Courtesy of Ashley Colon
- Ashley Colon has been delivering for Instacart since April and says it's a great side hustle.
- She delivers on nights and weekends and makes up to $200 when she works a full day.
- Her advice for Instacart customers is to preselect your replacement items and always tip fairly.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ashley Colon, a 23-year-old Instacart shopper from Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. Insider has verified her earnings with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I've always loved side hustles. Even though I work full time as a public-relations account coordinator, whenever I have a free evening or weekend, I look for a way to make more money.
I've started my own business selling chocolate-covered strawberries, and I've been a babysitter. After using Instacart for work to send products to reporters from the food and beverage brands my company represents, I decided to test out working for the company.
I applied to work for Instacart as a shopper in March. While the only qualifications you need are a driver's license, a vehicle, and a background check that comes back good, it still took me four weeks to get accepted because in my town, there was a waiting list.
Now as a shopper, I make between $150 and $200 on an average weekend day where I work eight to 10 hours. This includes tips, which average for me between $5 and $15.
Instacart shopping is flexible
There aren't any minimum work obligations. When I have the time, I'll log on to the app and accept customer shopping requests. What I make varies based on how many orders I accept, how large the orders are, and how much the customer tips.
The customer gets to choose which store they would like to order from. I tend to choose orders based on distance, total pay, number of items, and my familiarity with the store.
I enjoy shopping for customers, but the work can be stressful because you don't want to mess up someone's order. I try to be detail-oriented and not rush the shopping so I limit mistakes.
While most of my grocery trips are standard, I once had a customer ask me to deliver 80 cucumbers to their house. At first, I thought they made a mistake but they didn't, and I delivered 80 cucumbers to a very satisfied customer.
I made almost $800 in April
But I worked weekdays, too, after my full-time job, and I usually don't do that. Instacart doesn't offer an hourly rate, but it has a standard batch rate, which depends on distance and the number of items.
For very small orders that are close by, the batch rate starts at $4 and goes up to over $10. Another factor is an item's weight — heavy items, such as multiple cases of water bump up the batch pay.
After working as an Instacart shopper for five months and having completed over 100 orders, I have some tips for people to know before they use a grocery-delivery service.
1. Select replacement items
An easy way to receive your order faster and to make sure you're satisfied is to preselect replacements. That way, if what you originally wanted isn't in stock, your shopper knows what to grab for you instead without having to wait for your response.
If you preselect that you want the shopper to find a replacement, you may end up not being happy with what they pick up for you.
If you don't want to spend the time picking out replacement items, just select the "do not replace" option.
2. Order ahead to save money
An easy way to save money is to order your groceries ahead of time. The Instacart app offers a $2 discount when you select a three-hour delivery window or schedule grocery delivery for the next day. This doesn't affect the shoppers, but it could be a benefit to the customer.
If you need to rush your groceries or get an item delivered to you fast, this isn't the best option, but it could benefit those who use the app on a weekly basis for their standard grocery orders.
3. Give clear instructions
Communication is crucial when you're using a grocery-delivery service. For example, if you tell your shopper to leave your groceries at the door, they may not know which one — some people have front, side, and back doors.
If I notice there are multiple doors and no clear instructions, I'll try to chat with the customer and ask them. If they don't get back to me, I put the groceries somewhere that's out of the sun and not in plain sight.
If possible, keep your phone on you when your shopper is working on your order. They may even reach out to ask whether you have specific preferences for items, such as unripe bananas.
If I spot something that looks like an error, I like to confirm it. I once had someone order 5 pounds of bananas. When I asked whether it was a mistake, they said they actually wanted only five bananas.
4. Tip your shopper
Some people think I'm just picking up their order, but it's more intense than that. I'm the person in the store grabbing everything you need and then lugging it into my car to drop it off at your house. I also carry people's orders up flights of stairs (if there isn't an elevator) or to their back door.
Instacart lets shoppers choose which orders they want to take, and we can see in advance whether a person has decided to tip a shopper. There are a lot of shoppers who won't accept orders where there's not a tip offered.
The lowest recommended tip is 5% of your order price, but customers should set a base tip. Instead of doing 5%, it's much more beneficial to shoppers to set a number such as $5 or $10 because if a shopper has to refund an item from your order because it's out of stock, the total cost of the order is reduced, so the tip is reduced.
When I'm getting tipped fairly and working effectively, I think this is a great way to earn extra cash on the side.