My Experience Being a Postmates Courier

 

Y’all are probably reading the title of this post and confused out of your mind. If you read my blog, you know that I am just your average 21 year old recent graduate who just moved to Denver for a full time job and has her blog as a side hobby. Today, I decided to do a post that is a little different than I normally do and describe my experience being a Postmates Courier. No, this is not sponsored, I just thought it would be a unique idea to feature my experience as lifestyle/beauty/fashion blogger driving around delivering food to random people around Denver, Colorado.

For those of you who don’t know, Postmates is an app that you can download on your iPhone or Android device and essentially order food, random stuff from a grocery store, and even a TV from Best Buy (if you want $10 FREE toward your first purchase, use the code dby4). The possibilities are endless, besides ordering alcohol, people, and animals… sorry you can’t order those. Once you place an order, a courier will receive your request and head to the designated retail/restaurant location to pick up your items and deliver it right to your door. Are you in the mood for a chicken bowl and Mr. Pibb from Chipotle? All you have to do is order it though the app and it will be at your door in less than an hour!

Now you are probably wondering why the heck a 21 year old with a (overly) full-time job would want to run around delivering food to people. To be honest, I don’t really know why I decided to join in the first place besides the fact that it is an easy way to make some extra spending money. I JUST graduated college, so I am still getting off my feet and becoming a Postmates courier seemed like a fun and simple way to make some extra money for Rockies games, shopping, and dinner out! I am also probably wayyyy too money conscious because I am doing just fine, but I take after my father and want to make sure I am saving money, contributing to my 401(k) and Roth IRA, as well as paying for living expenses like rent and food. But enough with my explaining, below are my experiences as a Postmates Courier.

Go online for an hour and you can make $20

This really depends on if you get tips (which I will go into more later), but lets say you have a couple hours to kill before you go out with your friends. Hop on the app and head to a hotspot and you can get in two deliveries in an hour. I am lucky enough to live close to downtown, which is where there is a lot of business so if I have some extra time I’ll go do a delivery and make some money!

You can pick and choose deliveries

You have to be careful about being too picky because you may get kicked off the app for skipping to many orders, but if a job pops up and you really don’t feel like driving to the sketchy side of town to pickup a Mcdonald’s Big Mac (yes, people do order fast food on Postmates), simply skip it and wait for another job to appear. Although it is not a lot of money, it is important to note that you are compensated for miles driven.

Tips are either good or non existent

When a courier completes an order, they are promoted to rate the delivery (aka end the delivery) so they can move on to the next job or go offline. When the customer receives their order, they have the option to give a tip. The problem is usually the customer is too excited to eat the food you just delivered, they forget to close out the order and tip the courier through the app. Because their payment information is already in the app before they place their order, they technically don’t have to go into the app to complete anything. It may be a couple days or a week before they go back into the Postmates app and totally forget to tip you. I will say, that I have received a couple good tips from the customers that remember to go back into the app after you deliver their food, but I have also had a couple orders that were around $5 only and the customer never tipped me.

The PEX card makes it easy to pay

My first question when I was debating on becoming a courier was if I was going to have to pay with my own money and get reimbursed later. The answer is no you don’t have to pay out of pocket. During the on boarding session everyone receives a Visa-like card that is only activated when you accept a job. Postmates customer supports puts the amount the order will cost, plus a little extra just in case a customer texts you and asks to add something last minute. The only time I had an issue with my PEX card was my very first delivery and I just paid the $20 from my own money and was reimbursed promptly.

Remember taxes!

When you get paid by Postmates (either direct deposit or a check), you aren’t a W-2 employee of them so you have to remember to file a 1099 MISC if you make more than $600. More information on Postmates and taxes can be found HERE.

So far that has been my experience as a Postmates courier. I am not out delivering everyday, home girl has a 50-55 hour a week job. But on weekends when I have some extra time I don’t mind doing a couple of jobs and making some extra cash. If you are looking for a way to make some extra money this summer or if you are a college student or recent grad like me trying to keep afloat, I totally recommend looking into becoming a Postmates courier!

Interested in becoming a Postmate? Apply HERE

If YOU want $10 toward your first delivery, use the promo code dby4 when you download the app before your first purchase!!