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I remember when my brother first told me about a new app he’d found called Postmates. He’d just returned home to the US after living overseas for a few years and didn’t have a job, so, in order to make a bit of cash while he was job hunting, he picked up a side gig as a Postmates courier, delivering food for people around the city.
Here was my brother, a college-educated, smart, hard-working millennial…working as a delivery man. He was really putting that college degree to use.
We’re a pretty lazy society. And the rise of the on-demand economy might be one of the lazier things out there. Remember when you used to have to go outside in order to get the things you wanted? Now, all you have to do is tap a button on your phone and someone can come right to your door with anything you want. Everything in your city is available to you right from your phone – for a fee, of course.
Using these on-demand services isn’t great for your wallet, but the rise of the on-demand economy does bring with it the opportunity to engage in some good side hustling. And Postmates and other food delivery apps have probably been my favorite side hustles to date.
What Is Postmates?
As my brother described it to me, Postmates is an app for people who are either really lazy or really busy. One of the first deliveries he made was to a customer who had ordered coffee from Starbucks. My brother happened to be in the neighborhood, so he quickly accepted the order. Oddly, the Starbucks was across the street from the customer.
“Why’d this person pay someone to pick up a coffee if it was just across the street?” I asked.
“Because they (sic) lazy,” he replied.
Laziness aside, what really intrigued me was how Postmates worked on the courier side. The easiest way to think about Postmates is as an Uber for food delivery. Similar to Uber, my brother could log in and accept any orders that came in through the app. He was also free to reject any orders that he didn’t like and he didn’t have to follow any set schedule. And the best part – he could use any mode of transport he wanted. He didn’t have a car, so he opted to use his bike to make deliveries. Sometimes he’d use a skateboard. Other times, he’d simply walk his orders to the customer.
The concept seemed pretty great to me. I’m always on the lookout for side hustles that incorporate things I’m already doing. And like any true personal finance geek, I love biking. So when the wave of on-demand food delivery services – such as Postmates – hit my city, I immediately signed up.
I was a big shot lawyer…and here I was signing up to work as a delivery man.
How Does Postmates Work?
Postmates is just one of the many on-demand food delivery apps that have hit the scene in the past few years. Besides Postmates, there’s also DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, and others. The basic concept of all of these services is the same. On the customer side, you pull up the app, look for something you want, and then place an order. The app then pings a nearby courier who grabs the order for you and brings it to your door.
On the courier side, Postmates basically works like any other on-demand app. Couriers can log in at any time they want and accept or reject orders as they come in. When you become a Postmate, you aren’t an employee. Instead, you’re classified as an independent contractor. While there are numerous lawsuits challenging this classification, for someone like me, being classified as an independent contractor is great! I’ve already got a day job, so I don’t want a second job. I want a side hustle.
Why I Think You Should Be A Bike Messenger
If you’re thinking of becoming a delivery person, you’ll typically have two choices – you can drive your car or you can bike.
I personally would not recommend doing Postmates using your car. Restaurants are typically located in high traffic areas, so using your car means you’ll waste time, money, and gas trying to find parking. The costs to operate your car will also reduce your earnings. And truth be told, being a delivery person in a car isn’t very fun.
But doing deliveries on a bike – that’s a different story.
Most of us in the personal finance world are well aware of the advantages of biking. It’s good for the environment. The costs to operate a bike are slim to none. And perhaps most important, biking has great health benefits.
There aren’t a lot of side gigs out there where you can make money while also being active. Most professional jobs these days are pretty sedentary. As a lawyer, I basically spend 8 hours a day sitting in front of a computer screen. Those of you who are bloggers probably spend much of your day sitting in front of a computer as well. Some people say sitting is as bad as smoking. Our jobs could be killing us!
But being a bike messenger…well, have you ever seen an out of shape biker? I know I haven’t. What do you think a couple hours a week of biking will do for you? Do you think you could improve your health by hopping on a bike more often?
How I’m Getting Paid To Bike
Since I enjoy biking, whenever I feel like getting a little bit of exercise (or whenever I’m just feeling a bit antsy), I’ll turn on the Postmates app and wait for an order to come in. Fortunately for me, I live in a high demand area. That means when I want to make some deliveries, I don’t even have to leave my house while I wait for an order.
