The DoorDash Money Maker: How to Increase Your Earnings and Tips with the On-Demand Food Delivery Service

Can you really make $1,000 per week with Doordash? While the average driver averages $15 to $22 per hour, the top earners are bringing in $30 to $50 per hour.

There are a few ways to increase tips when delivering with DoorDash. First, providing excellent customer service can go a long way. This includes being polite, delivering the food on time, and following the customer's instructions. You can also try to upsell by suggesting additional items or promotions when delivering the food. Finally, making a good impression by being punctual, professional, and friendly can also encourage customers to leave a higher tip.

Here are their top tips to make more money:

1. Only accept large orders. Keep in mind that you get paid a percentage of the order on top of your base, so naturally you will earn more for large, higher-priced orders.
2. Large orders tip more. The app gives customers a change to tip based on percentage of the order. So a $100 order averages $15 to $25 tip. A $200 order would average $30 to $50 tip.
3. Become a dasher, a shopper, and a driver. Use multiple apps to take even more orders while you're at the store. If you are highly organized and can do multiple runs at the same time, then create accounts Shipt and Postmates.
4. Avoid high traffic areas. Traffic jams slow you down and makes parking upfront nearly impossible. Your goal is to park close, get in and out while communicating every step of the way with your customer.
5. Communicate with your customer. If the store is out of an item, ask about replacement items. Also, make sure to ask “is there anything that you can think of while I'm at the store”, let me know. That will also increase tips because you went the extra mile & the customer will feel it.
6. Start a Delivery Brand. For the creatives out there, get business cards or creative cards that say “Thank you for your order. I am a college student trying to make money on my way to becoming a nurse! My goal is to go above and beyond to make sure you get quality service. If you could rate me to help increase my bonuses!” You can even call yourself like, “The Hometown Hero!” and get creative with it.
7. Set Goals. You get paid more by the hour if you can deliver more by the hour. Try to deliver 2 deliveries per hour to stack both deliveries, the tips and the bonuses to hit your $50 per hour mark.
8. Look for Special Parking Spots. My local stores just added new 10 minute parking signs right in front of their stores. If the spot is questionable, just flip your hazards on and the chance of any Karens showing up is slim to none.
9. Apartment Building Parking. Feel free to park in the empty spots next to the apartment. You're dropoffs should take less than 5 minutes and the chance of someone coming home to their reserved spot is slim to none.
10. Watch Out for Doordash Tip Calculations. Other companies like Shipt and Postmates have moved to a YOU GET 100% OF YOUR TIPS while Doordash has moved to a “guaranteed rate”. Let's say they guarantee you a rate of $7 and the customer tips $5. Would you get $12 or $7? Doordash would chip in $2 to bring your pay to the guaranteed rate of $7.
11. Look for Bonuses. During Peak Times, Doordash will alert you to bonus pay. They are influxed with orders so they offer small bonuses to complete orders during peak times.
12. Look for Item Count. Doordash will send you a notification to pick up an order that'll take 10 minutes delivery time, but when you look closely, there are 15 items that might take you 30 minutes while paying you around $5. That hour time slot and gas would not be worth taking the job. Look for item count to make sure you it's a quick in and out.
13. Watch for New Orders Coming In. Let's say you arrive at a restaurant to pick up a meal and you spot another order from the same restaurant. Boom. Accept that order & deliver both at the same time.
14. Be Presentable. I know driving in the hot summer months or during the rain, you start living out of your car. I totally get that. Take time out of your day to look presentable. Get non-wrinkled clothes and don't get caught eating french fries or taking a drink on someone's Ring doorbell.
15. Get Great at Math. When a $3 guaranteed pay order comes in, it's an easy decline. If your goal to hit the $40 per hour mark, then, you'll need more guaranteed $10's and above to hit that mark. There are times when a $7 to $10 guaranteed comes in with a straight in and out, lower item count that makes it an easy accept.

If you want to read our full review on DoorDash, click here.

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