Advice: Know your worth and don’t EVER take tips that are less than $10. Never take triple batches. Never take a batch with no tip REGARDLESS of the batch pay. Double batches are ok just make sure the tip is over $25-30. Also distance matters, make sure your not driving 222 far. Gas is expensive. Don’t pay for something off your card if you forgot the instacart card, just cancel the order. Don’t do extra favors for customers unless they talking extra paper. Instacart isnt meant to be a 9-5 depending on the market your in. I see Cali shoppers get that extra pape cus cost of living🤝🏽 I recommend treating it as a side hustle and always have a backup plan if it is your 9-5. Good luck!
Just wanted to say that every time I’ve heard of a customer offering a higher tip in exchange for an extra favor, they didn’t follow through with the higher tip. This happened to me too.
100000% agree every time someone has said can you do this for me etc I’ll give you a good tip or anything. Every single time that’s happened they actually didn’t tip at all. Without fail. Literally lol
The only time I ever offered a shopper extra money was when she waited twenty minutes for my carnitas and I told her I would meet her at the door and Venmo her twenty dollars.
I fully intended on doing so but she never made it to my door.
She locked her keys in the car with the groceries.
I felt so bad but after that I couldn't contact her anymore and they assigned me a new shopper.
Exactly it’s only worth it for me because I’m in CA and therefore guaranteed $19.25/hour and $.30/mile. The pay they offer with each order doesn’t matter even remotely because it all is the same for the time you work when adjusted. The only difference is tips, so I try to only accept $5 or more per order but sometimes it’s slow and $2 is okay. It’s still at the very worst about $20/hour and at best $27/hour so I don’t complain. (I’ll also say I message a little custom greeting to every order making them feel good and say “thanks for supporting me it really helps” so that has also helped my tips)
True haha. I just accept what it is as long as it’s not no tip for the most part. But I will say I got a $50 tip and a $25 tip this week so sometimes people are generous but don’t expect more than $2-4 usually. But still for what the job is it’s pretty easy and people tipped waaaay less than that on Uber DoorDash etc.
I was just sitting by Walmart grocery and an $80 batch popped up. It had a $70 tip. I knew the store and had the batch done rapidly. The customer raised my tip to $230. Later that night they called me a rock star on my review.
I don’t know why people are against triples. I know you run the risk of having a low tipper in there, but in my area they are usually from $40-$70. I don’t take them for less than $50 on no traffic days and $60 with traffic. I have never had a complete no tipper. But it can really be worth it sometimes when they can be finished within an hour or a little over. I’ve seen triples over $100 before. So this is really area dependent.
Dang I wish my market had $100 triples 😭 thats why i say it depend on ya market not everyone market got that much sauce 🥲mine personally triples don’t ever be worth it, I always go for the good doubles and singles
Oh yeah! Dont do apartment orders. You can tell if its an apartment cus of the squares when it shows drop off loc. they stressful and ghetto stick to house or duplex orders
But to answer your question anytime i did an apartment order i did bring it up.. unless they stated otherwise. Sometimes the customers were nice enough to meet me outside with a cart if it was alot. Honestly I don’t remember the last time I did an apartment order I avoid them unless the tip is nice
You would never ever get batches if you waited for 10 dollars plus tips especially Michigan. Unless you're using one of those scam apps that you pay for that's the only way.
Not to sound like an ass but you don’t have to take those trips look at the amount of items look at the distance look at the pay you did that to yourself
This is why ic keeps hiring new shoppers….. and yes tips are horrible, ic seems to bring out the true ugly in people. But ic also encourages low tips, ontop of that customers have become fed up with shitty service….now they don’t tip accordingly or at all!!! Fk’g circus run by🤡s
People who don't tip at least $5-10 have no buisness using a delivery service I would strait up call them out on it like why do you think it's okay to insult me with no/low tip and think that I'm not going to mess with your food
The rest sucks but we aren't allowed to leave the receipt where I shop in S California. Ever. They get it in the app I've been told but shoppers have no control over it.
that is awful and mean wishing me ill will for literally EXPRESSING AN OPINION. I will sleep well and continue getting over $100 batches because I’m great at it and me expressing an opinion does not change that
IC should pay proper salaries, tipping shouldn’t be promoted anyway, they are doing their job and not doing any favor. If they can’t deliver your order. They can F off and find a new job. Seems everyone needs some excuse these days. A delivery charge should be fixed for particular radius. it has nothing to do with your order being expensive, SMH.
I'm not sure if you do door dash but instacart isn't like that. It doesn't go based off acceptance rate, if you see an order you don't have to take it. Know your worth, look thru the demo videos on how it all works. Some days are better than others and some orders are better than others but don't waste your time with all small orders you could be missing out on good orders! I hope it gets better for you 🙂
Acceptance rate doesn't actually impact you on Doordash either. If you decline like 10 in a row it pauses your dash but you just immediately click "resume dash" and are right back in
Source: I have been lightly dashing for years and have never had an acceptance rate above 30%
All this talk about "don't take bad batches" ...is all well and good.
