One important program that DoorDash has is its Top Dasher program. Dashers that meet the Top Dasher Requirements get certain benefits specific to Top Dashers. But what are the requirements to become a Top Dasher? And is it worth going through the trouble to get it?
In this post, we’re going to look at what the Top Dasher requirements are, what benefits you receive from being a Top Dasher, and discuss why, in my view, being a Top Dasher and meeting the Top Dasher Requirements probably isn’t worth it for most people.
Top Dasher Requirements
To become a Top Dasher, you have to meet certain requirements. Here are the Top Dasher requirements that you need to meet if you want to be a Top Dasher:
- Customer rating of at least 4.7
- Acceptance rate of at least 70%
- Completion rate of at least 95%
- 100 completed deliveries during the last month
- At least 200 lifetime deliveries completed
Let’s address each of these requirements in turn. Keeping a high customer rating shouldn’t be a problem for most Dashers. In fact, it’s something you should strive for because a low customer rating means you can get deactivated. So long as you deliver orders on time and follow customer directions, you shouldn’t have a problem maintaining a high customer rating.
Completion rate also isn’t usually a problem. DoorDash makes it clear that you can get deactivated if your completion rate falls below 90% (DoorDash used to require an 80% completion rate, but changed it to 90%), so giving yourself a high completion rate can be beneficial. At a minimum, it gives you a buffer from falling into deactivation territory and gives you more opportunities to cancel orders when they aren’t going well. I generally aim to keep my completion rate at 95% or so.
The other requirements are fairly straightforward as well. You’ll need to complete at least 200 lifetime deliveries, which you’ll eventually reach if you’re doing DoorDash for long enough. Completing 100 deliveries in the previous month can be more difficult if you’re doing DoorDash part-time, but getting to 100 deliveries in a month isn’t a very difficult feat either.
The main requirement that can be a problem is having an acceptance rate of 70% or more. As I’ve made clear in other posts, your DoorDash acceptance rate does not matter. DoorDash has made it clear in its documentation that you cannot get deactivated for having a low acceptance rate. However, to incentivize Dashers to accept more orders, they’ve made it so you need to have a high acceptance rate to earn Top Dasher status.
The issue with accepting 70% of orders is that to meet that requirement, you’re likely going to have to accept orders that aren’t profitable or aren’t worth doing. Many orders will be low-paying or will take you far away from better areas to work.
So while most of the requirements for Top Dasher are straightforward to meet, the acceptance rate requirement is what holds most people back from reaching Top Dasher status.
Top Dasher Benefits
The Top Dasher program gives Dashers that meet the requirements enhanced benefits. The main benefit you receive as a Top Dasher is the ability to begin Dashing whenever you want.
If you’re in a market that has a lot of Dashers, having the ability to dash anytime can be helpful. In some markets, you have to schedule your dash in advance, which can be problematic if you’re not planning ahead. But if you have Top Dasher status, you can log in to the Dasher app anytime and start Dashing immediately.
DoorDash also used to give priority orders to Dashers that had Top Dasher status. That meant if it was slow, DoorDash would send orders to people with Top Dasher status first. However, DoorDash no longer explicitly lists this as a benefit in their Top Dasher FAQ.
Instead, DoorDash now has a program that gives eligible Dashers priority access to higher-paying orders. To get priority access to these orders, you need to have a customer rating of at least 4.5 and an acceptance rate of 50% or higher. The Priority Access Program is different from the Top Dasher Program, but in practice, if you meet the requirements to be a Top Dasher, you’ll also meet the requirements for the Priority Access Program, so in effect, getting Top Dasher status also means you’ll get Priority Access.
How To Become A Top Dasher
To become a Top Dasher, you have to maintain the Top Dasher requirements for the entire month that you meet the requirements. If you do that, then you’ll be added to the Top Dasher program on the 2nd day of the next month.
If you meet the Top Dasher requirements in the middle of the month, you’ll still need to maintain those requirements until the last day of the month. So, even if you complete the required deliveries and have good ratings, you’ll need to make sure your ratings don’t drop that month. Otherwise, you won’t qualify for Top Dasher status.
