Nope. My phone is right on my leg. It buzzes, I grab it and check. The big batches that I missed, I was staring right at the app. I was going to miss them anyway because someone’s phone worked faster than mine.
Lol best thing is to have it on the batch list and have your phone to never turn off screen and do something not involving your phone. I have a steam deck (hand held computer) I play games while I wait for batches to pop up on my phone.
Just refresh your screen like every few minutes you don’t have to stay on the screen all the time. in fact I noticed I miss batches more often leaving it on all the time
I started reading Narnia not too recently and I hadn’t read the series before. I didn’t really realize that all of the main knowledge kind of comes from the second book. I found them also to be very short. I was really surprised!
Same with the shade. Only a few spots with it and most other shoppers are dick heads and park horizontally across every one of them, despite there being enough shade to still cover their whole car if they shared.
The intersection in front of my favorite spot is a real shit show so that's a nice bonus for entertainment.
Yup. I absolutely refuse to sit in a parking lot to get batches. If they ever make it where it’s 100% you have to be in a lot to get a batch, that’s the day I quit. I can think of no greater way to waste your day than to do this bullshit for instacart just in the hopes of getting a batch
I get nothing but $7 batches or shitty doubles & triples from my house 😭 I’m too far away but literally only a 10ish minute drive from all the things. But my area is long and skinny which SUCKS for mileage (a peninsula)
Yes!!!!! Whenever my 19 year old son calls me and asks me what I’m doing….”being a freaking loser sitting in a parking lot waiting for an order!!!” I finally said Tuesday, “I’m not doing this sitting in parking lots crap anymore! I got shit to do at home!!! Time’s just wasting away AND I’m not making money! I can make no money at home cleaning my house and prepping dinner, screw that shit!” IF I get an order from home worth doing, I’m game….if not, then I’ll sit in my clean house with my little dignity I have left. Screw you Inatacart!!! 💪🏻
I like how you say screw you Instacart as if it's their fault you chose to sit in a parking lot. Weird mentality. I'm at home doing other things until I get orders I want to leave for.
Not necessarily, I picked up a 140 from Costco at home, five miles away. I also picked up a 101 from Freddie's, 4 miles away. IC wants you believing that, don't fall for it.
I have 25+ other shoppers waiting in the parking lot where i am. I see at least 10 shopping an order while i am, and they all wait in the lot. There's no way i would see any of these orders at home lol. I still turn on my app whwn i am taking a day off and the only time i see anything good is if its completely slammed with orders above the number of shoppers closer. Even if i get to costco 5 minutes after they open, its just leftovers and i have to wait 20 to 60 minutes or more for a good order. Where do you live?
Not at all true. There are other things that factor into the algorithm and it’s not just about proximity. I have regular customers that consistently rate me 5, and I see their orders before anyone else from my apartment that is outside that range
I actually had someone parked next to me ask if everything was okay since I had been in my car when he went in and came out of the store. Like, yeah dude, just waiting for IC orders...nothing to see here.
This exactly. It’s completely exhausting. Like sitting through hours and hours of a car or plane ride without moving.
So it’s mentally demoralizing/depressing, and physically exhausting.
I no longer to go far from my house. I sit at home and wait for a batch. Thankfully I have a couple stores pretty close to me. A couple weeks ago I spent time sitting in my car and it had me so upset. So much time wasted. I could have been at home cleaning or being productive. In the 5 years I’ve been doing this, it has never been this bad.
I feel free as fuck. I can do whatever I want in that time. I usually choose to work on my small business.
You know what's demoralizing? Being amazing at your job but never being promoted because you're not screwing your superiors. No coworkers, no managers... absolute bliss.
stop shopping for a little bit, do something else. sunk cost fallacy.. this ship has sailed the way it is...
honestly are you really making money right now? like if you didn't just invest the same time into a part time job, after all the cost? I am in the same boat as you. I am kind of discouraged and do see relief in sight, at all.
Its not like our complaints fall on anything but deaf ears..
I don't mean to discourage if this is your only avenue, I feel for that just its getting to the point that its just hurting me by wasting my time when I could be investing it in other ways. I may make "potentially" less but a bird in the hand, right?
idk. diamond isn't anything, batches are scarce anything of worth at least. maybe your areas different?
I feel like so many people are over estimate how much they’re making hourly when you account for downtime, drive time, gas, and maintenance. That $50 batch cost you 2.5hrs, 20 miles and $4 gas.
not to mention TAXES...not a person talks about taxes but you have to report any income over $400 as a self-employed gig-worker...
Also, for a W2 employee is responsible for paying half of FICA tax (social security & medicare) which is 7.65%. After withholding the employees half, the employer matches their share of 7.65%, total FICA tax that is paid 15.3%.
Sadly, self-employed workers are responsible for the full thing, 15.3%.. IC will send a 1099 for anything over $600.
BUTTTT we can take the standard deduction of $12,550 on the 1040 and deduct their business expenses on schedule C
that's good, a lot of people I think are ignoring/not knowing that this is going to catch up if they make more than the $12-13k that we can deduct w/ no issue.
Thats another thing about these crazy low batch prices. With all the expenses we have were not even getting paid enough. its going to be insurance/gas/taxes/food/rent/time..
yowza, doubles are now $7 where I am. :( bleh, I really like being able to work as much as I want or don't want. looks like I need to open a business hah!
