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Need a tipping guide to figure out how much to tip Instacart delivery drivers? Or do they even get tipped?
The on-demand gig economy makes life easier — you can get groceries delivered in under an hour.
Instacart makes this possible and they conveniently offer their own referral codes for major savings.
What’s not to love?
Even tipping is made more convenient… no more fumbling around in your wallet for cash while the delivery driver is awkwardly staring at you.
But wait, do you even tip people on Instacart?
We’re about to find out.
Reader Tip: Don’t miss the comment sections for this Instacart tips article.
We have hundreds of readers that commented on how much they believe Instacart drivers should get tipped (and hilarious/entertaining anecdotal stories).
What Do Instacart Shoppers Do?
Demand for grocery delivery services like Amazon Fresh or Instacart has skyrocketed as people stayed home during the pandemic.
Those workers who pick and deliver those grocery items to customers’ homes are Instacart Shoppers.
Instacart shoppers make extra cash delivering groceries to people like you and me.
They get grocery orders and go shopping at local grocery stores and deliver those items to customers’ homes.
Much like other grocery delivery services, they work flexible hours and all the orders come through the Instacart shopping app.
So should you tip Instacart Shoppers?
Yes, continue ready to see how much.
Do You Tip People on Instacart?
According to the Instacart help center, Instacart Shoppers appreciate tips as a way of recognizing excellent service and 100% of your tip goes directly to the shopper delivering your order.
By default, a 5% tip is suggested at checkout, with a minimum suggestion of $2 per individual store delivery.
Interested read: Do You Tip More for Uber Eats or Postmates?
Can Instacart Shoppers See the Tip?
As of 2022, before accepting a “batch” — Instacart Shoppers can see the items requested, store location, the payment Instacart is offering for the order, and the tip being offered.
However, Instacart allows customers to alter their tip up to 24 hours after receiving the order.
If a customer alters the tip they are required to leave feedback and the company claims that any customer who continuously (and egregiously) alters tips will have their account deactivated.
The current way Instacart tips are handled was recently changed following the announcement of a congressional inquiry into the practice of tip-baiting where customers will promise big tips to only remove the tips after the order is dropped off.
Tip baiting is an issue because Instacart Shoppers rely on those tips — very similar to when you’re tipping the pizza delivery guy.
Do you want to know how much Instacart workers really make?
How Much are Instacart Drivers Paid?
According to user-reported data on Glassdoor.com, full-service Instacart Shoppers, make between $7 and $20 per hour, with $11 per hour being the average.
There is some debate whether it is worth it for drivers.
At present, there is no “hourly guarantee” like on-demand ridesharing and other delivery app jobs offer.
So what does this mean for you?
What is Instacart Tipping Etiquette?
Well, we would have to learn from the shoppers themselves, right?
We asked a real Instacart Shopper how much you’re supposed to tip on Instacart. So before you leave nothing, learn the truth about Instacart tipping.
According to Alex McDaniel, an Instacart Shopper/Driver, he says:
I’ve been a shopper and driver in Florida since summer 2016. I wanted to clear things up — we are not paid hourly, we receive no help from Instacart for gas or tolls or parking. About half of our income comes from tips.
– Alex McDaniel, Instacart Shopper since 2016
The Bottom Line on Instacart Tips
While tipping isn’t technically required — if you received good service then you should definitely pay it forward.
There are fewer resources for gig workers, as they are categorized as independent contractors that don’t receive benefits.
In fact, Instacart Shoppers are paid much less than restaurant servers so tips are greatly appreciated by them.
So how much should you tip on Instacart?
Instacart recommends a 5% tip which is less than the 15% to 20% recommended tip in the restaurant industry. So if you paid $75 for your groceries, you should at least, leave the Instacart shopper a tip of $3.75. Leaving at least a 5% tip is considered good Instacart tipping etiquette. Your Instacart Shopper will see your tip before accepting the order and you have up to 24 hours after the order is delivered to alter your tip.
Instacart Tipping FAQs
According to the Instacart help center, Instacart shoppers appreciate tips as a way of recognizing excellent service and 100% of your tip goes directly to the shopper delivering your order.
Before accepting a “batch” — Instacart Shoppers can see the items requested, store location, the payment Instacart is offering for the order, and the tip being offered.
According to user-reported data on Glassdoor.com, full-service Instacart shoppers, make between $7 and $20 per hour, with $11 per hour being the average.
Instacart recommends a 5% tip which is less than the 15% to 20% recommended tip in the restaurant industry. So if you paid $75 for your groceries, you should at least, leave the Instacart Shopper a tip of $3.75.
Leaving at least a 5% tip is considered good Instacart tipping etiquette. Your Instacart Shopper will see your tip before accepting the order and you have up to 24 hours after the order is delivered to alter your tip.
Instacart tips go to the driver who is also the Shopper. These workers are Full-Service shoppers that shop for the groceries and deliver them to you.
👇 Keep scrolling to read user comments to see what real people are actually tipping Instacart drivers. 👇
Now instacart shoppers can see everything before they accept the batch. We see everything that is being ordered, the amount Instacart is paying and the amount that is being tipped. We see map view that shows the store and delivery route.
I often don’t even consider accepting batches that have little or no tip.
Also, the customer should be aware that if you place even a small order, the shopper needs to drive to the store, pick your order, wait in the checkout line, often bag the groceries ourselves, and deliver the items to you. In some cases, the stores are 20-30 miles away from the delivery location. So consider that when you’re just getting a few items.
I’m not complaining because I would say that the majority of the customers are aware of these factors and tip fairly, if not generously. However, some customers seem oblivious to these factors.
In a restaurant, the customer decides the tip amount based on the service they received AFTER they’ve received it, not before. As a regular Instacart customer I use the same logic. I remove the tip when placing the order and adjust after receiving my groceries based on the service.
You’re telling me that you don’t consider accepting batches that have little (the app defaults to $2) or no tip. Why? The only service that you’ve provided up to that point is looking at your app. You should get paid for this? I would ask you to consider that….
I completely see it from your POV, but over the last 3 years of doing this a very small amount of customers have adjusted or added the tip afterward. From my recollection, I can say it has happened maybe 10-15 times over 3 years. I do 20-30 orders a week. I have a 5.0 customer rating, so it is not for lack of service I provide. Imagine knowing that 95% of the time that no matter how good your service is the tip won’t be adjusted.
I guess you can say I am jaded from my experience. You sound like you are one of the exceptions to most InstaCart customers. I think it all goes back to a lot of Instacart customers not being aware that the person delivering their food also shopped for it and had to use their personal vehicle to drive to the store and then to drop it off. Also, if the store you’ve selected to shop from is simply out of some of the items you selected, the shopper has no control over that. In other words, you shouldn’t necessarily hold it against the person delivering your food when considering how good the service was.
The comparison to a restaurant waitress or waiter is flawed in this case because tipping etiquette for that service is well known by the majority of people. Whereas, this type of service is fairly new in comparison. There is also a level of anonymity because often times the shopper never even interacts with the customer.
You are so true! The other gentleman‘s comments or comparing apples to oranges. The service provided by Instacart Shoppers is one of delivery and selection of items already chosen by the shoppers. Unlike a waiter or waitress that interact with customers throughout the entire order very easily and almost always should be service related tips Instacart giving the option to tip upfront is making the customer aware that everything they have to do before they even receive the groceries needs to be considered. I always appreciate those that tip Above the minimum and they get extra service I provide information on the way to the store how to contact me, provide information while I’m at the store if items are unavailable. And I let him know once I’ve checked out and I’m in route to the residence to drop off their order. I always think them make sure they know where the receipt is if I didn’t hand it to them personally offer to help them take their bags anywhere they like and all those services I give before and after the order are not adjustable on the app Regarding tips
Most Instacart workers are not just delivery. We drive to the store for you. We carefully select the best items for you. We go thru checkout for you. We load the groceries for you. We drive to your home. We unload and drop off for you. Then we gave the drive back. And you think a restaurant server does more for you??
What I think? I think that Instacart should pay you a decent hourly wage, and pass on the cost (more or less pro-rated) to its customers. That business of forcing the customer to decide how much you should get paid is, in my opinion, revolting. I also think that all tipping should be abolished; it is turning into a form of
begging/extorsion that I find extremely distasteful. If Instacart cannot pay its employees, perhaps it should close its business.
Yeah In a perfect world but you are the person asking for a favor so yes these corporations are corrupt and keep all the profits and the drivers just trying to pay their bills during a time when inflation is making it difficult to feed their children. So, if you think it’s revolting or not the fact is instacart Barely pays anything so if you don’t want to tip go to the store yourself because the best shoppers won’t pick up your order. I’m a 100% disabled veteran and my husband is active duty and because of inflation I have to do instacart to pay the bills because I have boughts of time where I can’t walk for weeks due to a broken back, so a “real job” isn’t possible. Maybe consider that the people doing you a favor are human being and it seems to me the person that is asking them to shop for them should pay them. Does a corporation pay someone to clean your house or walk your dog? If you want a service you pay for it because we should all be treating eachother like we think they a worth something otherwise go to the store yourself you’ll save a lot off the instacart fees that they keep btw
And given all of this service, plus the fact that it’s our gas and our cars that we are putting wear and tear on… 5%? Really? Why is that a default? I think that is ridiculous and so insulting. It should be a minimum 15%
Re ” I always.. make sure they know where the receipt is…” > Receipt? The shopper I met this week, said Instacart has told him in his training to NOT hand over the receipt! Thus, he refused to hand me the paper receipts for a $270 and a second $114 order! In Toronto, Canada.
So, what is the rule, if any, regarding paper store receipts?
Instacart forbids drivers to give paper receipts. It can actually get us removed from the platform.
I actually pay the bulk of the tip in CASH to the driver upon delivery. I do the same with wait staff. First, I want to be sure the service is good. Second, I want to be sure they get it and last, it’s CASH….and CASH IS KING. Now that I’m reading the comments from the Shopper’s perspective, I will adjust to include in my order. Thanks for the insight!
This is stupid. Who tips the UPS or mailman for their Amazon packages. We live in an era of instant gratification of free delivery. I don’t even tip the Pizzahut person anymore due to inflation.
If $11 is average they should be grateful. Over 20 states after 20 years still have a minimum wage of $7. And that $7 equates to $4 of 1996 money.
With Covid Relief funds still a hot topic, I look over at conman Senator Mitch McConnell’s state of Kentucky. They have 1 million residents on Disability of a population of 4 million. That foodstamp allowance they get won’t stretch far when it says Disability is $800 a month. Wtf does Gen Z think they are expecting a $10 or $20 tip for groceries.
You are comparing Instacart shoppers who average $11 an hour to UPS, Amazon, and Mail delivery shoppers who average pay is $18-25 an hour. Do you know that UPS, Amazon, and US mail drivers do not pay for their own gas? But Instacart shoppers do. Your comparison does not make any sense. There is absolutely no comparison.
That’s a lot of words for “I’m too lazy to go out myself, and too entitled to pay the person that does it for me”
How about: “I am getting too old to drive; fortunately, I can have groceries delivered to my doorstep.” Does that mean that I should tip 20% for the convenience? I do not think so, and that is why I order groceries only when the total bill reaches $80-100 (because, then, it makes sense to tip $10).
Why do you feel entitled to not pay for a luxury service just because your old? This isn’t a charity and we’re not volunteers. Instacart pays us next to nothing so the only way it even makes it worth our time is when you tip 20% or more. Why do you think it’s OK to go to a restaurant and tip a server to walk from a kitchen to your table and not think it’s appropriate to tip a personal shopper delivering your food 20% or higher when they have to drive across town to bring you your stuff? we’re not your servants and don’t owe you anything. Don’t you have family or kids that can deliver your groceries for free for you? Cuz that’s pretty much what you’re saying is you want someone to go shop for you for free and then deliver everything taking the liability on themselves if any accidents as well as gas and ware and tear on our car. $10 for a $100 order is actually decent compared to what I see people tip around here. It’s not sufficient though to be the standard. You give a tip like that to someone who doesn’t do a good job but gets your groceries to you at some point, probably not on time but not for good service and communication throughout the shopping. Experience. Say you live 10 miles away and you have 20 items at $100. Those twenty items take us anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 minutes to find if we need to seek help from an associate. 10 miles can take anywhere from 11 minutes to reach you to 20 depending on speed limits and road construction. Say you live 15 minutes away but not by any stores we’re a shopper can take an order on the way back so they have to return to their original location. So this is an entire hour of delivery and Instacart would only be paying us around $6 for the order plus your $10 tip is $16. Now minus gas costs and depreciation on your vehicle $4+$1= $5 so now it’s $16-5= $11/ hour for doing all that work. A whole $11 is not much when I make 30-60/hr elsewhere and don’t have to shop for anyone. I think the reason that people don’t tip well is because they don’t have to even see us if they don’t want to. If they had to look us in the eyes on every order I doubt they would ever not tip someone. I even took a no tip order thinking if I gave them great service they would change it and I did. Actually lost money on that order and they never tipped me. It’s shows lack of appreciation for our service and if you keep getting the same driver then you might just one day get what you pay for. Poor service with low tip. I do care about elderly people but hearing you say that you expect special treatment because your elderly makes me angry. I hate entitlement and I thought it was just the new generation but it is clear they had to learn it from somewhere. Shame on you for expecting this from strangers.
