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13 Tips on How to Make More Money with DoorDash

Phillip Oesterblad Side Hustles 8 Comments

Join Doordash and get $15 credit through this link here.

Feeling hungry? Perhaps some Italian, or maybe sushi? With the world at your digital fingertips, gone are the days when pizza was the only food you could have delivered to your door! It feels like a lifetime ago that you to get in your car and collect takeout from the restaurant – many probably don’t even remember it at all! People absolutely love the ease and convenience of home-delivered food and you can clearly see this by the number of delivery services entering the market. And, as the number of providers grows, so do the opportunities for you to make money working for them!

At the top of that list is DoorDash, a premium delivery service app that has made it remarkably easy for delivery drivers to be a part of.  As a premium ‘to your door’ delivery service, DoorDash has become extremely popular and is now available in over 4000 cities across Australia, Canada, and the USA.  DoorDash is not only attracting an incredible number of users, but it is also becoming a magnet for those wanting to earn decent money by becoming a ‘Dasher’ – one of the delivery personnel working for DoorDash. Dashers are offered the freedom to choose their own hours, the ability to work in over 4000 destinations, access to a quick orientation process, and a clear blueprint for their earning potential.

Given the growing market, it’s the perfect time for you to begin researching how to make money as a Dasher! The process of becoming a Dasher is remarkably straight forward with an easy application process and very little paperwork. They understand that Dashers don’t want to waste time cutting through red tape – they want to know how to make money with DoorDash!

The requirements to be a ‘Dasher’ are simple!

  • You must be 18 years or older
  • Have access to a vehicle or bicycle – any car, truck, motorcycle, or scooter will do
  • Own an iPhone or Android smartphone
  • Driver’s license with at least one year of driving experience
  • Valid insurance with your name on the policy
  • Complete an orientation online or in-person

doordash

All you need to do to get started is follow the simple process of entering your basic information, consenting to a background check (to ensure that you don’t have any violent crimes on your record) and completing an orientation either virtually over the internet or in person.  Unlike their competitors, DoorDash does not require their prospective Dasher’s vehicles to undergo inspection. Another great thing about DoorDash is that it offers its Dashers the ability to use many methods of transport; ranging from delivering on foot all the way up to driving food in your truck! They really make it easy for almost anyone to make money with DoorDash!

So far so good, but by now you’re probably wondering how much money you can make with DoorDash? You’re probably thinking ‘Can I make real money with DoorDash?’ Well, the short answer is Yes! You can certainly make money with DoorDash.  You can generally earn between $6-$12 per delivery – but there are ways to ensure that you are squeezing every last earning dollar out of this gig! Read on to find out how to maximize your earning potential and make sure that the bank account keeps ticking over!

13 Tips on How to Make More Money with DoorDash

1. Complete Those Orders!

DoorDash measures its Dashers’ completion rate in order to evaluate whether you are a reliable and active Dasher.  If your completion rate is under 70%, you risk your Dasher account being deactivated. Low acceptance rate doesn’t put your account at risk, but you should hustle as much as you can and accept those orders. So, keep dashing regularly Dashers!

2. Be Smart About The Orders You Do Accept

While you want to be sure that you are keeping a high acceptance rate, you should also try to get both the easiest and highest value orders.

Accepting an easy order like delivery of donuts or cupcakes is a sure-fire way to make a quick, smooth and profitable delivery. These types of food deliveries are already made and therefore cut out the risk of the restaurant delaying the delivery or wasting your time!

High-value orders are also a great way to make money with DoorDash. Because DoorDash requests the customer to give a percentage of the bill as a tip, the higher the value of the order, the higher the tip.  Delivering a big order of expensive sushi or a steak dinner is definitely worth the trip!

3. Order Accuracy

Make sure that you check the order! Don’t assume that the worker who’s coming to the end of a nine-hour shift at McDonalds is going to be super diligent with every order.  Ensuring that the order is correct before you leave will save you time, reduce complaints and ultimately get you more tips and happier customers.

4. Don’t Forget The Extras!

How annoying is it when your food turns up and the restaurant forgot to give you a straw? They gave you one napkin with 4 burgers and chicken wings – really!?  Never fear, your Dasher is here.  A smart Dasher will keep a stash of straws, mints, ketchup etc. in their car to make sure their customers have the best dining experience. A quick glance inside the bag before you deliver it will tell you if the order is lacking some necessary tools or condiments. No napkins? Simply reach into your stash and add some. Why not add a few mints to the bag while you’re at it? Make sure to mention that you added them when you deliver the order – it’s a nice little gesture that’ll leave the client with the warm-and-fuzzies. Having enough napkins and condiments means a happy client, a happy client means a higher chance of a decent tip and higher tips make for a very happy Dasher!