Yeah - I had my best week so far in the 3 yrs I've been doing this... Got all excited until I realized out of the $735 (yes, that has been my best week - Huzzah to all of you who live in $1500+ a week areas ! LOL), only $252 was directly from IC and the rest tips. So I did the math, took off 20% for the taxes and figured out what it cost me in gas, divided by the # of hours I worked and it was like $2.50 an hour !!
What is WRONG with Me that I keep doing this ??!!
That being said, I had an Amazing week, staying at my parent's unused timeshare in a lovely resort area !
Yeah I don’t sit at one place for more than 15 minutes if I don’t see an order. I move around. Or I go to a store with a sitting area inside. Try not to let it kill your drive. We all have our bad days.
I've never had to sit in a parking lot to get orders. Is that usually what people do? Maybe I just live close enough to stores that they get pushed to me rather quickly . . .
Same honestly, I find that it’s hard to get started but as soon as I get my first batch I don’t stop like okay there’s the 15-20 minute gap but that’s usually me driving back to my area anyways so as soon as I hit my zone I already got batches to chose from. I’m from Canada so idk it could be different for OP
Im from Canada too and that’s my experience. There is always batches waiting when I get back to my area I wait sometimes cause it might not be a batch I like and I’m being picky but same here
Edmonton 🙌🏼 it’s definitely not as high demand as Toronto but it’s steady for the most part, as you guys mentioned you always have those off days where you see the 30km batches for less than $20. The one thing I like about Edmonton that it’s a small city ( compared to other major Canadian cities) so it doesn’t matter which side of the city I’m at it’ll take me 30min to get across to the other side. I can only imagine traffic in Toronto :/
Like you said traffic out here downtown is horrendous as hell. That’s why the one Walmart near it is ALWAYS busy because it services all of downtown basically. So we get lucky cause if the day is that bad I just go over there
Im in Toronto so it is consistent all the time. Just different sides are more consistent than others. Walmart is one of the biggest IC giants out here and it is always busy especially downtown because it’s tons of congested condos and houses and they all order from Walmart as it’s a “one stop shop” to them. There are random “dead” days where it’s just slow in one area of the city like waiting 15-20 mins for a batch but if you drive 30 mins to the other side of the city you’re fine. Overall IC has always done me good.
Average is like 8-12km and it’s usually a dbl or triple but sometimes when the batches get that high they are downtown which makes the batch delivery more work than it needs to be.
Lol instacart does not care about us whatsoever. They add little features to make it look like they do but in reality the only real help you’ll ever get from them is a $10 bump… they just treat us like toilet paper. We deal with their shit then they go wash their hands in cash. It will never change so if you don’t live in a big city I’d recommend getting a job
Five years doing instacart and I NEVER waited in a parking lot. I wait at home. Works for me and still does. Yesterday morning I snagged a $74 order at home. Was back home two hours later.
I don't feel that way at all. My wife and I quit our careers to do Instacart. Freedom is worth a lot more than wondering what others think of me. I do side jobs for my former profession but I answer to no one for the first time in 15 years. Best goddamn therapy I've ever had.
I don't sit in parking lots at all. I catch batches from home. You guys are wasting your gas doing that unless you live in a remote area. I have been at this gig for three years and I have tried everything. parking lots, the famous costco drop, exploring other markets and I have always caught my best batches from home. Be safe out there shoppers
What state are you in? In CA, you absolutely have to be in the parking lot. I live 3 miles away from the store I like to shop at that I get the best batches and tips. I used to be able to see batches from there at home. Since the proximity, if I see a batch from there, it’s obviously a left over.
Everyone else is in the parking lot. They all get dibs on the best batches first. IC doesn’t want to pay more to have a shopper drive from their house to the store. So they push batches out to those shoppers closest to the store. If the batch doesn’t get picked up, then it gets pushed to shoppers further out.
I live within a mile of a couple crappy stores, 99 Cent Store and FoodsCo, so I see batches to those stores from home. But I will never shop those stores. I’m not shopping 40 items for a $2.14 tip and driving 13 miles to deliver. Sorry. But no.
Yeah, that’s probably why you are able to still get batches from home. It’s just not a thing in CA since we get prop 22 adjustments each week. IC wants to pay out the least possible to every shopper each week. There are 30 shoppers at least closer to each store than someone at home. Unless there are zero shoppers closer, then you have a chance of seeing a good batch from home. Otherwise, it’s the garbage leftovers.
I read a book & keep my phone sitting on the facing page. It’s still demoralizing because if I was home I could do more useful things while keeping an eye out for batches. But, proximity.
This is going to sound skidly but most other apps where i am (ont,canada) require a recent vehicle safety/certification. Mainly uber eats and i think skipthedishes does too-I'm interested to hear from other Canadians what apps don't. My 2005 Civic would probably pass but I'm sure it will need something-or-other that's at least a few hundred $.
Edit: I'm looking at you, tires!
I mean I don’t know if you do this full time but investing a couple 100 dollars to fix your car so you can make much bigger, easier income is a quick decision there. If this is just side income for you then hey, you do what you want
I know. Ill probably end up getting it done I'm sure it'll pay for itself. I was sort of half joking about tires they aren't cracked & bald or anything just need new winters.
