
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- Varo ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $500 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- DCU. Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a savings account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Thank you for this article–it is quite timely. I am not planning to deliver food, but am planning to use the app this week (Chase Sapphire Reserve is offering a credit) and I was worried about whether the driver would get my tip.
Buen articulo ,lo considero oportuno hago dordash en miami ,he tenido problemas con entregas en cuanto a distancia y pago que ofrece dordash,,pero excelente articulo que esclarece muchas dudas que se van adquiriendo en esta experiencia,,gracias ,
If everybody would stick together and didn’t take the $2 orders they offer you. Then they would have to raise their offerings. Doordash pays the least per trip. Uber pays the most and they compensate you for things that happen at the restaurant or delays on the road. The dash doesn’t care about their drivers they only care about their pocket that’s why they’re the only company making money. They’re getting less money from the restaurants now and they giving less money to the drivers I’ve noticed. Door Ash is trash .. and I really mean it that that bad. They try to lowball you every chance they get.They also promised me a sign up bonus that I never got. Spoke to thirtysomething people nobody cared. Again they don’t care about the drivers.DOORTRASH!!!
I happen to agree with you 100%. They send you far and they expect for you to pay tolls on Bridger and tunnel out if your pocket. I don’t understand is another thing why they have staring point 2h3n they send you out of your staring point.
I agree 100%. No transparency, I always suspected that may not pass along all tips customers give. Also it seems like when customer’s tip is generous they lower the base pay which nobody knows for sure what their pay chart looks like. They also screw people up with double orders, they pair up a low paying one with a decent paying one to make it look attractive.
Glad the post could give you a little info about how the app works from the courier side.
After years of stealing tips that customers leave on the app intended for drivers, DD has just paid a multimillion dollar lawsuit, however, the drivers were not compensated for their losses. Many drivers claim that DD still practices this but because there is no transparency whatsoever from the app on how payment is determined. Based on the years of DD (had UberEats) shady practices, it’s valid that drivers/customers are still suspicious. I feel that if most customers were aware of the exploitative manner in which the drivers are treated, most would not want their money supporting the practice. “Dashers” are currently averaging a $2 per delivery fee, risking Covid transmission, and many in harsh winter weather. This doesn’t even cover the gas for the driver, not to mention the commission fees DD charges the drivers, the gas and car maintenance, taxes, additional car insurance they need. These companies or sells are up by incredible percentages due to the pandemic yet they’ve slashed the driver’s delivery pay to an all time low.
The problem with doordash and Uber Eats now, is that they hired too many people and the drivers get the low end of limited orders. Drivers do not make as much money as they used to and sometimes waste more gas than actually making money. Doordash and Uber Eats needs to require higher fees due to higher gas prices.
Agree 100%.
Doordash is interesting and fun and you can make spare change in your spare time but when a company includes an estimated tip in your payout it means we’re under paying you and depending on charity to provide you a living wage.
No doubt about that. That said, I personally make quite a bit, but I’m also in a good area and know how to run multiple delivery apps at once, so I make it work well for me. I think the issue with DoorDash (and other gig economy apps) is that as they are currently set up, these are people running their own “businesses” rather than traditional employees. For some people, this will work out. For others, it’s not great.
This is so true. The writer who claims to earn upwards of $20 per hour is not the norm. Most average much less than minimum wage once fees and expenses are deducted. It’s a model that exploits its frontline workers, the restaurant partners and the customers. It’s not healthy for anyone except the CEOs
I will say that I’m not the norm, but here’s something for you to consider – if you’re actively searching for a website like this, you are very likely not the norm.
Good read. I have been dashing almost year. I went online looking for answers to some questions I have about door dash.when I came across your article. Even though you didn’t have answers to any of them. I am going to try a lot of your ideas.
If there are any answers you are looking for that I can address, let me know and I can try to add them to the post. I sort of just wrote what my experience has been like but I can’t anticipate all the questions people might have.
