How Much Does Uber Eats Pay?
Do you want to make money in your free time and tired of taking surveys on survey sites like Swagbucks and Inboxdollars? With the abundance of side hustles available to us these days, one of the more prominent areas in the gig economy to make some extra cash is food delivery. Local restaurants may not have dedicated employees to deliver their food. Instead, they rely on third-party apps to connect with delivery drivers to pick up the food and deliver it to their customers.
Apps like Doordash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats all provide a platform for more independent drivers to find gigs to earn money and more restaurants to offer delivery options. But, how exactly do these apps work, and how much do they pay?
I’ve previously gone over how much Doordash pays. In this article, we’ll review how Uber Eats operates and the earning potential of becoming a delivery driver with Uber.
What Is Uber Eats and How Does It Work?
Uber Eats is a food ordering app that is available in many cities around the world. Restaurants can sign up with the platform to provide delivery services to their hungry customers. By signing up, they can either remove the need for a dedicated delivery employee or simply offer delivery service that otherwise was not possible for them.
As another bonus to restaurants, by partnering with Uber Eats, they can now market themselves to a much wider audience by simply being on the App or paying to advertise on it as well. Restaurants aren’t limited to non-chain mom and pop shops.
On the other side, when you sign up with Uber Eats as a customer, you have a wide selection of nearby restaurants to choose from in the palm of your hand. You can easily browse for the type of food you want using different categories and filters to find what you are looking for. You’ll have access to full menus and make your food order easily through the mobile app.
Requirements of Becoming a Delivery Driver with Uber
Before we get into how much does uber eats pay, let’s review what it takes to become a delivery person\Uber Driver with Uber Eats. One of the most significant upsides to Uber Eats is that in some locations, you don’t need a car to make money. You can sign yourself up using many different vehicles, including a car, bike, or scooter!
Requirements For Delivering via Car with Uber Eats
- Must be willing to submit your social security number for a background check
- Must be the required age for your specific location (this varies)
- You must have a valid driver’s license(and good driving record)
- Your car must have two or four doors
Requirements For Delivering via Bike with Uber Eats
- Must be willing to submit your social security number for a background check
- Must be at least 18 years old
- Must have a government-issued ID
Requirements for Delivering via Scooter with Uber Eats
- Must be willing to submit your social security number for a background check
- Must be at least 19 years old
- Your scooter size must be 50cc or under
- You must have a valid driver’s license
How To Become a Delivery Driver with Uber Eats
If you meet all the requirements above for the vehicle of your choice, you’re now ready to sign up as a delivery driver with Uber Eats! As a delivery driver with Uber Eats, you’ll be able to make your hours when you want to deliver and when you don’t. Your hours can vary depending on the day, week, or whatever. No set schedules!
How to Deliver Food with Uber Eats
Once you’ve signed up to be a delivery driver with Uber Eats, it’s time to make some extra money! Using the Uber Eats App to pick up delivery jobs is a straightforward process.
- Start by opening the App to get your available deliveries
- Tap the “Go” button at the bottom of the screen to let Uber Eats know you are ready to deliver
- Review the delivery and its terms
- Tap “Accept” Within 15 seconds to take the order
Once you accept your delivery order, you can use the in-app navigation suggestions to get to the restaurant and the customer. There is also in-app support to get your delivery completed promptly if necessary.
Earning Money with Uber Eats
There are several ways to make money as a delivery driver with Uber Eats. For each successful delivery, you’ll get paid the flat rate specified when you accept the delivery. In most cases, drivers will receive a per-mile rate as well. You can earn more for deliveries that likely take longer by obtaining a per-mile rate. In addition to the per-mile rate, there will be a per minute rate added on a well in some cities.
After earning with Uber Eats directly with the above options, delivery drivers can also earn tips from customers for each delivery. Additionally, customers can give cash directly to drivers or tip through the App.
How Much Do Delivery Drivers with Uber Eats Make?
After factoring in all the payments above and subtracting expenses, like gas, most delivery drivers who deliver with Uber Eats can earn a decent amount. Of course, earnings can vary depending on your area, as you might see longer trips or have trips that have higher per-minute rates.
