How to Make More Money with Uber Eats in 2022
With lots of people out of work due to the pandemic, many people are turning to side gigs like delivering food on Uber Eats. This can easily pay $30-$40/hour if you work it right. Here are some tips and tricks to earning more money per hour on Uber Eats.
1. Don’t be afraid to cancel orders
When you get close to your destination, Uber will bombard you with crappy offers. You might be looking at your phone for the unit number or the buzz number and that’s when an offer pops. It’s common to accidently accept orders. But that doesn’t mean you must complete them.
You won’t get in trouble for cancelling an order unless you’ve already picked up the food. Don’t be afraid to cancel bad orders.
Here are some characteristics of a bad order.
1. It comes from a cheap restaurant.
2. It’s a small order (less than $15).
3. It’s going a long distance.
4. It’s going to a bad area of town.
5. It’s going to a demographic that doesn’t usually tip (like students.)
All these things will result in less tips. Unfortunately, without tips, the job would not be viable. It’s important you do everything you can to maximize your tips. That means cancelling any order which might result in a small or zero tip.
2. Watch for great orders, and always deliver them
You might be thinking a great order is just the opposite of a bad order, but not quite. A great order has the following characteristics.
1. It comes from a nice/expensive restaurant.
2. It’s an order for two people, or two adults and their kid(s).
3. It’s going to a middle-class area of town.
These three characteristics define a great order. Notice how distance isn’t on there. That’s because you should focus more on the quality and quantity of the food. If you’re delivering three pizzas from a trending woodfire oven place, you’re probably going to get a great tip. And great tips can send your earnings into the stratosphere.
A single great order can earn you more than three bad orders combined. That’s why the distance is mostly irrelevant. You should be delivering great orders no matter what. Don’t look at them as the flat rate of $4.50 to $7. Look at them as $17.43 or $22.27. You’d go out of your way for an order like that, right? Exactly.
In most drivers’ experience, the middle-class tips more than the rich. Rich people are stingy. They might not tip at all. Especially if it’s a large order. Most people don’t mind tipping for them and their significant other, but they balk at tipping on a large order for an entire party.
You might get excited seeing a humongous order from a drug store, but the reality is you’ll probably only get a couple bucks in tips. If you get anything at all.
So, spend some time learning the restaurants in your area. Look them up on the Uber food app. You might be surprised what some places charge. One of my best tips ever came from a café. Sounds cheap, but the food they sell there is all plant-based and expensive.
The one time I won’t deliver from a good restaurant is if it’s rush hour and they say it’s gonna take another “five to ten minutes.” Always double whatever time they give you. That’s how long it will actually take. One to two minutes, no problem. Five to ten could mean you sitting there for 20 minutes. That’s enough time to do an entire other order. Cancel that junk!
3. Don’t burn out or injure yourself
It can be tempting to work every day. You open the app, see there’s a surge, and experience a fear of missing out. “I have to get in on this!”
But you don’t have to work. Especially if it’s a Monday or Tuesday. It’s important to know your area. Many restaurants are closed for a few days a week not because the owners need a break, but because it’s dead. Most people don’t order takeout on Monday. Monday is a fresh start to the week. People are energized and want to eat healthy and don’t mind cooking. By Wednesday they’re starting to get tired. By Friday they’re exhausted.
Friday is the busiest day in most markets. Which is why you shouldn’t work every day. It makes sense to work less on Monday and Tuesday and to work more on Friday and Saturday.
This can be difficult, but if you work every day then eventually you will burn out or get injured. Especially if you’re doing the bike/walking thing. There’s only so much punishment our bodies can take. We need downtime. Rest up on the slow days and work harder on the busy days. You’ll just make more money.
4. Treat the customer like a friend
Imagine your best friend was sick with Covid and asked you to pick them up a soup and sandwich combo from their favourite deli. Your friend is just resting in bed all day staring at their phone. They’ve timed the order so you can pick it up at 12:05. But when you get to the restaurant, they say it’s going to take another 5-10 minutes.
Your friend can see you on the app. They know you’re at the restaurant standing around doing nothing. Are you chatting? Going to the bathroom? Because they might think you’re just sitting there letting their food get cold. There’s a fog of uncertainty that exists between customers and delivery couriers. That’s why you should treat them like a friend.