Doordash is a great company to work for if you want your time to be limited you want them to always make sure that you don’t get any good deliveries and they will blame you for stuff you really did not do and then they won’t explain why they did it they just deactivate you for no reason at all I love how the author of this tells you all of the things that seem positive and he won’t tell you any of the negative things and there are so many that outweigh the positive I challenge you to go ahead and work for doordash and see for yourself good luck and and I really hope you have some Band-Aids cuz it’s going to hurt
You right about some of the negatives. 2 examples doordash sent me and another dasher the same dash the other dasher got there first so the merchant gave it to her. Which means I had no way of completing it was on phone w/customer service for an hour between putting me on hold and never came back-just to not answering the phone so took matters in my own hands went to residents hit complete text doordash after receiving contract violation even gave them two Associates of the merchant as Witnesses doordash never ever responded to me and the violation stayed on my ratings. The next example is when you call customer service I don’t know what country they are from you can’t never understand them because they speak broken English and they really don’t understand some of the terms that we use in our language
A few thoughts about a situation like that:
(1) Chat is usually pretty fast. I’ve never had a very long wait. I don’t think I’ve talked to anyone on the phone in a long time.
(2) This is an exact situation where you should consider cutting your losses and unassigning. Check my section on DoorDash strategies, where I explain this is a tactic you need to consider. Once you got there and customer service wasn’t being helpful, you need to consider simply unassigning and moving on, rather than sticking it out.
(3) For customer service language problems, I really can’t complain there. Most companies outsource customer service. It’s just a thing you have to deal with, but I really don’t consider it a downside, especially because you ideally shouldn’t be dealing with customer service much, if at all.
Fair point. I added a section about the negatives. That said, I’ve had a good experience with DoorDash myself and of the big four delivery apps, I always rate DoorDash number 1 above Uber Eats, Postmates, and Grubhub (my own personal rankings are DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, with Postmates dead last to the point where it’s almost not worth doing).
Out of curiosity, which of the food delivery apps do you prefer?
Thank you for this detailed post! I did a little bit of DoorDash a few years ago. I live in a suburban area, so using a car is pretty much the feasible option, and I usually max out two orders per hour. Do you find it more difficult to do deliveries in the winter? I imagine Minneapolis’s winter to be pretty harsh at times.
It’s absolutely more difficult in the winter and I tend to cut back quite a bit in the winter. Generally, I slow down a lot from January to February and then pick it back up in March and April when the weather warms back up.
Thank you for sharing your experience bcz I did learn a thing or two. I’ve been dashing for only a few months now, but I have already become pretty efficient at multitasking orders and deliveries with personal errands either by using the “pause orders” function or timing it accordingly. I appreciate your explanation about rejecting orders and explaining the ratings. I think the lowest I’ve received so far is $3.00 base pay, no tip, which for my area is typical. I can’t really afford to reject them though, because $3.00 can add up quite a bit in just a short time.
I would like to see an article on maybe explaining our giving an example on HOW to multitask multi apps without stressing out or messing something up and another article on taxes and what to look out for or what to keep track of, especially with the recent changes in California with Prop 22.
Otherwise, great article full of useful info. Thank you.
Thanks Dalia. Glad the post was helpful. I did write a post once about understanding side hustle taxes. That might help, although I admittedly need to update it given current new tax rules since I last wrote it.
I’ll have to think about how to write about multi-apping. It’s something that is very necessary and a lot of it is second nature now.