Once an order comes in, it’s off to the races. For most restaurants, Postmates places the order in advance for you. All I have to do is wait until the order is ready, and then I bike on over to the restaurant. Since I’m on a bike, I never have to worry about parking – I can pull up right to the front door.
For some places – mainly fast-food restaurants – you have to place the order yourself. I generally try to avoid orders where I have to place the order myself unless it’s a place that I know will be fast. I’ve been doing Postmates for half-a-decade now, so I’ve gotten pretty good at figuring out which type of orders to accept and which to reject. You’ll eventually figure this out as well with experience.
I have a road bike that I keep on my porch that I’ll use if I’m planning to do an extended period of deliveries. More often than not though, I actually end up making deliveries using my city’s bikeshare system. That means I usually don’t even use my own bike to make deliveries.
And I get a great workout from doing Postmates. The app adjusts the distances for orders based on the type of vehicle you use. Most bike orders won’t be more than a few miles away. When you think about it, it seems like a pretty good idea to get a few miles of biking in during your spare time and make a bit of cash as well. It’s a double benefit! There aren’t a lot of gigs out there that improve your health and allow you to get paid.
As my brother once told me when I was trying to learn more about Postmates: “I don’t even need a gym membership anymore.”
Recently, I started to try doing deliveries using an electric bike or electric scooter. Ebikes are one of the best inventions I’ve started to use and they’re a game-changer.
How Much Can You Make?
You’re not necessarily going to get rich from doing Postmates, but you also shouldn’t underestimate the impact of this type of side hustle over time. Every dollar you earn doing bike deliveries is a dollar you can save away. It really adds up. And with the right strategy, it’s possible to make food delivery work out very well for you.
Postmates calculates your pay primarily based on distance. In general, your base pay is going to be very low. Most of your earnings will come from tips. Unfortunately, Postmates doesn’t tell you what your tip will be in advance, so you’re taking a risk whenever you accept a Postmates order.
If you do Postmates just by itself, you won’t make a ton. Back when I only did Postmates, my hourly rate was around $12-$15 per hour.
Over the years, however, I’ve added additional food delivery apps to my repertoire – specifically, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. By multi-apping – that is, running multiple apps at the same time – I’m able to dramatically increase my earnings. Indeed, I often earn $30 to $40 per hour by running multiple delivery apps at the same time and accepting multiple deliveries from different apps going in the same direction.
The Negatives Of Doing Postmates
At the outset, I’ll say this – in my opinion, Postmates is the worst of the big four delivery apps. Years ago, Postmates was my only option, but now with so many delivery apps to use, Postmates is always my last choice. Here’s why:
Low Paying. Without a doubt, Postmates pays the least of the four main delivery apps. While you can make some decent money if you get tips, Postmates either doesn’t encourage tipping or the customers that use Postmates are just cheap. Unlike other delivery apps, Postmates doesn’t tell you what you’ll make before you accept an order, so anytime you accept an order, you’re completely rolling the dice on whether it’ll be worthwhile or not. The only time I ever do Postmates deliveries these days is if it’s on my route while I’m doing a delivery for another app.
Heavily Tip Reliant. The base pay Postmates offers for deliveries is absurdly low. I’ve found that if I don’t get a tip, I end up making $3 or less for each delivery. That’s completely not worth it. I wrote a while back about how a customer once stiffed me on a $438 steak dinner he ordered. With the tip, I would have made at least $50 on that large order. Without the tip, I made $4. And the order was a pain to deliver.
You Might Not Live In A High Demand Area. One of the benefits for me in doing Postmates is that I don’t have to go anywhere if I want to grab an order. I live in an area with a lot of restaurants and a lot of young people ordering from the app, so all I have to do is turn on the app while I’m sitting on my couch. Those of you who have to actually travel into more high demand areas might find this gig isn’t worth the time.
Not Every Location Allows Bikes. Depending on your location, you might not be able to make deliveries using a bike. If you have to drive, I don’t think Postmates is worth your time.
Everyone Should Try Doing Bike Deliveries
I really do think everyone should try their hand at being a bike messenger. It’s a great way to get paid to exercise. Really, it might be the only way to get paid to exercise unless you’re a trainer or run some sort of health class. Even if you aren’t going to do any deliveries, it only takes a little bit of time to sign up, so it’s worth doing it just to have it in your back pocket.