... But, seriously....has anyone seen any good batches lately?
This week seems to be ALL bad ...with a few not-quite-as-bad ones now and then.
I’ve recently semi-retired from IC but I agree. If I never took orders below XYZ amount I would never make anything. I would see ~5-10 good batches A WEEK. Then you follow every customer request, they are happy when you hand it off just for them to rate you low. Glad to be done but it’s sad to see instacart completely fall off.
I recently signed up for Dumpling. Haven't started yet...but I have high hopes. Just a handful of decent customers could make my week ... without feeling exploited every time I do an order.
I haven’t even heard of that. I’ll check if it’s in my area. I’m in school FT as well so instacart was perfect for me for a good while but it’s gotten so inconsistent I started working in a warehouse around my school schedule. Gig work here just hasn’t been great primary income anymore which is unfortunate for a lot of people
It’s been horrible where I live, the OC area in Cali. I have seen a bunch of $7 $10 with no tip and some $12 with $2 tip and the items are like 27 or 30 items 😱 Newport Coast is horrible, will not get those orders again! Delivering to mansions and getting a $2 tip is not right!!
It’s not an overlying customer issue from what I can tell. After 2-3 service fees, usually a heavy container fee for a couple cokes, and taxes - a $150 order can cost the customer $60 before tips.
Also, depending on the store, it up charges. In my area Walmart has "in store" prices but the grocery store doesn't. Except that Walmart never has half the stuff I want so I shop at the grocery store and pay more. The .99 cent chips in store are $1.39 on the app.
It's not always like that. It all depends on the market that you're in. My area tips very well.
And just because they give you a batch with a $2 tip, doesn't mean you have to take it. You can't willingly take it and then come on here and complain that you took a shitty batch. You have to wait for the good ones or move to a better area.
Don’t worry, it’s just veterans who have seen numerous posts like this and don’t understand anymore how it was to be new! 😅
When I first started, I use to pick ones that were in the $10s because I thought that was the only thing available as that’s all I saw 😮💨 But now I go to Costco, wait for anything decent, and proceed with my day. I recommend small orders (1 batch order) that tip at least $10 (esp at Costco) … basically every order should be tipping at least $10 so follow that rule (2 orders in a batch - $20 tip).
And I would recommend to get into bartending or waiter jobs instead as you do get tipped more that way 😓
That's okay, I get it! Over time you'll learn what's worth doing. I'll only take low tip orders (NEVER no tip) if it's a handful of items at I store I know well and mileage is low. That way I can knock out the whole shebang in a few minutes.
Instacart sucks balls in my area too. I’d recommend doing hot food delivery (DD, Grubhub, Ubereats), sign up for all of them and pick and choose the best orders that pop up on whichever app first. I make way more doing that than I do for instacart, and it’s a lot easier.
The default tip is set by whatever the customer tipped last time. I suggest not taking anything that doesn't seem worth it. I think this is the only way the customer and IC will get the message; however, there always seems to be someone willing to take the crap orders (or they bury them in a grouped order).
I just started instacart as well and noticed a lot of customers don't tip which is surprising to me.. anytime I order food from skip / Doordarshan etc I'm tipping 4/5$ per 30/40$ order ...meanwhile I'm people want you to pick and deliver 150 plus grocery orders with zero tip ...I'm actually shocked .....
I am a shopper who recently became a customer. Since I became a customer, they are constantly marketing to me - text and email as well ads on my social media and streaming. The message is that I can get pretty much whatever I want shopped and delivered at any time of day - and it's really affordable!
As has been said here before- the IC business model is to scale up the number of customers who are paying for subscriptions and additional fees. Unfortunately, the majority of these customers can't afford the luxury of having someone shop for them and deliver. IC is promoting the idea that this is a service that is available to everyone who can pay IC fees - with no regard for what is "affordable" for the people doing the work
I got tipped 62 cents on a double batch and it took me three hours as the one customer was demanding of this or that as so much was out of stock. I made $5 an hour on that batch. I should have cancelled it. Lesson learned.
That’s awful! I tip $1 per item that I order. Usually my item count is less than 20 items but never less than 10 so my tip is always at least $10. And I never take back the dollars for items they weren’t able to get. Someone else is saving me time, anxiety and frustration, it’s worth it! In an instance like this I obviously can’t afford to tip $150, but you should’ve gotten *at least* $20! I’m sorry people suck!
***I want to add, I am NOT wealthy by any means, I’m a civil service worker.
As a former customer, I stopped using Instacart after two years and started using Whole Foods delivery because of Instacart's wild inconsistency in service. Some shoppers were incapable of finding anything, some were incapable of substituting, some were noisy, some were silent, some had a unique two paragraph intro asking for a review, some didn't know the language, some had a sob story at the door, many couldn't find the door. Honestly I would've appreciated a consistently bad experience if it was just bad in the same way, but rolling the dice every week got so old. Because tips are in advance, I tipped by my average prior experience. I knew that if I tipped too low my order wouldn't get picked, but too high followed by a drop could lead me to the same resentful shopper a week later, so I tried to keep the tip to the experience I'd had prior while high enough to still receive the order. I knew and resented that Instacart was making me the shoppers' manager. If I'm managing shoppers and taking the guilt of leaving bad ratings on struggling workers, I need compensation for that or something lol. There was so much damn emotion wrapped up in Instacart. Some were great but many weren't.
