Overview

Got some free time, a licence, and something that moves on 2 or 4 wheels? Then you’re all set for a side hustle as a food deliverer. As long as you’re 18 years and older, you can make money driving food to its final destination and not have to worry about making awkward conversation. The food won’t care for your teriyaki small talk.

Everyone loves food, whether it’s vegan, meaty, kosher, or an all-you-can-eat buffet. The one and only thing better than food, is food that you don’t have to cook, pick up, or dress up for.

 

Thanks to services such as Uber Eats, Just Eat, Food Hub, Deliveroo, Domino Pizza, Tomato, Talabat, Eat Clean me, and Spoon-fed , you can be the middle man between restaurants and other food establishments and the hungry, hungry people who love their food but don’t want to have to go there to enjoy it.

 

You can do food deliveries using your car, a scooter, motorbike, or a bike. The transportation method doesn’t really matter as long as the order reaches the customer in one piece (or several, if it’s something like pizza). No special training is needed for this side hustle, apart from patience in the event that the order you’re going to pick up is not ready upon your arrival. With most food delivery services, you’ll be paid for the time you spend waiting for the order to be ready.

 Who Is It For? 

If you’ve got enough spare time to be able to wait for food orders to get ready and you have a licence, car, scooter, motorbike, or bicycle; you can try your hand at food delivery as a side hustle.

 Who Is It Not For? 

It goes without saying that if you can’t resist food, you probably shouldn’t be responsible for delivering it. The last thing a customer needs is to get their pizza with a couple of pepperonis missing or their large order of McDonald’s french fries looking…not so large. Sometimes orders aren’t ready on time and you may have to wait a while to pick it up and deliver it. If your schedule doesn’t have provision for such events, then you can forget about chauffeuring pizza, chicken noodles, and all the other food people love to order.

 How It Works? 

Since there are a number of food delivery services you can sign up for, there will be a few differences in how they work. The principle is the same though. Someone orders food, you pick it up and deliver it to them. A few of the companies/services you can do this side hustle through are:

Uber Eats
To become an Uber Eats courier partner, you have to be at least 18 years old with a valid driver’s licence and vehicle insurance, including cover for food deliveries. Depending on the mode of transport available to you, you can choose to do deliveries by car, scooter/motorbike, or by bicycle. Once you sign up to deliver, you’ll need to consent to a safety screening and upload the required documents. If all goes well, you’ll be notified that you are active and you can get on the road and begin accepting delivery requests through the Uber Partner app. The app has navigation and other helpful information to help you find your way so you don’t end up at the wrong foodie’s place with the wrong food. You can also track your earnings through the app and get paid weekly.
DoorDash
To become a dasher, you have to be 18 years and older, have a valid driver’s licence and insurance, 1+ years of driving experience and an iPhone or Android smartphone. Drivers and bikers are welcome, even without previous delivery experience, as long as they meet the above-stated requirements. You can choose your own hours and deliver near your home or even in a city you’re just visiting. The Dasher app makes everything easy for you. Through the app, you can schedule a dash that fits into your schedule by selecting a day then scrolling through nearby cities and available times. When you see a dash you like on the app, you can tap on it to select your preferred Start and End times then save the dash. You also have the flexibility to delete or edit the start and/or end times for a dash you already scheduled within the app.
Postmates
Postmates If you’re at least 18 years old, you can sign up to become a Postmate through their app or on their website by creating an account using your email address. You’ll be asked to provide some information about yourself such as your name, contact information, mailing address, the city you’ll be delivering in and details of your car (if that’s you chosen delivery method). Postmates will ask you to authorize a background check by entering your date of birth and social security number. The next steps involve reviewing the Fleet Agreement, uploading a profile photo and setting up direct deposit. A Welcome kit, which consists of a delivery bag and a Postmates prepaid card which you can activate in your app or on the website, will be mailed to you once your identity is verified. When all this is complete, you can start accepting deliveries through the app, which will also have navigation information and the option to keep track of your earnings for each delivery.
Grubhub
Grubhub Bikers and drivers from 19 years and above with at least two years of driving experience are welcome to become Grubhub drivers. A driver’s license, car insurance, and bank details are required to complete the Grubhub job application. Once you authorise and pass a background check, you’ll be able to accept orders through the app which works on iPhone with iOS 10 or higher and Android phones with 5.0 or higher. You can get car decals, warming bags and any other gear you’ll need from Grubhub or use your own.
 What We Like? 
  • Making food deliveries as a side hustle is a flexible gig so you can fit it in whenever you get some free time.
  • For most of the services that you can do food deliveries with, you’ll get paid for each delivery or weekly and you’ll be able to keep track of your earnings through the relevant mobile apps.
  • If a customer tips you after you make the delivery, you get to keep 100% of the tips.
  • You get to explore the city while you make deliveries.
 What We Don’t Like? 
  • Orders may take some time to get ready which means you may have to wait to pick them up. With some of the food delivery services, you won’t be able to cancel a delivery you’ve accepted if it’s taking too long to get ready.
  • Gas expenses are not included in the pay.
  • People tend to shoot the messenger i.e. the food deliverer if there’s anything wrong with the food upon delivery.
 How Much Can You Make 

What you earn depends on the delivery service you work with to do food deliveries as each company has different formulas for calculating earnings.

Uber Eats

The delivery fare is broken down as follows:

  • Pick-up: £1.40
  • Per mile: £1.50
  • Drop-off: £1.10

The Uber service fee charged on your fares will depend on the method of transport you use. The charge is 30% for bikers, 25% for scooter deliveries, and 25% if you use a car.

DoorDash

The Dasher Pay model is summarised in the equation:

Base Pay + Promotions + Tips = Total earnings

The Base Pay depends on time, distance and desirability; while promotions are calculated according to peak pay and challenges. 100% of tips from customers go to the dasher.

Postmates

The earnings for Postmates are a little complex as each city has a formula that’s used for calculating earnings for each delivery made. The sum of earnings includes an amount for each completed pick-up and each completed drop-off, a per-minute-waited rate for the time you spend at the pick-up location, a per-mile rate for the distance between the pick-up and drop-off locations, any blitz bonuses that are shown when you accept a delivery, and 100% of the tips you earn.

Grubhub

Total order earnings are determined based on time and mileage, plus the full tip from the customer. You’ll also be paid per minute for the amount of time you wait for the order.

 Conclusion 

Food deliveries as a side hustle is great because you don’t need any special skills and you can use whatever mode of transport you have. Besides earnings from your deliveries, you can get more money if the customer adds a tip to their payment. Signing up to be a food deliverer with any of the services mentioned here is free and easy.