If the order isn’t ready, give them a status update. “Hey, they’re pretty busy in here so it’s gonna take a few more minutes. Won’t be long!” People love that. You’re treating them like a person instead of a paycheck.
And if the customer meets you in person? Say hi. Ask them how their day is going. Use their first name. Be friendly to the customer and they will be friendly to you. (With tips hopefully.)
5. Know your restaurants
Sometimes you’ll get an offer from a restaurant with an obscure name like Cao Cao Café or The Miracle Shop. You’ve never heard of them. What do they sell? Is it even food? Nobody knows. Okay, well at least a few people know. And so will you after you accept the order.
If a new restaurant shows up, then you should take the order even it looks bad. This is the information gathering part of the job. To focus on great orders, you need a complete picture of your local landscape.
A new restaurant will have different food, different customers, and different tipping rates. I always deliver from new restaurants because you never know what’s going to happen. One of the restaurants I deliver from is a total dive. A hole-in-the-wall on a grungy downtown street. They sell what I would consider basic Asian food, but the customers love it, and they tip like crazy. Maybe it’s the packaging? Maybe it’s that most people who order from this place live nearby, so the food is always hot when it gets there? Maybe the owners are super nice? I have no idea. When I pick up from this place, I can expect at least a 15% tip of a decent amount. I’ve never picked up a small order. But I would never have known this if I hadn’t given them a shot.
6. Avoid these restaurants
Here are some restaurants you should avoid delivering from unless it’s dead and you have nothing else to do. The reason we avoid these types of restaurants is because the tips are low and the customers tend to live in crappy apartment buildings that don’t have elevators.
AVOID:
1. Cheap breakfast places.
2. Coffee and soup cafés.
3. McDonald’s (unless the order is going to a family with kids).
4. Any fast-food place that requires you go through the drive-through to pick up the food.
5. Any restaurant where they make you wait more than 2-3 minutes.
6. Drug stores and pharmacies. (Very rare to see a tip from these.)
7. Dessert restaurants.
While your market might be different, these are the lowest paying gigs for me. Although you should still test everything a few times just to make sure.
7. Focus on these types of restaurants
By focusing your efforts on these types of restaurants you’ll make more tips. Orders from these places tend to fall in the “great order” category. Usually ordered for two people and delivered to middle-class houses.
1. Sushi. Always deliver sushi. It’s expensive. It’s light. The people who order sushi can afford to tip.
2. Pizza. Bring a good bag so it doesn’t get cold. Pizza is great because people usually order at least two pizzas, or they order extra stuff like wings and drinks. Bigger orders = more tips. Plus, people are used to tipping the pizza guy, so the tip ratio is very high with pizza.
3. Indian. Yes, you can make butter chicken at home. But can you make authentic naan? Probably not. People that order Indian usually order a lot. Two to four dishes spit between several people. It’s a fun party food.
4. Thai and other Asian. I love to deliver from these places. Orders are large and expensive. Your average meal for one person is at least $20.
5. Italian. People getting Italian almost always get it for two people. It’s a romantic dinner food. You rarely see anyone ordering Italian for one.
6. Greek. The ultimate party platter restaurant. People who order Greek are usually feeding a family or a party. Tipping percentage is okay, but the order size makes up for it.
7. Fancy breakfast places. These are fantastic. Especially the ones that are open all-day. It’s almost always an order for at least two people.
8. Hotel bars/restaurants. These are often being delivered to someone staying at the same hotel. So, it’s a quick trip. Also, delivering to hotels is great because people are on vacation and fine with tipping on almost everything. I’ll break a few of my own rules if an order is being delivered to a hotel. (Always bring it to their door if you can.)
9. Vegan/Plant-based. The people who are willing to pay more for vegan or high-quality plant-based food are usually fine with tipping. Customers tend to be young professionals living in good areas.
10. Ramen. While technically Asian food, ramen gets its own category because there are specific restaurants that sell only ramen. These can be quite popular if they’re good. People who like ramen tend to be obsessed with it. You’ll have to hustle on these orders so it doesn’t get cold, but the tips can be fantastic. Good ramen isn’t cheap.
Okay, that’s it for now. Hope you have a great week and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