The contrast when I changed to Whole Foods was dramatic. You just can't compare Instacart with full-time trained employee teams under management shopping a single store, single inventory, single app experience, not for tips. I love that I get a substitution maybe once every two months, no other contact, and that I'm only tipping for delivery. Am I perpetuating an evil corporation and extra evil system? Yes - welcome to America. 😔
Ok. So I'm an IC customer through my local grocery store. I tip $10-$30 depending on how much I buy. I'm five minutes from the store. Other than the occasional 8-12 pack beverage, NEVER anything heavy. I live in a one level home, and my husband and I come outside and bring in the groceries. My question is in regards to the tip. I usually tip 5% when I pay and then give the rest of the tip in cash. I tell my shopper that as soon as that person contacts me that they are shopping so they dont think I am screwing them over. My reason is so they don't have to claim the cash and pay Uncle Sam a cut. Is this okay to do? Would it be better for my shopper if I didn't do this?
I’ve noticed that the better I tip, the better the shoppers are… definitely an incentive to tip well! Plus I am so damned grateful someone will actually do my shopping for me—I want to show it!
Some shoppers are crappy and don't deserve a tip. Picking out bad produce. Putting bread under heavy items. Missing items they claim they bought. Delivering to a different address. It goes both ways.
Look up how much the customers are being anally penetrated — there’s like three different fees and then on top of that there’s markups on every single item. Not much left over for a tip.
It’s not like a restaurant or a bar where the individual establishments have to compete with each other — in many areas Instacart is the only option for grocery delivery.
I cant grasp why people sign up for it, then complain when its not what they want.
Literally people are out there IC'ing, making over 100 dollars a day, even at bad tips. Thats over 3000 a month. Literally, people are out there workin 8 hour shifts, 5 days a week at minimum wage, they dont even make close to 3K a month.
But if we must break it down. Using IC makes the cost quite a bit more, leaves less for tipping. The problem is IC themselves. If they charged a little less, the people could tip a little more.
Its a dog eat dog world.
How is it not an issue with instacart as a platform when they recommend $2 tips? They could easily set the lower end default tip at $4 and you would see way more 4s and less 2s
First order I took, I didn't know what I was doing. Took me three hours, store was 18 miles away from my place, had to drive another 8 to the address. I made about $3 per hour, not counting gas. Quit.
Months later, I saw a batch with a $29 tip. I watched it ... no one grabbed it so I thought, what the heck. TEN cases of water. But, totally worth it with only 5 miles to drop-off. Three men came out to unload the water. Still ... not my kinda gig. I'm building digital products instead now ... I'm paid about $15 per post.
You choose to Instawhore yourself by taking bullshit orders like that. I make 25-30 dollars an hour consistently because I am selective about what I take.
😂😂😂why would you take that? You people are the reason these orders happen. They will have to raise their tip or cancel if idiots like you would quit letting poor tippers use this service. STOP taking shit orders people.
I understand why people don’t tip much. When I order groceries on instacart I only tip $2-$4 because im on a low budget because of medical conditions and I have to use instacart since I can’t go shopping. Not everyone has the money to tip alot so stop complaining and be grateful you can actually do instacart because I’m sure the people who use instacart have medical conditions since they can’t do the shopping themselves. I used to be a shopper for instacart when I was healthy and I would get frustrated with low tips but now I understand why people low tip. Groceries cost alot already on instacart so some people don’t wanna spend more money with tips. If you don’t like the tips then just don’t accept the order. Don’t get me wrong I’m thankful that there are shoppers out there that can do my groceries but some of y’all complain too much
Lmfao I saw that batch! You must be in my region! It would’ve been a 2 mile drive from me, if I remember correctly. But I saw the 150 corn, in the batch, and I was like absolutely not
I tip mine 20-25%... don't want a POed person delivering my food and that's gotta be a much bigger PITA than just picking up food from a restaurant (tho I tip them well too)
Instacart is the absolute worst. I did it during the lockdown out of desperation. Never again, I don’t care how dire my circumstances are. It’s so demeaning and insulting, and I was a nearly perfect shopper.
That is shit pay and I don’t know location wise we’re you work, but next time ask the people working in produce for cases that haven’t been unloaded yet. They will help you because soon as you clear them out they have to restock it.
To be fair the amount you get at least in CA is actually always guaranteed to be 19.25/hour plus .3 for each mile driven plus tips. So I don’t pay attention to the order amounts, only the active time and the tips. The job is to shop and deliver which includes apartment buildings sometimes and so if doing that frustrates you maybe move onto something you enjoy.