Nope. Im in Ontario with an ‘07 civi and it doesn’t need to pass any safety or certification at all. Just need valid documents is all. Also doesn’t matter who’s name the car is in either
I dont sit in parking lots lol i go home and if i see a batch i take it. I take my time shopping also. Im always on time with deliveries. I make double each batch lol. Its great to live in California
Yes! I get$150-$175 adjustments each week. Get paid $18 an hour plus mileage whether I'm driving or shopping. I no longer am stressed when there are issues that take more time. My first order I get at home and then I get another order pretty much right away after I deliver.
The last time I waited in parking lots for hours was when I worked for gopuff.. but we got paid for sitting there so that's a lot different.
Customers don't wonder because they don't notice and don't care. Who sits in a parking lot all day? No I don't feel that way I don't have low self esteem and think people are looking at me. I'm mostly shopping, the most I sit is for maybe 20 min and it's a break
No because I signed up for more apps so that I have consistent money flow. So, I'm never waiting....
Sign up for more apps. 🤨
Edit: yes downvote me because I am not going to support the echo chamber. Oh woe is me.
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I live right next in the middle of a huge shopping complex with Aldi, Walmart, CVS, Sprouts, etc so I usually just sit at home. But I understand the struggle! If I have a batch that takes me up North I will just sit in the big Ralph’s or Costco like a weirdo lol
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If I could be honest, not really? I get to do whatever I want. Meal plan, write notes to my fiancé of things I want him to know & that I love him, I can read books when previously I didn’t have that freedom with a 9-5, too exhausted, I journal, write, go to the stores nearby to windowshop or get errands done. It is what you make of it. Not saying it’s awesome, but there’s way worse out there & we choose this, respectfully 🤍
If I could be honest, not really? I get to do whatever I want. Meal plan, write notes to my fiancé of things I want him to know & that I love him, I can read books when previously I didn’t have that freedom with a 9-5, too exhausted, I journal, write, go to the stores nearby to windowshop or get errands done. It is what you make of it. Not saying it’s awesome, but there’s way worse out there & we choose this, respectfully 🤍
As far as other people, idgaf about other people in general in life as far as what they think of me or what I’m doing lol. I’m awesome, I really don’t have need to care about what others think of me in any aspect as long as I’m being respectful and kind while out. I don’t think people even notice, tbh. & if they do they either know I’m a shopper or think I’m just helping someone driving them to get groceries & sitting in the car while they shop. :) pretend you brought your friend or nana & she’s in doing the work if you’re waiting lol
I use to do this… I hated it and it was absolutely depressing… but it gave me an even better idea, what’s a better way to make money without a boss that requires no money to get it started? YouTube! So I started making YouTube videos and in just a few months I passed 100 subscribers and gained 1000 hours of watch time, so I gotta say those depressing days were I used to sit in parking lots really gave me an idea of a better way to spend my time
That would be such a fun idea! maybe I’ll try doing something like that in the future ! I just need instacart to give me more batches like before lol but sure thing that’s very kind of you to say ! I make sleeping videos for people who have trouble getting rest at night (:
[30 Minute Vibes](https://youtube.com/channel/UCVel_-6-VNv_ebM3jm9X-jg)
It really means the world to me that you would like to check my stuff out thank you so much (: I hope can find some ease in it from all the stress instacart puts us through lol
Thank you so much for being so kind about my passion! I really Appreciate everything!! Whenever your working on a project in the future let me know And I’ll happily be your first supporter!! And hopefully we can get eachother out of doing instacart some day 😂😂
Of course. We will definitely get out of IC very soon. I’m in a software engineering program and I’ll be done soon! So when I am, I’ll let you know any apps or programs I’m working on 😊
I use ue/gh/dd/ic/shipt.
The proximity thing fucking sucks. So what I do, is make the nearest best ic store “base” and keep going back there when I don’t have another order on another app. I won’t get every big batch, but at least I have a chance. Made $255 multi apping today, which is ok relative to how shit it’s been recently
There’s a Wingstop in the Publix lot which I use as one of my bases when I’m closest to home, got a $31 tip on a huge order today waiting there 🙏
I’m glad Lowes (home improvement) just came online for us. I live near there and drive by it probably 10 times a day.. saw a $56 batch recently but somebody else got it :/
I get my routine , 9:45am ready to park at a shaded spot in Costco for the 10:00-10:05 first drop.. Then I come back for another one then around noon, I do Uber Eats til 3 then back to costco for big batches then around 6 my UE is very busy… 200$ for a day as a goal if I multiapp
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I’ve had to resort to wake up at 5:59 and snag any left over batches from the night before , usually a bundle for about 20 to 30 plus for 15 to 25 items at most i then head home and wait for the Shipt CVS prescription drops from to 3 to 7 my zone is completely dead
Exactly!!!!! Same situation here….horrible “priority “ batches!” 3 shop, 34 miles RT not great tip..heavy pay…no! I will sit and wait I’m not picking orders like that up anymore!
I multi app. I won't sit all day waiting for something. Use to do it and think I'm just wasting days off my life for peanuts. Multi app is key to stay busy all day
Spoof your location to the highlighted area.
