If you’re a serious multi-gigger, Instacart should be in your portfolio. Although the base pay has gone to crap, Instacart is known for large tip orders. Shopping for 50+ items for a crazy-low base pay is the only way you’re going to get that $50 tip.
A brief explanation from our two Admins who started doing Instacart before the pandemic will give you an idea where the gig is now versus where it started. Originally Instacart shoppers had to schedule their work hours. In some zones only one shopper was allowed at a time. If another shopper was working 9 am to 5 pm, you couldn’t work. That’s how unknown the platform was back then.
In early 2020 Instacart did away with the scheduling. You could work whenever you felt like it. Anyone remember what happened in 2020? The pandemic hit and Instacart went off the chain. Most shoppers were out straight and making $2000+ per week. Customers were waiting so long to receive their orders, it wasn’t unusual to receive another $500 per week in cash tips. Yes, it was a good time! Then Instacart announced that it was adding another 350,000 personal shoppers. Of course, the bottom fell out. Too many drivers meant customers were getting their orders on time, and cash tips all but dried up. Shoppers who were making $2500 per week including cash tips, suddenly found themselves lucky to break $1000.
Today Instacart’s main advantages are that it offers delivery to areas where most supermarkets don’t deliver and its name recognition is extremely strong. If you ask common folk to name two gig platforms, most would say DoorDash and Instacart.
Most of our Admins are active gig workers. Every week we hear the sweet stories of personal shoppers who snagged a single shopping order for $100+ and it only took 90 minutes including round-trip delivery. The average order most Instacart shoppers mention is $50. It seems as if the $50 order is the golden number that makes shoppers turn off the other apps and snag an Instacart order.
Instacart has come a long way since inception. No longer are groceries its main business. Instacart shoppers also shop and deliver from major retailers such as Target, Staples, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bath & Body Works, Costco, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Dollar Tree, Best Buy, Family Dollar, Five Below, Sally’s Beauty, Kohl’s, CVS, Walgreens, and PetSmart.
HOW DO YOU BECOME AN INSTACART SHOPPER?
You can sign up to become an Instacart shopper on their website at Shoppers.Instacart.com.
You can also download the Instacart Shopper app directly from the App Store or Google Play and sign up directly in the app.
It appears as if Instacart doesn’t require much of a background check. Their website states that you can sign up and be shopping your first order in as soon as 1 hour.
HOW MUCH CAN YOU EARN DOING INSTACART?
Instacart is one of those gigs where it helps to a lucky hanging horseshoe in your back pocket. Some shoppers look for three days before finding a decent offer. Others just roll from $40-$80 orders all day long. It’s difficult to estimate earnings when you might catch a good $110 order then not see another good one for three days. As Admins, the best estimated we can give is that you “should’ be able to earn $125-$150 per day as long as you avoid the crappy orders.
Below is a screenshot Instacart displays on its shopper sign up page. If you’re an experienced gig worker you’ll immediately notice what’s missing. Instacart shows you the number of items you’ll be shopping for as well as the distance to the dropoff location, but nowhere do they show an estimate of how long the shopping and delivery will take.