My general advice is to sign up for all of the food delivery apps. That includes Postmates, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Sign up for all of them and have them in your side hustle toolkit. You can sign up for all of these apps while you’re on your couch and if you ever want to make some extra money, you’ll have them ready for you.
If you’re interested in becoming a Postmate, you can sign up using my affiliate link.
For more info about other food delivery apps, check out my in-depth posts below:
- DoorDash Dasher: What It’s Like Delivering For DoorDash
- Uber Eats Driver: Delivering For Uber Eats
- Grubhub Delivery Driver – What It’s Like Delivering For Grubhub
This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – 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 Ebike – 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.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R 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 just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 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.
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- 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.
- SoFi Money ($325) – 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 $300 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.
- Upgrade ($300) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $300 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $300 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – 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.
- 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 ($800) – 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.
- Fifth Third Bank ($200) – 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.
- GO2Bank ($50) - 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 $50 referral bonus.
- 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.
- 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 ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 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 $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $800 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.
- Empower. 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.
Thanks for sharing your experience with Postmates! It’s great to hear that you’re enjoying the flexibility and earning potential that comes with being a courier. I’ve been considering signing up with Postmates myself and your review has definitely given me some helpful insights. Do you have any tips for new couriers starting out with the platform? Thanks again for sharing!
I ride an e-bike doing food deliveries. It is great fun and it does make a nice, modest extra income while I’m getting a work out.
I can also claim any fancy gear I add to my bike on tax.
I think someone should mention that riding a bicycle can be exceptionally dangerous if you don’t have the road skills. I grew up riding a bicycle in the city where I live so I had years or experience avoiding cars.
If you don’t have that you should really take it easy to begin with, get tips from bicycle riders who know what they’re doing and never, ever ride a bicycle as if it’s a car. Assume no one sees you and no one will be giving you the right of way and learn to have a plan when they don’t. That will save your life.
Agree with that. It takes practice to get comfortable on a bike. In my city, the bike infrastructure continues to get better, which I think is helping more people ride.
Interesting article. What are your thoughts on Uber recently buying out Postmates? Now we’re down to the big three with Caviar being bought out by Doordash, which I understand was a while ago, and now Uber buying out Postmates. Do you think someday, every food delivery service app is just going to be owned by one company? I was working for Postmates before and was brought over to Uber during the transition.
I actually am happy Postmates is gone now because its the app I used the least and was sort of annoying to have running when I’m multi-apping since they keep sending you the same deliveries even if you rejected it before.
I doubt it’ll all be one company. Competition is good.
The only negative thing I have to say about this is calling people lazy for ordering lol. I unfortunately do not have a vehicle so my only choice is delivery apps. And when I’m hungry I’m hungry. I really want to give this a try. Like my sister an I do it together but I hope it’s not going to be embarrassing and a pain .
Ha, yeah I mean I’m joking. I know people have things that make it so they can’t pick it up themselves. I just sometimes laugh at the really short orders. My shortest order I’ve ever had was from a restaurant literally on the same block as the delivery drop off. It was to a guy who was working at an escape room and couldn’t leave. I didn’t even have to cross the street to drop this order off.
Hey! Thank you for this article. I’m sorry when I signed up I didn’t use your referral code, pretty slimy of me :/ . Did my first two deliveries yesterday.
Nice. Make sure to sign up for DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub too. Depending on where you live, there might be some other delivery options as well.
The best thing to do is run multiple apps at once.
I got stymied by POSTMATES.
I did sign up, … .at least tried to. Both on their website, and downloading the app. I tried to “become a POSTMATE” but it required me to login. So, I did, with the setup I used to sign up. Incorrect password. Waited, same problem. Tried to reset and set up a different password. Then tried to log in a few minutes later with the new setup. Still, no dice. Going on to another platform. Spent 30 minutes trying to “solve them”. I’m drawn to this app, because I would exclusively bike to make deliveries. I’m on my bike most days, and love hills, so they would not deter me.
Eh, Postmates is the worst of the big four delivery apps anyway (Postmates, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub). Sign up for all the others. Try using a different email or something for Postmates to see if that solves the problem.
I would like to work in postmates by bike but checkr needs driver license what should Ido?
I’d imagine you use your normal identification card or whatever it is you use to show ID.