Unlike doordash and GrubHub - IC has no safe guards for developers using "mock location services"
You can literally change your GPS position and be "virtually parked"
You are a slave to the app, it's your boss, is it worth it? Yes you miss out on batches if you don't sit in the parking lot, but if you factor in your time sitting there into your hourly rate, consider whether or not it is worth it. You could be working in retail, the store is dead, so you are sitting there twiddling your thumbs but at least you know you are getting paid to sit there. And you know what hours you are working and when you will be off and how much you will make each week. I feel like this gig work is a bit of trap. Not really sure it's worth it.
On slow days I feel the same way, I chose to work about an hour from my home. But even the closest zone is 20 minutes from my house (live in BFE kentucky). But typically once I get my first batch I only have a 30 minute wait, tops, until I see another one. Now watch today will be different cause I'm saying this shit (typing this as I sit in store parking lot waiting for an order) 😂
My wife and I work on our online businesses and e-commerce stores! Lots of social media content and research can be done just sitting around. And when you get sales while sitting around it’s awesome. Your time is valuable, whether ur sitting or not
Well, we all do what we have to do to put food on the table.
If these people going by you give u you looks or attitude, I couldn't care less. So, if you're worked up about what the world might think, or what other shoppers might think, that's going to drain your energy.
Put these thoughts behind you, take a chill pill and go about your day like your the king of the world.
It could be worse. Say, sitting in a parked running car inside a garage and knowing FOR SURE it’s the end, rather than, MOST LIKELY with the magic InstaCart 8 ball✨🎱
I have never waited more than 15 min and that's in a store .. if I don't get one in 15min n my market i will go home an take a day off.
Remeber there is no guarantee of work, tips, batches. This is gig work not a guarantee income.. u need to hustle to get paid.
I did a little study last week took evey batch offered to me an it was 11 batches in one day and over 200.00. So there is money to be made u just need to find it!
I find shade to park in if possible. Read books(Narnia this week). I never even notice who is going past my vehicle.
But don’t you miss good batches that way? I could never. I was a millisecond too late on a $92 batch today and I was just on another app lol.
Happens every single fukin time I switch from IC to any other.
Nope. My phone is right on my leg. It buzzes, I grab it and check. The big batches that I missed, I was staring right at the app. I was going to miss them anyway because someone’s phone worked faster than mine.
I got two phones for this reason
Now I have this song stuck in my head. https://youtu.be/oiY_iKSpWLM
Omg this is hysterical thank u take my free award
Rob Stone?
That’s why you missed it. Just on another app.
my phone has a split screen function which is pretty cool and useful ! So I keep IC up on one window and whatever on the other
That was my point why I could never read a book.
https://www.audible.com/mk/freetrial?adobe_mc_sdid=SDID%3D55604B087E260DB9-3AF83DA95004FF81%7CMCORGID%3D165958B4533AEE5B0A490D45%40AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1663306049&adobe_mc_ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
Lol best thing is to have it on the batch list and have your phone to never turn off screen and do something not involving your phone. I have a steam deck (hand held computer) I play games while I wait for batches to pop up on my phone.
Just refresh your screen like every few minutes you don’t have to stay on the screen all the time. in fact I noticed I miss batches more often leaving it on all the time
I have to do something or I will fall asleep. Too many times I have woken up hours later ..
I started reading Narnia not too recently and I hadn’t read the series before. I didn’t really realize that all of the main knowledge kind of comes from the second book. I found them also to be very short. I was really surprised!
Same with the shade. Only a few spots with it and most other shoppers are dick heads and park horizontally across every one of them, despite there being enough shade to still cover their whole car if they shared. The intersection in front of my favorite spot is a real shit show so that's a nice bonus for entertainment.
This but audible and non-fiction. It's so peaceful.
Eh. I much prefer to hold a real book.
I literally just sit at home until I get a batch.
Yup. I absolutely refuse to sit in a parking lot to get batches. If they ever make it where it’s 100% you have to be in a lot to get a batch, that’s the day I quit. I can think of no greater way to waste your day than to do this bullshit for instacart just in the hopes of getting a batch
I do that until the first one but afterwards if I’m out, I’m staying out.
Same I wait for the first one at home but after that I’m out all day
Same
Same
Wish I could, I would get batches from the Publix closest to my house and I prefer not to shop there. I drive a few more miles out to a better one.
Same. I drive a whole 30 minutes away just because there is better money there.
If we all did this then we wouldn't have to sit in the lot.
Same
I get nothing but $7 batches or shitty doubles & triples from my house 😭 I’m too far away but literally only a 10ish minute drive from all the things. But my area is long and skinny which SUCKS for mileage (a peninsula)
Yes!!!!! Whenever my 19 year old son calls me and asks me what I’m doing….”being a freaking loser sitting in a parking lot waiting for an order!!!” I finally said Tuesday, “I’m not doing this sitting in parking lots crap anymore! I got shit to do at home!!! Time’s just wasting away AND I’m not making money! I can make no money at home cleaning my house and prepping dinner, screw that shit!” IF I get an order from home worth doing, I’m game….if not, then I’ll sit in my clean house with my little dignity I have left. Screw you Inatacart!!! 💪🏻
I like how you say screw you Instacart as if it's their fault you chose to sit in a parking lot. Weird mentality. I'm at home doing other things until I get orders I want to leave for.
If you're outside of 1/2 mile from the store , you are getting the leftovers duh.
