DoorDash is one of the most popular food delivery apps, and it's one of the easiest ways to make money in the gig economy. Working as a Doordash driver is usually better paid than being a pizza delivery driver, and is an easy way to get into food delivery during your free time.
All you need is a car and a license in good standing to get started. The more deliveries you complete, the more money you stand to make.
But, it helps to know a few Doordash hacks if you really want to succeed. Like all jobs, there's a secret to make Doordash more effective and to start earning more money.
If you're thinking about becoming a door dash driver, or interested in making more money as a driver, you're in the right place.
In this post, I'll explore some of the top Doordash hacks to help you make more and much more. Let's get started!
How Doordash Works
Doordash is a food delivery app that helps connect consumers with drivers who are willing to pay for a delivery, especially delivery from restaurants that don't have their own takeout drivers. Customers get the food delivered quickly, usually pay a tip just like they would to a pizza delivery driver, and drivers get paid both by Doordash, and any additional tips they receive.
It's a good system, especially in areas where there are a lot of restaurants without in-house takeout.
However, it's important to know that a door dash driver is considered an independent contractor, which means that they need to pay taxes themselves are competing with other dashers for Doordash orders and the best tips.
Doordash also has a minimum balance requirement that you need to meet before you can withdraw your earnings.
The base pay for making deliveries is usually relatively low, but with more tips and by using a Doordash hack to get more orders and better deliveries, you can make better money. You can Dash anytime, which great news because food delivery is an easy and effective way to make spare cash when you need it.
The Best Doordash Hacks For Drivers
Every Doordash hack can help you get more deliveries and make more money, but that doesn't mean you need to use every single one. Use the hacks that make sense in your area, and don't feel like you need to use every hack we mention to succeed.
Here are some of the best ways to make more money on Door dash, and make dashing easier in the process.
Related: How To Make $500 A Week With Doordash
Make More Money By Scheduling In Advance
Unlocking scheduling in advance is one of the best ways to start making more money on DoorDash, but this feature is reserved for the best and most consistent dashers, so you'll need to put some effort in first.
The main requirements for unlocking dash ahead scheduling are:
- Driver Rating of at least 4.6
Getting a good driver rating is key because DoorDash wants to make sure the best hours go to the best dashers so they can have more happy customers overall.
- Have a completion rate of 95% or better
This is another important metric for all dashers who want to get access to scheduling in advance. You need to be consistent, and make sure at least 95% of the orders you accept get to the customer.
Just make sure you aren't accepting orders you can't complete, and try to avoid taking orders for any restaurants that are inconsistent in your area.
Shouldn't be too difficult, right?
- Have completed either 500 total Doordash deliveries since becoming a dasher or completed at least 5 deliveries between midnight the previous Friday, and 11:59pm the previous Thursday.
This last one is an either-or requirement that's looking at your activity level as a dasher. Doordash wants the dashers who schedule their shifts ahead of time to be some of the most active dashers because it helps control demand and make sure customers are getting their food in a reasonable amount of time.
Makes sense, right?
Making 5 deliveries in a week shouldn't be too difficult, even for the newest drivers, and once you've hit the 500 delivery milestone you only have to worry about your rating and completion rate.
The only problem is that you have to meet all three criteria to have access to DoorDash's advanced scheduling system. So you won't have access the first week you dash, and you might not be able to get access for a few weeks depending on your initial driver scores.
Once you've got access though, this tool makes it a lot easier to schedule yourself for peak delivery times or areas with more limited competition. Both options make it easier to make more money, you just need to make sure you're available for your shift as scheduled.
Wait Near Ghost Kitchens
Ghost kitchens are a relatively new phenomenon and are the industry term for restaurants and kitchens that operate a delivery-only business. A lot of people order through DoorDash and GrubHub even when a kitchen has its own delivery driver, so this is an easy way to make sure you're in the right area when the orders come through.
Most ghost kitchens actually serve other restaurants and are an off-site location where delivery food can be prepared quickly without messing up the kitchen flow for in-restaurant customers.
Ghost kitchens have also been a great pandemic resource because they help the restaurants they serve to keep up with the higher volume of delivery customers, especially since some restaurants are actually getting more delivery food orders than they would normally get customers.
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Look For Hidden Tip Orders
Experienced dashers will tell you that looking at orders before you accept them is one of the keys to making this gig work. Learning to see which orders have the best tips is one way to make better pay, especially during busy times when there are more orders available and choosing the best order really matters.
Remember, every delivery is time-consuming, and the better tips you're making for food delivered, the faster you'll make the extra cash you need.
Hidden tip orders usually end in a whole dollar, or a .50, and will have a notification saying that the included tip may be better than what's shown.
That's because the dasher app doesn't want drivers competing for high tip orders, which is exactly what most dashers want to do. Some dashers only accept orders that have this sign that there might be a good tip waiting since tips can greatly improve your earnings.
Related: How to DoorDash for the First Time
Prioritize Caviar Orders
Caviar is the food service Doordash bought recently. The service works basically the same, drivers deliver food for pay, but because Caviar originally paid better than Doordash Caviar orders still tend to be worth more to drivers.
The apps are exactly the same, but if you're a Doordash driver there's no reason not to capitalize on this opportunity.
Think Carefully Before Becoming A Top Dasher
You might think being a Top Dasher would be a good thing for a Doordash driver, but that isn't actually true for a lot of drivers.
You become a Top Dasher by having a high acceptance rate. The benefit of being a Top Dasher is that you get sent priority orders, which means you'll probably get more orders at any one time.