You made some physical activity and get to have some decent money, not bad at all! Thanks for sharing this!!
Was curious on how you deliver using the city bikesharing system. Dont you have to pick one up, dock it nearby the restaurant, pick up another bike at the dock then dock it again at your final destination? Or do you simply just leave it outside unattended without docking it
Two ways I do this. First, my city has both dockless and docked bikes. With the docked bikes, I just leave it outside unattended and come back for it. In my city, people do not steal bikeshare bikes. Also, most restaurants have big windows so you can easily see the bike from inside anyway, so if someone was to take it, I’d just walk out and tell them to stop.
If its the dockless bike, naturally, I can just lock it and come back for it when I’m done picking up my order.
Postmates provide great opportunities but it’s a little bit slow when it comes to pay wages. It could be a good start for a new rider. Also you could work for several companies and get more money this way.
Yeah, definitely stack your apps. I put on Postmates, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Amazon Flex, and run them all at the same time. Depending on where you live, you can also stack Caviar, Tapingo, Clustertruck (maybe), Favor (maybe), GoPuff (maybe). You can also stack non-delivery apps, such as Wag, Bird/Lime/Spin/Skip, WeGoLook, GigWalk/EasyShift/Field Agent, and many more. Check out my side hustle reports to see how I do it.
Wow so cool! You get to earn money at the same time you already made some exercise. I’m feeling like picking up my bike now! By the way enjoyed reading your post.
Im new to post mates but this is my 2nd week and I can’t wait. My first week I made $308 only doing 5:30pm-830pm Tues-Sat and we keep the app on from 10am- 10pm for our days off on Sun and Mon and just catch whatever comes as we feel. We made $100+ on Sunday and $84 on Monday alone!!. My husband and I do it as a team in our car but signed in as bikers so, no parking issues and when I get tired, he turns his app on and finishes the night. We like to stay in our neighborhood since it’s high traffic in our city so we prefer the orders given to the bikers and we don’t get any long drive orders. Then, since we live near San Francisco, we go there whenever we want to hangout and turn on our app for extra spending money but we make more in our neighborhood. Perfect for us as a couple who’s new to the city, we learn our city as we spend nights out together after work. Great bonding time.. And now we know all the hotspots to eat!
That’s so awesome – a perfect way to incorporate some side hustling with other fun things you like to do. I’ve done the same thing with my wife, where we’ve biked around doing deliveries together just for fun. Even better is if you refer your spouse using your own referral links. That way you can make even more while spending some time together.
Any suggestion on this nj courier?
Hello great article! I now bike with postmates and ubereats in Miami area part time and it’s been awesome so far. My question comes down to taxes and whether I should open an LLC for this because I’ve heard of it online but I do not know the benefits of doing so. I would like to know if you have done this yourself and if so what the benefits are.
Thanks!
Hey Sebastian, an LLC doesn’t have any tax benefit to is. It’s done purely for legal liability purposes, and if you’re doing Postmates and Uber Eats, your chances of running into legal issues is basically zero. In other words, you don’t need to waste your time or money to set up an LLC to do your deliveries. Glad to see you’re biking it – that’s the pro-move.
Okay great thank you for the clarification. I am planning on trying out door dash soon, do you have any referral links I could use before I do?
Awesome, I’ll use that to sign up then.
Thank you! Keep up the great articles.
Great read.
Hello FP, I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles and I have been doing the Postmates, Doordash and Uber Eats platforms now for about 3 months in my area using my car as a side hustle and have made about $3,800. My personal favorite app is Doordash. I can relate to you with the fact that I am a degreed accountant making a healthy annual salary thus I don’t announce to my co-workers and friends that I have this side hustle to save any embarrassment. I began the side hustle in the middle of April and it is now the beginning of July. With about 6 months left in this year…….and at the rate I’m going I plan to have almost $12K or more in extra side hustle money going straight to my savings. I average a little over $300 dollars a week some weeks are more and some are less. By the way, Doordash paid out $500 to my friend who referred me to Doordash after I completed my 200th delivery and I actually got a $50 bonus from Doordash. My friend was nice enough to give $100 from the $500 that he got paid as a referral bonus so I ended with an extra $150 for that week. I have signed up for all the 5% prepaid accounts and enjoy your blogs/articles. Keep up the great work and keep sharing your ideas with us.