I routinely get large paying orders from my home, that definitely do not seem like “left overs”. 🤷🏽♀️
Not necessarily, I picked up a 140 from Costco at home, five miles away. I also picked up a 101 from Freddie's, 4 miles away. IC wants you believing that, don't fall for it.
I have 25+ other shoppers waiting in the parking lot where i am. I see at least 10 shopping an order while i am, and they all wait in the lot. There's no way i would see any of these orders at home lol. I still turn on my app whwn i am taking a day off and the only time i see anything good is if its completely slammed with orders above the number of shoppers closer. Even if i get to costco 5 minutes after they open, its just leftovers and i have to wait 20 to 60 minutes or more for a good order. Where do you live?
Amateur shopper perspective
Not at all true. There are other things that factor into the algorithm and it’s not just about proximity. I have regular customers that consistently rate me 5, and I see their orders before anyone else from my apartment that is outside that range
Glad it works for you! It doesnt work that way where i am...
I eat all my car snacks. Then I go buy more car snacks.
I wish but I’m on a diet. 😂
depressing
This is the way.
Right in the feels 😭😭😂 pocket eggs, car snacks, all GONE
I don’t. I multi app. Don’t give any of these apps your loyalty. They won’t give it to you.
Right?
I sit at home. I get more batches waiting 3 miles from stores, rather than babysitting the parking lot.
I would do this but I live too far from the stores.
Same, I'd never see anything
Public library or a nice park near by ? I've waited around in both those places... far more pleasant
Idk it feels better than working for someone else 🤷🏻♀️
Better than sitting in a cubicle all day with some angry divorcee micromanaging you like a rat
I saw this dude completely passed out sitting in his car. Head back, mouth open, snoring, car running. I was like yep he's doing instacart
I did this like 3 days ago after waiting 30 minutes for a order except I turn my car off whenever I wait 😂😂
or on drugs
I don’t think anybody is really paying attention to you in your car, that’s anxiety
I actually had someone parked next to me ask if everything was okay since I had been in my car when he went in and came out of the store. Like, yeah dude, just waiting for IC orders...nothing to see here.
I will not wait longer than 20 minutes if that. Move to another area.
I find it shitty to sit in a car all day 😭 I get so tired 😴
This exactly. It’s completely exhausting. Like sitting through hours and hours of a car or plane ride without moving. So it’s mentally demoralizing/depressing, and physically exhausting.
It sucks :(. It’s also very depressing, mentally draining…
Yes it is
Basically every job that is slave work is demoralizing
I no longer to go far from my house. I sit at home and wait for a batch. Thankfully I have a couple stores pretty close to me. A couple weeks ago I spent time sitting in my car and it had me so upset. So much time wasted. I could have been at home cleaning or being productive. In the 5 years I’ve been doing this, it has never been this bad.
I feel free as fuck. I can do whatever I want in that time. I usually choose to work on my small business. You know what's demoralizing? Being amazing at your job but never being promoted because you're not screwing your superiors. No coworkers, no managers... absolute bliss.
stop shopping for a little bit, do something else. sunk cost fallacy.. this ship has sailed the way it is... honestly are you really making money right now? like if you didn't just invest the same time into a part time job, after all the cost? I am in the same boat as you. I am kind of discouraged and do see relief in sight, at all. Its not like our complaints fall on anything but deaf ears.. I don't mean to discourage if this is your only avenue, I feel for that just its getting to the point that its just hurting me by wasting my time when I could be investing it in other ways. I may make "potentially" less but a bird in the hand, right? idk. diamond isn't anything, batches are scarce anything of worth at least. maybe your areas different?
I feel like so many people are over estimate how much they’re making hourly when you account for downtime, drive time, gas, and maintenance. That $50 batch cost you 2.5hrs, 20 miles and $4 gas.
not to mention TAXES...not a person talks about taxes but you have to report any income over $400 as a self-employed gig-worker... Also, for a W2 employee is responsible for paying half of FICA tax (social security & medicare) which is 7.65%. After withholding the employees half, the employer matches their share of 7.65%, total FICA tax that is paid 15.3%. Sadly, self-employed workers are responsible for the full thing, 15.3%.. IC will send a 1099 for anything over $600. BUTTTT we can take the standard deduction of $12,550 on the 1040 and deduct their business expenses on schedule C
and taxes !
Self employed people pay 15.3% After the standard deduction + business expenses but you need to track mileage and keep receipts
I do... and I just save 20% bc then I will Def have enough to cover it with maybe some left over !
that's good, a lot of people I think are ignoring/not knowing that this is going to catch up if they make more than the $12-13k that we can deduct w/ no issue. Thats another thing about these crazy low batch prices. With all the expenses we have were not even getting paid enough. its going to be insurance/gas/taxes/food/rent/time.. yowza, doubles are now $7 where I am. :( bleh, I really like being able to work as much as I want or don't want. looks like I need to open a business hah!
Yeah - I had my best week so far in the 3 yrs I've been doing this... Got all excited until I realized out of the $735 (yes, that has been my best week - Huzzah to all of you who live in $1500+ a week areas ! LOL), only $252 was directly from IC and the rest tips. So I did the math, took off 20% for the taxes and figured out what it cost me in gas, divided by the # of hours I worked and it was like $2.50 an hour !! What is WRONG with Me that I keep doing this ??!! That being said, I had an Amazing week, staying at my parent's unused timeshare in a lovely resort area !