Let’s start with I’m not Gen Z and I’m 67 years old. Bottom line u are paying for a premium service and I always tip. I get so tired of people complaining about having no money, I’m on disability, I can’t drive. Let me explain something to u people I’m the old fart that delivers those 70 lb pkgs to you while u watch me, I’m the one who sorts all those Amazon pkgs u order while u cry about no money and if u can’t drive pay Uber $20 to get to the grocery store. I use Instacart cause I’m dead tired when I get home and that’s why they are worth every dime.
But we are paying. We pay an annual membership fee and we pay a service fee and if our total order is under a specific amount, we pay a delivery fee. That in itself is a decisive moment between do I want to pay a service to shop for me or do I want to do it myself instead? I tip every time but that’s a bonus, it should not be expected. If the overall net pay for the service is not enough, if the company does not pay you enough, a different job that rewards you enough needs to be found instead.
The best tippers are people who also work for tips for a living. It is so low class to stiff someone who provides a service! Usually the ones who stiff are either rich or never work hard in their lives and are clueless!
Do your own shopping. If your time is worth nothing, then tip nothing. Hopefully no one will take your order. You are cheap and self-entitled. You want to turn shoppers into slaves making less than minimum wage while the cost of gas destroys that pay. Get your lazy ass off the couch and shop for yourself.
I agree with you, I have been on disability for the past 2 years and it’s hard for me to do my shopping g because I have permanent never damage in both feet and legs, not to mention foot drop and rheumatoid arthritis. Disability don’t pay us enough when we have other bills, so I’m thinking about doing Instacart so I can get extra money to pay my bills but I don’t want to go and shop for someone who don’t want to tip the person that is taking time out of thier day, using their personal vehicle and having to pay for the car and find out later that they didn’t give a decent tip.
Unfortunately, I and many other 5-star shoppers won’t even glance at your low-tip or no-tip orders so the service you most likely will be receiving is coming from less-than-5-star shoppers.
carla’s bf…11.00 doesn’t factor in wear and tear or tolls…that 11.00 doesn’t take out for taxes and self employment tax. Seriously? Think of it as a bid for someone to do what you don’t want to. A server at a restaurant just brings you a plate and a drink on their feet. We go to the store with our cars using our gas, go shop in the store when people are sick everywhere try to contact most people if stores are out of stock etc etc with most the time no response, bag the items, load them into our car, once again drive that car (I guess they run on water now?) then unload them to your door…and that isn’t worth something? Would you do all that for 11.00? Because it takes about an hour a batch…obviously you wouldn’t or you would be going to get your groceries yourself!
I prefer actually prefer cash, but you could always add a tip and replace it with cash so someone picks up your order.
I’ll answer,although I’m not the original responder, because I’ve been an instacart shopper for 2 years and NEVER take a job that doesn’t include a tip. The reason is, not one time has someone added a tip after the order was placed. I’ve had unreasonable customers delete my entire tip because the store didn’t have “all 12” of their 2-liters of coke, but I’ve never had someone add one after. I occasionally had people give cash at the door, but again, that’s not the norm. No tip=no thanks in my book.
I just shopped instacart the first time today and there was a 5% tip in the order automatically which seemed small to me but I didn’t know I could raise it before the order was completed. I tripled it when the evaluation form came and frankly am sorry I didn’t quadruple it and I will tip 20% next time. Valuable work and people should get paid decently.
Something to consider with that 5% tip is this, too. When you order, say a $25 bottle of nice shampoo and it’s not in stock? I went and looked for it. I made alternate suggestions to you. I spent the same time, sometimes more, than if it had been there. And my pay goes down as that 5% tip is off the total. At the same time, if you add a ton of items and I have to work extra hard for you to accommodate our joint search, yes, your tip goes up, but the IC payment doesn’t.
There is no “win” here for the shopper to communicate well with the guest.
If you get a great shopper, tip them well! If you don’t, leave it at that 5% as that’s what they valued your shop at. Only then is there a “win” for the good shoppers.
I feel like my shopper always picks a higher priced item to increase there tip how do I know if the item is out of stock
I’ve felt like this was happening to me as well the first few times I used IC. I always checked the 20% amount and seemed like several items were replaced (with my approval) for slightly more expensive items. Now, I check the other amount Box and start with 25% of my total. This way, it’s a flat dollar amount and won’t increase or decrease based on the final prices charged. It may be coincidence but since doing it this way, I’ve only had my items replaced twice and I order from IC at least twice a week. By the way, I have never decreased a tip but several times increased it after the delivery. Plus, I always get my deliveries in under an hour. Win win!
No one shopping for your groceries is thinking of ways to raise the tip, because it doesnt raise if an item is replaced at a higher cost. It suggests you raise it, but doesn’t automatically. If you are a decent person you are not looking for ways to rip off the customer because said customer has 24 hours to make tip alterations. The customer is in control of their own money not the shopper so this idea is ridiculous. Quit looking for ways to rip people off and tip 10% minimum
Ask for pictures of the shelf. You’ll see the empty space and be able to see items that you might like to replace it with.
I have shoppers that take pictures of the empty spaces , which I appreciate, so I can pick a substitute item. Then I’ve had shoppers say my two pack of steaks are out of stock and when I approved a replacement it was a four pack which did raise the tip to $36 from $24 as I usually tip 20 percent. That to me was a common sense issue-ask the butcher to split a four pack don’t pad the order! I adjusted the tip to $26.
If you go yourself, you’ll know if it’s in stock
Good point. I recently placed an order for over $100; it was reduced to below $80 because two items (I wanted two of each) were ‘out of stock’. However, on the store internet site, both items were marked ‘in stock’. I had adjusted the tip to $12, left in an envelope stuck to the door (because I am getting hard of hearing); the shopper took the tip and let me find out that some items were not there. Fortunately Target has them, and will deliver/ship for free if the order exceeds $35.
The stores do not keep this information up to date or communicate with instacarts platform. Yes it’s frustrating that so
Many things are out of stock that the store says are not but things being out of stock cause more work for the shopper. I have to hunt down an employee (who does not want to help) just so they can say it’s
Out of stock and refuse to Check the back. I then do this twice more to be sure because lots of people seem not to want to help I then have to ask the customer if they want a replacement and send pics often wait a really long time for a response or no response at all so I pick the best substitution marking sure it’s close to price and quality or refund it if nothing fits only to have them ask
Me to get something while I’m half checked out so I put everything back in the cart and get the item and start over and all this for a $2 tip. $400 order so the measly 5% was deemed to good for me. However I still treat you like I treat myself picking the best of everything. Going through every pack of strawberries because you know how bad those are at the grocery store. Knocking on every watermelon because they don’t ripen off the vine and I wouldn’t want an underripe melon. I once had a person get 20 cases of water from Costco came to
Me as 1 item. Barely fit in my car and my car was dragging for the 25 minute drive for $5. People are cheap and I don’t get it because I would never consider asking someone to go out of their way for me and not pay them for their time.
Why? That’s easy: when the tip is $0.00 in the app customers rarely, never happened to me, tip after delivery. Often the ones who claim to tip in cash never do. I have had a small percentage (15 shops out of 600) give some cash on top of tipping in the app and almost 95% tip the minimum. If I am going to the store to look for 35 items for you and bring home 75 units then I should get $20 at least. I have touched every item in the order 5 times (5x!) to get all of it to your house. That’s a lot of work on a $420 order (for example – average is about $175). I’ve had people remove a tip from the order yet give me a glowing review and five stars. Boooo! Yes, it’s made me bitter because I shop for my customers like I am shopping for my family: if I wouldn’t bring it home for them, then I am not going to bring it to you. I think that people follow IC’s lead and are fine with that. The only problem with that? 5% of far to low and doesn’t even cover the gas and insurance in my car.
I agree. As a customer, I’m appalled by what I’m reading. Why are people so CHEAP? Having been a waitress while I was in school, I really appreciate how important tips are so I’m much more sensitive to it. I think that Instacart should up the 5% to at the very least 10% in light of the facts.
Some people are indeed cheap, when they can afford to tip generously but don’t. Then there are those trying to leverage the safety or convenience (relief?) of delivery while on a tight budget. Like lower income families or seniors who can’t make it to the store but can’t regularly pay a 15-20% tip on top of the rising cost of living. It’s tough to say what the breakdown might be, but I still think Instacart needs to set the default to 10%. If a customer needs to really pinch dollars, they can adjust it.
I agree with Alex R as I am one of those disabled shoppers who cant make it to the store myself. I use IC approx 2x a week, my orders are usually 50.00 to 70.00 including the delivery charge and I always tip the same amount each time which is 7.00 or 9.00 depending on the amount of items ordered. Is this considered being cheap?
As a shopper, I think you’re fine
I agree, I gave the default 5% tip with my very first Order had excellent service everything is packaged so that nothing but crushed. The second time I ordered I gave a larger tip Based on the great service the first time and everything with Miss matched in the bags, just the thrown. I had bread under canned goods! I was sad that this lady got a good layout for a terrible job! There was no way for me to take it back. I’d like to see the quality of service before deciding what they get extra from me.
not true, you can adjust your tip up to 3 days after.
No you cannot. I tried today . Once you rate the order you cannot adjust the tip. I tried to increase the tip and Instacart would not let me. Sent instructions to click 3dots at top. No response. Shopper did not get what they diligently worked for.
False. You have 24 hours.
The shopper doesn’t always bag the groceries, it’s very possible the was the grocery store bagger that did that.
Now a days everything is self check out so therefore you bag those groceries, I refuse to do the self checkout because these stores are not paying me to scan and bag my own groceries
Hi. I agree. I’ve given good tips only to have my groceries show up at someone else’s doorstep or to get 1 qt milk as a sub for a half-gallon. I guess the math was too hard. And other weird elementary types of errors in judgment, even w/my explicit instructions. There are 2 sides to the story. When they get it right, I’m happy to tip well.
Do you have 24 hours to make alterations to your tip
The reason is because we have been stiffed on several orders. I did a no tip one time, I know I did good because I delivered every item on the list and within an hour of receiving the order. After delivery I looked at my pay outs and it was a no tip. I made $5 and spent probably more than that on gas and mileage. Shoppers want to know what you are willing to pay before hand. your service will be good!
I ordered instacart once so far and I figure if they’re risking their lives for my groceries, I should at least buy their groceries for the week, so I tipped $50. I think we should take the risk into account when we are tipping.
Good point!
Well, I guess some people are just moneybags ;-). If one regularly has that kind of extra spending power, tips can be a pretty good use of it. But who pays all the other employees extra to risk their lives getting to & from work? I think some risk is already implicit in the contract between corporation and employee, or independent contractor. If what they pay isn’t nearly enough to cover it, doesn’t that mean delivery companies are getting rich at the expense of under-compensated workers?
I fully understand your frustration. However, at the same time, please don’t expect tips to make up for the low pay from IC which is wrong on their part.
Maybe it’s wrong on Instacart part but you know the fee structure so tip! If you’re too cheap to do that buy yourbown damn groceries
Huh? What you said doesn’t even make sense. We dont accept orders that have little or no tip because some of the people do not give a tip after delivery. They say they will but dont. So why accept a order with little or no tip and waste our time driving shopping it and delivering it. When if you do not like the service you have 3 days to adjust the tip. So NO I will not take a chance of wasting 1 hour and half of my time (most orders take from start to finish) for $7.00 and a hope and prayer you tip. So we dont expect anything for looking at your order but we’re not shopping it with little or no tip. Let a newby that has no clue give it a go.
No I NEVER take those orders anymore and the reason is because I have taken many no tip orders ….drove 15 miles to the store (we do t get paid for that), shop/wait in line/bag your order (we get paid between $1-$2 dollars to do this part), drive over 46 miles from the store to customers home (we get paid 60 cents per mile {as the crow flies not actual mileage driven!!}, had to carry several VERY heavy boxes up several flights of stairs and then drive the 46 miles back into my hometown (which we don’t get paid for!) and they never tipped!!! So NO, I NEVER take any batch that doesn’t leave a tip or a small tip.
Agree
I agree with what you are saying but have to admit it’s very disheartening to put so much care and effort into a job and only receive the original 5% tip that was added on. I spent 4 hours shopping not to mention the extra travel time made it a total of almost 5 hours. The order was all organic, dairy free and gluten free. I could have easily said items were not available when I could not find them but I searched and took pictures of all the options available. The total of the order was $357. The original tip was $12. I thought for sure she would have adjusted the tip after the fact but nothing. I actually came home and cried thinking how could someone be so cheap. Thankfully I am doing this job as something fun to do but to put that much effort into something to have someone do that made me very upset and also will make me think twice about picking an order like that again.
Last week….