Thanks Jerry! Answered your other question before about business cards before I got to this comment. But after reading this, you are even more legitimate a business – you make more than a lot of people’s “real” businesses! Thanks for reading and glad you found the blog!
I’m trying postmates for some months but it’s hard when the customers rate me less than 4.8 and I knowing that I do 5 star deliveries based on the postmates app directions.
Wow, FP! I love reading your blog and learning about all the side hustle opportunities! I’ve always been a hustler (working full time, part time, and owning my own petsitting business). I recently moved 1,100 miles away to the Fort Lauderdale area, and now these side hustles sound like fun and probably weren’t available where I used to live.
My question for you is, if you’re transporting on bikes, is there a type of bag or carrier you can attach to your bike to carry the deliveries? Thanks so much!
Sara
Hey Sara! Thanks for the kind words! I typically use either a delivery backpack that Uber Eats gave me for $10 or I use the free insulated bag that Postmates/Doordash/etc gave me. Backpack is self-explanatory, and then if I’m using just the little carrying bag, I just carry sling the bag over my shoulder and bike with it over my shoulder. It works for me, but if you want to get real professional, you might want to get some sort of basket installed on the back of your bike that you can then put the food in. Just do what works for you!
Do you personally ever find yourself canceling orders when you see where you need to go? And if so, have you ever received a message from Postmates about this?
I have done it before, but probably only 3 times or so. I’ll need to review my post to see if this needs to be updated, but it used to be that, once you accepted an order, you could see where it’s going and if it was too far away or going somewhere I didn’t want to go, I’d just cancel it and nothing would happen to me (sometimes, I would get kicked off the system for 5 minutes, which wasn’t a big deal).
In the latest version of Postmates, you now only see where the order is going once you’ve actually picked up the order. This is problematic obviously because, if you cancel at that point, you still have the food. They let you keep the food actually, so you end up with a free meal, but then you get a nasty warning message saying that they understand things happen, but if you keep doing it again, you’ll get deactivated. So, I’m very wary of canceling orders just because I don’t want to risk deactivation.
What I usually do now is only take orders if (1) I know I have plenty of time to do deliveries and am willing to go in any direction, or (2) if I don’t have time to do a lot of deliveries, I’ll only accept an order from a restaurant with a lot of locations, like a McDonalds or a Chipotle – that way, I know the order has to be relatively close to that particular restaurant.
Right now, the two delivery services that let you bike and tell you where the order is going are DoorDash and Caviar. I usually do DoorDash when I know I can only accept orders where I need to see where it’s going. So, my advice is to make sure you’re signed up for both of those if they’re available in your area.
Wow, thanks for this info. Really helpful. I didn’t even think about the McDonald’s/Chipotle effect.
So if you are able to see where you are going (with DoorDash/Caviar), this seems highly preferable to me even if you have the time. What are the advantages that PostMates has in your area that Doordash/Caviar do not?
I tested out PostMates for the first time this week and it took me about the max trip distance for being on a bike, some of it on a fairly congested street without too many alternatives.
I guess I am wondering why even use PostMates…. more consistent/higher payouts?
So good question. At the time I wrote this post (initially written in October of 2016 I believe), Postmates was one of the only big delivery services in Minneapolis, so hence I did only Postmates.
Today, I do three delivery services that are still in the Twin Cities – Postmates, DoorDash, and Uber Eats. Caviar used to be here in Minneapolis and was my favorite one, but they left our market. My advice is to always sign up for every single delivery service that is in your city that lets you use your bike. So depending where you are, sign up for Postmates, Doordash, Caviar, Uber Eats, Tapingo (if they have them in your city), maybe Grubhub if they let you use bike, and whatever other services you might find.
The reason I still do Postmates is because of volume – I think they’re still the busiest one in my city. But, what I usually do is run all three at once, then when I get an order I want to do, I’ll turn off the other ones, complete the order, then turn them all back on again. It’s always best to be signed up for as many companies as possible just to keep your side hustle toolkit full.
Hi there,
I’m just wandering about your registration process. When you signed up, did you have to give drivers details, because I am looking into making bike deliveries since I do not have a license. I can’t get any further in signing up without giving a drivers license, so if you know how to get around this I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you very much…
I’m sure I had to give my driver’s license or something to verify my identity and so they can run their background check. Maybe a passport or something?