It's supposed to be a good way to make more money, and it's a good idea in low-traffic areas like rural towns or places where a Doordash driver has a lot of competition.
But in urban areas with a lot of restaurants, customers, and food delivery orders, it might not be a good idea.
That's because Doordash prioritizes undesirable orders. They steer orders toward certain drivers, but when a Doordash driver turns down a job the next driver to get the offer might get a better rate. That trend continues until the app finds a driver that's willing to accept the order.
But, since Top Dashers receive orders before other drivers they don't get the opportunity to earn more on a single delivery very often. Meanwhile, an average driver might have that opportunity several times a day, especially if they camp near a distant restaurant or ghost kitchen.
So, if your acceptance rate is starting to get too high you might want to decline orders until you're below the 90% mark for a top dasher.
Related: Can You Make A Living Off Doordash?
Make Combo Dashes Work For You
Combo dashes are both a good thing and a bad thing for drivers. It's important to learn how to make them work, and when they won't.
A combo dash is when multiple customers in the same area choose to order together to save money on the driving fee. However, unlike a single order, there's no requirement for the orders to all come from the same restaurant.
That means that the driver picks up several food orders from different restaurants, and then goes to the delivery area, often an apartment complex or college campus, and deliver several orders at once.
When the restaurants are relatively close together, this can be a great way to make deliveries and tips incredibly quickly. But when a restaurant or two are further away you might find yourself wasting a lot of time and not making enough money per mile when you deliver food.
Still, when the conditions are right it's a good way to get multiple orders at the same time.
Dasher Direct Gives Doordash Drivers Cashback On Gas
The biggest single cost for most Doordash drivers is gas. When you figure in gas costs per mile, there are some deliveries that just aren't worth it, especially if there's a long wait to get the food from a restaurant.
One way to help make more deliveries worth it is to use your Dasher Direct card on gas since the card gives you an automatic 2% back on all gas purchases.
Dash Direct also lets you access your money from every Dash immediately after completing the order.
However, cashback is only available for use on certain purchases, rather than anywhere. Still, it's a good way to save on gas. Plus you'll be able to save anywhere that accepts cashback.
Take Advantage Of Peak Pay Hours
One way DoorDash is similar to other apps, like Uber Eats, is that they have peak hours when drivers can get better pay in exchange for taking on orders. Driving during the peak hours is a good way to make more money per hour, and to get more deliveries in general. Depending on your area, there are some best times to Doordash – usually during lunch and dinner hours, but it varies!
That's important because the busier you are per hour the easier it will be to make the money you need on DoorDash.
Of course, you can also double up with Uber Eats and other delivery apps to make it easier get deliveries and choose orders with more items and better tipping.
Related: How to Make Money with a Van
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3 Top Tips For Getting Free Doordash Food
If you're in the market for free food, and who isn't there are a lot of options to get it. It's usually easier to get free food from Doordash than Uber Eats, but no matter which app you're using you need to know how to get offers for free food.
Take Advantage Of Refer A Friend Offers For Free Food
One of the best ways to get free food is to get credits and Doordash gift cards for referring friends to the app. There are different offers for free food depending on the schedule and what promo codes are out there for new users.
It's always a good idea to refer a friend, but sometimes you'll be able to get even more free food out of it than usual.
There are also free gift cards and other incentives for referrals.
Both drivers and clients can take advantage of referral offers, which is great news if you're a driver, a client, and have a lot of friends who want to try Doordash for the first time.
Use Survey Sites To Win Doordash Gift Cards
This option isn't really a way to hack Doordash since you aren't getting the gift cards and free food from them, but it's still a good way to save money and get free food.
Doordash gift cards are a relatively common reward on sites like Swagbucks and Ibotta. These sites let you earn points for watching videos, playing games, completing surveys, and other small online tasks.
The average app will take a while to earn enough points to get a gift card, but it's often easier to get gift cards than cash rewards, which can make them the more valuable option.
It's a good idea to look for a site that offers surveys on related topics and helps steer opportunities, the faster you'll probably be able to make enough points for a gift card.
You can often choose between free gift cards for Door Dash, restaurants, and other delivery apps like Uber Eats. That means that this is a good way to get all kinds of free food, not just the kinds available through Door Dash.
You might even be able to get free gift cards to your favorite stores!
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Sign Up For Marketing Emails From Doordash
We get it. More marketing emails is about the last thing most people need, especially since most email accounts get flooded with marketing just by existing for long enough. But, when it comes to Doordash, it's actually a good idea to sign up for their marketing emails.
That's because mixed in with the marketing will be promotions and opportunities to get free food through the app. That's even more food, while still keeping plenty of money in your bank account.
Most of these offers are limited time, like getting coupons and promo codes for free pizza on national pizza day.
The free food you get through the food delivery app might not be enough for a full meal, but it's still a great way to hack Doordash and get more for your money.
Final Thoughts on Doordash Hacks
Like all apps and gig jobs, Doordash wants to get as much money as possible, which means that everything from the way they schedule to the customers they want is designed with that in mind. That's why it's a good idea to use Doordash hacks to help make this app a better option.
Whether you're a driver who didn't know that hanging by a ghost kitchen was a good way to get jobs, or a customer looking for ways to save on Doordash orders, there are hacks out there for you. It's just a matter of figuring out which options work in your area.
Feel free to combine different hacks, or coming up with some hacks of your own. Just because something isn't on this list doesn't mean it's not a good idea. Who knows, you might be innovating a new way to make money on Doordash!
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