$189 order
Great, friendly communication
Unicorn (perfect order)
Delivered promptly
Five-car-garaged-home
$3 tip
Wtf. People are a$$holes. I’m sorry.
My story exactly! Worked so hard communicating, getting exactly what they want in the midst of Covid and Thanksgiving. So many items out of stock.
Chatted w the meat department to get the exact lb of roast. Delivered to a nice area of town and got a 4.86 tip!
I was also shopping for two other people at the same time. I was exhausted and cried while finally sitting down to my own dinner.
How do I quit this gig?
you are a fucking moron to compare instacart to restaurant services
To tip stands for “to insure prompt service”. That indicates “prior” regardless of what is a social norm now. While it may be customary in restaurants to tip after, it wasn’t always the case. You, the customer, have a duty to show up in good faith and share the risk with the person who is assuming all the risk by taking your order. As an independent contractor, unlike your server at a restaurant, I get to voluntarily choose if your tip matches my expectation for compensation for my time, wear and tear on my vehicle, risk while driving in traffic, and gas. Most of the time, it does not. A personal shopper is at minimum $125/hour if you were to hire a professional. This is a luxury service. Anymore, many upscale restaurants add an 18-20 % tip because people have to be reminded that it is expected, and the tip IS part of, not on top of what is considered pay. I won’t subject myself to the personality fluctuations of people who are not happy with their own lives but rather, appreciative people that understand that asking a stranger to run your errands for you means you, in good faith, are fronting some of the responsibility in this voluntary exchange. Nobody owes you their time, risk, gas, and effort. Nobody. And, your $3 tip for compensation for grunt work is an insult.
Beautiful reply! Couldn’t have said it better.
100% agree!!!!!’
The shopper app does not default to $2.00 tip. There are orders that come through with no tip.
I signed up for Instacart over the summer using a promotion with MasterCard. For some reason the app would not let me add a tip until after the delivery. I would then go in and tip. I had no idea that on your end it looked like I wasn’t going to tip. Now that my 2 month promotion has ended it defaults to a 15 percent tip that I can change prior to placing my order. I always tip 15-20 percent depending on what I’ve ordered (I have used Shipt for years). My friends and family try to tell me I tip too much and I try to explain to them that about your wear and tear and gas costs. They think you all make more from Instacart (or Shipt) then I think. I wish that the companies would be more honest about what they are paying you.
I will tell you why. 99 percent of customers who offer no tip at time of order do not change it after job completion. Why would I take that risk?
What sane person would accept that order? As the person taking their time, effort and investment in a vehicle to do your shopping for you without any promise of a tip? Because there are a LOT more people who don’t tip or don’t tip well enough versus those who do. You’re not worth the risk.
You have to consider the fact that this is a cutthroat business where we are competing with hundreds of other shoppers often for the same order. So a lot of these orders that don’t already have a tip added to them will not have a tip added to them even after it’s completed. Most people don’t add tips at the end. The way we decide if we want to accept to orders is by the pre-tip. It’s very simple. You add in a reasonable and fair tip assuming the shopper is going to do an amazing job. I do not do jobs for less than 10 to 20% tips. My customers are always happy. I’ve never had a tip removed, ever! If for some reason you’re not happy with your shopper, you can lower the tip. But no one’s going to want to take the order if you don’t pre-tip. So often we spend hours staring at our phone just waiting for an order. We don’t get paid for that time. By the time we get an order, IT damn well better be worth it.
Talk about entitled.
How is that entitled? Slavery was outlawed long ago friend.
You can literally go back in and change the tip after the fact, if they did a shitty job.
Quit being cheap, tip well, and then adjust accordingly if they do a bad job, rather than treating it as if they’ll do a shit-job from the get-go.
Riley you are an asshole. This is not the same a restaurant order. Your shopper could do a great job and you now will tip less if the store doesn’t have the items you want. It’s not the shoppers fault. Instacart pays maybe 4-5 bucks for a full service order that might take the shopper over an hour to complete and it you only leave 2-3 bucks thats 8 bucks an hour no living can be made on that. You should tip at least 20-40% now that instacart doesn’t pay shoppers shit.
You have 24 hours to adjust your tip. Why not give a 10% tip to start and adjust accordingly to service. Please keep in mind that stores other than Costco and Sam’s rarely have everything you ordered.
I’ve yet to receive a cash tip. No tip always means no tip, so I no longer accept them. We don’t get paid, until after groceries are delivered. Your “why should you get paid to look at an app” is ridiculous
I would suggest placing an average tip about for the service and if the service is bad lower it or raise it if it was good. You can think whatever you want about what is right or wrong but I guarantee you that people will not care about the items they pick if there is no tip showing. You will get worse service for no reason if you were going to tip anyway. And if you weren’t going to tip then you get what you get
Just so you know I am an excellent shopper 5 stars and have been tools many times I’m the best shopper they ever had. Experienced shoppers don’t take no tip orders because they know from experience the tip never comes later. I would suggest leaving atleast a small tip and bump it up if it’s great service (I’ve had that happen many times) it must either way as long as they didn’t do anything malicious are you really not going to give someone anything for using their gas and vehicle to drive to the store for you, shop, stand in line, bag your groceries and drive to your house? Maybe they are inexperienced so it wasn’t perfect but it was good enough. I’ve only ever taken tips back with blatant disregard when someone added stuff to my order and stole it having me pay for it. That should be reported and by all means they got their tip in the stolen merchandise take it back.
Because why trust that you will raise the tip? Rather take the chance someone will remove it later because people don’t do it often.
I do not consider them most of the time either. Too often that “no tip” stays that way. You can increase your tips for up to two days and decrease them for 24 hours. If I suggest anything to you, I recommend doing minimum tip and then adjust from there – your batch might be of better quality because quality shoppers pick it up ☺️
I do the exact same thing! I want to see the type of service I get before I tip for it. When it’s good service, I do adjust my tip afterwards and I tip generously. I’ve only been using instacart for a few weeks now and so far I have been getting my a orders in a timely fashion although I input initially zero tip. I hope that remains the same.
I’ve been using grocery delivery services for years b/c I no longer have a car, by choice. I’m older now and housebound due to the virus. I am extremely grateful for ALL grocery workers, no matter their jobs. Every one of them, whether by choice or requirement, faces a risk to their health that I have been able to avoid–because of them. For a long time I didn’t realize that the driver and the shopper were the same person, at least with Instacart. Once I discovered that, I increased my tips. Before the virus, I tipped $20 to $30 per delivery, depending on how large it was. Since March, my tips have been $30 to $40, mostly a flat $35, but I don’t think even that is enough during this period. My orders usually range from $75 to $125. I always expected my orders to be carried to my 2nd floor unit, but since the virus, it isn’t always. Also, b/c it’s rare now to get a full order with problems refilling stock, I order from 2 or 3 markets at a time in order to get all the ingredients I need for the dishes I’ve planned. I still have trouble figuring out if Instacart is passing on each tip to each shopper/driver as their website isn’t consistent. I have gone back to add to a tip and have been unable to do it. I have written to Instacart Customer Service asking for confirmation that each shopper/driver got his/her tip, but don’t always hear back. I would urge everyone who uses grocery delivery to tip as generously as you are able. Your life may be saved by someone making minimum wage–what is that worth to you?
I make minimum wage, so I tip minimum wage. Your wages or old age pension, and cost of living, probably makes you able to afford to tip higher than others.
I don’t find fair to leave 15 or 20% tip when Instacart is already charging me for 17 items $11 delivery + $13.56 service fee = that’s $ 24.56 and I addition you are saying that I should tip 10% of my purchase that’s is $275 So in the end I will spent $50 extra total plus my $275 . Sorry but I thinks that’s too much when I already paying delivery and service fee !!! So no way for me to tip $20 or $30 !!
Then get your own groceries simple as that
get a better job, simple as that.
If I don’t know my rewards number but can look up by phone number, how do I communicate that to the shopper? TIA
P.O.S.
With an ATTITUDE like Yours….. perhaps it’s YOU who needs to get “a better job”!! I understand working for tips—I’ve done it. Sure–there are some “jerks” out there—no matter what your job is—but being RUDE isn’t going to behoove you one bit.
I came here to learn about InstaCart, and tipping….. because I wanted to “gift” Kroger’s $59/year delivery to a sweet 93 year old neighbor. She had a few deliveries from Walmart, I don’t know if it was actually Walmart, or a delivery company–but another neighbor went over upon hearing the delivery guy yelling at this 93 year old woman—DEMANDING $10 “for his trouble”—on a $37 delivery. ($2 over the minimum to be delivered–and this guy had an elderly woman in tears!!)
Sometimes we don’t know what other folks challenges are….. being kind is “free”.
I was trying, with Kroger to figure out how I could take care of my neighbor’s “tip” for the shoppers. Kroger said it isn’t necessary to tip. So I came here. After seeing the hate and vitriol directed at both recipients and groceries——if Attitudes & Demands are not met——I think we’ll organize friends to shop for her. As I said, I worked for tips before—thankfully as a bartender (I’m not coordinated enough to carry trays)——I KNOW what people are capable of doing to the food of people that “don’t tip well”….or complain!!
????????
Then risk your own life and get your own groceries! We do t get any of those fees as shoppers! Instacart keeps all that, we get paid mileage from the store to the customers house and that is it (if you don’t tip)!!! So we get normally $5 to drive to the store, shop, checkout, bag and deliver your items. Sorry not worth it and I would pick up your order!
Please shop for yourself. If you cannot appreciate our time and health, do it yourself. Low tips receive the service they deserve. Enjoy.
I have never like tipping based on the price of items as the work involved in purchasing a cheap item vs. an expensive one is the same. I have been tipping my Instacart delivery people very generously, sometimes a percentage, sometimes a flat amount, but I’ve considered switching to tipping per item with a minimum tip of $15. So, if I order 35 items, I might tip $35. Just an idea I’m floating. Would like feedback from shoppers on this with regard to what might be a reasonable per item amount (given a $15 minimum).
My Average time per item is 177sec. So for a 30item order that’s over an hour of shopping time not including driving to store, bagging and delivering. I would say $1 per item would be reasonable for the time and effort involved in doing the work.
Using this logic, on my order which was just delivered, I’d be paying a $152 dollar tip for just under $420 worth of groceries. I wish my time was that valuable. Good luck with that.
I just ordered from IC and had my groceries delivered for the first time. It was necessary because we’re out of everything and I’m home without a vehicle. (DH works a 10+ hour day and hustles repairing vehicles & dirt bikes for cash, after so he has our one truck). I used to be a home shopper for a grocery store but my legs couldn’t take it – new varicose veins turned into chronic venous insufficiency in the 18 mos I worked there and feet stay too swollen for any shoe but too-big house shoes. I would prefer to shop for myself but it’s become painful. So I tried this. I chose Aldi as it’s less than the grocery store here and our WalMart is not a supercenter. My bill before shopping was $476 and change, which included a delivery fee ($3.99) that I read would be waived for my first order, an almost $30 “service fee” that I’d REALLY like to know is for what? and the 5% tip which was $21 and change. (Going in I thought that was a bit high.) My shopper communicated very well and even bantered a bit, which I appreciated. Most substitutions did end up being more than my original choice but I knew that when I approved them. I could’ve said no. And this store charges for bags but my shopper checked with me first, asking if using boxes was ok or if I wanted bags. (I said I’d rather not spend more if she could do boxes, but I left it up to her – she only used 5 bags so good deal.) I also came across this article before she got here. I wanted to see if the 5% was good enough. (I’d hate to be labeled a lousy tipper my first order.) I ended up giving an extra $15 after seeing the shoppers’ povs, but more because my shopper had 3 car seats for her 3 toddlers (bless her heart!) I wish I could’ve given more but this is wiping me out, and I’m still miffed over that mysterious service fee. I don’t think I’ll do this much unless I don’t have another choice, simply because the money I spent on top of my food was around $75, and while I don’t begrudge the tip, I simply can’t afford this. God bless those who can.
15-20% is fair for these guys. I’m a customer, by the way. They work their arses off.
A $15 tip on over $400 order? I would block you so I never took your order again.
Don’t let anyone fool you. Just because the amount of the items is high does not mean that the effort was. It all depends on what you are ordering, how far they are from your home(because of the return trip to the store is not paid for) and how many bags you have. A 21 dollar tip is reasonable for basic groceries especially if you added the 15 after. I have been doing these deliveries for over a year and would not consider that a bad tip.
I have been doing IC for a year. $15 minimum is very generous. I don’t agree with the tipping based on the price of the items either. If you think about it an order with 4 ink cartridges could come up to $200 plus and the effort to pick the item and deliver is minimal. An order with 5 cases of water, dog food and ice cream up 3 floors could come out to $75 and deserves a much higher tip for the effort involved but would be much less if it was percentage based. I appreciate your consideration for your shopper’s
Dear Vanessa,
You need to do your own shopping, as you are either too unappreciative or cannot afford the luxury service of grocery delivery.
