In 2020, Uber obtained Postmates after failing to acquire Grubhub. Food delivery companies acquired don’t usually create issues for the couriers on those platforms. In this case, some Postmates couriers can’t drive for Uber anymore because of background checks, leaving a few options for former Postmates couriers.
For instance, Caviar drivers could transition onto the DoorDash platform with no significant hiccup after Doordash acquired Caviar in the fall of 2019. But for many Postmates couriers, when Uber acquired Postmates, this was probably the worst thing that could happen. Why? Uber has a rideshare business that requires it to vet drivers much more carefully than food delivery platforms do their couriers.
Suppose you are a Postmates courier who wants to drive on the Uber platform. In that case, some negative things on your background check might prevent you from delivering food with Uber Eats. And this is what has been happening for a lot of Postmates couriers, according to a BuzzFeed report. Their history doesn’t allow them to continue driving for Uber Eats after Uber brought Postmates.
So what are the options for former Postmates couriers who cannot work for Uber Eats because of something on their background check?
Here are five great options for former Postmates couriers wishing to continue doing food delivery gigs.
DoorDash / Caviar
The DoorDash/Caviar platform is the best option right now. DoorDash dominates this market by a wide margin. Former Postmates drivers wishing to transition over to DoorDash/Caviar would need to re-learn the city map. After that, everything is straightforward. Postmates operates like DoorDash: heatmaps, pre-paid card, etc.
Keys to success on DoorDash:
- Try to mine for Caviar orders. Historically Caviar orders pay way more than Postmates orders. So if you’re a former Postmates driver in one of the 26 cities that Caviar operates in, you can develop a strategy around accepting more Caviar orders through proper positioning.
- Keep a low acceptance rate. The best Dashers typically have 0-2% acceptance rates for orders. The platform is so large you’ll always get another order coming your way. It’s generally good to decline low-balls because the DoorDash payout structure will increase its pay for the next driver. There’s a whole strategy around this concept known as#DeclineNow.
- Develop good rejection skills. DoorDash orders come with tips upfront. Meaning you know exactly how much you’re getting for the tips. Learn to recognize ‘zero tippers’ and reject these orders. They usually are $3-6 offers depending on the Peak Pay bonus. You can read about ways to figure out the tips here:
Related Topics:
3 Ways To Know The Tip Before Accepting A DoorDash Order
Grubhub
Another option would be Grubhub’s platform. The only setback is that, on average, Grubhub pays less than other popular food delivery platforms. Based on various sources, Grubhub drivers make the least, nationwide, among all the food delivery drivers in April and May of 2021. You can check the Earning Trackers for more.
Grubhub does not offer Peak Pay like DoorDash, where you get a bonus per order. Instead, you get an incentive per X amount of orders. Ex: $10 for every three deliveries. This kind of milestone bonus structure creates a lot of competition and politics.
Caviar used to offer the same structure. When the bonuses are available, drivers will often reject orders and cherry-pick more to achieve them within the time window. The result is, bad orders get passes around like crazy when there’s a bonus. People play politics with orders.
Another thing about Grubhub is, when you get an order, you do not see the actual mileage involved. So you cannot evaluate an order based on dollar per mile like you would with DoorDash. Instead, you’ll need to focus on short drop-off orders to ensure you maintain a high dollar per hour.
Instacart
If you are an ex-Postmates and feel the food delivery space is quite crowded (and it can be depending on your market), consider grocery deliveries with Instacart. Instacart is the leader for on-demand grocery deliveries right now in the same way that DoorDash dominates the food delivery space.
With Instacart, the average payout per order is higher than typical food delivery. This means a courier can work fewer orders and make about the same amount of money. And the earning has been very stable over the years. Gridwise data shows that Instacart shoppers average consistently $15-17 an hour.
Grocery delivery requires more interactions with merchant employees and also more time being at the merchant in order to shop the grocery list. But the pay generally is better per order and the cost of wear and tear on your car is lower since most of the time you’re parked at the grocery store.
Shipt
A competitor to Instacart is Target-owned Shipt. Shipt has a much better user experience than Instacart in my opinion. The way their app is designed, you don’t feel the pressure to rush as you would on Instacart (the name implies speed).
One benefit of doing grocery for Shipt is that if you shop at Target, the employees there are very friendly to Shipt shoppers since Target owns Shipt. And compared to Instacart, the shopper support is much more prompt when there’s a problem. Shoppers can expect to earn between $16 – 22 an hour.
And there are a lot of opportunities for bonuses during the busy weekends and holidays. Last year, I demonstrated that it was possible to make over $2,000 a week with Shipt.
One thing I like about Shipt is that the tip is pay to the customer after the order is completed. This means that there’s an opportunity to hack the tip with various techniques. Food delivery platforms have evolved to have the tip included at the beginning of the order so you can’t do much to influence the customer to tip after you have drop-offed the order. But with Shipt, you can.
Related:
- Does Leaving A Thank You Note For Customer Result In More Tips For Couriers?
- Does Using An Emoji At The End Of A Delivery Impact Tips Earning?
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