@Capurato wrote:
I work a full time job/mystery shop and was furloughed for the last few months.
I began delivering groceries via Instacart and found that it is more profitable as a side hustle than mystery shopping. In order to keep full unemployment benefits in my state, I delivered groceries around 10 hours a week and I averaged $42/hr after expenses.
One of our local grocery stores is mystery shopped and I was able to “double dip” IE complete a mystery shop while fulfilling an Instacart order.
Besides restaurants and grocery shops where I am shopping for a batch, I don’t think I will mystery shop as my side gig. Instacart pays quicker, has higher fees and I actually enjoy it more.
Has anyone else picked up delivery as a side gig?
@Capurato wrote:
Has anyone else picked up delivery as a side gig?
@SoCalMama wrote:
@Capurato wrote:
Has anyone else picked up delivery as a side gig?
Nope, but I am keeping delivery people busy.
I must admit that my original negative impression of third-party delivery services was incorrect.@Capurato wrote:
Side note - I wonder if people are going to get used to delivery and not go back to shopping for themselves.
@SoCalMama wrote:
@Capurato wrote:
Has anyone else picked up delivery as a side gig?
Nope, but I am keeping delivery people busy.
@sandyf wrote:
I have never looked into Instacart shopping but have seen Instacart shoppers in the stores. I am wondering how you would end up netting $42 an hour. Someone on here said the fee was $9.99 per month so if that is the case Instacart could not afford to pay much. And most people I know that order put in pretty big orders which it seems would take a while to find in the store. I read a story about a shopper who said they sometimes had to visit multiple stores to fill the order. How many orders can you fill an hour? Here in my city the stores make the Instacart person do the picking off the shelf. Those tips must be pretty big! Just curious.
@Capurato wrote:
@SoCalMama wrote:
@Capurato wrote:
Has anyone else picked up delivery as a side gig?
Nope, but I am keeping delivery people busy.
I’ve read on Reddit stories of customers orders being wrong, stolen etc however I think that’s the exception and not the norm. I’ve had many customers ask if they could personally request me to shop for them (they can’t) and it would be cool if I could.
I’ve made more with tips than from the Instacart fees and even without tips, more than I did mystery shopping.
Anyone see anything wrong with conducting a mystery shop while shopping for an Instacart customer? To me it’s a no brainer and pure profit as long as I do all requirements for both companies.
@Capurato wrote:
@SoCalMama wrote:
@Capurato wrote:
Has anyone else picked up delivery as a side gig?
Anyone see anything wrong with conducting a mystery shop while shopping for an Instacart customer? To me it’s a no brainer and pure profit as long as I do all requirements for both companies.
Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
@ColoradoShops wrote:
@Capurato yes, I also have picked up delivery as a side gig in the past two months. But I do not do grocery delivery; instead, I do restaurant delivery, and I do it on my bike. It is fun, and I feel like I get paid to move and to get fresh air. I make about $25 an hour, and I enjoy the speedy gratification of completing each delivery. I like mystery shopping and bike delivery equally, but there's more delivery opportunity right now.
@ceasesmith wrote:
Wow. I think marking chicken up from $24 to over $90 would give me a hissy fit if I were the customer doing the order. I don't spend that much on meat in a YEAR! I buy chicken 10 lbs. at a time when it's on sale for $0.39 a lb!
I don't see how anyone can make even the $25 an hour, more the less $42 an hour.
People must be tipping like crazy, in order to show their appreciation to people who are, still, literally putting their lives on the line in order to work daily.
Instacart, GrubHub, the rest of them just aren't available here. We don't have the population to warrant it.
@ArkLaMissshopping wrote:
Are you a 1099 or W-2 employee while working for Instacart?
@Capurato wrote:
@SoCalMama wrote:
@Capurato wrote:
Has anyone else picked up delivery as a side gig?
Anyone see anything wrong with conducting a mystery shop while shopping for an Instacart customer? To me it’s a no brainer and pure profit as long as I do all requirements for both companies.
1099. I set aside 30% for taxes.
@Capurato wrote:
Side note - I wonder if people are going to get used to delivery and not go back to shopping for themselves.
I agree with you, AZ, as far as choosing my own produce, meat, poultry, etc., but for many grocery items, I'll very likely continue with the delivery service for the foreseeable future.@AZwolfman wrote:
NO, that's not going to happen. There's no substitute for picking out my own groceries. I never know what I'm going to get when ordering food online. There are always too many unavailable items.
@ColoradoShops wrote:
@Capurato @sealford
I wanted to share something extraordinary that happened this week - I did a bike delivery (it was two containers of takeout, to a complex maybe 5 blocks from the restaurant) and the customer contacted me saying it's a difficult time and s/he appreciated me and would tip me $100. I wasn't sure they'd follow through, but it showed up on my delivery app. A $100 tip! Blimey, that's never happened to me before! What a generous act.
Has anyone else ever received a memorable tip, during delivery or otherwise?
@1forum1 wrote:
When did it all change?
Ouch! Do the customers not know this, or just don't care?@Capurato wrote:
Instacart adds a surcharge to items customers purchase in addition to the delivery fees. Essentially. IC buys the items and then sells them to the customer at a marked up rate. I’ve read the average item is marked up 20%. I’ve added customer requested items to an order and saw it marked up triple digits (IE a $24 pack of chicken added cost the customer $93).