Is Top Dasher Worth It? (No, For Most People)
Is Top Dasher status worth it? The short answer is, no, for most people, meeting the Top Dasher requirements and getting Top Dasher status isn’t worth it. The main reason is that the main benefit of Top Dasher status – being able to Dash anytime without scheduling – isn’t worth the trade-off of meeting the high acceptance rate requirement.
In most cities, you’ll find that you can click the Dash Now button anytime you want. I live in Minneapolis and have never had to schedule myself in advance to start working. When I’ve traveled to other cities, I’ve also never had issues Dashing whenever I want. While there may be some times when you can’t Dash because there are too many people working, for the most part, you’ll find that you can usually start Dashing anytime you want. The only exception is for people who live in certain, very saturated markets.
Meanwhile, having to meet the 70% acceptance rate requirement means you’re going to have to accept low-paying or unprofitable orders. I’m able to average $30 or more per hour by multi-apping with DoorDash and other food delivery apps like Uber Eats and Grubhub. My acceptance rate for DoorDash usually hovers around 10-30%. If I had to accept more DoorDash orders to get Top Dasher status, my earnings would undoubtedly drop.
Some Dashers do claim they get better orders because they have Top Dasher status. While they very well might be getting better orders, all of this evidence is anecdotal and there’s little hard evidence to prove that Top Dashers receive better orders. Based on my experience and what I’ve been able to earn without being a Top Dasher, there’s nothing to suggest that Top Dashers actually receive better orders.
The one caveat is that Top Dashers would automatically qualify for the Priority Access Program, which does technically give you access to better-paying orders. But still, the trade-off of having to maintain such a high acceptance rate isn’t worth it to me and I don’t think it’s worth it for most people.
Final Thoughts
The Top Dasher program is something that DoorDash uses to entice Dashers into maintaining a high acceptance rate and accepting more low-paying orders. While the ability to be able to click the Dash Now button anytime can be useful, the Top Dasher requirements you have to meet generally make it not worthwhile to most people. In particular, having to maintain a high acceptance rate means you’re going to be accepting orders that likely aren’t worth doing and aren’t profitable.
Of course, you can try it out yourself and see if going for Top Dasher makes sense for you. Most of the requirements aren’t difficult to meet. It’s just whether they are worth hitting that you have to think about. And as I’ve made it clear in this post, I don’t think Top Dasher is worth it for most people.
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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.
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It totally depends on the market domain, but being a dasher is worth it.
My area is small area. Dash now is not always an option. Without top dasher you can really only work busy hours and that if another dasher don’t grab the schedule. I got too dasher for this 1st time this winter. I have not lost it since I went from making few hundred A month at best to few hundred A week as top dasher. I still get low orders all the time but at least I’m getting an order with out top dasher I almost quit working for them. Now I make sure take my 100 deliveries a month to never lose it. It’s hard to even gain top dasher here due to limited scheduling.
I think this advice might be good for, say, Minneapolis, but there are factors that can make Top Dasher worth it.
I Dash full-time in El Paso, Texas, near the Fort Bliss Army base, where I maintain a pass to allow me on post. Fort Bliss has a +$4 promo 365 days a year, 10:30am-8pm. Due to the large promo, it attracts lots of Dashers, making it often slow and fully booked. Both of the Top Dasher benefits are extraordinarily helpful in this situation, and the high promo bonus makes it extremely unlikely that incoming orders aren’t worth the time for the money, even if the tip is weak.
Due to my focus on Fort Bliss, I find the Top Dasher benefit extremely valuable and make sure I achieve it every month. But I can readily admit that, if it weren’t for that permanent $4 promo, it wouldn’t make sense to maintain a 70% acceptance rate, especially if I spent a significant amount of time Dashing without promos — which I rarely do. But when I do, that’s when I’m turning down a lot of them.