Even better, these little extras are literally priceless! You can pick them all up all from the restaurants you get your orders from. Every time you see napkins, straws, mustard or ketchup packets, grab a few for your Dasher stash!

5. Keep your phone on you

Here are some reasons to keep your phone on you:

  • General safety – being a Dasher will mean delivering to many different areas at varied times of the day, some being safer than others. Keeping your phone on you is key to ensuring you are contactable and safe all the time. Every delivery job does come with an aspect of risk and keeping your phone on you all the time will help mitigate this.
  • Directions – we have all had those instances where GPS simply doesn’t work or the address doesn’t quite match up. A great feature on the DoorDasher app is the ability to contact the client directly. Rather than wandering around an apartment complex trying to figure out where you’re going and becoming increasingly frustrated, you can call the client directly and politely ask them to assist you in finding them quickly – they’ll appreciate getting their food while it’s still hot!
  • Wrong orders – it’s happened before and it’ll happen again – sometimes restaurants don’t get the customer’s order quite right. You’ll find it enormously to have your phone on you in order to show the customer that you picked up everything that you were supposed to from the order received. This ensures that the customer understands their complaint should be directed to the restaurant and that the inconvenience is not because of the Dasher. This can often mean that the customer doesn’t reduce their tip or complain about the Dasher.

6. Choose Your Working Times Wisely

Working during the busiest ordering times of the day such as lunch and dinner rushes can ensure that you are getting back-to-back orders.  The only downside to this is that these times often coincide with peak hour traffic – so make sure to remember tip 11 and you will find that these periods see you run off your feet with back-to-back deliveries that quickly rack up the Greenbacks!

Another smart choice is a little less obvious. There are certain times of the day when there’ll be fewer dashers available, meaning a higher chance of you picking up more delivery requests.  This can mean that you will have a busy period between 1am – 3am simply because other Dashers are fast asleep while many hungry people are returning home from a night out or a late-night shift. Definitely don’t assume that DoorDash doesn’t receive orders at this time – in fact, some of the most lucrative shifts can come at the most unexpected times.  These times are also great because there are fewer people out and about, meaning much quieter traffic conditions, no problems with parking and no waiting at busy restaurants.

7. Stack Your Orders

While it can be challenging, stacking orders can be a great way to really rack up those dollars in a shift.  Accepting orders from restaurants that are close to each other or delivery destinations on the same route can help you save time and make your deliveries super-efficient.  Reducing the time of each delivery results in Dasher’s ability to accept more orders and more money in one shift!

8. Hustle

This may seem obvious, but it is certainly worth a mention.  Getting to the customer’s door as soon as possible is the best way to keep customers happy.  Quick delivery time means a high quality of food and a less ‘hangry’ customer – and a happy customer is more likely to be a happy tipper!

how to make more money with doordash

9. Understand The Earning Potential

DoorDash offers a very clear and transparent breakdown of how the Dasher’s income per delivery is calculated.  Every Dasher should study this thoroughly in order to understand how to best make money with DoorDash and maximize their earning potential. Doing this will go a long way to making sure that you fully capitalize on the opportunity to earn as much as possible.

On top of this, DoorDash is great at providing incentives. Dashers often receive incentives to work in peak times or for reaching certain goals such as number of deliveries made or customer ratings.  This helps the dashers have complete control over the amount of money they make.  Many Dashers comment that the amount one can earn being a Dasher is completely reliant on how hard and smart you want to work.

10. Research The Weather And Traffic

Check the weather forecast! If it’s going to be raining buckets, invest in a large plastic poncho to cover yourself and the food.  No one wants to be delivered soggy food bags by a sopping wet and clearly miserable Dasher.

Check the traffic! Much of a Dasher’s job is spent on the road getting the food from the restaurant to the delivery point as quick as possible. Google maps and Wayz are great, but do yourself a favor and check the traffic reports in your area to avoid being held up at unexpected roadworks. The last thing you want is your delivery to be delayed and your customer to be frustrated and not in the mood to tip!

