Postmates is an on-demand delivery platform that allows couriers to deliver food, groceries, and other items from local stores and restaurants. As an independent contractor with Postmates, you get to set your own schedule and choose when, where, and how much you want to work. However, to maximize your earnings potential on Postmates, there are some key strategies you should follow.
Table of Contents
- Work During Peak Hours
- Position Yourself Near Hotspots
- Accept Chained Deliveries
- Provide Excellent Service
- Take Advantage of Incentives
- Use a Fuel Efficient Vehicle
- Track Your Metrics
- Consider Driving for Multiple Apps
- Set Aside Funds for Taxes
- Deduct Eligible Business Expenses
- Consider Advertising Your Vehicle
- Conclusion
Work During Peak Hours
The best way to get more delivery gigs is to work during peak ordering hours when customer demand is highest. For Postmates, peak times tend to be:
- Weekday lunch hours from 11am-2pm
- Weekday dinner hours from 5pm-9pm
- Weekends
Setting your availability to work during these high-volume times will result in more delivery opportunities coming your way. The Postmates app makes it easy to adjust your availability as needed.
Position Yourself Near Hotspots
Hotspots are areas shaded red on the Postmates Fleet app map that indicate a high volume of orders. The darker the red, the busier that area is. Positioning yourself within or near a hotspot increases your chance of receiving delivery requests since you’ll be closest to restaurants with active Postmates orders.
Check the app map frequently for hotspot locations and drive to the darkest red areas when possible. Stores and restaurants in busy downtowns, malls, and residential areas tend to be consistent hotspots.
Accept Chained Deliveries
Chained deliveries allow you to accept and complete multiple delivery requests in an efficient sequence. For example, you might pick up orders from two different restaurants before dropping off both orders along your route. Grouping chained deliveries together allows you to maximize your delivery efficiency and earning potential.
The Postmates Fleet app makes chained deliveries easy by linking eligible requests together automatically. However, you can also manually search for and accept additional requests if you want to chain even more deliveries together.
Provide Excellent Service
Providing excellent customer service is crucial for getting good tips and positive reviews. Communication is key – inform customers about traffic delays, restaurant wait times, or any other issues that might impact delivery.
Going above and beyond by confirming order details, offering condiments or utensils, and being extra friendly often results in larger tips. Excellent service leads to better tips and reviews which gets you more delivery opportunities.
Take Advantage of Incentives
Postmates frequently offers incentives for couriers such as bonuses for completing a certain number of deliveries within a designated window. Taking advantage of these incentives whenever possible will give your earnings a nice boost.
Make sure to check your Postmates Fleet app and email regularly so you don’t miss out on available incentives in your area. Setting availability alerts will also notify you when bonus opportunities pop up.
Use a Fuel Efficient Vehicle
One of the biggest expenses associated with delivery driving is gas. Using an energy efficient vehicle with good MPG will help lower your fuel costs and maximize your overall earnings. Hybrid and electric vehicles are great options but smaller gas-powered cars also typically use less fuel than larger vehicles.
Track Your Metrics
Keeping detailed records of your Postmates delivery driving activity will help you identify profitable locations, times, days, and strategies. Essential metrics to track include:
- Number of deliveries
- Hourly and weekly earnings
- Average tips
- Mileage
- Gas expenses
- Vehicle maintenance/repairs
Analyzing your metrics will reveal what’s working so you can keep doing more of it. Tracking will also uncover areas for improvement.
Consider Driving for Multiple Apps
To further maximize your delivery earnings, consider signing up to drive for multiple delivery apps simultaneously. Popular options include DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Instacart, and Amazon Flex.
Driving for just Postmates locks you into only receiving delivery opportunities from their platform. But having multiple apps gives you access to significantly more requests across all companies. More requests equals more potential deliveries and earnings.
Just be sure not to overcommit yourself across too many platforms. Only accept requests you can actually fulfill in a timely manner. Poor service or late deliveries will result in lower tips and bad reviews.
Set Aside Funds for Taxes
As an independent contractor, you are responsible for paying self-employment taxes which includes Social Security and Medicare. Make sure to set aside at least 20-30% from each paycheck to have enough to pay estimated quarterly and annual taxes. Using a tax software can help calculate how much you owe.
Saving for taxes upfront ensures you don’t get stuck with a surprise tax bill the following year. It also helps maximize your overall earnings from Postmates by avoiding costly penalties and interest on unpaid taxes.
Deduct Eligible Business Expenses
One advantage of being an independent contractor is having ample tax write-offs for legitimate business expenses. This includes mileage, vehicle expenses, phone and data costs, hot/cold bags, and other equipment.
Deducting every allowable business expense will lower your taxable income and maximize your overall earnings. Just be sure to keep detailed records and receipts for all expenses to qualify for deductions.
Consider Advertising Your Vehicle
An often overlooked way to earn extra money is by allowing ads to be displayed on your vehicle. Companies like Carvertise and Wrapify will pay several hundred dollars per month to wrap or magnetically attach ads on your car.
The extra passive income can give your Postmates earnings a nice boost without requiring any additional work on your end. Just drive as usual with the ads displayed and collect monthly payments. It essentially turns your car into a rolling billboard.
Conclusion
Driving for Postmates offers flexible and convenient earning potential. However, taking the right approach is key to maximizing your delivery gigs and income.
Working peak times, monitoring hotspots, providing great service, taking advantage of incentives, tracking metrics, managing taxes, and exploring additional earning opportunities will position you for success on the Postmates platform.
Follow these tips and you’ll be on your way to getting more delivery gigs and reaching your earning goals with Postmates!
