Can You Really Make Money on DoorDash in 2024?

Without a doubt, you can make money while driving for Doordash. It’s the most popular food delivery platform in the United States, after all. Since it has countless customers, DoorDash drivers can earn good money. Whether you’ll make it into a successful part-time job depends on the effort you put into best practices.

If you approach working for DoorDash strategically, you can earn much more than some extra cash with this platform. We will explain how to make money on DoorDash, covering not only how it works but also some actionable tips for maximizing profits and minimizing costs.

How Does DoorDash Work?

The DoorDash app connects hungry people with the best restaurants in town. They charge a fee from both ends for their technology of door-to-door delivery. The crucial link here is you – DoorDash driver.

Restaurants and shops win by not having to hire their own delivery staff, and customers get the food conveniently delivered to their doorstep. The whole system relies on DoorDash drivers (Dashers) working as independent contractors.

To become one, you only need a smartphone and means of transportation – a car, electric scooter, or bicycle. You won’t get insurance or be reimbursed for your expenses, but you also won’t carry much responsibility for the deliveries. Your only task is to make the delivery on time, which brings a lot of flexibility.

Flexible Scheduling with DoorDash

Setting your own hours is the main benefit of DoorDash. If you don’t feel like it or have better things to do, you can skip a day, week, or even longer. Nobody will ask any questions.

The hours you choose to work will impact your earnings. Deliveries are priced based on how far the destination is and how many dashers are available. If you happen to be the only DoorDash driver at a busy time, you’ll get the best rates.

A DoorDash driver can work only for a couple of hours during busy times to earn decently. The same applies to many other side hustles, like ride-hailing, where the amount of work available dictates the prices. However, becoming a DoorDash driver is easier as you don’t need an expensive car to qualify.

Online side gigs, like the surveys offered by Pawns.app, can be even more flexible than DoorDash. There’s no need to compete for orders that much, and you can work from the comfort of your home. The biggest difference is in how much you can earn.

How Much Can You Earn on DoorDash?

The platform is quite transparent about the process of determining your pay. The total DoorDash earnings are calculated by adding base pay with promotions (if any) and customer tips.

• Base pay is calculated by adding the time, distance, and desirability of the orders you take.
• Promotions, such as Peak Pay, challenges, and delivery streaks, might reward you for working in a specific manner.
• Customer tips are given to you on top of all the other earnings without any cuts.

While this is helpful to understand the rates you are getting for individual orders, your overall monthly or weekly DoorDash earnings fluctuate on a few key factors. Some you might not be able to alter, but they are worthy of consideration before starting.

Key Factors That Influence Earnings

• Location and local market. If you live in an area where DoorDash doesn’t get many orders, the rates might be lower. Conversely, if your city lacks Dashers, you might earn some extra money compared to elsewhere.
• Number of hours worked. Although there are no official time constraints, working less than ten hours per day might not be worth it. In the end, it all depends on the transport you use and the hours you choose to work on.
• Transport type. A bicycle won’t cost any gas and has low maintenance fees, but a car can travel longer distances and get better base pay. It’s essential to choose an energy-efficient transportation that fills a niche in your city.
• Time of day. Peak times, such as lunch, will have Peak Pay promotions that add an extra bonus to your earnings. Working less busy hours won’t give you any penalties, but there might not be enough orders to work without waiting.
• Number of orders. You are paid per order completed, so the more orders you complete, the better your pay will be. Some orders are batched together so you can complete multiple orders of two or more quicker than usual.

Average Hourly Earnings

All these key factors make it difficult to give an average hourly rate. The range of $15 – $20 per hour is commonly cited, but sources like Glassdoor and Indeed report averages of $17 – $24/hr and $16.66/hr, respectively.

So, if you work at least twenty hours per week for a $16/hr rate, you should earn around $320 per week and $1280 per month from DoorDash orders. Worth noting that this is income before taxes and other expenses. The actual profit will be less after everything is deducted.