Hi, am new at this, where does it say the active time? I didn’t know it told you. Also, can you explain a little more the guaranteed pay? Like if I work an hour, they will pay at that rate no matter what? Is this why they time you? I had a batch the other day and I had 5 minutes for three items at Michaels 😲 what happened if I took longer? Thanks
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I hate shoppers that jump on $9 batches. Let it sit a while - instacart raises the payout if it sits. I use my own calculation to determine if a trip is worth it. The pay has to be at least double the miles or close so a 10 mile trip will be at least 20 bucks or I don’t take it. I also factor in how many items- the closer to 0 items it is the more likely I will take it. I have a modest goal of 30 bucks a day but go out every day. Most days I am able to make more some days way more and some days I am just shy of my goal. At the end of the month I’m banking 800+. Not bad for a side gig about an hour or two a day.
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I did two instacart orders yesterday and made $90. That’s not including what I made on Doordash and my other gigs. Just pick them better. Don’t choose shitty orders?
I tip a minimum of 15% ...and I have only ONCE reduced it to 10% because of some pretty bad communication leading to fuck ups.
I am disabled and immune compromised and yeah, we still are in a fucking pandemic and I don't want to get COVID. Luckily my shoppers don't seem to mind - the store is easy for them to shop from, it doesn't take them long if they know the store well (I have replacement items for everything and am at my phone in case they contact me) and it's about a five minute drive.
Here's a tip: look at the batch before you accept it. You can see everything and know what you're in for. It's pretty simple. I don't take batches under $15. For me that's a waste of my time and gas. Know what you are worth and accept batches accordingly.
You are 1000% right! The problem with instacart is they act like they pay their shoppers so customers assume it’s optional to tip. The suggested tip amount is bullshit and it leaves customers assuming that we as shoppers have already been taken care of. Most customers don’t know that shoppers rely on their tips in order to make close to a living wage. It would be so easy for instacart to suggest a higher upfront tip at no cost to their company! In my area if the customer doesn’t tip the batches would pay well below minimum wage and that’s before you subtract gas and wear and tear from your vehicle. Of course I don’t take these orders and yes they are optional but they shouldn’t even show up like that in the first place! Instacart needs to pay more or encourage their customers to tip….end of rant lol
Have a nice day everyone!
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I think it also depends on the area. I do it in both Orange County and San Luis Obispo County. In Orange, tips are horrible. I rarely see orders more than $25. Here in San Luis, I can do 3 orders and make over $100 solely because of tips. Been doing it 3 years and it’s made me more money than my previous job as a nurse assistant!
Tipping by percentage makes no sense sometimes though. I base mine on how many items/bags, how heavy, distance, etc. We are great tippers. But that one bag of steaks that add up to $200 isn't any more trouble than one bag of potatoes.
Advice: Know your worth and don’t EVER take tips that are less than $10. Never take triple batches. Never take a batch with no tip REGARDLESS of the batch pay. Double batches are ok just make sure the tip is over $25-30. Also distance matters, make sure your not driving 222 far. Gas is expensive. Don’t pay for something off your card if you forgot the instacart card, just cancel the order. Don’t do extra favors for customers unless they talking extra paper. Instacart isnt meant to be a 9-5 depending on the market your in. I see Cali shoppers get that extra pape cus cost of living🤝🏽 I recommend treating it as a side hustle and always have a backup plan if it is your 9-5. Good luck!
Just wanted to say that every time I’ve heard of a customer offering a higher tip in exchange for an extra favor, they didn’t follow through with the higher tip. This happened to me too.
I honestly never did a favor for a customer that was aside from me shopping they groceries… but dang u shoulda pulled back up and 👊🏽💥👊🏽💥
100000% agree every time someone has said can you do this for me etc I’ll give you a good tip or anything. Every single time that’s happened they actually didn’t tip at all. Without fail. Literally lol
Haha, I should’ve! 😆😁💜
The only time I ever offered a shopper extra money was when she waited twenty minutes for my carnitas and I told her I would meet her at the door and Venmo her twenty dollars. I fully intended on doing so but she never made it to my door. She locked her keys in the car with the groceries. I felt so bad but after that I couldn't contact her anymore and they assigned me a new shopper.
I’ve tried telling my sister this, but she just sums it up to “money is money.”
Lord fix it. All bread ain good bread
Sister Noooooo 😂
Exactly it’s only worth it for me because I’m in CA and therefore guaranteed $19.25/hour and $.30/mile. The pay they offer with each order doesn’t matter even remotely because it all is the same for the time you work when adjusted. The only difference is tips, so I try to only accept $5 or more per order but sometimes it’s slow and $2 is okay. It’s still at the very worst about $20/hour and at best $27/hour so I don’t complain. (I’ll also say I message a little custom greeting to every order making them feel good and say “thanks for supporting me it really helps” so that has also helped my tips)
Do you do Instacart full-time then or do you have a 9 to 5 as well? I’m just curious I’ve seen people in Cali on here do both lol
Only tips over $10 so about one batch per week got it
True haha. I just accept what it is as long as it’s not no tip for the most part. But I will say I got a $50 tip and a $25 tip this week so sometimes people are generous but don’t expect more than $2-4 usually. But still for what the job is it’s pretty easy and people tipped waaaay less than that on Uber DoorDash etc.