Signed,
An Instacart Shopper
So because the service you use to order your items charges you, you think someone should not only work for free to shop for your order, but use their own gas money and car maintenance costs to deliver it to you. Entitled much?
Then how about you go get your own groceries
Grocery delivery is a luxury that you apparently cannot afford
Grocery delivery is a luxury that you apparently cannot afford
vanessa, if you cannot afford to tip right for hard work, then it sounds like you need to take your own lazy ass out and get your own groceries and not be cheap! people work hard and spend their time and gas to deliver to YOU. if you cannot afford 15% minimum tip, then im sorry sweetie, but you cannot afford a luxury service
Please do not be rude here.
Shoppers don’t receive the fee you get charged for delivery, Instacart does. Stop being cheap.
You’re using a luxury service. Grocery delivery isn’t pizza delivery.
Instacart is a luxury service. If you can’t afford a tip then get off your couch and get your own groceries yourself.
Then go buy your own groceries and you won’t have any extra fees. Jesus you sound very selfish and entitled. Obviously you know it’s rough drudge work that no one wants to do otherwise you would have never turned to instacart. But you want shoppers to do it for you for next to nothing? Seriously? You do understand that whatever instacart charges you extra the shopper only gets a small percentage of that right? They put the wear and tear on their vehicles, burn their gas, hurt their hands back and feet carrying your $275 worth of groceries. Fighting long lines and no doubt you are probably one of those people that orders ten cases of forty count waters and lives on a third floor apartment right? Get over yourself! I hope you are no where near where I am…
We, shoppers get ripped off by I start just as bad as you do. We are the ones doing the work for you and assuring we bring you every item on you list. And if an item is not available spend extra time trying to find a suitable replacement for you. So yes you should us for the service we provide you cuz I can guarantee you instacart isn’t paying is squat.
Then go to the store your self ????
So let me put this in perspective for you. Instacart pays us $7 for those orders. I have explained this to so many customers while trying to persuade them to do personal shopping. Most people would be better off just hiring an instacart shopper on the side to do their shopping for them. And most people don’t realize the price gouging that goes on with instacart. They charge you a fee for the shopping, they charge you a fee for getting your food there quickly, they charge you a fee for heavy lifting, they also charge you extra for every single item that you purchase. We shoppers are aware of this but we didn’t make that rule. Out of all that extra s*** they charge you for we get a whopping $7. So if you have 60 items and it takes us an hour to shop for you and drop it off, we are heavily depending on a fat tip. This is why instacart is very quickly becoming a multi multi-million dollar company.
Consider buying a subscription to their Express Delivery, which makes deliveries free (over $35). Cost is $99 a year. If you use it frequently it makes sense — like Amazon prime.
It is expensive — but you need to think of it as a service you are buying (cost of groceries is irrelevant). If you hired someone weekly to go drive to Costco, shop for you, and bring those things to your front door, how much would you pay them? Even my teenaged kids wouldn’t consider doing this for less than $20.
Vanessa think of it like this, If you hired a nanny/personal assistance to shop you would give her gas money and food money, plus pay her $25 or more an hour that would cost you about $150 or more. You basically are hiring us for couple of hours and we buy our own gas and food so tipping $50 bucks to a Instacart worker is more then fair! I think you should hire a personal assistance or nanny this will cost you lots more and then you will understand economics.
As I shopper I have to say I agree with this. The base pay is typically sufficient and I never pay attention to the tips. I factor the order pay against the mileage and the amount/type of items and decide if it’s worth my time. HOWEVER, based on what I’m reading a lot of people seem to live in more rural areas. I think 15 miles is probably the furthest I’ve ever had to drive for an order. Now that I know better I try keep my orders in a 5 mile radius. However, I live in a busy city with a high volume of orders which isn’t the norm. As some previously mentioned, this is a luxury service (similar private shoppers charge $100/hr **don’t quote me). If it were a high end restaurant a person wouldn’t NOT tip accordingly because the food is expensive. Just something to consider.
The service provided by instacart is a premium service for people that want the convenience. If you don’t want to pay extra do the curbside pickup that most places offer for free or get it delivered by the store instead. Why would you expect an expedited service without paying the price? You just think people are out here just wanting to pick up your groceries? It’s a job and in America it is common practice to tip for these types of services that is being provided it doesn’t matter why you think it’s right or wrong it’s the way it is. You can stop tipping when they get paid more and Idc if you want to say the company should be paying more because I agree it’s just not like that at the moment. And to be fair I don’t believe most people are asking for 15-20% 5 bucks would be good for most orders…
Hi i have been ordering from instacart for a few times now and i was just wondering when i place my order and it says what do you want to tip i always give above the 5% do i give the shopper what i put in when they deliver my groceries or do they get paid at the checkout. Thank you.
The shopper gets paid the tip through the app
Are tips the only compensation you get for your work, or do you also get paid by the store or by Instacart?
Instacart pays a minimum of $7 per order and pays mileage from the store to you home 0.30-0.55 a mile.(sounds good but if you drive 20 miles out you have to drive 20 miles back without being paid milage or time. And average order for 15-20 items pays $7-9 plus tip. Depending on how far it is it could be done in 20mins to an hour. So for the delivery that is 1 mile away it could be done in about 20-30 mins and would be paid about $7. The same delivery that is 15 miles away would take closer to an hour due to the return trip and would pay about $9. After gas that order would be about $3-$5 dollars for an hour of work. Hope this helps. I’ve been delivering for just over a year.
I’m DC it is very rare to see a decent tip, most people tip less then $5 with many tipping $1 or no tip. Sometimes the store is more then 20
Miles from the drop off and there is always traffic going toward DC so it’s will sometimes take atleast 45 minutes to get to the house. I don’t get it you don’t know me and I am doing you a favor for very little pay but your not willing to pay for my time, it’s not even worth the gas to take these orders and there are very few good tippers in northern Virginia. I tip atleast 20% when I order and my minimum is $20 so it baffles me that these people are basically saying my time is worthless. Is this the same everywhereOr just DC AREA?
In a restaurant, the customer decides the tip amount based on the service they received AFTER they’ve received it, not before. As a regular Instacart customer I use the same logic. I remove the tip when placing the order and adjust after receiving my groceries based on the service.
You’re telling me that you don’t consider accepting batches that have little (the app defaults to $2) or no tip. Why? The only service that you’ve provided up to that point is looking at your app. You should get paid for this? I would ask you to consider that….
Your logic doesn’t work because one doesn’t get paid for looking at the app. I personally would not take a job without the tip, because in doing so you are agreeing to work for free. Not only is there no guarantee a customer is going to add a tip after the order is delivered, It is also not likely.
This is exactly what I wish these customers would understand. Until they do the job, I just don’t think they understand that at all. They think all we’re doing is picking what we want to accept out of an app and it’s just easy peasy. They don’t see the hundreds of miles we put on our car how competitive it is, how much time we waste staring at the app, etc. The hours of time we spend standing in the grocery lines.
15-20%? So on my $250 order you want me to tip $50?!
No, we want you to do your own shopping if being gracious to the person shopping for, bagging and lugging hundreds of pounds of food to your house is too much to ask. $250 is a LOT of groceries. We get about a $10 base pay per job, so without a tip, you’re asking your shopper to use their own car and approximately 2 hours of their time to do your errands for $5 an hour?? Tip or do it yourself, just like a restaurant.
There is a fee charged for delivery.
That is a lot. Tipping is a gratuity. It is ONLY given, at my discretion, for exceptional service. At a restaurant when the server asks, “do you want any change back from this” if it is 14 cents or 14 dollars in change, they get no tip from me and I am an extremely generous tipper. A tip is a gift, NOT a requirement. The bill is a requirement, NOT a gift.
I wouldn’t return to a restaurant that I stiffed for such an idiotic reason…..unless you like taste of saliva
You just sound like a horrible cheapskate and person. THIS is a job for them, they are not your BFF or a family member, they do this to make money. Do you work…do you get paid for that work? That delivery charge is not just for them it also goes to the company they work for and the small amt. they probably get is no where near enough to pay for their time, gas money and effort. If you work I hope your boss says “well we docked you for every hour you didn’t give us exceptional service, just doing your job isn’t enough”. If you don’t want to be a fair and decent person and tip accordingly then get your lazy a$$ out there and do your own shopping. Oh and stay out of any full service restaurant too…you sound like a nightmare there also.
how about you get a real job. Then you can realize that workers do lose hours or get decreased wages if they are bad at their job. Your job is essentially to be a pair of hands. Zero skill, zero intelligence. You applied for this job KNOWING that it would be a gratuity, not a guarantee and you bitch and piss and moan because people don’t pay what YOU want them to? Choke on your own poverty, nightmare goon
I’m a customer and I ALWAYS tip GENEROUSLY for the very reason these shoppers have mentioned. I use this service because I am caring for an elderly mother and sick husband, and so appreciative to have a service like this available that the VERY LEAST I can do is recognize the person who helped me with a decent tip for their service. I am astounded at the insensitivity of some to not understand this is a SERVICE and like any other service, payment is expected.
That’s true but it’s also up to a shoppers discretion whether or not to give you service. And no one is going to work for less than minimum wage AND pay expenses out of pocket. So don’t expect to get service if you put 0 tip. If you’re service is absolutely terrible adjust the tip after and give a reason why so the shopper can learn and improve.
And you’re a customer a shopper would identify as tip baiting, and if proven, have you banned from shopping again, or have you blocked from their individual app so that you don’t show up again, until the next poor sucker figures your ultra entitled stingy attitude out.
I have been in the restaurant business over 15 years. You are 100% accurate in your assessment of a gratuity. Though it is customary protocol, it is a gift to show appreciation. Do I want my change back? How very rude and inappropriate to ask. In my place that is a termination request.
No one. I repeat NO ONE, who has worked in the restaurant business for 15 minutes, let alone 15 years (as you claim) would ever say what you just said. Sorry Jodi, I don’t buy what you’re selling.
Wow. What a bunch of lazy, cheap, twats.
You’re a real fucking asshole. You should have to work for tips for the rest of your life.
I don’t think you’re looking at this the right way. It may say “tip,” but in reality you are hiring someone to shop for you. if you were hiring someone to go to the store and shop for you, what would you pay them? I don’t want to spend the time to Costco, so I hire someone via Instacart to do this service for me. Happy to pay them $25-40 to do that.
You certainly are fulfilling the stereotype of women being lousy tippers and entitled harpies.
Wow. The pandemic is certainly bringing out the best and worst in people….I’ll just say thanks to our grocery heroes and wish you all the best. Also sending love to the ones writing angry comments.
thank you always nice to hear
I hear what both of you are saying. I’m a single mom. I need the hours I would spend shopping to parent and work so I can … buy groceries. I can’t tip $50 every week because the kids eat $250 in groceries. It’s too much. I was also service industry back in the day. I understand what it’s like to live on tips and tip as much as I can.
If anything this should be a call to everyone to fight for a fair minimum wage for EVERYONE. Service providers shouldn’t depend on tips to scrape together a living wage. You should be paid a fair wage and the cost of it should be wrapped into the businesses pricing model. Consumers should just pay for the service with tips being a compliment for outstanding not a wage. Don’t get mad at the wrong people; be angry with an industry that trims from your wages to make profits.
Restaurant servers here in Ohio only get ½ the minimum wage or $4.50 per hour by law. They work hard for their wages and that’s why I’ll leave 50% tip most of the time. With Instacart I’ll leave 20% on orders over $150 and more for orders under $150. Why? This is a 5 star service and they work hard for their money plus I truly appreciate people risking their lives to help feed my spouse and me so they can feed their families during this my first pandemic — I’m 75.
SPOT ON, sir. I’m with you! There will always be people in the world that will take advantage of the system because they are lazy ingrates. They believe the world owes them everything when in truth, it OWES THEM NOTHING.
^Well said. Thank you.
Your shipper may be a single mom too. Do your own shopping if you can’t tip generously.
Shaun, I agree. I also think a lot of IC workers don’t realize that lots of people work as hard as they do and never see a tip if they work for a place like Home Depot or any of the thousands of places where hard work is expected for pay. If you’re not making a fair wage, quit your job but don’t expect customers to pay your salary over and above a normal tip IF the job is done well, which is not always the case, a fact that has been completely left out of this discussion. While IC people rant about low tips, IC customers aren’t doing the same here about strange or terrible experiences some of us have had. To expect a $50 tip b/c a mother spends a lot on groceries to feed her family is downright rude and ridiculous. Wake up to the real world, folks!
Unfortunately for me $250 of groceries is about 13 items and fits in a single bag. I must be getting too many expensive items 😉
I was just considering whether Instacart might be cheaper with the tips and delivery service because with Instacart I won’t impulse buy 10 identical $8 bars of chocolate. And that right there, my friend, is why Instacart *might* be a better deal.