So instead of the answer being just “no,” the real answer should be: it depends on how much you’re chasing Promos in your area. If you’re a dedicated Promo hunter, Top Dasher is in my opinion a must. If Promos are never offered in the times and places you frequent, hard pass. If somewhere in between, it’s a tough call.
The amount of driving you do depends on the market. In saturated markets, it may be worth keeping a 70%+ acceptance rate if you’re doing this professionally.
This really depends on the person, their market, the hours they work, etc.
For full time dashers in a big market, imo top dasher is worth it. I would say that you make 10-15% more per hour on average for the month. Again, it’s dependent on your market.
If you work part time during prime dinner hours, it might be better to pick and choose a few orders since you’re only working a few hours when orders are plentiful.
The “more orders during less busy times” is something that helps out a lot of you work some hours that aren’t as busy. Also, the priority on large orders does add up here and there.
I think people get screwed over on a few orders here and there and feel that they need to completely avoid it, but honestly over the long run, there are some big orders that will help even it out and make more.
I can’t stress how much this depends on your market. Even in my market, the economy changes and sometimes being a top dasher matters more than other times.
Anyways, have to say that I disagree with this article.
You don’t have to keep your acceptance rate up the entire month. As long as you meet the requirements on the last day of the month, you will make to dasher
Can confirm. I have had 50% AR mid-month, then brought it up to 75% last day of month and qualified. It’s only the last 100 offers in the month that count.
Definitely too dasher , even U got lower values orders , but u will hv chance to get big big order like company gather orders ,($30+$100+ tips )
My friend account is a top dasher ( very high top dasher I think ) he earned $500 per day lol
TD is the difference between making $20 an hour vs $35 to $40 an hour
A no brainer
$33 a day without top dasher status v/s $233 a day as top dasher = 🫤 meh, you do the math.
Depends on market and how much you drive. If you’re doing this professionally, and you have saturated markets, it may be worth keeping a 70%+ acceptance rate for it.
If you’re doing this casually, the answer is nooope.
I missed Top Dasher for the first time in a long time, and I must say that I can notice the difference. However, having said that, I will point out I am not multi-apping. As a Top Dasher, I rarely saw orders below $10. Even if they were, they were never lower than 8.
I also have had to schedule my dashes for the first time and have had to schedule in other areas.
Just my .02 worth. Can I keep the change? 😉
Same for me here seems like to make money without issues you need to be top dasher.
What market are you in? I’m in Minneapolis and have never had Top Dasher and never have an issue getting orders or logging into the app.
I have been a top dasher since June and since the end of last month most of my orders offered to me is $2.50 to $5.00
I called customer support with no outcome
That has nothing to do with your status. Depending on the city you’re in, if no one is offering big tips, you won’t get big tip orders
When I dashed this past summer in Las Vegas after dashing in the LA area for over a year, almost EVERY other order was for <$4. It was like that all Sumner. Unless I dashed on the Strip, that was normal. Thank GOD I'm not in LV anymore.
Most all Doordash reps stated I made Top Dasher status August 2022. A few stated I did not which is clearly an error as my ratings all were well within the range of Top Dasher. I cannot get this problem rectified. I am livid as scheduling a dash time in my area is almost impossible. I am tempted to seek the advice of an attorney. I was told many drivers in my area are experiencing the same problem. Doordash is hurting many people financially and does not even care.
COMPLETELY agree. Lost my top dasher status 2 months ago bc I was in Las Vegas and every other order there is $3 for a 10 mile delivery. Sometimes NO tip and only 1.50 base pay. So my acceptance rate went wayyy down.
Being top dasher is ABSOLUTELY worth it. I make almost 30% more a month when top dasher, and dashing whenever I choose is worth it by itself.
How much do you earn per day deliveroo + I wonder how much you earn in America per day or week
It depends on how much I work. I do DoorDash as a side hustle and I’m generally aiming for $1000 per month, which comes out to about $33 per day. It takes me about an hour to earn that.
I doordash full time I aim for about 150$ a day it takes me about 5 hr in kcks