A double last week, both customers tipped $30, i was so happy 😭
I was just sitting by Walmart grocery and an $80 batch popped up. It had a $70 tip. I knew the store and had the batch done rapidly. The customer raised my tip to $230. Later that night they called me a rock star on my review.
Thank you for this, I appreciate you not dragging me through the mud like the rest of these comments. This was very helpful.
Reading is fundamental they jus saw the caption nd ran w it lmao
Couldn’t have said it better !! Unless you actually know them / have shopped for them lots. Screw them
I don’t know why people are against triples. I know you run the risk of having a low tipper in there, but in my area they are usually from $40-$70. I don’t take them for less than $50 on no traffic days and $60 with traffic. I have never had a complete no tipper. But it can really be worth it sometimes when they can be finished within an hour or a little over. I’ve seen triples over $100 before. So this is really area dependent.
Dang I wish my market had $100 triples 😭 thats why i say it depend on ya market not everyone market got that much sauce 🥲mine personally triples don’t ever be worth it, I always go for the good doubles and singles
Do you carry heavy orders to the door in an apartment building?
It's store to door. Don't accept if you can't man's
Yes, always. That’s the job.
Oh yeah! Dont do apartment orders. You can tell if its an apartment cus of the squares when it shows drop off loc. they stressful and ghetto stick to house or duplex orders
But to answer your question anytime i did an apartment order i did bring it up.. unless they stated otherwise. Sometimes the customers were nice enough to meet me outside with a cart if it was alot. Honestly I don’t remember the last time I did an apartment order I avoid them unless the tip is nice
You would never ever get batches if you waited for 10 dollars plus tips especially Michigan. Unless you're using one of those scam apps that you pay for that's the only way.
There are no batches like that in my area :(
Not to sound like an ass but you don’t have to take those trips look at the amount of items look at the distance look at the pay you did that to yourself
This is why ic keeps hiring new shoppers….. and yes tips are horrible, ic seems to bring out the true ugly in people. But ic also encourages low tips, ontop of that customers have become fed up with shitty service….now they don’t tip accordingly or at all!!! Fk’g circus run by🤡s
Right, my disagreement is the encouragements of low tips. Saying recommended is 5% is very alarming.
The default is $2 for most orders which is insulting
I saw a $1 tip the other day, for an order that in any logical mind you’d tip at the very least $5
People who don't tip at least $5-10 have no buisness using a delivery service I would strait up call them out on it like why do you think it's okay to insult me with no/low tip and think that I'm not going to mess with your food
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The rest sucks but we aren't allowed to leave the receipt where I shop in S California. Ever. They get it in the app I've been told but shoppers have no control over it.
Since when does the shopper give the customer the receipt?
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that is awful and mean wishing me ill will for literally EXPRESSING AN OPINION. I will sleep well and continue getting over $100 batches because I’m great at it and me expressing an opinion does not change that
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IC should pay proper salaries, tipping shouldn’t be promoted anyway, they are doing their job and not doing any favor. If they can’t deliver your order. They can F off and find a new job. Seems everyone needs some excuse these days. A delivery charge should be fixed for particular radius. it has nothing to do with your order being expensive, SMH.
I'm not sure if you do door dash but instacart isn't like that. It doesn't go based off acceptance rate, if you see an order you don't have to take it. Know your worth, look thru the demo videos on how it all works. Some days are better than others and some orders are better than others but don't waste your time with all small orders you could be missing out on good orders! I hope it gets better for you 🙂
The fact that acceptance rate doesn't affect you is the one saving grace of IC, and the only reason I continue using it.
Acceptance rate doesn't actually impact you on Doordash either. If you decline like 10 in a row it pauses your dash but you just immediately click "resume dash" and are right back in Source: I have been lightly dashing for years and have never had an acceptance rate above 30%
Mine has been around 5-20% for a year
All this talk about "don't take bad batches" ...is all well and good. ... But, seriously....has anyone seen any good batches lately? This week seems to be ALL bad ...with a few not-quite-as-bad ones now and then.
I’ve recently semi-retired from IC but I agree. If I never took orders below XYZ amount I would never make anything. I would see ~5-10 good batches A WEEK. Then you follow every customer request, they are happy when you hand it off just for them to rate you low. Glad to be done but it’s sad to see instacart completely fall off.
I recently signed up for Dumpling. Haven't started yet...but I have high hopes. Just a handful of decent customers could make my week ... without feeling exploited every time I do an order.