DoorDash is also experimenting with the Earn by Time model in some select cities in the US and Canada. Such an approach will pay Dasher for all of their active time on the app and would make calculating the hourly rate much easier.

Top Tips to Maximize Earnings on DoorDash

While Doordash is one of the most profitable side hustle apps, you still need to know the best practices for maximizing your earnings. The six tips below will help you get the best base pay on the Doordash app irregardless of the hours you put in.

1. Schedule Dashes in Advance

Scheduling dashes is not only beneficial for balancing DoorDash with other responsibilities, but it also helps you earn more. Since peak hours are more profitable than off-peak hours, you are in competition with other dashers to work exactly then.

Scheduling is available five days in advance, and seasoned Dashers never miss an opportunity to be the first. If you schedule smartly, you can work less hours and earn as much as those working more.

2. Work During Peak Times

According to DoorDash themselves, peak times are lunch (11:00 am to 2:00 pm) and dinner (4:30 pm to 8:00 pm) on weekdays. Your experience might differ a bit as public holidays and the culture of your city might have an impact.

In some markets, breakfast is also a busy time; in others, late lunch might also be an option. Weekends can also be profitable, especially in the mornings. Generalizations aren’t accurate, so it’s best to test it yourself.

3. Use DoorDash Hotspots

Hotspots are areas where the app indicates the most DoorDash orders coming from. Usually, these are areas with many restaurants and offices nearby. It’s a good idea to position yourself near one or a few hotspots when waiting for new orders.

A neat trick is to look into historical hotspots of places that were busy previously. Next day, when you start working, think of those places and try to guess where the hotspots will be so you can be the first to grab orders.

4. Take Advantage of Promotions

DoorDash offers various promotions for Dashers to earn Peak Pay bonuses. Many of them are DoorDash Challenges that incentivize you to reach certain goals. For example, the app may ask you to complete 15 deliveries per week to earn an extra $20.

New DoorDash drivers also get incentive boosts for the first days they work, but all Dashers can use promotions. Some of the most profitable are Delivery Streaks, which encourage you to keep pace and accept consecutive orders for hefty bonuses.

5. Maximize Tips

You only have minimal interaction with customers while DoorDashing, but it’s crucial that you make a good impression. Dress professionally and communicate honestly about any issues that you encounter with the delivery. You can’t avoid bad situations once in a while, but you can avoid bad communication when it happens.

Dashers usually get most tips when delivering late at night or at inconvenient hours. Some Dashers build rapport with people they deliver frequently to. Try your best to build trust with such recurring customers.

6. Multi-App for Extra Income

Using a couple of different food-delivery apps is a great strategy to maximize your profit, but it only works if you have a lot of standing time without many orders. In such cases, your hourly rate will fall even if you get a good base pay. Using Uber Eats or Grubhub together with DoorDash might solve this issue.

Although the acceptance rate is high in most food delivery apps, the muti-app approach is good insurance if you struggle to get approved or get banned. DoorDash drivers won’t get a penalty for getting multiple orders from different apps as long as they make the deliveries on time and customers are happy.

Becoming a Top Dasher: Is It Worth It?

Becoming a top dasher is not just a phrase. It’s a title that comes with various perks from DoorDash. Those who meet the criteria for the month receive various rewards, such as VIP support, easier scheduling for peak hours, and other perks.

Becoming a top dasher isn’t easy, as you have to be one of the best at delivering DoorDash orders to meet the criteria.

Requirements to Become a Top Dasher

• Over 200-lifetime deliveries or tasks
• Over 100 deliveries or other tasks in the current month.
• Your customer rating must be over 4.7
• Your acceptance rate must be over 70%
• Order completion rate must be at least 95%

The last four requirements are the most difficult to qualify for as you must achieve them by the last midnight of the month. Acceptance rate, for example, is a tricky one that might make you take orders that aren’t the best deal for you.