Besides gas, don’t forget about other expenses you might not see every day. Additional expenses would be items such as maintenance costs due to more driving and potentially higher insurance for the same reason.
Although you might need to fill up once or twice during your delivery times, don’t forget about other expenses you might not pay each time you go out. For example, you’ll likely incur more maintenance costs and potentially higher insurance premiums due to driving more often.
Use Uber Eats Promotions To Earn More
There are ways to earn more money while completing deliveries with Uber Eats. Below are three such ways you can earn bonuses to increase your income.
Boost Promotions
Many times, Uber Eats will use boost promotions, which are opportunities to make more money. Boost promotions are guaranteed higher rates at specific locations during certain times. So earn extra money by taking advantage of the boost promotions to increase your earnings per trip.
Surges
It makes sense that with food delivery apps, there would be more busy times than others. Namely, the hours surrounding lunch and dinner times typically. Therefore, Uber Eats may increase earnings possibilities during Surge times during higher demand times and locations. You can easily find these Surge rates through the App to earn a little extra money.
Uber Eats Quests
Uber Eats may also offer delivery quests to drivers to potentially get extra cash. Quests typically revolve around making a certain amount of deliveries in a specific timeframe. So, for example, it could be making 20 deliveries in a week to get an additional $15 pay. Sometimes the quests are more simplistic and offer extra money for making X amount of delivers.
How Do Delivery Drivers with Uber Eats Get Paid?
All delivery drivers who deliver with Uber Eats will get paid every week. Most drivers elect to get paid via direct deposit to their bank accounts. The easy way is to have direct deposit set up through the App by providing your account and routing numbers as you would with any other direct deposit setup.
As with any other direct deposit, the funds will take a few days to clear in your bank account before they are available to you.
Delivery drivers with Uber Eats can also choose to use “Instant Pay” up to five times a day. Instant pay will allow the funds to be in your bank account and available to you almost immediately. Terms apply.
Drivers can also have their cash outs sent to a personal debit card, but using Instant Pay this way, they will incur a 50 cent charge each time they use the service.
Pros & Cons of being a Delivery Driver with Uber Eats
Pros of Being a Delivery Driver with Uber Eats
As with any other side hustles, there are many Pros to being a delivery driver with Uber Eats.
● Ability to set your own schedule and hours, work when you have time
● No set shifts; you can do one delivery or ten
● Uber Eats lets you use other forms of transportation, so a car isn’t necessary
● Getting paid once a week is more often than more jobs receive a paycheck or have funds deposited into their bank accounts
● Option for Instant Pay for same day pay
● Signing up is easy – no paperwork!
● Can earn extra pay with Boost, Surge, and Quest Promotions
● You be delivering food and don’t have to deal with people in your car
Cons of Being A Delivery Driver with Uber Eats
Similar to having its share of Pros, being an Uber Eats driver has its drawbacks.
● Typical hourly earnings are low for food delivery services
● Pay is inconsistent; you can’t consistently deliver during peak hours or weekends
● You could potentially but a lot of extra wear and tear on your car, bike, or scooter. Meaning more car maintenance costs.
How Much Does Uber Eats Pay: Final Thoughts
So is being a delivery driver with UberEats worth it? As with any side hustle, it could be when done right. You won’t get-rich via this side hustle, but tt could certainly be a viable option to make extra money if you’re solely doing it as a part-time side hustle.
When determining how much does uber eats pay, it could all come down to where you are delivering and how much competition you have in your area. For example, if you live in an area with higher base pay, plus more Surges and Boost Promotions, you could be on the higher end of earnings. On the other hand, if you live in an area with fewer restaurants or more widely spread out, it might not be the best way to earn money on the side.
As with many side hustles, you can decide your schedule which gives you extra flexibility to decide when to deliver and when to take a break.
In the end, driving for uber is a legit way to make extra income and worth trying in your spare-time to earn a few extra bucks. See how much you can make and decide for yourself.
This article is originally on Savoteur.
