Deliver Food For Uber – Is This Gig For You

The gig economy is providing a new opportunity for people to earn some extra money on the side and one of it is to deliver food for Uber. Also known as UberEats, this service is basically an on-demand food delivery app that lets people order takeaway from local restaurants and have people like you pick up for them.

Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, let’s see what you’ll need to get started.

The Requirement

Most of the criteria are quite similar to becoming an Uber driver. Obviously, the most important thing to have is a smartphone and a transport vehicle. Here are the specifications.

• Need to be 19 years old and above (and 21 years old for Canadian).  
• Must have a valid driver’s license, at least 1 year of driving experience and pass a background check.
• Can lift weights up to 30 pounds.
• The vehicle must be registered and insured.
• For cars, the year of production can be 1998 or newer.
• Must be willing to buy additional gears, such as an insulated bag to preserve food item, robust data plan for on-the-road navigation and a car charger for your phone.

If you are already an Uber driver for the ride-sharing program, you may sign up for the food deliveries from your driver app. Just opt-in and wait for an activation email. Within a day or so, you should receive a message containing a training video and other tips on how to perform the deliveries.

If you are totally new to Uber, you may apply directly with UberEats through this page. It does allow you to use an invitation code, so if you’ve seen one through a video or article promotion published by another fellow driver, you may use it.

In the first step, you’ll need to create a user account by providing name, email, phone number, and city. Other supportive documents are typically a personal driver’s license, a personal certificate of liability insurance, a profile photo and a Social Security Number for background check (for US).

Keep in mind that the documentation requirements vary from country to country and it generally takes 1 to 5 days for review. In some cases, you may be required to complete an onboarding process for orientation in a nearby center. Upon Uber’s approval, you’ll gain full access to the driver’s app, set up a deposit account and start receiving order requests.

UberEATS Driver App Walkthrough

The driver app is literally your working station. If you are ready to drive, activate your status to let the app ‘knows’ that you are available. When a request comes in, you need to accept the order within a limited time period, otherwise it will go to someone else within that area.

After accepting the order, you’ll then navigate to the restaurant’s location, pick up the food and make your way to the customer’s address. You’ll also be informed whether to drop off the item at the curbside or at the front door so this will give you some idea whether to park your car or not.  

Upon completing the order, you’ll be given an opportunity to rate the delivery experience as well as allowing the customer to rate and tip you for the service. This system is pretty much the same as that for Uber drivers. If you wish to take a break, simply go into the menu and switch your status to offline.

How Much Can You Make

The amount that you can earn per day very much depends on when and where you are driving to. Some earn a minimal of $8 and some, up to $20 per hour. Generally, the gross fare is made up of;

• Pick up – A fixed fee for picking up food at the restaurant.
• Drop off – A fixed fee for each drop off location.
• Distance traveled – A per-mile rate for the total distance covered from pickup to completing the trip.

An Uber service fee will be applicable in order to calculate the final payout. The fees and rates will differ according to the type of vehicle you deliver with and the city you’re servicing in. Therefore, if the gross fare is about $7.17 and Uber takes 20%, then the net earning per trip will be equivalent to $5.74.

In order to earn more, it’s crucial to work during lunch and dinner hours too because that’s when demands are mostly higher. Also, if you take advantage of boosted areas within a certain time period, you are almost always guaranteed additional earning on top of the net fare, after subtracting Uber’s fee.

Anyways, a typical delivery time frame is usually between 15 to 30 minutes (or less). Anything more than that is likely going to eat into the mileage cost, so that’s probably not worth it. In terms of receiving payments, you can opt for once a week or use the Instant Pay feature to cash out up to five times a day.

Another way to make more money is by inviting other people to sign up for UberEats through your referral code. You can share through emails with friends or set up a website, share your experience while inviting the online audience to try out the app themselves.

It’s not impossible to create a lucrative income through referral programs – you just need to learn some basic online marketing techniques and you are good to go. The reward usually comes in the form of a cash bonus, which again, varies by city and market and are subjected to change at any given time.

The Pros

As a company that pioneers the gig economy, UberEats has a lot to offer for their fellow drivers.

• For starters, they are more lenient in terms of vehicle requirements as compared to Uber ride-sharing, so drivers with older cars can also qualify for food delivery under UberEATS.
• You don’t have to deal with passengers, which is relieving if you prefer not to have messy interaction with total strangers. Likewise, you don’t need to handle payment as well as customers pay the order directly through their apps.
• Boosted areas are always widening due to increasing market demand, so there’s certainly more money to be made during the peak hours, if you keep your status online.
• The sum assured for liability is up to $1 million and it covers you from the moment you take the job offer to when you complete the task.
• Incentives are given to new drivers to get them started on the work fast and this may vary according to the locations. For example, if you managed to deliver 20 trips within 48 hours, you’ll be rewarded a $50 bonus and so on. And it’s totally doable.
• It’s a very flexible job and you can actually do regular Uber rides and UberEats at the same time as long as you can manage an organized schedule. There’s no one to report to and you can work as many or as little hours as you wish.

The Cons

However, on-demand food delivery does come with a few setbacks that most people are unaware of.

• While UberEats is very popular, the service is still limited to certain cities. To find out if it operates in your area, simply check through this link. 
• Even if it’s available, orders may not come in as frequently as you think, so some quiet days are to be expected.
• Like most deliveries, work frustrations that are common in this type of gig such as, long waits at the restaurants, traffic, finding for parkings and miscommunication with the customers, can grind you down. It’s something to be mindful about and plan your work in advance to avoid any trouble.
• Tipping is not a common practice with UberEats and most drivers with experience claimed that 9 out of 10 times, they don’t get tipped at all.
• The cost of running this side gig is probably the vehicle maintenance and petrol fee. Although food deliveries don’t usually cover an extensive mileage, the car will still be subjected to wear and tear and you’ll need to take that into account when calculating the profit.

So, Is UberEats Suitable For You?

If you live in a strategic location and have a few hours to spare each day, UberEats is a good side job to do. It’s flexible, easy to manage and also a fun way to discover new restaurants in town for a foodie person. Perhaps, it would be a good idea to test the app as a customer first and see what is attractive. This may give you a better idea before signing up as a driver.

However, if you are expecting to make a lot of money, that will not happen because the job must always be repeated in order to generate earnings. The moment you stop delivering food for Uber, you don’t make anything.

If creating a long term income is something that interest you, then you may want to shift from gig task to building an online business instead. Sell or recommend something that people are constantly searching for in the internet space and leverage from those types of markets, without the need to be physically committed all the time.

Ever heard of online marketing? Get to know more about this opportunity through my recommended training program here.

Have any questions or thoughts about UberEats? I would love to hear about them in the space below.

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