Kevin,
Generally bike-share bikes are heavier, poorly geared, and generally less efficient than bikes owned by people who really like biking. You are person who likes biking. Have you considered that the decrease in productivity resultant from using bike-share bikes might outweigh the savings you experience from maintenance costs resulting from using your own bike?
Oh for sure, I’ve definitely thought of this and one of my best friends has been saying this same thing to me for years From a productivity standpoint, absolutely, you should use your own bike if you need to maximize your deliveries per hour.
I tend to do deliveries more for fun and exercise, however, rather than to maximize my revenue, and for whatever reason, I have a lot more fun doing my deliveries on bikeshare bikes, than I do on my normal bike. Hence why I tend to do them on bikeshare bikes, rather than my own bike.
The other thing about bikeshare bikes are, due to their size, I find it easier to hold food and balance myself on them, and I don’t bounce as much when I hit curbs or bumps, which helps me keep my food from spilling.
Finally, I hate having to constantly lock and unlock my bike when I go into a restaurant. The nice thing is that I usually can just leave a bikeshare bike outside, and no one will really steal it. They’re not particularly attractive targets for theft, so I can just pull up, leave my bike at the window or something, and then walk inside without fear that my bike will be gone when I get back.
Indeed delivery services are the best way to capitalize on lazy people! My boyfriend did a Postmates bike delivery for someone ordering one Starbucks latte! The only issue is we live in a very hilly area and even I’m too lazy to do bike deliveries in the area! I did one delivery from a Chinese restaurant but I found it super awkward balancing the food on the shoulder bag they provide while biking uphill…Your post was inspiring though, so I may just pick up a few soon (with a backpack this time!) 🙂
Great read thanks! I am less then two months into Post Mating, as I call it. I drive, I turn the app. on when I leave the office and try to do a couple deliveries on the way home each day. I also try to do 2-3 hours on my days off, and some days I just don’t. I love that I can start and stop at will any given day. In 53 days I’ve brought in $1180.00, with about 10 tips still pending (fingers crossed). My estimated gas for all is about $42.00. If I average it out I’m delivering just over 1 hour a day. And today I booked a vacation, that 2 months ago was only a dream. I’m so glad I found this side hustle!
Awesome! I used to do the same thing when I worked in downtown Minneapolis. I’d just turn on Postmates before leaving the office and do a delivery that I thought looked like it was going back in my direction. It seems like you’re doing well even though you’re driving. I personally just prefer being able to do it via bike.
If you’re looking for some extra income, I know that Uber Eats offers signup bonuses for people who do 10 deliveries or so. There’s no time limit in which you need to do the deliveries either, so you can just sign up for Uber Eats and do deliveries whenever you feel like it. I think it’s worth doing just to get the signup bonus, and maybe just keep it around in case you find yourself slow on other platforms. If you’re interested in snagging yourself a signup bonus, use my Uber Eats referral link. (Note that I get a bonus for referring people). The good thing is if you can convince your spouse to do deliveries too, then you can refer them too and snag yourself even more money.
My car isn’t new enough to sign up for uber :(, but sometime soon maybe. If I do I’ll for sure use your referral.
Interesting thing is if you’re doing Uber Eats, I don’t think you need a new car. Remember, Uber Eats you’re delivering food, not people, so I don’t think the type of car matters. I signed up for Uber Eats on my bike.
I’ll check!
Admittedly, at first I was very skeptical of this post, but after having read it, I approve of post-mates. The reason is that you combine everything that is great for happiness, exercise, fresh air, and income. For example, I ride my Priority 8 bicycle to work on a daily basis. It is only 20 minutes longer ,round trip, than driving my car to work. I estimate I save about 50 cents per mile, not driving my car. On top of it, I have no gym membership, so I am cost neutral as far as exercise goes.
I recently wrote an article that frugality trumps side hustles in almost every case, then listed four reasons why to have a side hustle. I think, had I known about this, combining exercise with pay is about the best a side hustle can get.
That’s EXACTLY why I think doing deliveries on a bike is so great. No matter how much time you have, EVERYONE needs to get outside and be active in some manner. Even taking an hour to do some deliveries after work is worthwhile. Even if you don’t make that much on deliveries, you’re getting a financial benefit from improved health.