I too would appreciate your thoughts on managing multiple apps, especially given the competing mapping functions and time-dependent nature of the services. Do you actually accept simultaneous orders from two different apps or services and fulfill the two different orders while the apps are running at the same time? Or do you run the apps simultaneously but only accept and fulfill one order at a time? I’m currently a Lyft driver in the Atlanta metro area and have just signed up for DoorDash. I’m using a late model Android phone. I’ve also signed up for Uber but am concerned about managing Lyft and Uber on the same phone. I’m also considering adding another phone and line to handle other service apps but of course it has to make economic sense to do so. Thanks for your great DoorDash post. Steve
If you only drive Uber, you don’t have to worry about this. My mistake was buying my first smart phone just to work with Uber, but I wasn’t good at using this kind of phone. I got disabled from Uber after about 100 rides so I could watch training videos. It would be nice if they reset my rating afterwards, like Lyft did. But after exactly 200 rides (and 82 orders I later found out), I was permanently disabled from driving with Uber. Most recently I have been driving with Grub Hub because someone said they pay more (although they are slow). But I went to Lyft after Uber, then Door Dash too because Lyft was not as busy as Uber. I remember twice when this didn’t work well. When I first quit my old job and drove full time, I started with Lyft, then Door Dash, then Lyft again. Somehow I got a Lyft request while I was driving Door Dash and I had to wait 15 seconds for the request to go away. Then I made sure Lyft was turned off. Another time, it was slow anyway during my Door Dash time, so I turned on Lyft. I know the minimum payment for Lyft isn’t the same everywhere, but it’s $4.12 for my location. I ended up getting a request from both at the same time, so I took the Door Dash order instead. This was back when the minimum payment was $6.50. Other than that, I think using multiple applications is a waste of time. The reason why I don’t drive with Door Dash currently is because someone put a false complaint on their order (driver under the Influence) but I told them I had two orders.
Hey Steve,
I accept orders from all of the apps simultaneously and do them at the same time. My goal is accepting orders going in the same direction. It’s common for me to even get orders from the same restaurant from different apps, all going in the same direction (i.e. I might pick up a Chipotle order on both DoorDash and Uber Eats, both going the same way).
I remember the good ole days, when I ran multi-apps simultaneously with Doordash as my primary. I was making upwards of $94,000 year. Then Uber deactivated me and it all came to an end. As a driver with over 5,000 deliveries, my word of advice to you is simple. If you ever get a warning from UberEats related to on-time deliveries or distance, stop driving for them altogether for a few months. I slowed down and was super careful. I only accepted orders one at a time that I knew I could complete on time. I made a wrong turn and had to go around the block, they sent me a 2nd warning. Then I waited two weeks and accepted just one Uber order, when I was finishing up a Doordash Order. It didn’t help. They deactivated me for going an additional 1/2 out of the way. From what I could derive from my behavior and the emails they sent me, once they have sent you a warning, they are going to be looking at driving distances – not completion times. Since, they are calculating your pay on mileage, they can legally argue you are in violation of your contract. Absolutely run double apps or triple apps, but if you ever get on UberEats radar, remember your livelihood is at stake, so be careful. Don’t try to outsmart Uber and when you return, use the suggested route. Don’t use a route that goes a longer distance, even if it is quicker. Get off their radar screen.
Thank you so much for your article. I was looking on the net and I came across your post and the comments are rally helpful. I just signed with DD literary 30 minutes a go after reading all these things I may reconsider working for this company
This article maybe true where he Dash, he can’t speak for all dashers…im a okla dasher and the things he talking about like don’t need a car and on-time pay….I need a car to dash because on one around the corner order food…and being on time I guess that’s a reward for doing something but I don’t know nothing about that….and u also have to pay ur own taxes which wasn’t mentioned….
Are you able to see prescheduled orders? That’s why I thought you got $44.11 on one order. But there’s also a longer rating page if you can. Also, I got help on this: since I lost driver rewards for a low rating, I was told to send a text after every delivery (so I can get credit for good ratings).
Now that your order has been delivered please take a moment to rate me as your driver by reopening your app at this time. I hope I was able to meet your expectations and earn a 5 star rating! 😀
I still don’t know how the man at the Door Dash office got that text if I type “customer”.
It’s very clear that multi-app is very important for increasing earnings. Could you provide some insight for managing multi-apps while on a bicycle?
How do you accept/decline orders while moving?
What about having the necessary space, especially for larger orders?
Are you able to complete multi-app orders and avoid lower ratings due to longer delivery times?
Can you address some of the differences between delivering on a bicycle and a car or any additional challenges of delivering by bicycle?
Hey Geoff.
A lot of this is just from practice. If you’re comfortable, you can accept/decline orders while you’re biking. If not, just slow down and check your phone.
I use a delivery backpack and it’s fine for me. I keep a second extra bag also that I can use if needed, but usually I don’t need it.
My ratings are all very high. I have no issues getting orders completed quickly and on time because I am strategic with the orders I accept.