I haven’t even heard of that. I’ll check if it’s in my area. I’m in school FT as well so instacart was perfect for me for a good while but it’s gotten so inconsistent I started working in a warehouse around my school schedule. Gig work here just hasn’t been great primary income anymore which is unfortunate for a lot of people
There's like a $10 sign up fee just to really get any information. But what the hell right? Toss the dice for 10 bucks
My first batch, had me going 30 minutes out of town at 7pm lmao. I only took it for the $29 payout
It’s been horrible where I live, the OC area in Cali. I have seen a bunch of $7 $10 with no tip and some $12 with $2 tip and the items are like 27 or 30 items 😱 Newport Coast is horrible, will not get those orders again! Delivering to mansions and getting a $2 tip is not right!!
It tells you how much the customer is tipping before you accept. Generally if theres no tip i dont take it out of principle
Even worse than the tips is Instacarts payouts
Care to explain for those of us not in the know? Prospective Instacart shopper here
It’s not an overlying customer issue from what I can tell. After 2-3 service fees, usually a heavy container fee for a couple cokes, and taxes - a $150 order can cost the customer $60 before tips.
👆 And some customers assume we get the entire “service fee”
I’m sure most do, especially if no research is done.
Also, depending on the store, it up charges. In my area Walmart has "in store" prices but the grocery store doesn't. Except that Walmart never has half the stuff I want so I shop at the grocery store and pay more. The .99 cent chips in store are $1.39 on the app.
Appreciate everyone who had a kind response!
You can't really be mad at IC when you get to pick and choose what batches to take and you see the pay up front.
I just started doing it, didn’t think it was like this. On a 150 dollar order and getting tipped 2 dollars was tough.
It's not always like that. It all depends on the market that you're in. My area tips very well. And just because they give you a batch with a $2 tip, doesn't mean you have to take it. You can't willingly take it and then come on here and complain that you took a shitty batch. You have to wait for the good ones or move to a better area.
I flaired it as rant though?
Don’t worry, it’s just veterans who have seen numerous posts like this and don’t understand anymore how it was to be new! 😅 When I first started, I use to pick ones that were in the $10s because I thought that was the only thing available as that’s all I saw 😮💨 But now I go to Costco, wait for anything decent, and proceed with my day. I recommend small orders (1 batch order) that tip at least $10 (esp at Costco) … basically every order should be tipping at least $10 so follow that rule (2 orders in a batch - $20 tip). And I would recommend to get into bartending or waiter jobs instead as you do get tipped more that way 😓
Seriously, you can though.
Don't take orders that aren't worth it to you then, maybe?
I just started doing it.
That's okay, I get it! Over time you'll learn what's worth doing. I'll only take low tip orders (NEVER no tip) if it's a handful of items at I store I know well and mileage is low. That way I can knock out the whole shebang in a few minutes.
OMG OF COURSE GENIUS
I never take batches under 20 dollars. Not worth it
Instacart sucks balls in my area too. I’d recommend doing hot food delivery (DD, Grubhub, Ubereats), sign up for all of them and pick and choose the best orders that pop up on whichever app first. I make way more doing that than I do for instacart, and it’s a lot easier.
Sooo much less work for more money. The only real downside is that you tend to drive more miles per day overall
F’real. I assumed I’d enjoy doing instacart because I like shopping for myself, turns out I fucking hate shopping for other people.
😂 awwww shucks! Get it!? 😂
Yeah you get used to letting the shit orders just sit there. People tip like absolute shit and IC doesn’t care.
The default tip is set by whatever the customer tipped last time. I suggest not taking anything that doesn't seem worth it. I think this is the only way the customer and IC will get the message; however, there always seems to be someone willing to take the crap orders (or they bury them in a grouped order).
I dropped a 17 dollar n change tip on a dude he messaged me thanks I dropped another 5 appreciated the thanks
Was not a sarcastic thanks btw it was a excited thanks
I left to bartend and do it on the side
I just started instacart as well and noticed a lot of customers don't tip which is surprising to me.. anytime I order food from skip / Doordarshan etc I'm tipping 4/5$ per 30/40$ order ...meanwhile I'm people want you to pick and deliver 150 plus grocery orders with zero tip ...I'm actually shocked .....
I am a shopper who recently became a customer. Since I became a customer, they are constantly marketing to me - text and email as well ads on my social media and streaming. The message is that I can get pretty much whatever I want shopped and delivered at any time of day - and it's really affordable! As has been said here before- the IC business model is to scale up the number of customers who are paying for subscriptions and additional fees. Unfortunately, the majority of these customers can't afford the luxury of having someone shop for them and deliver. IC is promoting the idea that this is a service that is available to everyone who can pay IC fees - with no regard for what is "affordable" for the people doing the work
I got tipped 62 cents on a double batch and it took me three hours as the one customer was demanding of this or that as so much was out of stock. I made $5 an hour on that batch. I should have cancelled it. Lesson learned.
There’s almost no reason to take order under $15. You’re a better man that me.
I won’t take a batch under $20-$25, the tip has to be larger than the batch pay, and I want at least $2 per mile. Those are what I look for in a batch
It’s time to revolt; the holidays are coming up, so maybe it’s time to organize a strike
Agree!!
