If you live in a large, dense city, one thing you might consider doing is DoorDash walking – that is, doing food delivery with DoorDash on foot.Â
It’s not the most efficient way to do deliveries, but it is a possibility for someone that’s thinking of doing DoorDash and doesn’t have access – or doesn’t want to use – a vehicle.Â
In this post, we’ll take a look at how DoorDash walking works, what you need to do DoorDash walking, and whether it’s worth it to do DoorDash on foot.
DoorDash Walking – How It WorksÂ
To sign up to be a DoorDash walker, you’ll first need to sign up in a market that allows walking. There are only a few cities that have this option – New York City being the most obvious example. This makes logical sense, of course. If you’re going to walk, you need to be in a dense city where orders are short enough to make walking feasible.Â
When you sign up, you’ll select walking as your mode of transportation. Once you’ve filled out your application and passed your background check, you’ll be able to start walking deliveries.Â
As a walker, DoorDash will limit you to short-distance orders that you can complete on foot. These will typically be within 1 mile or less. Because you’re limited to short-distance orders, you’ll naturally get fewer orders compared to someone using a car or a bike.Â
What Do You Need To Be A DoorDash Walker?Â
As a DoorDash walker, you don’t need any special equipment. DoorDash will send you the DoorDash activation kit, which comes with a delivery bag and a DoorDash red card. The red card is the only item from DoorDash that you need to start delivering (you can’t start delivering without an active red card).Â
That being said, I do recommend a few pieces of equipment to make your delivery experience easier. A delivery bag is a must. It’ll make it much easier to hold your food items. I’d recommend using the DoorDash delivery bag that they send you. It holds plenty of food and should do the job.Â
A good pair of walking shoes is also critical. If you’re walking, you need to be comfortable and you don’t want to walk around a city in uncomfortable shoes.
Finally, it’s a good idea to get a transit card or something that lets you use the mass transit in your city. Being able to hop on the subway or a bus can save you a lot of time when you’re walking orders. I’ve walked orders a few times when I’ve visited New York, and being able to hop on the subway has definitely saved me time.
The first two items are really all you need, with a transit pass a good item to consider as well. But as long as you have a delivery bag (the DoorDash one will do) and decent shoes, you should be fine.
Is Walking DoorDash Orders Worth It?Â
The obvious advantage of walking deliveries is that you don’t need a vehicle and you won’t have to deal with traffic or parking. For bikers, not having to worry about your bike getting stolen is a nice plus.
DoorDash walking also is useful if you work in an office and want to make a few bucks during your lunch break. Even if you’re in work clothes, you can still walk around and deliver a few orders during the lunch break without getting dirty or breaking a sweat. It’s a nice way to get some steps in and make a few extra bucks too.Â
The other time I consider walking DoorDash orders is if I’m traveling and don’t have access to a bike or car. One of the big advantages of DoorDash is that you can do it in any state. When I’m traveling, I like to turn on the DoorDash app and see if I can get any decent orders. It allows me to explore a new city and get paid while I do it!Â
With all that being said, walking orders isn’t the best way to do DoorDash, and the only reason I’d do DoorDash as a walker is if I simply wanted to earn a little bit of extra money or I just wanted to get some exercise and fresh air and get paid while I do it. I see DoorDash walking as something to do mainly for fun.
If you’re looking to make real money from DoorDash, I highly recommend getting a bike, ebike, or electric scooter. These vehicles aren’t that expensive and you’ll earn your money back quickly. The way I see it, buying an ebike or electric scooter to do food delivery with can be treated as an investment – buy a solid ebike or scooter and use it to do deliveries. You’ll make all of your money back if you use the right delivery strategies.
Final Thoughts
DoorDash walking is an interesting option that might be available to you, depending on where you live. You can make a bit of extra money doing it this way, but I don’t recommend it as anything more than a side hustle or fun thing you do. If you can, I highly recommend getting a bike though. It’ll be much better (and you may have more fun biking around your city too).
Some people online have shared videos of themselves walking orders on DoorDash. They’re pretty entertaining videos, so take a look and see how they do it and if it’s something you want to try out too.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
- GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
- 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.
- Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- 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.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – 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. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks, $100 cash reward, 1 stock of Tesla or Google) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 3 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (24 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 24 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- GO2Bank ($100) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $100 referral bonus.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($750) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Fifth Third Bank ($225) – This offer is limited to customers in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and South Carolina. If you don’t live in one of those states, you won’t be able to open an account online but you can still open an account in-branch if you happen to be visiting a city that has a branch. This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, especially since there are plenty of data points showing what will trigger the direct deposit requirement. In addition, you can open the Fifth Third Momentum Checking bank account, which comes with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Read my guide on this bonus here.
- 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.
- Netspend ($40 + 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 $40 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 $40 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
- 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.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($35) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $35 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 $750 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.
I like to do walking doordash cuz I need the extra money for my kid