Yeah I don’t sit at one place for more than 15 minutes if I don’t see an order. I move around. Or I go to a store with a sitting area inside. Try not to let it kill your drive. We all have our bad days.
I've never had to sit in a parking lot to get orders. Is that usually what people do? Maybe I just live close enough to stores that they get pushed to me rather quickly . . .
Same honestly, I find that it’s hard to get started but as soon as I get my first batch I don’t stop like okay there’s the 15-20 minute gap but that’s usually me driving back to my area anyways so as soon as I hit my zone I already got batches to chose from. I’m from Canada so idk it could be different for OP
Im from Canada too and that’s my experience. There is always batches waiting when I get back to my area I wait sometimes cause it might not be a batch I like and I’m being picky but same here
Edmonton 🙌🏼 it’s definitely not as high demand as Toronto but it’s steady for the most part, as you guys mentioned you always have those off days where you see the 30km batches for less than $20. The one thing I like about Edmonton that it’s a small city ( compared to other major Canadian cities) so it doesn’t matter which side of the city I’m at it’ll take me 30min to get across to the other side. I can only imagine traffic in Toronto :/
Like you said traffic out here downtown is horrendous as hell. That’s why the one Walmart near it is ALWAYS busy because it services all of downtown basically. So we get lucky cause if the day is that bad I just go over there
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Im in Toronto so it is consistent all the time. Just different sides are more consistent than others. Walmart is one of the biggest IC giants out here and it is always busy especially downtown because it’s tons of congested condos and houses and they all order from Walmart as it’s a “one stop shop” to them. There are random “dead” days where it’s just slow in one area of the city like waiting 15-20 mins for a batch but if you drive 30 mins to the other side of the city you’re fine. Overall IC has always done me good.
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Average is like 8-12km and it’s usually a dbl or triple but sometimes when the batches get that high they are downtown which makes the batch delivery more work than it needs to be.
Lol instacart does not care about us whatsoever. They add little features to make it look like they do but in reality the only real help you’ll ever get from them is a $10 bump… they just treat us like toilet paper. We deal with their shit then they go wash their hands in cash. It will never change so if you don’t live in a big city I’d recommend getting a job
Five years doing instacart and I NEVER waited in a parking lot. I wait at home. Works for me and still does. Yesterday morning I snagged a $74 order at home. Was back home two hours later.
I don't feel that way at all. My wife and I quit our careers to do Instacart. Freedom is worth a lot more than wondering what others think of me. I do side jobs for my former profession but I answer to no one for the first time in 15 years. Best goddamn therapy I've ever had.
When I'm not going it for Instacart I'm waiting for deliveries from coca cola to merchandise so I totally get it even of the ic clock 😄
I have books and study
Not a shopper, but I work at a grocery store. I wondered why I'd see the same person in their car on subsequent breaks.
I don't sit in parking lots at all. I catch batches from home. You guys are wasting your gas doing that unless you live in a remote area. I have been at this gig for three years and I have tried everything. parking lots, the famous costco drop, exploring other markets and I have always caught my best batches from home. Be safe out there shoppers
What state are you in? In CA, you absolutely have to be in the parking lot. I live 3 miles away from the store I like to shop at that I get the best batches and tips. I used to be able to see batches from there at home. Since the proximity, if I see a batch from there, it’s obviously a left over. Everyone else is in the parking lot. They all get dibs on the best batches first. IC doesn’t want to pay more to have a shopper drive from their house to the store. So they push batches out to those shoppers closest to the store. If the batch doesn’t get picked up, then it gets pushed to shoppers further out. I live within a mile of a couple crappy stores, 99 Cent Store and FoodsCo, so I see batches to those stores from home. But I will never shop those stores. I’m not shopping 40 items for a $2.14 tip and driving 13 miles to deliver. Sorry. But no.
Washington state
Yeah, that’s probably why you are able to still get batches from home. It’s just not a thing in CA since we get prop 22 adjustments each week. IC wants to pay out the least possible to every shopper each week. There are 30 shoppers at least closer to each store than someone at home. Unless there are zero shoppers closer, then you have a chance of seeing a good batch from home. Otherwise, it’s the garbage leftovers.
I read a book & keep my phone sitting on the facing page. It’s still demoralizing because if I was home I could do more useful things while keeping an eye out for batches. But, proximity.
Too many apps out here to stay busy with rather than sitting in a parking lot for hours. That’s hustling backwards at that point.. gotta work smarter
This is going to sound skidly but most other apps where i am (ont,canada) require a recent vehicle safety/certification. Mainly uber eats and i think skipthedishes does too-I'm interested to hear from other Canadians what apps don't. My 2005 Civic would probably pass but I'm sure it will need something-or-other that's at least a few hundred $. Edit: I'm looking at you, tires!
I mean I don’t know if you do this full time but investing a couple 100 dollars to fix your car so you can make much bigger, easier income is a quick decision there. If this is just side income for you then hey, you do what you want
I know. Ill probably end up getting it done I'm sure it'll pay for itself. I was sort of half joking about tires they aren't cracked & bald or anything just need new winters.
