Which Doordash orders to accept?

When becoming a Doordash driver, an individual will get flooded with a variety of different offers. As a newbie, most will accept every order that comes their way. This is fine and dandy as the excitement of getting paid to deliver food kicks in. But, eventually, that excitement will dwindle down as the Dasher comes to realize that now all Doordash delivery opportunities are equal.

The differences in Doordash delivery opportunities

When receiving a Doordash offer, all the details about the order are given. The most important detail will of course be the amount of pay. This tells you how much the order will pay out upon delivering it. Then there is the merchant location, the customer location as well as the amount of miles the Dasher will have to put on their vehicle to complete the order.

A Dasher will use this information to decide whether they should accept an order or not. Which delivery opportunities should a Dasher accept or deny? Well, that will depend on a Dasher's personal standards. Read on to learn more.

Every Dasher has their own personal standards when accepting orders

If you talk to Dashers, they will all tell you what their minimum pay standard is. For example, Dasher Tim may tell you that he will not accept any offer under $6. Dasher Sarah may tell you she will not accept anything under $8 while Dasher Rick says he will not accept anything under $10. Again, every Dasher has their own personal standards.

The reason for these standards is because as a Dasher gets more experienced, they end up realizing that some offers are just not worth doing. As an example, a $3.00 order will usually not be worth doing. Think about it, to spend a half hour of your time for $3.00 is a spit in your face. You are certainly worth more than that!

My personal minimum standard of  Doordash pay is $8

Personally, I will usually never accept a Doordash order for under $8. There can be an exception, which I will explain in a minute, but in my region, which is a rural area, there is not enough orders for me to be pickier. I have learned that if I stand by this $8 minimum, I will get enough calls to keep myself busy and to earn great money.

There was a time when I had a $12 minimum standard, but that was when I dashed in a major big city and calls constantly poured in. If I set myself a $12 minimum in my current rural area, I'd be sitting around a lot and would not be making any money.

The distance of a Doordash order matters a lot

Besides money, the distance that a Dasher will travel to complete an order is very important. Never get fooled in to accepting a high paying order that has you traveling too many miles. When you see that the orders pays $18 to travel 15 miles, it may look enticing, but in reality it is a crappy order.

 

Many Dashers have a $2 per mile rule that they go by. That means that they will do a $6 order if it is a 3 mile or less run. They'll do a $10 order if it is a 5 mile or less run. A $20 order will have to be 10 miles or less. You get the picture. Although I don't religiously go by this rule, I will say that it is a great guideline. We are all here to make money and not lose money while completing orders!

So which Doordash orders should a Dasher accept?

Basically, anything that is profitable and worth your time. You have to be wise and selective on which orders you accept. Even though $8 is my personal minimum, there are exceptions.

I have done those annoying $3 orders. Why? Because it was an add-on order that was on my way to my main order. In order for this to happen, the pickup has to be at the same merchant that I'm at for my main order, and they have to be on my direct route. I am not going out of my way for a $3 order!