How to Make $1000 as an Instacart Shopper

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Instacart shoppers are in great demand since lockdown and as people choose to stay at home. Those picking and delivering groceries face risks to their health, too. Be sure to weigh the risks along with the benefits — extra cash and flexible hours — before signing up.

Here’s what you need to know to get started as an Instacart shopper and what to expect.

What Is Instacart?

              Instacart is a grocery delivery service that makes it easy for people to get fresh food in their house even if they can’t make it to the store. The company hires shoppers to buy groceries for customers and pays them to shop and deliver the orders to the customers.

They connect customers with shoppers and drivers who help them with their shopping and deliver fresh groceries right to their door in as little as one hour.

Those who choose to work as Instacart Shoppers have a ton of options for making money on their own schedule.

What are the key details like job responsibilities and the way you earn money?

This depends on whether you’re a full-service or in-store shopper.

Full-service Instacart shopper:

           As an independent contractor, you shop for groceries and other household items and use your car to deliver them to the customer. You are responsible for your own taxes.

In-store shopper:

            As a part-time employee, you receive orders through the app and proceed to shop and bag the groceries in the store.You can also make money when you refer friends to Instacart using your Instacart referral code. Note that to qualify for the bonus (often up to $1,000), your referral must complete a certain number of trips within their first 30 days. Where does Instacart Operate?               Instacart is available in over 5,000 cities in the U.S. and Canada. To see whether there are full-service or in-store shopper openings in your area, download the Shopper app and enter your ZIP code.
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Eligibility To Work As An Instacart Shopper:

      Basic requirements you have to meet if you want to make money with Instacart are as follows:

  • Be at least 18 years old.
  • Eligible to work in the U.S.
  • Regular access to a vehicle/car.
  • Own a smartphone such as an iPhone 6s/Android 5.0 or newer.
  • Pass a background check.
  • Have a checking or savings account.
  • Able to lift up to 30 lbs with or without accommodation.

Full-service shoppers also must have the following:

  • A valid driver’s license and access to a car. You also need insurance coverage that meets state requirements.

A set of insulated bags. You’ll need enough thermal-insulated bags to hold four standard-sized paper grocery bags. Your insulated bags must close completely and be safe for food contact (no harmful chemicals). Instacart sells preapproved options that cost $25.99 for four bags. You can also use coolers to transport groceries.

How to Accept Instacart Jobs and Get Paid:

Accepting Instacart jobs is simple – log in to your app, and wait for an Instacart request to pop up! The order preview will show you things like:

  • Where the grocery store is
  • What items you’d have to grab
  • A general idea of how far away the delivery location is from the store
  • The amount you’ll be earning from Instacart
  • The customer’s tip

Once you accept an order, start heading to the store so you can shop. When you get to the store, you can pull up your list for that particular shopping trip in the app and check off each item as you put it in your cart. 

The app helps you shop efficiently because it may tell you which aisle certain products are in If you can’t find an item or it’s not in stock at the store, you can suggest a replacement item that the customer can approve via the app. Or, you can report that the item wasn’t found in the store.

Instacart pays shoppers a fee per order which includes mileage along with the customer’s tip. Instacart shoppers get paid weekly but in 2019 Instacart also launched their Instant Cash Out feature which allows you to get paid instantly for a $0.50 fee.

How much do Instacart shoppers make?

The way you earn money is determined by the work you do. In-store shoppers are paid a fixed, hourly wage that varies by location. Full-service shoppers’ pay depends on the order. Instacart provides an estimate of potential earnings for every order and guarantees shoppers will earn at least $5 for each delivery-only batch and $7 to $10 for each full-service (shop and deliver) batch.

What you are paid for a given batch or orders depends on “the number of items, type of items, driving distance, and effort involved in shopping and delivering,” according to Instacart’s Shopper app.

A larger order, which tends to be heavier, will likely result in more compensation than a small shopping job. And the earning potential is usually higher when customer demand spikes, so working on Sundays and during popular events, like the Super Bowl, can mean more money.

Full-service shoppers can also earn tips when making deliveries.

How do Instacart shoppers get paid?

In-store and full-service shoppers are paid weekly via direct deposit to a checking or savings account.

Full-service shoppers can use Instant Cashout, an immediate transfer to a debit card, to access their earnings more quickly. You can use Instant Cashout for the first time after completing five batches. After that, you can cash out at any time, as often as five times per day, as long as you have at least $5 in earnings. There’s a $3,000 daily limit.

Since full-service shoppers are considered independent contractors, they may have to make estimated quarterly tax payments. That’s because Instacart doesn’t withhold taxes from earnings as it does for part-time employees.

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