Main difference with delivering on a bike is that your distances are shorter, so you’re playing much more of a volume game compared to a car. I can do 5-6 deliveries per hour during peak times on a bike. I doubt most people can do that in a car simply because of the added time of having to park, get in and out of your car, walk up to customer doors, etc. Most people underestimate how much time that adds compared to a bike, where I can pull up to any doors and just walk in.
Things to avoid when biking. Pizza orders are a pain, although I’ll do them if it’s short distance. I just hold it in that situation. Coffee orders are also terrible unless it’s Starbucks because Starbucks does a good job of packing their stuff.
hello sir. just wanna say this article is very good and informative. you did a nice job at explaining things in detail and if with game changing screenshots. i plan on signing up for a whole bunch of delivery apps. im gonna be on a bike aswell. im most likely gonna start the day at 6am or 7am. i will NOT be picky in the morning. ill prolly start looking for good ones around lunch time. thats when i might be more picky. how do you get different orders from different apps? does it pop up as a notification while your own a different app? also i remember watching a video where the dasher walked into the store and the order was not ready. so he pressed a “waiting for order” option on the app. im not sure what option he clicked or slide across. i tried to contact support about this “wait” option on the app and they will not answer me. they cancel the chat lol. but they did tell me they would compensate me if the wait time is over 30 minutes.
but in the video the guy clicked on something. do you know anything about this? i hope you see this message. i would email you this but i did not see a email. thanks man. i will leave my email in the info
Hi Fonzo, I dont know if you have already gotten an answer to your question. But its when you scroll down once you are in the restaurant and you say you have arrived. It says something like; complications with your order, it is underlined and if you click on it it openens up a page with options to pick such as long lines, order being prepared, order not started, etc. You pick one and it sends a message to the customer somehow. I have not seen it from the customer side. I use it everytime I walk in and the order isnt sitting there, I pick the order still being prepared option. In my mind it helps with the pickup by time also, so I wont be considered late. I have only been dashing a couple month, but my scores are all great except my acceptance rate and its 50 lol. Good luck! Happy Dashing!! 😀
really fast. sorry i meant to mention this. but this guy is really dope and iv been watching alot of his videos for tips to get started. a good video im really looking into is this https://youtu.be/jXisRTjfU3E he explains his set up and things you probably will need to start get going. do you know what model of bag i should buy? the best one you use possibly? does drinks ever spill in your bag? i honestly would like to know what the best bag to go with would be. thanks agian. i meant to add this in my other comment👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
So glad you wrote about multi-apping like this. I thought I was crazy or unethical because I’ve only seen multi-apping mentioned online for getting more orders to choose from, never for taking on multiple orders simultaneously. I’ve only been multi-apping for a week, but taking on one or two “perfect” UberEats orders per day to accompany a DD order I just accepted has boosted my hourly profit from $18/hr to $25/hr. (My market is a bit spread out. Car required, 2.5~ orders/hr)
I have 5600 under my belt… worked for the gig giant doordash since 2017… they were a lot better then than they are now….. in most cities they really do shave off the top for their cut. Super lame
Is it possible possible to sign-up to be a Dasher with an EIN? If not, are the earnings still eligible to be contributed to solo 401k if you sign-up with social?
How do you carry drinks on your bike?
I have a question…I’ve only been doing this for 4 weeks…DoorDash sent my redcard but I have not activated it…because I don’t want to do those orders…and now I’ve tried to schedule for dashing later and said I needed to activate my card first. Is this a must?
You need to activate it to start dashing. But you can just reject any orders that use the Red Card. I rarely accept red card orders.
Here’s a post I wrote that tells you everything you need to know about the Red Card.
I’m looking to become a DoorDash member. to earn extra income. can i become a member
I am less than impressed with Doordash. We have had a number of doordash drivers attempt to deliver at our address and it is NOT THEIR FAULT. The app is sending them to the wrong place. EVERY TIME! The frustrating part is that we have had orders left on our front porch – which is not a common entry – and found spoiled items moldering in bags. I WOULD NOT USE DOORDASH!
Is there an app that allows me to manage my Doordash and Uber jobs at the same time? I’ve been looking for it, but can’t really find it.