I had one day where I did deliveries for an entire day. I only made about $130, but I also biked for basically 8 hours straight! I can’t quantify the value in the biking part, but I’m guessing it’s a good amount in health benefits from a wage standpoint. There aren’t many other side gigs where you can do that beyond being a Yoga instructor or something (and even then, you’re going to have a work on a schedule – not so with doing bike deliveries!).
Combining job duties and healthy benefits of riding a bike. 🙂
Yep!
Darn! Got through the first few questions then it blocked bike mode for delivery on me. No use trying it by car. We have parking meters everywhere!
You could try signing up with a car anyway. When I signed up Ms. FP in order to get our referral bonus (see my post on how I made $50 an hour biking around) it also didn’t give her the option to sign up as a bike messenger. All we did was sign up anyway, then when we got activated, we changed her to bike within the app. I bet you can do the same thing!
Great idea for getting paid to exercise!
I’m just wondering how tips work? I assume the buyer does that when they place the order, but I’ve heard of stranger things (not) happening. I’d feel horrible especially considering the base wage for food service workers in some states is a bit over $2 per hour…
This the big problem with Postmates when it comes to tips. The customer can decide to tip after the delivery is complete. Since you’re not in front of them, some customers will leave you a zero dollar tip, probably either because they don’t care or don’t realize that I can see they didn’t tip.
I’ve recently signed up with DoorDash and have had much greater success with tips on that platform. With DoorDash, when you place your order, you have to put the tip in beforehand. Most customers, when faced with an option to tip in advance, will give a tip because they’re afraid that I’ll see their tip and give them bad service.
Uber Eats is the absolute worst. It has no tipping option at all and they actively tell customers that tip is part of the fee, when that doesn’t seem to be the case. I’m still experimenting with Uber Eats just for fun, but I’m really confused at how anyone can make money on it from my current experience.
I always enjoy reading your side hustle! It is kind of crazy how the society is pursuing convenience and willing to pay for it. On the flip side, there’s definitely money to be made there.
Totally right! It’s pretty awesome how you can do this stuff now on your own time. I hope people stay lazy forever because I have so much fun doing some bike messengering. (is messengering a word?)
Great review FP! Really enjoyed reading about your experience with Postmates. So many people talk about how they don’t have money to save or they have a ton of debt that they’re drowning in. A side hustle like this would be perfect for anyone looking to turn their free hours into extra money to improve their situation!
Thanks Matt! Totally right. Whenever I hear someone who just works a regular 9-5 job, I always wonder why they don’t just find a little side hustle like this. It takes no work to basically just sign up and try it out, and if it’s not fun, then you can just stop doing it! And honestly, biking around and getting paid? What’s better than that?
Wow, how cool! It just goes to show that anyone with the will can make some extra cash if they want to. Plus, you can stay in shape.
That’s exactly why I like doing this so much. It’s a pretty good way to get outside and get some exercise, while also making a little bit of dough. And honestly, I find it really fun too do. It’s like I get sent out on a little mission each time.
Nice review, FP! I have not used postmates delivery service. I don’t live in the city and I ‘m afraid this might not be an option, however, I am going to check it out anyways.
Thanks Michael! Postmates is really dependent on city, and unfortunately, isn’t for everyone. But always worth seeing if its out there.
Really, my point with this post is just to show how many weird ways there are to make money, how to not be too “proud” to do work that you think might be beneath you, and how you can make money doing things you already do or should be doing. There’s a ton of ways out there to make money. Most people just won’t take any action.
I had never considered Postmates as a potential side hustle before. This is a great idea, FP! As long as you’re able to do the deliveries by bike, I think it makes perfect sense to get in the exercise you probably should be doing anyway and make a bit of money at the same time.
That’s exactly right! We all need to do a little bit of exercise anyway. And I like to do it sometimes if I’m bored. I see making deliveries as sort of a little game.
What a great side hustle, FP! This would be great for anyone living in a city. Seems like a win-win: exercise + make money. I like TJ’s idea of doing it while you are traveling to make some extra cash. I’m guessing I live in an area with low demand, as I live outside of town on a gravel road, so I doubt it’s an option for me…
Yep, don’t think it’s an option for you unfortunately! These on-demand apps are really only available in large cities, just due to the supply and demand. Still, at least you know about it and it can get you thinking about weird ways you can make some extra cash!