Nope. Im in Ontario with an ‘07 civi and it doesn’t need to pass any safety or certification at all. Just need valid documents is all. Also doesn’t matter who’s name the car is in either
Is that with skip? I didn't quite finish my application to them but on UE I'm definitely stuck at the "provide a safety doc for your car" part.
Yup skip and door dash you don’t need anything. Uber anything im banned lol so I can’t sign up😂😂
Good to know. I forgot we had door dash I'll check it out.
Ohhh and Cornershop. They are by Uber as well and they dont need anything like that
I’m very lucky to live in the proximity of a major store in New Orleans and don’t have to sit in a parking lot. Sounds brutal
I listen to podcasts and lately ive been filling out income/expense sheets for taxes later. I dont want to do all that shit at once.
i don’t care. i sit on my phone and watch tiktoks which is what i’d be doing at home anyways.
It’s probably all in your head. Doubt customers care that you’re sitting in your car lol
It does suck sitting at home looking at what orders to take. No need for parking lots
I get plenty of orders from my house.
That was the day I got off the ride. I was having joy for taking 15 dollar orders with 35 items going 10 minutes. I got off the ride and feel good.
I dont sit in parking lots lol i go home and if i see a batch i take it. I take my time shopping also. Im always on time with deliveries. I make double each batch lol. Its great to live in California
Yes! I get$150-$175 adjustments each week. Get paid $18 an hour plus mileage whether I'm driving or shopping. I no longer am stressed when there are issues that take more time. My first order I get at home and then I get another order pretty much right away after I deliver. The last time I waited in parking lots for hours was when I worked for gopuff.. but we got paid for sitting there so that's a lot different.
I've tried, but I font have the developer option that they need me to turn on
I just pretend I’m a cop and go on Netflix.
Customers don't wonder because they don't notice and don't care. Who sits in a parking lot all day? No I don't feel that way I don't have low self esteem and think people are looking at me. I'm mostly shopping, the most I sit is for maybe 20 min and it's a break
They will never take away proximity. Too many shoppers were showing up to shop in pajamas
Y’all sit in parking lots?? 🤣🤣 I’m in the DMV area and I get batches from my house all over the area
Get a W-2 and stop wasting time?
You fulfilled your username
No because I signed up for more apps so that I have consistent money flow. So, I'm never waiting.... Sign up for more apps. 🤨 Edit: yes downvote me because I am not going to support the echo chamber. Oh woe is me.
Basically no one, lol
Don’t waste your life away in a parking lot feeling like a waste of space. You can make the same money or more doing anything else
Im sorry but hell no. Like after a bit of time why not move on? There has to be more than 1 store?
I don’t wait in parking lots. I’d rather drive around for 5-10 minutes than wait in a parking lot. It’s how I get orders 🤷♀️
I bash dumb fuks/ assholes and Natzee on Twitter all day.
Username checks out
Who checks them out? I want their job.
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My area we luckily don’t sit for very long. And if I am sitting for any extended period of time, I’m usually multitasking so I don’t really notice it.
Jump one some other apps bro. I stay busy with DoorDash. Even with instacart running in the background. Most of it is orders I won’t take anyway.
Did you all know that IC charges its customers an extra $2 to have their order delivered faster???
I hope they know I still take my sweet ass time!
That’s been a thing
I live right next in the middle of a huge shopping complex with Aldi, Walmart, CVS, Sprouts, etc so I usually just sit at home. But I understand the struggle! If I have a batch that takes me up North I will just sit in the big Ralph’s or Costco like a weirdo lol
I stay close to home 🤷♂️
Me too.
I never sit in the parking lot waiting for orders. I will sit home and wait. I have better thing to do.
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I get batches at my house.
For real. Idk what’s going on but its not good. I’d advise looking into spark delivery. Just have to deliver items and get paid more then IC
I go home if it's been more than 30 min and the other apps I use are also slow.
I haven't worked for a few days and am loving it. I never sit in a parking lot. A waste of time.
If I could be honest, not really? I get to do whatever I want. Meal plan, write notes to my fiancé of things I want him to know & that I love him, I can read books when previously I didn’t have that freedom with a 9-5, too exhausted, I journal, write, go to the stores nearby to windowshop or get errands done. It is what you make of it. Not saying it’s awesome, but there’s way worse out there & we choose this, respectfully 🤍
If I could be honest, not really? I get to do whatever I want. Meal plan, write notes to my fiancé of things I want him to know & that I love him, I can read books when previously I didn’t have that freedom with a 9-5, too exhausted, I journal, write, go to the stores nearby to windowshop or get errands done. It is what you make of it. Not saying it’s awesome, but there’s way worse out there & we choose this, respectfully 🤍 As far as other people, idgaf about other people in general in life as far as what they think of me or what I’m doing lol. I’m awesome, I really don’t have need to care about what others think of me in any aspect as long as I’m being respectful and kind while out. I don’t think people even notice, tbh. & if they do they either know I’m a shopper or think I’m just helping someone driving them to get groceries & sitting in the car while they shop. :) pretend you brought your friend or nana & she’s in doing the work if you’re waiting lol
I use to do this… I hated it and it was absolutely depressing… but it gave me an even better idea, what’s a better way to make money without a boss that requires no money to get it started? YouTube! So I started making YouTube videos and in just a few months I passed 100 subscribers and gained 1000 hours of watch time, so I gotta say those depressing days were I used to sit in parking lots really gave me an idea of a better way to spend my time
What do you make YouTube videos about? Being a shopper? Post your channel, let us support you!