Yes. I literally ordered 200$ worth of groceries for the first time & left a $15 tip when I placed the order. The shopper drove to the store, spent an hour shopping for me, messaging me, getting replacements, etc., drove to my apt, brought all of my groceries upstairs & left them neatly at my door for me. I researched whether or not my $15 tip was appropriate (because I didn’t really know) and quickly realized with all of the work they had to do, it wasn’t. I immediately changed my tip to $50. People are doing this because they have to, not because they want to. If I’m privileged enough to utilize this service, I need to tip appropriately.
Attention Instacart Soppers
UNIONIZE FOR HIGHER WAGES
Instacart SHOPPERS : UNION !
Yes.
Absolutely. 50 on 250 is what a waiter would expect. I don’t think these people are doing less work than a waiter, picking the stuff up, driving it however far, and dropping it off
You know how much you should tip. You just don’t want to. And now you’re looking for someone here to validate that that it’s ok not to want to tip so you don’t have to feel guilty about it
Ask waiters/waitresses about how hard they work.
Anonymous January 10, 2020 At 9:21 pm
“15-20%? So on my $250 order you want me to tip $50?!”
==
$250? it took my shopper 2 hours 30 minutes total.
ONE HOUR just to put $200 of groceries in the cart. That’s how long it takes my mom to do it too.
20 minutes WAIT in line
10 MILES to my house. In these times I am happy to pay 20%.
Um let’s see.. for one you don’t leave the house to shop, a person actually leaves there’s to get into there personal vehicle to drive x so many miles to grab a cart to shop your 250 bucks worth of food (at least a full cart) so is in that place for awhile shopping then has to wait in line to bag your 250 bucks of food then has to load there vehicle with your 250 bucks of food then has to drive x amount of miles to your house and has to unload at your front door or elsewhere the customer prefers while (you ) the customer watches the driver carry with no help… So did I sum that up good… So yes a tip close to 50 dollars on a 250 order should be right! Thanks
Thanks Thomas!
Thank you Thomas!!
Yes. I often tip $70. Think about it–if you have any contractor or worker come to your house for any reason they usually charge at least that much just to look at your problem (HVAC, plumber, interior designer, etc., unless it’s to give a “free estimate” for sales purposes.) The Instacart shopper is coming to your house, doing work, using and maintaining their car, their phone, and paying for insurance. They are considered independent contractors and are not entitled by law to the benefits given to employees. It’s a loophole that businesses use to save money.
Sounds like you can’t afford a luxury service. You should probably stop being lazy and get your groceries yourself if you can’t afford a fair tip.
Yes. Unless your lazy ass wants to go get it yourself or invent a Startrek Replicator. You’re paying for the convince you simpleton.
Holy entitlement! Taking a job at a company that expressly claims tips are optional and then complaining that it’s hard work and refusing to take work if you’re NOT pre-tipped? Just wow.
What kind of moral monster expects this kind of service at rock bottom prices and doesn’t compensate the worker adequately. Yeah it would be nice if the company provided health care, vacation ,sick leave etc and a good wage — but in a tipped service only a moral monster stiffs the worker. I just ordered for the first time today and 5% was built in for a tip which seemed tiny to me. I didn’t know I could adjust but found I could when the evaluation form did and so I tripled the tip and next time I will do better than that. This is valuable work during a difficult time and compensation clearly is primarily by tip; no one should be using the service who doesn’t tip well.
Most people don’t tip near that much, and any instacart shopper will see a tip above $10 as a really good tip, almost no matter the size of the order. most people don’t order $250 worth of groceries at once, so take that into consideration. I’d say the average over the past six months of orders has been closer to 50 dollars
“Ok Boomer” You don’t go out and eat at full service restaurants much do you? Or maybe you do and the servers all cringe when you walk in and get seated at one of their tables. Maybe you don’t get out much at all and live under a rock and don’t understand the concept of tipped employees making up a good part of their income that way. If you work do you consider your paycheck an entitlement? Why shouldn’t they feel the same way…..they are WORKING and have every right like anyone else doing a job to expect to be paid a decent wage. If you don’t want to pay it then do your own shopping.
You are so right. People have an option to work at a place or not. When you decide to take any job you consider the hourly pay or salary, if there is any commission or tips, does the company help with any part of your insurance, match any money in a 401k etc. It sucks having to depend on others generosity to pay your bills but that’s technically what you sign up for when you take a job in which the majority of what you bring home is based on a tip. I’ve always been generous when tipping because lord knows I have been there and waited tables and prayed that I got good people in my section so I could pay my rent. It sucked, but I did chose it so I couldn’t really complain when a table I busted my butt for told me that I’m the best waitress they had ever had but they only left me $2. They didn’t have to leave anything. Of course more would have been nice and would have been customary based on their bill. We are paying the company that pays the shopper/driver for the service. We pay a delivery fee and a service fee if you order something they consider heavy there is an extra fee for that as well. I believe it was about $20 at least in the delivery fee and the rest that Instacart alone charged. In the past what four months I’ve placed 10-15 orders maybe. I add more than what Instacart automatically recommends every time. I can tell you I have had one only one lady who deserved that and more (and yes I changed the tip as soon as she left and wrote to customer service about how happy I was with her tremendous service). Every single other person didn’t read the notes I wrote under each item about substitutions so they wouldn’t need to text me and waste their time if the specific thing I requested wasn’t in stock. That takes a lot of my time in order to save them time, but it’s my order I chose to use the service so I need to do my part. In all those deliveries there were multiple items that were just plain incorrect (for example I ordered Golden Grahams no substitution I got coco puffs I’ve never in my life ever even eaten those and they certainly wouldn’t be anywhere close to a similar item for substitution for what I ordered I could tell you more but this is the best example because it happened the same way with other items) I would get the incorrect amount or size not because the store was out of the item it was just the error of the shopper. I had one shopper get offended because I texted “Umm what did you replace it with?” Apparently to her Umm was disrespectful I was rude and needed to learn how to talk to people and I could just cancel my order if I had this kind of attitude. I tried explaining that I text how I talk (obviously) that I meant no disrespect I had no idea that umm was such an issue. She told me I could cancel my order or pay more to have it delivered l told her to cancel it I was certainly not going to pay extra for someone to treat me so rudely. This girl put the order in as she was “out for delivery” so she could charge my debit card she gave herself a tip and took the groceries home with her. The groceries that I had ordered four days before because that’s how backed up they were. So from my experience no matter how much tip I start with I can tell you it certainly doesn’t earn me any better service! I would have stopped using them but there isn’t an alternative in the sticks where I live if you need your groceries delivered. I say need because when you have to stay home to care for a loved one with dementia who can not be left alone for any amount of time it isn’t a luxury it’s a necessity. I order everything I need or want, I have to. Again though it’s about choices. I guess I don’t have to care for her. I could have abandoned her like the rest of the family did but I rearranged my life in order to do so. That’s why I put up with the crappy service and I still tip generously even when they are horrible except the one lady. I wish everyone got paid a fair wage but this isn’t a fairytale land (very obviously). If they did raise the minimum wage to $14-20 an hour we would all be paying a lot more for all our goods and services to make up for the extra money companies would have to pay the employees, that money has to come from somewhere they certainly aren’t going to take it out of their profits and the government can’t afford to subsidize it. What is that going to do to single moms or low income families. How many more people/families would require government assistance if they were having to pay more for their groceries, gas, and other necessities? I don’t know what the answer is, I wish I did, but saying someone shouldn’t use a service they pay money for because they don’t believe they should tip 15-20% (and they aren’t saying they don’t tip at all just not that much) is ludicrous. The complaint should be with the company signing your paycheck band together as employees, demand more, demand there be a minimum tip based on the total of the bill, or understand you have a choice wether or not you want to work there. Even if you don’t choose to take someone’s order who hasn’t tipped what you feel is enough, someone is going to. They are going to get the service that they paid for Instacart will be sure of that. They certainly aren’t going to call the customer and say “no one wants your order because you’re not tipping enough, sorry you need to go get your own groceries”. Do you know how quickly they would lose business then possibly be out of business and the Instacart employee out of a job. Then you’ll be wishing for the days when you could turn down a delivery.
Go do the job and then react. I’d love to see how many orders you ignore when you realize you’re getting paid $5/hr and paying gas and maintenance out of that.
Yes. Unless your lazy ass wants to go get it yourself or invent a Startrek Replicator. Simpleton.
It’s not entitlement, it’s the way they make a living. If anything I’d say the person ordering $250 worth of groceries and not paying someone for their time to do you a favor is entitlement. I have 4 kids 5 and under and this has been the best thing for me. I tip based on the amount I order. But now seeing it from the other POV I will make sure to up the tip when it’s only a few items that I’m needing quickly. They are saving me time, patience, and money (impulse shopping). Thank you insta shoppers!!
Side note: if you don’t want to tip well, you’re not going to get good people to do this and you’ll end up with people who don’t care about the quality and effort they’re spending your money on
Sounds like entitlement to me
It’s not a favor. It’s receiving the service that was paid for. Tips are for exceptional service, not for doing your job.
Than don’t get it. Because I’m not taking an order that don’t tip.
IN the US where many jobs are compensated by tip and those jobs rarely have benefits it is not for ‘exceptional service’ — it is for doing the job for which they are payed minimally otherwise. If you are not willing to tip well for service, don’t use tipped service.
If shoppers do not get a tip they cannot maintain their car, keep it clean, ensure they can keep working. If you choose not to tip, your groceries are less safe. Some shoppers with low ratings are living in their cars.
Instacart pays $7 per order or sometimes more on large orders. Tip at least $13 or at least 10% to allow them $20 per hour. They handle your food; they know if you tipped. Be a cheapskate at your own peril.
You just sound like an awful person and cheapskate “Billy gooooat” You don’t go out and eat at full service restaurants much do you? Or maybe you do and the servers all cringe when you walk in and get seated at one of their tables. Maybe you don’t get out much at all and live under a rock and don’t understand the concept of tipped employees making up a good part of their income that way. If you work do you consider your paycheck an entitlement? Why shouldn’t they feel the same way, tips ARE part of their pay…..they are WORKING and have every right like anyone else doing a job to expect to be paid a decent wage. If you don’t want to pay it then do your own shopping.
Doing your job, is when you’re actually hired at a job. As an independent contractor, not an employee of instacart, tips need to be presented first. There is no hourly wage. Your tip is the incentive to go out there and get it done as a priority. If you don’t, your batch sits there as a last resort. It’s really on you. If you’re finding no one really wants to take your order, it’s really because you’ve become entitled to other people’s labor as an expectation… and that’s not in the American psyche to respond positively to.
Wow. I’d be interested in seeing the actual pay scale. Are you paid a flat fee regardless of how much is ordered? Or does the size of the order increase payment? Are you paid less than minimum wage like wait staff that rely on tips for their actual income? I doubt it. The app clearly states tipping is optional. If your shoppers have a problem with this, then you should talk to your employer about raising their prices and increasing your wages. Do you put your tip on the table at a restaurant as soon as you sit down? No. Didn’t think so.
Waitstaff in a restaurant do not have to use thousands of dollars of insured vehicle, phone & service and gasoline expenses, upfront out of their pocket to exclusively cater to you for an hour or more. Instacart SHOPPERS (not Instacart) bear these costs, before they bring us our food, while they spare us Covid risk of the store visits. We pay Instacart for access to a web platform and little of this fee goes to the shoppers. Either we can be ungrateful cheap pricks or we can appreciate what they do for us!
Joe Schmoe the app may say that tipping is optional but tips (fair tips) are also essential and expected just like going out to a full service restaurant. If you had any kind of social graces and etiquette you would know this. And as Rick said they have expenses they are paying out to be able to get your order to you. Why should they do this before they know what they will make on your order? This is a job for them just like yours is for you. Looks like your last name fits the bill …..Schmoe – “a foolish, boring, or stupid person; a jerk”
Not nice.
Yes it is absolutely less than minimum wage without tips and often even with tips. And you have vehicle expenses that come out of that as well.
I guess I’m not really sure what some of the people that are complaining about having to tip beforehand what is the problem? Do any of you know what TIP stands for? It doesn’t mean “to ensure proper service” Otherwise why would you tip the wait staff person after your meal?
It dates back to the stagecoach days when customers would leave a little extra To the vendor of the stage coach depot, for the lodging and services they received, so that they would be in their favor the next time they pass through. “To Insure Permanence” T.I.P
So if you want someone to deliver your groceries and you want it done efficiently and you want it done correctly you, and would wish to insure that Service will continue for future orders as well as the current order you would do so by making sure upfront, That you’re contributing to their pay.
It is a small flat fee that the app pays the shopper. You’re getting a discount on the groceries, you’re not having to leave your house, AND you have somebody deliver them to your door. I think that’s worth 15 to 20% without all the exclamation claims.
I don’t know what discount you think people are getting on groceries by using Instacart. The service actually charges the same or MORE than in-store prices. Plus a delivery and service fee is paid for the service, so not sure what lala land you’re living in.
You etymology for the word TIP is a great example of misinformation propagation. Do your research if you’re going to defend an argument.
As for tipping, it’s a bonus, not a right. Why would I bribe a shopper into doing good work?
