DoorDash is one of several food delivery apps that have popped up over the past few years. Their primary competitors are UberEats, Postmates, and GrubHub, and all four companies are in fierce competition for market share.
Previously, Clint Proctor tested out each of the food delivery apps to see which was the best in terms of driver earnings potential. At the time, he felt like Uber Eats was the overall best option. But each delivery app has it owns set of pros and cons.
For this DoorDash review, we wanted to take a closer look at their specific benefits and drawbacks. Can drivers actually make money with DoorDash? Or is it a waste of time? Let’s find out.
How Do You Sign Up to be a DoorDash Driver?
The Dasher sign-up process is pretty simple and straightforward. First, create a DoorDash account. Then, you’ll navigate to their Dasher application page. Here’s how the rest of process unfolds.
- Give DoorDash permission to perform a background check.
- Attend an orientation session.
- Get the Activation kit DoorDash mailed to your address.
- Follow the instructions to activate your Red Card.
- You are now a DoorDash driver (or Dasher).
Dashin’ Mike in San Francisco from DoorDash on Vimeo.
How to Make Money with DoorDash
Once a driver has signed up for DoorDash and received a Red Card, they can take food delivery orders. As a driver, you can earn money by taking orders from customers on your cell phone via the mobile app.
As a driver, you could earn up to $25 an hour, according to DoorDash. But on average, dashers make $14.09 per hour according to Indeed. New drivers may only earn up to $10 an hour until they’ve mastered the delivery process.
Dashers in cities around the United States schedule their shifts on the app for the dates and times that are available. If a driver has unscheduled free time and wants to earn money, they can login and begin taking orders.
After you become a driver, use the mobile app to schedule shifts. Scheduled drivers receive orders before unscheduled Dashers. If DoorDash needs additional Dashers during busy times, unscheduled drivers can login and begin taking orders.
How to Increase Your DoorDash Driver Earnings
As mentioned above, the average DoorDash driver earns $14 per hour. But if you want to bring your DoorDash driving side hustle to the next level, here are a few tips and tricks that could help.
1. Be Selective With the Orders that you Accept.
You may make a higher income by refusing small orders and waiting until a large order comes through the app. As a selective driver, you can decline orders that do not pay well for the time and distance involved in an order that is too small or far away. When you think of it as a customer buying in bulk, you will see the importance of driving for the most money possible for each delivery.
2. Avoid Traffic Slow-Downs.
As a driver, you can earn more money if you work in areas that are not congested. By avoiding high-traffic areas, DoorDash drivers can make money with DoorDash by accepting more orders. First, sitting in traffic wastes gas and time. But, perhaps more significantly, it may prevent you from being able to accept orders.
3. Drive When There’s High Demand.
Customers want food during lunch and dinner hours. Blew you mind with that one didn’t I? But, seriously, that’s pretty much your main two “sweet spots” for food delivery. Those are your high demand times.
You can try to drive during off-hour if you want. But there’s a good chance that you may spend a lot of waiting for orders. Stick with the high-demand times. And, if you have more free time during other periods, there may be different side hustles that would give you a better return on your time.
4. Choose the Right Area.
When you choose a popular delivery area, a driver can get more money. Choosing a good location helps drivers to make money with DoorDash because you can reduce the time to get deliveries. Also, it’s important to choose orders from customers close to you. By working in a small region, you spend more time completing deliveries that don’t cost a lot of gas.
5. Combine DoorDash With Other Delivery Apps.
Drivers should work on other apps to take advantage of the incentives and stay busy. There are no rules that say you can’t use multiple delivery apps at the same time. In fact, this is exactly what Clint did during his test. As long as you make sure to turn your availability to “off” while you’re actively making a delivery, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Driving for additional food delivery apps (and maybe even grocery deliver apps like Instacart) can help drivers stay busy. It can help you avoid downtime.
If you drive for different apps, customers may notice this and let you deliver to them when they see that you are online. By giving good service to customers, you develop a good reputation which helps increase your income.
6. Be Nice!
Use good customer service skills to increase your income. Working as a Dasher provides drivers with reviews and ratings on the apps they work on. Customers can read a driver’s profile before they place an order. Customers may cancel an order if the driver has a low rating.
By working hard to get a good rating from customers, the DoorDash side hustle can provide a good income to drivers. Customers view your driver profile and they may give higher tips because of your work ethic and the feedback from previous customers.
Is DoorDash Driving Worth Your Time?
On its own DoorDash may not be worth your time. But when you combine DoorDash with other apps, you could generate decent side hustle income with food and grocery delivery.
The one downside to DoorDash is that you have to schedule your driving sessions ahead of time. And that makes it a tad more like a regular job than an “earn money when you have extra time” gig.
But if that doesn’t bother you, you could easily make an extra $50 to $100 per night driving for DoorDash. And by taking advantage of some of the ideas from this guide, you may even find yourself earning more.