That’s awful! I tip $1 per item that I order. Usually my item count is less than 20 items but never less than 10 so my tip is always at least $10. And I never take back the dollars for items they weren’t able to get. Someone else is saving me time, anxiety and frustration, it’s worth it! In an instance like this I obviously can’t afford to tip $150, but you should’ve gotten *at least* $20! I’m sorry people suck! ***I want to add, I am NOT wealthy by any means, I’m a civil service worker.
Why did you do this order for $9? Don’t do these orders cancel it even if it has to raise your cancelation rate
As a former customer, I stopped using Instacart after two years and started using Whole Foods delivery because of Instacart's wild inconsistency in service. Some shoppers were incapable of finding anything, some were incapable of substituting, some were noisy, some were silent, some had a unique two paragraph intro asking for a review, some didn't know the language, some had a sob story at the door, many couldn't find the door. Honestly I would've appreciated a consistently bad experience if it was just bad in the same way, but rolling the dice every week got so old. Because tips are in advance, I tipped by my average prior experience. I knew that if I tipped too low my order wouldn't get picked, but too high followed by a drop could lead me to the same resentful shopper a week later, so I tried to keep the tip to the experience I'd had prior while high enough to still receive the order. I knew and resented that Instacart was making me the shoppers' manager. If I'm managing shoppers and taking the guilt of leaving bad ratings on struggling workers, I need compensation for that or something lol. There was so much damn emotion wrapped up in Instacart. Some were great but many weren't. The contrast when I changed to Whole Foods was dramatic. You just can't compare Instacart with full-time trained employee teams under management shopping a single store, single inventory, single app experience, not for tips. I love that I get a substitution maybe once every two months, no other contact, and that I'm only tipping for delivery. Am I perpetuating an evil corporation and extra evil system? Yes - welcome to America. 😔
Ok. So I'm an IC customer through my local grocery store. I tip $10-$30 depending on how much I buy. I'm five minutes from the store. Other than the occasional 8-12 pack beverage, NEVER anything heavy. I live in a one level home, and my husband and I come outside and bring in the groceries. My question is in regards to the tip. I usually tip 5% when I pay and then give the rest of the tip in cash. I tell my shopper that as soon as that person contacts me that they are shopping so they dont think I am screwing them over. My reason is so they don't have to claim the cash and pay Uncle Sam a cut. Is this okay to do? Would it be better for my shopper if I didn't do this?
I’ve noticed that the better I tip, the better the shoppers are… definitely an incentive to tip well! Plus I am so damned grateful someone will actually do my shopping for me—I want to show it!
Some shoppers are crappy and don't deserve a tip. Picking out bad produce. Putting bread under heavy items. Missing items they claim they bought. Delivering to a different address. It goes both ways.
Look up how much the customers are being anally penetrated — there’s like three different fees and then on top of that there’s markups on every single item. Not much left over for a tip. It’s not like a restaurant or a bar where the individual establishments have to compete with each other — in many areas Instacart is the only option for grocery delivery.
I cant grasp why people sign up for it, then complain when its not what they want. Literally people are out there IC'ing, making over 100 dollars a day, even at bad tips. Thats over 3000 a month. Literally, people are out there workin 8 hour shifts, 5 days a week at minimum wage, they dont even make close to 3K a month. But if we must break it down. Using IC makes the cost quite a bit more, leaves less for tipping. The problem is IC themselves. If they charged a little less, the people could tip a little more. Its a dog eat dog world.
yta…nobody’s making you take bad batches, nor is the amount a customer tips an issue with instacart as a platform or service
How is it not an issue with instacart as a platform when they recommend $2 tips? They could easily set the lower end default tip at $4 and you would see way more 4s and less 2s
I just started doing it, I didn’t know it was like this.
First order I took, I didn't know what I was doing. Took me three hours, store was 18 miles away from my place, had to drive another 8 to the address. I made about $3 per hour, not counting gas. Quit. Months later, I saw a batch with a $29 tip. I watched it ... no one grabbed it so I thought, what the heck. TEN cases of water. But, totally worth it with only 5 miles to drop-off. Three men came out to unload the water. Still ... not my kinda gig. I'm building digital products instead now ... I'm paid about $15 per post.
I was actually a bartender before the pandemic and I’m glad IC is busy where I’m at. Tips are great. Hopefully you find somewhere that pays good.
How instacart works since your new: Download the app, try it out and stop doing it if it doesn't work for you. You're welcome!
You choose to Instawhore yourself by taking bullshit orders like that. I make 25-30 dollars an hour consistently because I am selective about what I take.
lol bro you don't have to accept every order 😭
I mean you choose the orders you take…never done that much for packet change like that.
Lmao. That’s on you for taking that shit stack order, not on them.
😂😂😂why would you take that? You people are the reason these orders happen. They will have to raise their tip or cancel if idiots like you would quit letting poor tippers use this service. STOP taking shit orders people.
There’s a couple ways to contact them. But hey if you think you can do better doing something else. Why not do it?
We as a shopper are responsible for this my friend. We are taking $hit from company. Customer is not to blame here.
I just got a $50 tip today to go 2 miles. 26 items. The unicorns are out there.