Tipping is just good ettiquite for services received. Yes, there is a base pay, but when you look at getting $7 for driving 10 miles to the store, 20 miles to deliver and you are shopping for 50 or more items. Seven dollars isn’t much. The workers for Wal-Mart get $12 or more an hour just to bring the bags to the car. Just think about it as if this was your only income. We are out risking our health so you don’t have to get out. Don’t blame the shopper or driver if the store is out of your product. I keep in contact with my customers and try to find the replacements they want. When I accept a job I expect to get all of the pay I see. It’s a slap in the face to see the customer taking back some of the tip based on product availability. I always go above and beyond for my customers. Just remember to be thankful for these services.
Thank you for this.
Maybe because you want your groceries delivered to you properly. If we only got a base pay for all deliveries we wouldn’t even make minimum wage. Consider our time, gas, insurance. It adds up. Be a decent human being. Quit trying to get all you can for nothing. We are working so you can sit home.
Tips, fair tips, are essential and expected just like going out to a full service restaurant. If you had any kind of social graces and etiquette you would know this. They have expenses they are paying out to be able to get your order to you. They are spending their time, gas, and effort doing something for you so you can sit home safe. The delivery fee your paying is not much and I’m sure hardly any of it is actually going to them, not enough to make it worth them doing this job at all if that’s all they could expect to earn. I bet if you go to full service restaurants with that same attitude they all cringe when you walk in and no one wants you at any of their tables! You should do your own shopping cheapskate.
It really shouldn’t be called a tip it should be a co-pay. Since the shopper is an “independent contractor” he decides what he will charge (or accept as pay). Instacart pays a portion of his fee and the customer pay the other portion. The tips are not a gratuity for service they are an essential part of the contractors income without which it would not be sustainable to provide the service. There may be a contractor willing to take a low paying job in the short term but they will not last long in business if that’s all they get and if you are not willing to pay for a service it will not be there when you really need it.
THISSSSSSSSS!!!! 🙌🙌🙌
First experience with Insta cart tonight. Driver delivered my groceries to the wrong address. It was my neighbors house. I used this service because I hurt my neck and can’t carry groceries to my upstairs apartment. I gave specific instructions on how to find my place. She never responded when I told her I was behind the front house upstairs. I had to find another person to carry everything up my stairs. Should I remove the tip?
Yes, and explain why.
Absolutely; remove the tip, give a low rating (low ratings lower Shoppers’ access to batches), and explain why in comments. As a Shopper, I’m appalled by how you were treated. Believe it or not, for many of us, shopping & delivering for customers like you (as well as for the elderly & disabled, veterans, etc) are the highlights of our days — when we feel as if our efforts are truly worth it, tip or no tip. Hope you recover soon!
Who cares if they don’t tip ! …nobody will take their batch and they can get crap service and groceries mwahahah aaaaaaand nobody is entitled here, anyone who works in customer service likes ANd deserves a tip !!! ?? we know who the good people are and we’ll take your batch and give you EXCELLENT service ?
First experience with Instacart today (because of the virus and not wanting to do it myself). Great service and constant communication as to what was out and what options were available instead at Publix. I have to agree I don’t like tipping in advance, but upped the suggested 2 bucks to $5 and gave and extra $5 in cash for a small order since it was worth more than that to me not to have to go out in the hysteria this time around! Thanks instacart.
I’m new to Instacart and had my first delivery last week. I did not know I could adjust the tip, so I think I underpaid him what I felt he was worth to do this job for me. I placed a second order and it was only for a few items so I increased the tip to 20% to compensate for the smaller job. Only now I have added to the order and now the tip is huge! Is there a way to adjust it before they begin shopping? I don’t see a place to do so. Only when initially making/placing the order did I see a place to adjust the tip. I understand it can be adjusted AFTER the delivery too. But that’s kinda sucky for the person doing the job thinking they are going to get this HUGE tip to have it reduced!! Agh!! Damned if I do and damned if I don’t. *sigh Shopper begins my order in an hour.
You have added to the order and want to reduce the tip. How does that make any sense?
My first time using instacart. There was no delivery times available. So I am picking my groceries up at Publix on a picked time slot. I never saw a place on my order at check out to place a tip. Is this only for delivery? I have sent 2 emails out to instacart but no responses. Will the person that brings the groceries to the car Sunday be the shopper? Or Publix employee? I would like to tip the shopper but not sure how I will know who that is if I am picking up. Any answers on this before Sunday would be appreciated. Thanks.
I just did my first pickup order from Publix using instacart.
I did not see anywhere to add a tip when placing the order and thought I could add a tip afterwards but having just completed the review and looked at the receipt there is no way to add a tip!
I can’t figure out how to tip on a pickup order either besides handing cash to the person loading but I know that person is not the Instacart shopper. So who knows if it gets to them..I will always do pickup because I’m Too far out of the way for delivery
Tips aren’t generally offered on pick-up orders, as they’re usually shopped by either in-store employees or Instacart ’employees’ paid differently (and more) than contractors/Shoppers. That doesn’t mean you can’t tip in person, of course, but tipping applies most to those providing both shopping and delivery services. Thanks for caring, though — it means a lot to all of us!
Instacart is a great service but it does cost more than $9.95 plus a $7.00 tip. Since they don’t take manufacturers coupons and don’t recognize loyalty membership discounts it’s like adding an additional $10-$15 to each order. Still it is a necessary service right now. I would be happy to reward the shopper with a good tip. Unfortunately they are so busy that I can’t get delivery 6 -7 days!
Waitstaff in a restaurant do not have to use thousands of dollars of insured vehicle, phone & service and gasoline expenses, upfront out of their pocket to exclusively cater to you for an hour or more. Instacart SHOPPERS (not Instacart) bear these costs, before they bring us our food, while they spare us Covid risk of the store visits. We pay Instacart for access to a web platform and little of this fee goes to the shoppers. Either we can be ungrateful cheap pricks or we can appreciate what they do for us!
Just curious, but do you car insurance rates or phone rates increase because you are an instacart employee. Wouldn’t you have those expenses regardless? I totally get fuel and other wear and tear to your vehicle.
Yes car insurance does increase. You have to purchase commercial insurance to be properly covered. I pay about $389 a month for this. That’s with a good driving record.
God bless you. That insurance is horrific.
You have to purchase commercial insurance to be properly covered. When you do delivery services you are on the road more then the average person. I pay about $389 a month for this. That’s with a good driving record.
Placed my first order today prior to seeing this article. Put down $20 for an $80 order. I clicked on send and someone else is doing EVERYTHING for me. How is that not worth at least $20? I’m actually feeling cheap now from reading half of these comments.
I am giving my instacart delivery person $39.00 for shopping for me in this covid risk. I think we should all support them, because we all need them now. They are taking a risk doing this, so that you do not have to go out of your home to do it yourself. Be grateful we have instacart shoppers.
Oh, dear…my first time with Instacart this morning and am also flummoxed by this tip thing. Am a senior with impaired vision and didn’t even notice the tip thingy on the order so I guess I did the minimum by default, intending to tip in cash when and if the delivery arrives? Order totalled about $200 so would $25 plus the tip already on the order be okay or way too cheap? I do not want to stiff the shopper. Guidance, please? Thanks.
That’s very generous!
I’m new to instacart and put $0 tip because I intended to pay cash. I thought everyone liked cash more. But now my delivery time keeps changing. Is this because they saw I put no tip? I wrote in special notes will tip in cash and now I see no way to edit my tip. Feel like I’m not going to get my order now….
I don’t think people would prefer cash now during the time of Covid . That’s a vehicle for spreading disease and also keeps it from being a contactless delivery. But i could be wrong…
Instead of putting $0.00 as the tip, add a custom tip amount of $0.22. Yes, 22 cents! This is because a couple years back when Instacart was in the media spotlight for using tips towards base pay, there was a big cash tipping movement and .22 was code for “cash tip”. Because this happened a while back, newbie shoppers probably haven’t heard this and will pass up your order, thinking you are an asshole for tipping 22 cents. You will likely end up with a veteran shopper who knows what they are doing and can make great substitutes, for instance, if some items aren’t available.
I’ve never seen this, so thanks for the info! I would’ve otherwise seen .22 as a ‘tip’ and assumed it was a snarky move made by someone who doesn’t believe in any type of tipping … which would’ve certainly made me shake my head & sigh as I skipped over the batch offer. So, this is great to know! (Granted, I still might not accept a .22-tip offer, as it’s impossible to plan an income without being able to see exactly what I’ll be paid per job, but at least this knowledge will save me from another one of those deep rolling-eyes sighs, lol …)
I’ve been using instacart since this whole quarantine began. I tip really good but I’m able to, not everyone has the means but they should definitely tip. The shoppers are out there potentially risking their health. Do you think they would be doing it if they didn’t have to??? Fortunately, I’m in position where I can give a good tip and I do for two reasons 1. Potentially risking their health and the health of their family and 2. Because I believe everyone should be helping others out and hopefully with the little bit of extra they get takes some stress off them. On the plus side, I’ve been getting my groceries really quick.
This is exactly how I feel. Thank you for sharing.
I just started using instacart a few weeks ago.My husband and I are in the high risk group because of our age. I use the 20% tip as it adjusts if I should have to add anything to my order. I didn’t understand how it worked when I first started using the app, so I would add the tip $10.00-$20.00 or so based on what I had ordered but if I added groceries after I checked out, I could not adjust the tip. 🙁 Fortunately, I had some cash and could tip when the shopper delivered the groceries. Now that I am instacart savvy, I use 20% tip and it will adjust if I add groceries. I am so grateful for this service and the people who are are risking their own health to keep us old folks safe. They deserve to be tipped above and beyond. The service is keeping my husband and me safe. I would encourage everyone to tip on the high end and be grateful.
This is exactly how I feel. Thank you for sharing.
I just started using instacart a few weeks ago.My husband and I are in the high risk group because of our age. I use the 20% tip as it adjusts if I should have to add anything to my order. I didn’t understand how it worked when I first started using the app, so I would add the tip $10.00-$20.00 or so based on what I had ordered but if I added groceries after I checked out, I could not adjust the tip. 🙁 Fortunately, I had some cash and could tip when the shopper delivered the groceries. Now that I am instacart savvy, I use 20% tip and it will adjust if I add groceries. I am so grateful for this service and the people who are are risking their own health to keep us old folks safe. They deserve to be tipped above and beyond. The service is keeping my husband and me safe. I would encourage everyone to tip on the high end and be grateful.
Thank you very much. That attitude is almost worth doing it for no tip.
Tipping is just good ettiquite for services received. Yes, there is a base pay, but when you look at getting $7 for driving 10 miles to the store, 20 miles to deliver and you are shopping for 50 or more items. Seven dollars isn’t much. The workers for Wal-Mart get $12 or more an hour just to bring the bags to the car. Just think about it as if this was your only income. We are out risking our health so you don’t have to get out. Don’t blame the shopper or driver if the store is out of your product. I keep in contact with my customers and try to find the replacements they want. When I accept a job I expect to get all of the pay I see. It’s a slap in the face to see the customer taking back some of the tip based on product availability. I always go above and beyond for my customers. Just remember to be thankful for these services.
INSTACART SHOPPERS.
How much would you get paid by instacart on a $100 order if there
were NO tip? Only mileage?
I can’t say for NY but in So Oregon I saw a order yesterday for 35 items/66 units with no tip to drive 10.2 miles (from the store no mileage Included to drive back) For $26.77.
Maybe 7 dollars
I have been on both sides – as an instacart shopper and customer.
The person who explained how he selects which jobs he accepts was simply explaining the way we select jobs. If you do not want to tip – that is absolutely your right! But please don’t complain if after a few days you are unable to find shoppers for your purchase.
As a shopper I have received tips in person and after the fact. But I will say that I will not select a job that is under $25 which is tip and fee from instacart. That is a fair wage for driving to the store, shopping the items, loading and unloading them to front doorstep. Which at the minimum will take 1 1/2 hours plus the gas in my car. I am absolutely appreciative of the 100% kind and positive feedback as well – this job is not as easy as it looks especially when facing often empty shelves in your local stores. If your shopper is communicating with you please remember that takes extra time and attention!
Part of the instacart payment can be cashed immediately and part of it is deposited weekly. For those of us who took this on because we recently lost our jobs the cash tips are amazingly helpful. These tips pay for gas and food for my own family.
Today, I ordered on Instacart for the first time. Once my wonderful shopper was done fulfilling my order, I received a message that she wouldn’t be delivering the order. I had someone else deliver the order. Who receives my tip? I want to increasse it for the shopper, but I don’t want it to go to the delivery guy.
Tip both cheapo
Newbie to Instacart. Just got my first delivery. Can I add a tip at this point? I gave what change I had but it really wasn’t enough in my opinion.
I prefer to give my Instacart Shopper a cash tip because the amount is none of Instacart’s business.
What if you tip 20% on your order but half the items are missing from your order? Then what? There are always some items missing.
It’s not the shoppers fault items aren’t there.. you can’t and shouldn’t hold that shopper liable for what the store has or doesn’t have..