I will need to consider PostMates to make some extra cash during the road trip. Is there some sort of referral program for you to recruit new delivery people? I’d be happy to sign up under you if it benefits you in some way.
Hey TJ. Postmates is a great thing to do for your road trip! The great thing with Postmates is you can do it in any city that has the service. All you have to do is log in and wait for any orders to come in. One thing I wish someone would do is to do a cross country bike trip, doing Postmates in each city they come to. That’d be a decent story to share, in my opinion.
There is a referral program, but I’m never quite sure what, if anything, they offer. I’ll shoot you an email with some details!
Glad to see you wrote about this. My friend starting to do it just this weekend and is enjoying it. The money isn’t bad and he sees it more as getting paid to work out. I may check this out once I move back to the city.
That’s awesome. If you’re in a city where you can do this on a bike, you definitely should at least sign up. It takes very little time to get set up. Since most millennials are living in the city, its an easy thing to at least have in your pocket in case you want to do it.
Hey I bet there are a TON of people who could use an extra $2,500+ over the course of a year, so this is definitely a side hustle I think people should consider. I actually hadn’t heard of Postmates until this post, so thanks for sharing!
And it’s not just the $2500 they could make over the course of a year. Don’t forget, they also get a health benefit from biking. I can’t quantify the value of biking, but I’m guessing it saves even more than $2500 per year in health care costs in the future.
Very interesting…I think this will be in demand in my area since there are plenty of lazy people here in NYC who are probably willing to pay for this service. Can’t believe the guy didn’t even want to walk across the street! I rarely order deliver…I just pick it up. It’s faster and I could use the exercise. I wonder if I could do postmate deliveries by foot since I don’t have a bike (apartment is too small…stroller and toddler’s bike already clogging up space!) It’s too bad they don’t tell you the location for the delivery…makes it tough to decide whether it’s doable.
NYC is huge for the bike messenger delivery services. No harm in checking these out to see if they’re for you. I know for a fact that NYC allows walkers to do deliveries. My brother is out at a large East Coast city and didn’t feel like biking anymore, so he set himself up as a walker and walks or skateboards his deliveries whenever he feels like it. You’ll reduce what you can make obviously, but if its just for fun or to get a little exercise and fresh air, then it’s not a bad thing to do.
This is a great and very healthy side hustle. I just checked and we don’t have Postmates, but do have Uber Eats here. I might give it a try, just to see how it suits me 🙂
Definitely no harm in trying it out. If you try it out and don’t think its for you, just find something else. I know in my city, it takes no time at all to sign up for Postmates. Didn’t even have to attend an orientation session. We signed Ms. FP up to Postmate and it took us about 15 minutes all in to sign up.
When I signed up last year, it took a bit longer. I had to spend a lunch break attending an informational session and have my picture taken.
Ha, this is awesome. I’ve never heard of postmates but i’m definitely looking into it now! You can never have too many side hustles when you are paying off $600k in debt 🙂
Totally take a look at it! I’ve been biking around town for a year now delivering food to people in my spare time. I think I like it alot because it feels like a game. Ms. FP just started Postmating with me as well (a subject for a future post). So now in our household, we have a lawyer and a dentist, occasionally moonlighting as delivery people…Yeah, we’re nuts!
Great post! I really enjoy reading about your side hustles. I’m thinking about starting up some side hustles of my own. I have a set of expensive golf clubs I have my eye on and like the idea of earning them through extra money made on the side. Your blog has definitely given me several good ideas!
If you’re looking to buy something that you know you want, you can definitely easily do that by just earning a bit more money through a quick side hustle. Personally, I prefer trying to save all of my side hustle income, if possible, but if you’re saving well already, you can definitely use your side hustle to buy things that bring you good value.
Agree with you. We have a pretty high saving rate already. For 2017 I’m projecting we’ll be able to save 40% of our after tax, after 401k income. That’s in addition to maxing out my 401k. I’m working to get that number up to 50% and have a pretty high earnings potential in my current job where I could get there in another year or two. With that, I like the idea of taking on side hustles to earn money for “wants” without taking away from my current savings.
That’s a really great savings rate. Definitely have no problem with doing side hustles for your wants if you’re already meeting your savings goals.