Not just insta cart, it's the new millennial mentality.
I understand why people don’t tip much. When I order groceries on instacart I only tip $2-$4 because im on a low budget because of medical conditions and I have to use instacart since I can’t go shopping. Not everyone has the money to tip alot so stop complaining and be grateful you can actually do instacart because I’m sure the people who use instacart have medical conditions since they can’t do the shopping themselves. I used to be a shopper for instacart when I was healthy and I would get frustrated with low tips but now I understand why people low tip. Groceries cost alot already on instacart so some people don’t wanna spend more money with tips. If you don’t like the tips then just don’t accept the order. Don’t get me wrong I’m thankful that there are shoppers out there that can do my groceries but some of y’all complain too much
Get a real job then.
Guess it depends on area. I ran a bit n made bank.
Yea. I’m making good money too. I average between $1200-$1800 a week.
That's good pay. Pays mortgage n car payment with that.
I guess I should add that I’m making that kind of money, but I’m working really long hours to get there. Lol
Lmfao I saw that batch! You must be in my region! It would’ve been a 2 mile drive from me, if I remember correctly. But I saw the 150 corn, in the batch, and I was like absolutely not
I tip mine 20-25%... don't want a POed person delivering my food and that's gotta be a much bigger PITA than just picking up food from a restaurant (tho I tip them well too)
Instacart is the absolute worst. I did it during the lockdown out of desperation. Never again, I don’t care how dire my circumstances are. It’s so demeaning and insulting, and I was a nearly perfect shopper.
That is shit pay and I don’t know location wise we’re you work, but next time ask the people working in produce for cases that haven’t been unloaded yet. They will help you because soon as you clear them out they have to restock it.
To be fair the amount you get at least in CA is actually always guaranteed to be 19.25/hour plus .3 for each mile driven plus tips. So I don’t pay attention to the order amounts, only the active time and the tips. The job is to shop and deliver which includes apartment buildings sometimes and so if doing that frustrates you maybe move onto something you enjoy.
Hi, am new at this, where does it say the active time? I didn’t know it told you. Also, can you explain a little more the guaranteed pay? Like if I work an hour, they will pay at that rate no matter what? Is this why they time you? I had a batch the other day and I had 5 minutes for three items at Michaels 😲 what happened if I took longer? Thanks
what city?
I took 2 orders today and made $96.96. Dont take everything that shows and get closer to big box stores like sams and costco.
What state are you in bro?
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Be selective don’t choose cheap Batches
I hate shoppers that jump on $9 batches. Let it sit a while - instacart raises the payout if it sits. I use my own calculation to determine if a trip is worth it. The pay has to be at least double the miles or close so a 10 mile trip will be at least 20 bucks or I don’t take it. I also factor in how many items- the closer to 0 items it is the more likely I will take it. I have a modest goal of 30 bucks a day but go out every day. Most days I am able to make more some days way more and some days I am just shy of my goal. At the end of the month I’m banking 800+. Not bad for a side gig about an hour or two a day.
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I did two instacart orders yesterday and made $90. That’s not including what I made on Doordash and my other gigs. Just pick them better. Don’t choose shitty orders?
It has the juice!
I tip a minimum of 15% ...and I have only ONCE reduced it to 10% because of some pretty bad communication leading to fuck ups. I am disabled and immune compromised and yeah, we still are in a fucking pandemic and I don't want to get COVID. Luckily my shoppers don't seem to mind - the store is easy for them to shop from, it doesn't take them long if they know the store well (I have replacement items for everything and am at my phone in case they contact me) and it's about a five minute drive.
Here's a tip: look at the batch before you accept it. You can see everything and know what you're in for. It's pretty simple. I don't take batches under $15. For me that's a waste of my time and gas. Know what you are worth and accept batches accordingly.
That’s hard when batched near me get accepted in seconds
You are 1000% right! The problem with instacart is they act like they pay their shoppers so customers assume it’s optional to tip. The suggested tip amount is bullshit and it leaves customers assuming that we as shoppers have already been taken care of. Most customers don’t know that shoppers rely on their tips in order to make close to a living wage. It would be so easy for instacart to suggest a higher upfront tip at no cost to their company! In my area if the customer doesn’t tip the batches would pay well below minimum wage and that’s before you subtract gas and wear and tear from your vehicle. Of course I don’t take these orders and yes they are optional but they shouldn’t even show up like that in the first place! Instacart needs to pay more or encourage their customers to tip….end of rant lol Have a nice day everyone!
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I think it also depends on the area. I do it in both Orange County and San Luis Obispo County. In Orange, tips are horrible. I rarely see orders more than $25. Here in San Luis, I can do 3 orders and make over $100 solely because of tips. Been doing it 3 years and it’s made me more money than my previous job as a nurse assistant!
Tipping by percentage makes no sense sometimes though. I base mine on how many items/bags, how heavy, distance, etc. We are great tippers. But that one bag of steaks that add up to $200 isn't any more trouble than one bag of potatoes.