11. Eat & Drink

This job while relatively can be quite physically demanding.  Driving, walking upstairs, checking orders and interacting with strangers can be draining. Ensure that your customer service is on point by taking care of yourself. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water and eating foods that give you long-lasting energy. Dodging foods and drinks with a high glycemic index will help to avoid sugar crashes which often result in extreme lethargy and inability to focus. Foods with a low GI such as nuts bars, cheese, and sugar-free juices will assist you in avoiding sugar crashes which often result in lack of focus.  This is when small mistakes are made or even a bad mood that means your customer might not get the usual Positive Dasher Demeanor!

12. Get Help

Always remember that DoorDash is there to support its Dashers. If you have questions or concerns, DoorDash encourages its Dashers to reach out to their support line.  They understand that the reputation of DoorDash has everything do with the services provided by their Dashers and they have seen to it that all Dashers are provided the necessary support to assist them in providing effective and efficient service.

13. Customer Service

The last tip is a golden oldie.  Smile and be polite! You don’t know what kind of day the customer is having and it never hurts to open your door and be greeted with a big smile and delicious food.  There are days that are more difficult than others – days when customers won’t answer their door or pick up their phone to clarify their address – however, as a Dasher the best thing to do is try to let that roll off your shoulders and get ready for the next order!  Try to remember that a smile costs nothing, but might make someone’s day… and you an extra tip!

Conclusion

With these tips you should be ready to enter and profit from the world of home delivery – how much you make is really up to you! DoorDash is one of the best home delivery services for a reason: they are great to work for and happy employees make for happy customers, which makes for great business.  Ultimately becoming a Dasher gives you the amazing opportunity to work as much and as hard as you want, wherever you want, entirely possible.  Now that you’re armed with all the information and tips you need, its time to bring home the bread – by delivering it!

Hope you enjoyed this post on how to make more money on DoorDash. If you have other tips let us know!

Join Doordash and get $15 credit through this link here.

If you’re looking for more side hustle ideas, check out this video on 15 best side hustles to make extra money ($1,000/month) 

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13 tips making money with doordash

 

About the Author

Phillip Oesterblad

Hi! I’m Phillip Oesterblad. Writer, copywriter, traveler, adventurer, and expat. Alaska raised; I’ve grown up with an adventurous spirit. I’ve spent the majority of my adult life living as an expat and have traveled to over 50 countries. Currently, I split my time between living in Anchorage, Alaska, and Doha, Qatar building my career as a travel copywriter.

Comments 8

  1. I drive for DoorDash and are and we are extremely impressed with the money I am making. We ran into a problem where the customer had an emergency and couldnt wait for me to drop it off so I wasnt able to deliver it. The App wouldnt allow me to slide upon arrival unless I was close to the destination so I asked for help and did a live chat instantly. Problem solved! On to the next order! Thank you Door Dash for allowing me to sustain during these hard times! God Bless

  2. I have some one that is putting me down to try to scare me away from working with y’all. I fill down now. Do y’all help if you nead help while working. I am a little slow sometimes.I wish I could have some one to ride with me for a while.

    1. Don’t feel down it’sa job and it’s super easy it’s ur own hours work during peek times n stay in a area with more restaurants bigger order bigger tip 11am to 2 pm then go back out around 5 to 8 as far as the putting u down part it’s better then a scheduled job u r ur own boss u work when u want it doesn’t get much better then that chin up stay positive n watch the money roll in

    2. I have my husband work with me. Maybe get a friend to go with you. I do it like this: I drive, you pick up the stuff. Have yourself some snacks and you should be good. People tried to deter me too but I have goals and two children. You’ll be fine. Never let anyone stop you. Sometimes the restaurants are slow anyway. And you can always communicate with the customer. Mine have been polite when I explain things via text to them.

  3. Philip,

    Thank you for writing this article. It’s the best one I have seen thus so far. As a new driver it really helped me.

  4. I’m in college right now and becoming a dasher has been the best job for me! It can be really hard to find a job that is flexible for me because I’m also in a sorority and my classes range from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm but becoming my own boss has made having a job so much easier. Doordash has allowed me to save money for textbooks, semester dues, groceries, and gas! I’m so excited to keep on dashing and earning!

  5. DoorDash can be a competitive work environment, so when you are also dealing with outside troubles it can be especially tough.

    I suggest that you navigate to a town or city surrounding the city you usually dash in, and expand beyond the town that your troubles taunt you in 👍💯

  6. Thanks for the tips and advice in how to earn as much money as possible Dashing. 11-2, 5-8, bigger the order, bigger the tip

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