You tip based of shoppers work ethic.
Does he/she communicate throughout the shopping.
Does he/she bag the items correctly.
Does he/she deliver on time.
Does he/she follow delivery instructions on where to leave it.
Those and those only should be what customers should be tipping for..
Make sence?
I have been using Insta-Cart for several years, but since the Quarantine, I usually have 2 orders a week. In general the service has been great. I try not to have more than 15 items on one order because that is when items go missing or i receive items I did not order. Sometime getting my order is like Christmas, it is a surprise. I tip based on the service items you listed. I can not imagine someone not tipping. I usually put $3.00 on the order and leave an envelope for $10.00 in cash. Here is one way the customer is at a disadvantage, we can not choose our shoppers, but the shoppers can choose the customer. There are shoppers that I love shopping for me and There are shoppers I would rather not use. I live 1.35 miles from the Publix I like, and requested, and a lot of time I preorder the special items I need like Deli items and meat. That way the shopper does not have to wait there for them to slice 6 different deli items to the exact thickness I like. One gentleman went to a Publix that was 12 miles away. He didn’t get the cash part of the tip. Because, I had to place a second express order for my special items. I am grateful to Insta-Cart shoppers, you are putting your selves out there so I don’t have to.
Your tip goes down for every item you must refund. You got to love the people who order 10 bottles of bleach and bathroom tissue in every brand knowing there is a limit and now we will get nothing for a tip. They know there is a limit. The games they play
If you tipped 20% and half the items aren’t there the shopper only gets paid 20% of what IS there. So there tip will decrease by the amount of items missing. That doesn’t mean they didn’t spend time searching for those items.
I have been ordering from Instacart since the pandemic began. I order about every two weeks and my orders average $150. I have no problem leaving a 20% tip when I order. The Instacart driver is risking their own health to pick up groceries for me. All of my drivers have been excellent and have kept constant contact with me while they are in the store and ask me about what I would like to replace out of stock items with. I have been in couple of local stores and realize how bare the shelves are. I know the shoppers I have used have done incredible jobs. If I feel my shopper goes above and beyond I increase my tip with my survey, but I think a 20% tip should be the minimum.
With everything that’s going on, our family is jumping on the grocery delivery bandwagon. We’ve never done this before in the US, though overseas (Asia) it was very common. So we don’t know what to expect here. Our car is in the shop and we really appreciate the opportunity to have stuff delivered. And we want to be generous to our deliverers/shoppers. But I agree with others who question the EXPECTATION of a 20% tip. The problem as we see it is that the company (“contracting” is too often an excuse for a company to pass on costs to other people) can pay shoppers so little.
We’ve read shoppers aren’t compensated for gas, mileage… But these things are required to do their job. I’m guessing shoppers get few, if any, benefits, too. Do they get paid time off if they’re ill? Instacart and its allies here in the US (rideshares…) pass costs on to workers (wear and tear on their own vehicles, insurance, gas, private health care costs…) and customers (subsidizing workers’ pay through our tips–which transform from an expression of gratitude into an expectation). We don’t want to support this system. I don’t have a problem paying a big tip to thank someone for helping me out. But I don’t want to feel OBLIGED to do so because the company the worker works for (or “contracts with,” whatever terms a company wants to use to justify not taking care of the people who do the work that keeps the company alive) refuses to pay workers enough.
We’re about to place our first Instacart order and have been considering buying the yearly membership. After reading the comments in this article’s comment section, we’re strongly re-considering.
Well whether you tip or the company pays shoppers more you will be obliged either way. If the base pay is increased where do you think that money will come from? Your pocket. Service and delivery fees from instacart will increase accordingly leaving you no option to negotiate the fee with your shopper.
sending out a message of profound gratitude to all instacart shoppers everywhere. like so many, we are elderly and have a couple of health issues that keep us from doing our own shopping out here in the CA desert cities, and we owe a great debt to you for your wonderful service. we gladly tip in excess of what the IC site offers almost every time, and have upgraded the tips after the shoppers’ deliveries both on delivery AND after delivery based on the quality of service. this seems to be a good model for getting quality service, as i have NEVER rated any shopper at less than 5 in 23 deliveries over 9 weeks, and have never tipped less that 20%, plus cash in many cases. i have also encountered (at a distance, sadly) many lovely, hard-working people struggling to get by during this pandemic, and as a human being, i feel need to do what i can to help. happily, i CAN do it, and i do this with pleasure, and with appreciation for providing a service i require during troubling times. THANK YOU, wonderful instacart shoppers!
You are an example of the very best of Instacart customers — thank you so much for your kindness!
I’ve used Instacart twice since the Covid thing began and I’m so grateful for the fast and courteous service I’ve received. Both orders have been in the $250 range and I’ve tipped $75 each time, starting initially at $50 and if all goes well (e.g. order delivered in good shape), raising it to $75 during shopper rating. That may seem high to some, but the extra is my contribution to support the front-line workers who are out there hustling and helping to keep us safe. I also figure this is a good use of the stimulus money I received and don’t really need.
I have an order in to Wegmans for Instacart delivery in northern VA for the first time on May 6. I noticed that Wegmans prices are about 15% higher for the delivery option vs shopping in the store. Added to that is the delivery fee, service fee and a modest tip, and the total ends up being 25-30% higher than in store shopping (before deducting savings on gas). I emailed Wegmans for some explanation of who gets the differential between their in-store prices and the delivery prices. Perhaps someone can explain on this forum. I’m assuming that most if not all of the differential goes to Instacart both for their costs/profit and to pay an hourly wage to Instacart shoppers (Instacart shoppers, please confirm that you do receive an hourly wage). If any of it goes to Wegmans, I would be upset since that seems like gouging on their part. Who can explain further? James
I’m glad to know that shoppers can see whether or not I’ve tipped before taking my order. I also wouldn’t mind if they were able to rate me as a customer. However, I don’t like that Instacart raises the prices at Aldi. That’s a hidden cost that annoys me. I was super happy with Instacart until I found out about the upcharge. It’s a deal-breaker for me.
I just spent almost $500 on an order there! $36 tip, $3.99 delivery fee, a mysterious $29.99 service fee, and they jacked the prices up too?? Is that just Aldi, or would a regular market cost more, too? I ordered from Aldi BECAUSE of their low prices, knowing I had a huge order. How dare they up the costs on top of a “service fee”? If that’s true, this was my first and last order ever.
Attention soon to be customers and existing customers!!
The shoppers only get paid by the mile from store to customer house.
So do you think they are making any real money? What about if they accepted a delivery and they live let’s say 20 miles from store. Does shopper get anything for those miles and gas? No so that’s 40 miles for that 1 delivery that isn’t paid so think about this before you order your next groceries list ok..
That’s the scenerio of most shoppers is that they drive pretty far each delivery to shop for someone they don’t know to feed there families.
IT SHOULD BE MANDITORY TIP OF 12%
CAUSE THATS PRETTY MUCH THERE PAY!!
THANKS
I didn’t see this question above, so can someone say whether the tip for an Instacart shopper is (or should be) different for curbside pickup (shopper only selects items) than from delivery?
In store shoppers get an hourly wage, full service shoppers do not.
Glad I read this. I schedule my delivery date and then shop all week so my tip is calculated on the starting total. I always fix the tip after delivery .
I’ve been tipping $.50/item, rather than a percentage of the total cost. For me, it seems like pretty much the same time and labor to grab an $.88 can of beans as a $12 bottle of laundry detergent. My orders are usually $120-$200, but sometimes I am buying a lot of little things and others I’m buying more high-cost items like medicines or cleaning supplies. So, if I’m ordering 50 items, I would tip a minimum of $20. I also tip extra for variables like exceptional service, long distance between my home and the store, and employees risking their health during global pandemic, etc.
I also prefer to tip per item with a minimum for the reasons you’ve stated above. I’ve never liked having to tip a percentage based on the price of an item, be it a restaurant meal or something store bought.
I have a question. I just ordered from Instacart. I tipped 15% plus gave the shopper a few dollars in cash at the door. I was charged a service fee as well as a delivery fee. Both fees were around $4. Who gets those fees? Does my shopper/ buyer get any portion of the service fee or delivery fee? I am appalled that anyone would not tip or tip a low amount. The website clicks in the tip at 5% automatically, which I think is too low. They should click it in at 10% at least.
I agree with all the generous tippers. It is worth a large tip to save me the time and gas that I would normally spend in shopping. I can get so much more done now, or relax if I wish. I am grateful for the folks who put themselves at risk so that I could remain safely at home, obviously they need the income otherwise why would they be doing this? I always put at least a $20 tip on my smaller orders (under $100), and I always get good service with a smile within about an hour. I have read about people changing the tip after delivery (down to zero sometimes) and I find that disgusting and an abuse of the service and service providers. There should be a way for shoppers to rate the Instacart customers, so that shoppers have a way of knowing in the future to avoid orders from those weasels. For what it is worth, I love using Instacart and truly appreciate their shoppers. I have them just leave the bags on my front porch, but always make sure that I am there to greet them with a smile and a thank you.
I’m shocked at how much people tip! The example that’s been floated here is $50 on a $250 order. Let’s say that the driver makes $10 an hour base pay. It is reasonable that they’d be able to complete and deliver the order in two hours. So the base pay they are getting is $20 total for that delivery, plus a $50 tip so combined they are getting $70 for that order. Divided per hour that means they made $35 per hour. That’s ridiculous.
Well Ashton, there is no hourly base pay and most lucrative batches take longer than two hours to complete.
I don’t care about the tip as a percentage of the bill. I care that you care that I’m out here getting your groceries for you and it’s making your life easier. Whether you get 47 bags of popcorn at $4 each ($188) or 47 bottles of vitamins at $30 each ($1,410), I’m exerting roughly the same level of energy to fulfill both orders. If you want to tip me 20% on that vitamin order, then I’m the luckiest shopper on Instacart, but that’s absolutely not necessary. Think about whether your shopper is going to make minimum wage with your order, and then throw in some more, because batches are not guaranteed to come to shoppers when we need them. And if you have someone running to the store for a couple things and they’re going to be driving for 15-20 minutes, tip them at least $5 bucks for the effort. Based on what we know Instacart pays, I will never spend my time shopping for a customer that doesn’t add a tip.
I’m staring at the Instacart app now and this is what I see: $8.69 for an order at Fairfax Costco. 18 items, 22 units. No tip, all Instacart payment. The customer’s house is 7.2 miles away from the Costco. I’ll be damned if I’m shopping for 18 different items, waiting in line, finding the right boxes to put them items in, driving 7.2 miles, and unloading the order per the customer’s instructions for $8.69! (I live 26 miles/52 minutes away and need to make at least $60 for that order).
For those of you interested in learning more about my experience as a full service Instacart shopper, keep reading.
My first Instacart batch…
My first batch took me 1 hour and 40 minutes (not including time and mileage to get home) and paid me $23.75 ($11.35 from Instacart + $12.40 tip). There were 47 unique items (66 units) and the bill came to $220.88. Minimum wage in DC is $15/hour and I made $14.31/hour with the customer tip. Now that I know better, I wouldn’t accept that batch for under $45 (in that case, the customer tip would be $33.65, or about 15% of their bill).
My first batch with three orders….
Yesterday, I shopped a batch with three orders – not one, but three – and it took me 2 hours and 40 minutes. Once I officially started shopping, the size of each order was revealed to me, and I mentally and physically (with insulated bags) allocated space in the shopping cart for each customer depending on the size of their order. It’s important to shop dry goods first and frozen last (unless they ordered hot food), so you have to ensure that bread you grab at the beginning isn’t crushed by the gallon of ice cream you get at the end. And that your ice cream isn’t melted by the rotisserie chicken because the only place that chicken will fit at this point is on top of that gallon of ice cream. During the trip, I messaged each customer at least once because the store was out of what they wanted. The back and forth with one customer can be daunting, let alone three! When it was time to check out, I had to wait in line, ring up the order, bag, and pay for each order separately. Then it was time to deliver the goods. All three lived in apartment buildings in DC so you can imagine the challenges that presents with parking, getting access to the building, waiting for the customer to meet you, etc. Instacart (not customers) paid me $33.14 for that batch ($7 minimum + $2.52 mileage + $23.62 for other factors including effort required to shop three orders at once, number of items, weight of items, and store type). $33.14/2.66 = $12.46/hour ($2.54 below DC’s $15 minimum wage). Customer tips on that batch totaled $29.98 and here’s the breakdown:
– Customer A spent $15.49 and tipped $2 (13%)
– Customer B spent $85.95 and tipped $12.83 (15%)
– Customer C spent $97.43 and tipped $15.15 (15.5%)
With tips, I made $63.12 for 2.66 hours, or $23.73/hour. This beats minimum wage, but batches are consistently paying this.