Pros and Cons of Top Dasher Status

The benefits of the Top Dasher program are that you’ll get priority when assigning orders and VIP support. These are significant perks that will make you wait less and sort out problems faster. However, focusing solely on the Top Dasher program isn’t recommended when you just start.

The main downside is the acceptance rate you need to reach. Getting over 70% means that you will have to accept lots of low-paying orders, which can lower your hourly rate significantly.

In some very competitive markets, being a Top dasher is worth it, but where there are lots of orders, you will be better off without it. It’s worth noting that the Top Dasher program is no longer available in the United States. Instead, rewards are allocated based on market-specific rules.

Minimizing Costs to Boost Profits

1. Monitor Fuel Efficiency

If you are using a car, it’s essential to track how much fuel you use up. Inefficient cars or bad habits of tracking fuel usage might even make picking up DoorDash orders unprofitable. Simply making notes of your fuel expenses might do, but you can also consider some specialized apps like Gridwise.​

2. Track Mileage for Tax Deductions

As a freelancer, you will need to pay all the taxes yourself. If you do it right, you can even qualify for tax deductions. Depending on your country and state laws, you might be entitled to deductions for gas, tolls, equipment (dash cam, for example), car repairs, and even business phone calls.

Check your local laws before becoming a Dasher. In most cases, you will need to log your car mileage to qualify. This is needed to prove that, at certain times, you were using your car and other tools as a DoorDash driver.

3. Avoiding Downtime

The best way to increase your hourly pay while doordashing is to reduce your idle time. It can be achieved by using multiple apps. However, DoorDash itself provides a feature to help minimize idle time on your way to another zone.

Dash Along The Way helps you make the most out of your time when moving between zones. You simply need to select where you are going, and the app will find orders that are on your route. You can’t be sure there will be such orders, but chances are high in big cities.

What Challenges Do Dashers Face, and How Can You Overcome Them?

1. Unpredictable Orders

The pace of orders coming into your app and the pay they provide can vary highly. It’s recommended to overcome this challenge by scheduling your time, canceling some low-paying orders (as long as it doesn’t hurt your acceptance rate too much), and staying in the right hotspots while Dashing.

2. Problematic Clients

Clients can be very demanding at times and criticize you for minor details. The last thing you need is bad reviews, so make sure to approach every situation calmly and professionally. The best strategy with angry clients you can’t handle is to apologize and make the interaction short.

3. App Crashes and Tech Issues

The most common solution for crashes and glitches of apps is to log out and restart them. If that doesn’t work, you can also restart your phone. Most dashers leave them open for days, and the smartphone’s memory cannot handle them. The very last step should be contacting Dashdoor support.

Pawns.app vs. DoorDash: Which is the Better Side Hustle?

DoorDash might be the best app for a food delivery side gig. It has decent rates, lots of orders, and can even pay out money every day with fast pay. The job itself is still risky and physically demanding.

You will have to go to someone’s home and to possibly dangerous neighborhoods. If you want to avoid spending extra cash for car repairs and fuel, it can be extremely demanding to ride a bicycle all day.

If you want to avoid these inconveniences and extra money from your home, consider remote side hustles. Pawns.app is a leading provider of possibilities for earning money from answering surveys, sharing bandwidth, and playing paid games.

You can get paid in gift cards, including DoorDash gift cards, cryptocurrencies, and PayPal or bank transfers. The earning potential is a bit lower, but the main appeal is working from your home. Answering only a few surveys per day, for example, will get you $7, and you won’t need more than an hour of your daily time.

DoorDash is a more active way to earn money, but it’s also much more straining physically. Pawns.app offers a way to earn side money more comfortably. Besides, nobody stops you from combining them both.

Conclusion

We’ve covered all the basics of how to make money on DoorDash. The tips here are a good universal starting point but don’t take them for granted. Every market and every city is a bit different, so don’t be afraid to experiment yourself.

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