How DoorDash Really Works

Photo by Marques Thomas on Unsplash

Since becoming homeless and living in my car, I have taken up DoorDashing to make money. I’ve been doing it for 24–30 hours a week for the past 5 months, and I’ve learned so much about how it works and how gig work is so much better for autistic folks like me. But another thing I’ve learned is that not everyone really knows how it works. So I’m going to try to make both customers and drivers realize what they’re buying into when they DoorDash.

DoorDash from a Customer’s POV

I’ve been a customer as well as a driver, so when I compare both sides, I can see how the entire relationship works. But to do so, we need to discuss the experience from both sides before showing how it truly works. And for this discussion, we’re going to be focusing on food delivery only. DoorDash offers other services as well, but I’m not very versed in those processes.

As a customer using the DoorDash app, you order food from local restaurant. You are shown how much it’ll cost and the app will prompt you to add a tip. Once you add the tip and finish the order, the order goes to the restaurant and is sent out to every driver in the vicinity of the restaurant.

The most important part of the customer is deciding the tip. Customers see the word “tip” and assume that it is a reward for good, prompt service. However, you’ll see later that that is not the case in terms of the driver’s experience.

DoorDash from a Driver’s POV

When a driver receives an order, they’re given some pertinent information. First, the app tells us the restaurant, the dollar amount for the order including tip, and how far we’re going to drive. Based on this information, we determine whether we want to take the order.

Drivers get paid two different ways: Earn by Order and Earn by Time. Earn by Order is a base pay (usually between $2–$4) and the tip amount. Earn by Time allows us to get paid an hourly wage for active drive time, meaning that from the moment we accept the order until we complete the order, we’re getting paid. The tip is added on top of the hourly wage. Earn by Time is not always available depending on the market the driver is in, however.

The driver has financial goals they have to meet, so they’ll take the order depending on whether the dollar amount compared to the miles we have to drive is advantageous. Generally, a good order has a ratio of $2 per mile drive. $1 per mile is the bare minimum. Anything below that, or no tip at all, will be rejected (which penalizes the driver, who has to maintain a 50% Acceptance Rate to stay employed).

How DoorDash REALLY Works

Before we discuss how the service really works, we have to eliminate the idea that customers offer “tips.” They are not tips, they are bids. From this point on, I will call them bids and you will see why in a moment.

Imagine using DoorDash as a negotiation table. On one end is the customer. On the other is the driver. In the middle is DoorDash. DoorDash drivers are considered independent contractors and each order we receive is a proposed contract that DoorDash acts as the mediator for. Each contract includes the base pay from DoorDash plus a bid added by the customer.

If the base pay and bid combined is favorable to the driver, they will accept it. If not, they will reject it and DoorDash will pass it on to the next driver until it’s accepted. The deciding factor for every order is the customer’s bid. The higher the bid, the more likely a driver will take the order. The faster a customer’s order is accepted, the faster the food gets to their house and remains hot. If you, as the customer, want your food on time and still hot, you MUST MAKE YOUR BID WORTH THE DRIVER’S WHILE.

How to Make Sure Your Order is Accepted

The easiest way to get your order picked up immediately is to make your bid worth the driver’s time. So how do you determine that? It’s easy. You simply have to pay attention to where you order from and how close it is to your home. The further your house is away from the restaurant, the higher your bid needs to be.

Here’s a quick guide to help you determine how much you should bid in order for your food to get picked up fast:

Distance from Restaurant is under 5 miles: $5 minimum

Distance from Restaurant is more than 5 miles: $5 + $1 per mile from your house. Example: House is 12 miles away from restaurant = $5 + $12 for 12 miles = $17

Now, you may be thinking, “That’s really high! Why would I pay that much on top of my order?” The answer is simple: DoorDash is a LUXURY SERVICE. The people who work to bring you your food deserve to make enough money to live on and maintain their vehicle so they can continue working.

If you still don’t agree with bidding that high, might I suggest getting in your car and driving to the restaurant and getting your food yourself.

The Benefits of Bidding High

If you make the effort to bring you food worth the driver’s while, they will go above and beyond for you. Want extra sauce? Have detailed delivery instructions? Drivers will get the sauce and follow your instructions to a T if you pay them to do so. Instead of paying for exceptional service after getting your food, you’re paying for the service to get your food your way.

So, if you want to be an awesome DoorDash customer, bid high. We will make sure you get what you want and need and go the extra mile for you. Otherwise, your order will sit on the mobile order shelf until the restaurant closes.