My best Instacart batch…
The day before yesterday, I shopped for one order at Costco and it took me 2 hours and 42 minutes. This trip was enjoyable for me because this was my regular Costco and they happened to have everything the customer wanted. The bill was $361.10. I made $110.60, or $41.42/hour. Instacart paid me $45.92 (heavy item pay was definitely factored in) and the customer tipped me $64.68 (a little over 18% of his order). This isn’t the norm, but it happened, and I’m grateful.
I’m doing Instacart out of necessity and I can’t afford to accept batches without a tip. Good luck shoppers and thank you to the awesome customers that tip us like they would want to be tipped if they were in our shoes!
Correction to ‘This beats minimum wage, but batches are consistently paying this.’ I meant to say batches are NOT consistently paying this.
Excellent response. I’d like to factor in a few other things…..
The initial post indicated $35/hour as being “ridiculous”. I shop full-time. If I earned $20/hour, the company’s benefits paid to me would be about the same; about $20/hour. It would cost the company $40/hour to employ me.
As a gig worker, taxes are not taken out of my pay. As a gig worker, my income is taxed at a higher level.
As a gig worker, I do not have my company supporting my future by paying into social security for me. I do not have medical benefits provided or partially subsidized.
I’m driving about 150 miles each day. That’s extreme for my little car. Yes, I get a tax break on my mileage, but I still have a lot more out of pocket auto expense and insurance than an regular employee.
So that “ridiculous” $35/hour isn’t all that ridiculous. Especially when it’s not a true number.
I average $25/order. It takes me an average of 80 minutes per order. That’s $18.75/hour. Where I live, minimum wage is $15/hour. My rent is $1,900 and I support two kids. It’s claimed that your rent/mortgage shouldn’t be more than 30% of your income. Yeah….. right….. That means I should be making $6,000/month. However, I am somehow able to do it if I earn $5,000. But that means I’m working 267 hours each month. Dividing that by 30 is 9 hours a day, each and every day. So to get just 1 day off each week, I must work 10.5 hour days, 6 days a week.
And it’s not easy work. I climb stairs and lift heavy cases of water and kitty litter and awkward bags of dog food. I have to find addresses at night when the guest isn’t accommodating enough to turn on the porch light. I have to navigate dark pathways with heavy loads. I fall while making deliveries about once every 6 weeks.
I had surgery in the middle and only took 3 days off as I don’t have paid time off. I wasn’t supposed to lift more than 10 pounds, but was out there doing 20 while still on pain killers.
And I am risking my health during COVID.
A waiter makes more than $35/hour that the initial poster posted. I work just as hard.
If you don’t think a human being risking their health for your convenience and using their own vehicle is not worth $35/hour, you are exactly the kind of customer that will never get my great 5 star service. You get what you pay for. I’m your case, yellow bananas, soft avocados, slimy asparagus, crumpled chips, and melted ice cream. Here’s wishing you all you deserve. Guess your parents never taught you the golden rule.
– signed the shopper that makes more than $40/hr.
Is it okay that I tipped $10 for a $100 order? Most things in my town are close together so I don’t think the driver would have driven more than 5 miles or so. I assume since they can see the tip and everything before accepting the job that it was okay? It wasn’t a ton of stuff but the items were on the pricey side.
After reading about the whole doordash tip fiasco I try to tip in cash as much as possible. Today I used instacart for the first time just for a few items because I was in a pinch, out of diapers for my special needs daughter with no car and it’s 90 degrees outside. I tipped $5 on the app and my order was accepted by a shopper within 30 seconds so I guess that the overall compensation was worth it for her. I will tip an additional $5 in cash when she gets here but in the future I guess that I should put it all on the app.
I hate food shopping so much that I would pay $100 for someone to do my big monthly shopping for me if I could afford it. But unfortunately I will only be using the service for times when I am desperate for something.
I used Instacart for the first time today for a BJ’s order. (BJ’s charges $14.99 per delivery but the prices are the same as in the store.) I haven’t entered any store in 4 months due to a chronic health problem and my age; my husband is even older so I didn’t want to send him out to shop during the pandemic, either. But we’d used up most of what was in our fridge and freezer and it was time to restock perishables. (Non-perishables I have been buying all along from various sources online.)
I made up a large order of meat, poultry, fish, fruit, vegetables and dairy items and set the tip at 15%. My shopper was great– she kept in touch with me while shopping as some substitutions were necessary, and delivered it to my front step still cold / still frozen. After delivery, I increased the tip to 20% and rated her 5 stars.
I’m just so grateful not to have had to go out myself during the pandemic, in this hot weather, and drag home all those groceries. I consider the tip as money well-spent, and well-earned by the shopper.
I started using instacart when the pandemic began in March. Back then, I had to wait about 2-3 weeks for delivery to a location that is 10 minutes from my house (they dont deliver to my house due to me living in a rural area). Now, as things have “calmed down”, I can get get an order delivered within 2 hours.
The prices are definitely about 30% more than what I would pay if I were to shop myself, but honestly, the service is VERY worth it to me!
I do not have any health issues preventing me from shopping myself. With a full family living at home now, I use instacart at least 2 times a week. If I need only a few items, I always find other things to add to my order so that it is worth it for my shopper to shop for me. I have never requested less than $100 worth of groceries, and always tip 20% of the order total. If I am lucky enough to get a great shopper who searches for my “hard to find” items, or one that shops quickly and communicates throughout, I add to that tip afterwards. Sometimes I have extra large orders of $500+, so obviously my shopper would get a very large tip for that based on the 20%+ tip.
I have had amazing shoppers every time but one. The “bad” shopper I had accepted my order right away, but after 4 hours and only one text, he became MIA., with only a few of my items “shopped”. I am available at all times for my shopper via the app, so this really bothered me. I had to cancel that order, and reorder my items the next day with someone different.
I REALLY appreciate my shoppers, but want to make sure they get the most money they can for their services. So a question to the shoppers: would you prefer if I tip 20% at time of placing the order, plus more if you do a good job OR $.22 at time of order, plus the 20%+ afterwards? I would of course remember to change the tip while giving the 5 star rating…
If you tip 20% in advance, the shoppers will come out of the woodwork to grab your order. As a 5 star shopper, I would suggest you indicate 10% tip, knowing you’ll raise it to your minimum of 20% later.
AND THANK YOU! To me, if you’re going to tip a waiter 20% for the 6 minutes they spent with you, why would you tip less to someone who focuses their full attention on you for an hour or more?
If you tip 20% in advance, the shoppers will come out of the woodwork to grab your order. As a 5 star shopper, I would suggest you indicate 10% tip, knowing you’ll raise it to your minimum of 20% later.
AND THANK YOU! I don’t understand why a shopper’s tip would be less than a waiter’s when we give you 100% of our attention shopping for your family as we do for our own.
If you tip 20% in advance, the shoppers will come out of the woodwork to grab your order. As a 5 star shopper, I would suggest you indicate 10% tip, knowing you’ll raise it to your minimum of 20% later.
AND THANK YOU for understanding how hard we work for you!
I just placed my first delivery order. I am on here to determine what I should tip. I’m probably going to need to tip more in the end. Let me say, I can’t get pizza delivered where I live. Having groceries delivered is a LUXURY. I believe we should be considering subsidized grocery delivery (i.e. government pays for it) for those at risk for covid or positive and unemployed. That makes more sense to me than sending employed people checks or paying people more in unemployment than they make while working. For everyone who PREFERS to have groceries delivered for convenience, pay for it. You can always drive to the store for pickup. Store employees get paid their normal wage, above minimum in my area, and don’t have to drive or carry items to your door.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading through all of these responses and opinions and have not seen my point of view represented so I guess I’ll comment.
First, I’ll say that all the “Get a real job” comments need to stop. No job is “not real” and using that type of talk to demean retail workers, gig workers and any other basic labor jobs is less of a reflection on them and more of a reflection on those making the comment being elitist snobs. The world needs ditch diggers too and there is no reason that they should not be given the same basic respect as those of us who are more fortunate.
Compulsory tipping as a practice, and building any form of employment that is primarily dependent on tips, is wrong. Businesses need to pay their employees enough for them to have a decent quality of life and putting workers in a position that they must depend on the charity of others for basic income is criminal. If a business cannot be solvent / cash flow positive by charging enough for their services to fairly support their workers than that business should not BE IN BUSINESS.
I will say it again: Compulsory tipping as a practice, and building any form of employment that is primarily dependent on tips, is wrong. The core purpose of any company is to provide a means for its stakeholders to maintain a fair quality of life [That means paying a fair and livable wage]. Tips are discretionary and were once only a reward from the wealthy to the less fortunate for an exemplary job well done. A business plan that is dependent on the charity of others to provide for its stakeholders is a 501c3 non-profit (or similar) and employees of those organizations are working for a cause, not for their own enrichment and often not as their primary source of income. Our society seems to have lost this basic understanding that companies only exist to take care of their people somewhere along the way… maybe around 1978 when the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend money on state ballot initiatives and reaffirmed the 1886 decision that corporations are PEOPLE. (Imagine that, lol) the 1886 case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Rail Road, the Court “appeared” to grant a corporation the same rights as an individual under the 14th Amendment but regardless of the intent, that is how corps have been treated since. Or maybe it was Citizens United in 2010 that really set things moving towards a corporate slavery model as they seem to have accelerated since then with the Gig-economy…
Election for the soul of our nation coming up, remember to vote and vote smart people!
You’re pointing the finger in the right direction. Why, oh why, are these scumbag companies not paying their workers? Why do customers have to pay workers’ wages on top of all the fees the company charges that the workers don’t see a penny of? These are the questions we need to ask.
I don’t begrudge the tip I gave my shopper, but all of the folks talking about the wear and tear on their vehicles, the lack of benefits, the taxes that they pay separately, the heavy lifting….I have to point out that you knew all of that when you chose to be a gig worker. And you knew you’d be trading off things for the convenience of choosing your gigs and flexible schedules. I’ll tip what I can for great communication, proper bagging, getting my order as correctly filled as possible, BUT I don’t feel I am obligated to pay your car repairs or contribute to your retirement fund. You knew signing up you’d be using your vehicle (something I don’t have) and there wasn’t a 401K or SSI (neither of which I have, either). I totally agree you should be paid what you’re worth, but IC ought to pay those things. I’m paying for an order shopped well and delivered well. Nothing more. If the mindset of most IC shoppers’ is that if I use this service I am obligated to pay them what IC doesn’t cover, this isn’t for me; I’ll use the delivery service provided by a grocery store, pay slightly higher prices and tip the delivery driver for unloading my bags onto my porch. The shopper is paid by the store so bennies are covered and the drivers use a store owned truck and appreciate a $10 tip, or more for big or heavy orders. And I used this because I needed food for my family, and couldn’t go myself, NOT because I’m lazy or entitled. This was necessary, NOT a luxury. It may have been when home delivery became popular again but there are plenty of people who get delivery out of necessity. Shoppers calling this a luxury and expecting to be paid accordingly should find another line of work since this doesn’t pay what they feel they’re worth.
I tip 15-20% every single time and about 90% of the time I get shitty produce delivered!!! I mean I’m talking rotted or old or smashed. Why do I keep tipping? Because I hope I’m being kind enough to consider that my tip is helping the shopper out to making a decent wage. But come on? If your delivering food based on my predelivered items/tip amount that you haven’t even shopped for yet, why can’t you be kind enough to me and make an effort and get me some decent peaches? Why can’t I get good produce! I never go back and change my tip either! But wtf???!!! I may just stop tipping until after the fact but then you won’t pick my order? So what do I do? I have to keep that 15-20% tip so you at least consider taking my order?
Put notes with the produce: prefer light green avacados; refund the bananas if they are green or brown. Try not tipping. Cough cough.
Here’s the real answer… Communication. When your shopper starts shopping, you are notified. Text them a thank you up front for doing this for you and wish them a safe day. Also include a nice sentence that says, i prefer less ripe or firmer produce. If the produce doesn’t look great, kindly send me a photo to see if I still want it. If you send a text like that. You set them up for success and you set expectation. If they fall that, you can now justify adjusting the tip downward. No shopper wants to waste time texting and taking pictures. Time is money and it’s faster to just pick fresher produce.
Well this has been a wake up call, thank you. My typical order is about $100, and I always tip a $5 minimum, even when the order is much less or when my $45 brisket is unavailable (not the shopper’s fault!). If service/communication was good, I add a few dollars. But I hate taking away a tip, so that’s why I start at 5%. I’d rather increase it afterwards for good service. I figured I was ripping in the right range, or shoppers wouldn’t be accepting my order.
Reading these comments, however, I’m starting to understand how hard you shoppers work for us! Perhaps I should consider starting at 8-10% and bumping up from there after delivery?
The article is wrong…shoppers see the tip. No tip, no trip. We cannot guess what you will tip after spending an hour shopping it for the cheapskates who claim to tip cash. Why should we. Those that don’t tip also rate poorly and are abusive. They steal items, claim they weren’t delivered and are generally more demanding and manipulative. They get new shoppers or those with poor ratings who continue to be abused. If you cannot tip get the groceries yourself. We are paid $7 by Instacart for an hour of our time. If you cannot tip at least $12 you should be ashamed.