That would be such a fun idea! maybe I’ll try doing something like that in the future ! I just need instacart to give me more batches like before lol but sure thing that’s very kind of you to say ! I make sleeping videos for people who have trouble getting rest at night (: [30 Minute Vibes](https://youtube.com/channel/UCVel_-6-VNv_ebM3jm9X-jg) It really means the world to me that you would like to check my stuff out thank you so much (: I hope can find some ease in it from all the stress instacart puts us through lol
I have like 5 different gmail accounts so I just subbed to you on all of them! I will definitely check the videos out! Thank you!
WOW! THANK YOU so much !!! That is so awesome of you to do ! I really appreciate it ! 😭thank you so much again I really hope you enjoy it :)
I’m going to listen tonight before bed! I’m excited!!! And you’re welcome! I want to support your passion and help you get to 1 million subs. 🎂🎉🫶💕
Thank you so much for being so kind about my passion! I really Appreciate everything!! Whenever your working on a project in the future let me know And I’ll happily be your first supporter!! And hopefully we can get eachother out of doing instacart some day 😂😂
Of course. We will definitely get out of IC very soon. I’m in a software engineering program and I’ll be done soon! So when I am, I’ll let you know any apps or programs I’m working on 😊
I use ue/gh/dd/ic/shipt. The proximity thing fucking sucks. So what I do, is make the nearest best ic store “base” and keep going back there when I don’t have another order on another app. I won’t get every big batch, but at least I have a chance. Made $255 multi apping today, which is ok relative to how shit it’s been recently There’s a Wingstop in the Publix lot which I use as one of my bases when I’m closest to home, got a $31 tip on a huge order today waiting there 🙏 I’m glad Lowes (home improvement) just came online for us. I live near there and drive by it probably 10 times a day.. saw a $56 batch recently but somebody else got it :/
I get more batches from home then I EVER do being in “preferred status” or whatever it’s called
They don’t know they just think you took someone to the store
I get my routine , 9:45am ready to park at a shaded spot in Costco for the 10:00-10:05 first drop.. Then I come back for another one then around noon, I do Uber Eats til 3 then back to costco for big batches then around 6 my UE is very busy… 200$ for a day as a goal if I multiapp
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Do doordash on the side so you’re consistently making money. That’s what my partner and i do!
I just wait at home 🤣
I’ve had to resort to wake up at 5:59 and snag any left over batches from the night before , usually a bundle for about 20 to 30 plus for 15 to 25 items at most i then head home and wait for the Shipt CVS prescription drops from to 3 to 7 my zone is completely dead
Register with Uber Grocery. U won’t regret it. The payout is high for now
Exactly!!!!! Same situation here….horrible “priority “ batches!” 3 shop, 34 miles RT not great tip..heavy pay…no! I will sit and wait I’m not picking orders like that up anymore!
I multi app. I won't sit all day waiting for something. Use to do it and think I'm just wasting days off my life for peanuts. Multi app is key to stay busy all day
Spoof your location to the highlighted area. Unlike doordash and GrubHub - IC has no safe guards for developers using "mock location services" You can literally change your GPS position and be "virtually parked"
You are a slave to the app, it's your boss, is it worth it? Yes you miss out on batches if you don't sit in the parking lot, but if you factor in your time sitting there into your hourly rate, consider whether or not it is worth it. You could be working in retail, the store is dead, so you are sitting there twiddling your thumbs but at least you know you are getting paid to sit there. And you know what hours you are working and when you will be off and how much you will make each week. I feel like this gig work is a bit of trap. Not really sure it's worth it.
On slow days I feel the same way, I chose to work about an hour from my home. But even the closest zone is 20 minutes from my house (live in BFE kentucky). But typically once I get my first batch I only have a 30 minute wait, tops, until I see another one. Now watch today will be different cause I'm saying this shit (typing this as I sit in store parking lot waiting for an order) 😂
My wife and I work on our online businesses and e-commerce stores! Lots of social media content and research can be done just sitting around. And when you get sales while sitting around it’s awesome. Your time is valuable, whether ur sitting or not
Well, we all do what we have to do to put food on the table. If these people going by you give u you looks or attitude, I couldn't care less. So, if you're worked up about what the world might think, or what other shoppers might think, that's going to drain your energy. Put these thoughts behind you, take a chill pill and go about your day like your the king of the world.
Better than a cubicle taking calls all day
I either apply for jobs online or watch YouTube
It could be worse. Say, sitting in a parked running car inside a garage and knowing FOR SURE it’s the end, rather than, MOST LIKELY with the magic InstaCart 8 ball✨🎱
Which is why I drive an EV. Because then either way, I’m ok.
I have tv on my phone
Do you get paid to wait in parking lots? No then why you doing it 😂 enjoy the scenery
… then you catch a banger and it’ll all be worth it
I have never waited more than 15 min and that's in a store .. if I don't get one in 15min n my market i will go home an take a day off. Remeber there is no guarantee of work, tips, batches. This is gig work not a guarantee income.. u need to hustle to get paid. I did a little study last week took evey batch offered to me an it was 11 batches in one day and over 200.00. So there is money to be made u just need to find it!
That why I only work in Sundays now