I tried the Instacart full-service shopper side hustle for a week and learned more than I earned. I didn’t love the job, but liked getting groceries better than chauffeuring people as an Uber driver.
I didn’t make much money, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. I chalk my struggle up to inexperience, inefficiency and a steep learning curve. This is billed as a side hustle, but it takes consistent reps to optimize your shops.
How much do Instacart shoppers make?
According to ZipRecruiter, the average pay for Instacart shoppers is about $18 per hour nationwide. I made less than that.
I tried it over the course of three days, spent just under seven hours online in the app and earned a total of $80.29.
- That’s $11.47 per hour.
- It’s actually more like $8 per hour, when you consider the time I spent sitting in parking lots waiting for orders. By my estimate, I worked for 10 hours.
- It’s even worse when you consider the 160 miles I put on my personal vehicle and half a tank of gas I used.
Let’s call it $25 for gas and subtract that from $80.29. I’m left with $55.29 for 10 hours of my time.
Want to make more than me? Here are six things I learned.
1. Stay close to busy stores during peak times
As a full-service shopper, you earn pay each time you complete a “batch,” Instacart’s term for a delivery, which can include one or more customer orders and can be from multiple stores. Shop when it’s busy and you’ll get more opportunities to accept batches.
Signing up to make money with Instacart is super easy — meet basic requirements, have access to a vehicle and you’re basically in. Once you pass the background check, you can study the Shopper app to find busy stores in your area.
The map in the app shows red or orange rings around stores with good activity. Head close to a color-coded store and you’re likely to get a batch.
I tested this side hustle during late morning and early afternoon hours on weekdays, but it wasn’t the most profitable time to shop. In fact, the Shopper app showed Sunday as the only high-demand day of the week in my town, with the potential to earn an extra 25% between the hours of 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
It’s well-documented online that Mondays and Fridays are the next best days to be online in the app, so go then if you can.
2. Find your go-to store and set reasonable driving parameters
According to Instacart’s website, the amount you earn per batch depends on the number of items, driving distance and effort involved when shopping and delivering.
On the low end, I made $6.22 to shop for and deliver four items from a local grocery store to a customer who lived only a few miles away.
My major mistake was taking seemingly high-paying batches without considering overall time and distance.
For example, I took a $21.63 batch offer that sent me to two different stores to shop for two different customers. I spent close to two hours and drove 16 miles on the batch.
In hindsight, it was miserable. I should have committed to shopping mostly at the busiest store(s) in my area and being more selective about batches. Shopping for two customers isn’t so bad if both orders come from the same store and the distance to their residences doesn’t take me too far away from my home base.
3. Go the extra mile for customers
Part of the reason my two-store, double-customer batch took so long is because I spent half an hour hunting for a houndstooth rug.
The Shopper app prompts you to scan the barcode of each item as you shop. And on that run, the code on the rug I found didn’t match. Rather than skip it, I used the app to snap a pic and let the customer know I was buying the one I thought was right. I didn’t hear back, but when I got to the customer’s house, she greeted me and thanked me for staying the course. Later on, an app notification let me know she’d increased the tip by a dollar.
Customer tips can make up a significant portion of pay. In fact, $32 of the $80.29 I earned came from tips. Instacart advises new shoppers to focus on quality at the store — when picking produce, for example — bag items with care and communicate clearly with customers for higher tips.
As someone who typically just buys bread, milk and cheese, I struggled to pick fruits and veggies for people. Another ding for this new shopper.
4. Make sure your car can handle all those miles
Above all, Instacart is a driving gig, and your car is going to get a workout. It’s the real rub with independent delivery jobs. The ideal vehicle is one that’s both reliable and efficient, but doesn’t mean that much to you. A “beater” that won't break down is probably the sweet spot.
I was using our family’s late model seven-seat kid hauler. It’s a car we’re still paying for and needs to run for a long time. It killed me a little inside to keep putting it through its paces. Paying for the gas kinda stung, too.
5. Check your car insurance policy before you drive
Speaking of expenses that are on you.
Instacart’s website states that not all personal car insurance policies cover accidents that happen while on delivery, and that commercial insurance or special rideshare/delivery driver insurance may be required.
Read your policy and talk with your insurance company to find out what’s covered before you take your first delivery, says Bob Passmore, vice president of personal lines at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.
“You’re looking for exclusions either specifically for delivery or for commercial activity,” he says. Other terms to look for in the policy include “carrying passengers for hire” or “carrying property for hire.”
6. Track your expenses to plan for taxes
The lack of upper management in this gig means taxes are yours to keep track of. The IRS website clearly states that you have to file a tax return if you net $400 or more from self-employment work.
At $80.29, I’m off the hook. But let’s say you’re killing it with Instacart. You should look into whether you need to make estimated tax payments, or have more tax withheld by the employer of your primary job to compensate.
You could also reduce what you owe in taxes through self-employment tax deductions, which may include mileage and phone costs.
Drive safe and pack a lunch
Regarding your smartphone, you’ll be tethered to it during this gig. It's how you accept orders, locate and scan the barcodes, navigate to the customer and basically log everything you do. Bring a charger and get one of those air vent mounts so you can follow directions hands-free.
Also, this side gig requires physical activity. You’ll be walking, maybe searching for elusive gourmet grocery items, lifting heavy stuff like pet food and driving all over the place.
Bring enough water and a sack lunch to stay fueled up and avoid spending your batch pay as soon as you get it.
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