Source
r/ShiptShoppers•
Slinger2

Why go on shift at all if you are a PT shopper 10-15 hours maybe. (Seattle Metro)

Help

I have completed 9 deliveries so I am still in that honeymoon phase BUT...

As opposed to InstaCart where there are clear incentives to be on shift, why would a PT shopper do anything but cherry pick what is left in the area?

After tanking my AR b/c the orders were undesirable it would seem a lot of these orders proceed to the promo stage (Northgate, Seattle Central, Seattle West) and what not.

Example. A 3-4 AM delivery window for a small QFC order. It was like 11 dollars when offered at 6 PM. I wake up early anyhow so checked at 230 AM and it was 32-35 dollars.

Last night was a Target order. Sitting there on the screen and it hit that one hour period and jumped up 10 dollars.

What am I missing here?

If people don't do InstaCart you may think these questions are a bit odd or were covered in the training. But doing InstaCart for 4 years taught most of the veteran shoppers to find every way to game the system b/c they kept cutting pay or stealing or something else nefarious.

Any "hacks" and insights are much appreciated.

Posted Jan 30, 2020, 6:51 PM UTC

219
LazyMailman561•

I’m a mailman who fluctuating hours so I can never get on shift. But I feel like it’s also pointless. Except for the small bonuses that they throw out every once in awhile. Even with the bonuses, I can still make as much, of not more, doing a few promo orders. I’m doing this job to make money so why not wait until the promo hits $20.

3
Slinger2OP•

This is what I have found as well. My time on shift was awful. Barely got anything and what I did get was garbage. Maybe the benefits of being in such a large city that is still slow but busier than most, it appears.

I don't know if you do InstaCart but Shipt is just a different world including the shoppers. Very different mentality. Not bad or good but just seems odd they would differ so much given we are doing the exact same thing.

2
T-RexLovesCookies2500+ Shops•

Because you get better offers than the metro. People on the schedule cherry pick what comes through on their offers and then those not on the schedule get what's left.

Sure, take that 3 am promo. I probably wouldn't put myself on the schedule in the middle of the night because I would be stuck with stuff or have to take an AR hit

3
COLiveResinVapeGuy•

That’s what I do as well. I usually run doubles as much as possible so I take orders and stay on the schedule to make sure I’m filled and let the extras fall off.

2
MikeMiller88882500+ Shops•

Exactly. I’m on schedule for my member matches, when they hit the system doesn’t care if my AR is zero. I get the offer and I snag it, along with every good thing (for me) that crosses my path. I can do this because I stopped caring about my AR I get enough work without it mattering.

1
T-RexLovesCookies2500+ Shops•

This isn't exactly true. Many members have multiple matches. It's still imperative to keep your stats up.

2
MikeMiller88882500+ Shops•

Well, I keep a 5.0 and I don’t let it slip because I’ve been in that scared boat before, I was a moron when I first started and immediately got my refresher after just a week. But I have no issue getting my member matches, I believe that if they have more than one match that we both (or all) get offered the order at the exact same time regardless of rating or AR. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong? I’m pretty quick on the trigger with accepting my offered orders, I usually claim it within 15-20 seconds if the address is one of my five star customers.

1
T-RexLovesCookies2500+ Shops•

I have no idea how it works with multiple member matches.

1
cajunflavoredbobmod - 7K+ Shops•

Since you're still in your newbie phase with Shipt, you're getting priority on orders offered to you. They do not take your ratings into account for offered orders until the day after you do your tenth order.

I'd encourage you to read the top sticky post in this thread to help you get more familiar with how Shipt works. That'll get you well ahead of most other new shoppers.

To answer your title question, the reason a lot of people go on schedule instead of staying off schedule is that not every metro is the same. Some are busy, some are slow. Some are oversaturated with shoppers, and some don't have enough to meet demand. If you're in a saturated or slow metro, you're going to have a tough time getting any orders while off schedule. Even if you do see some orders in metro, they're going to be crap that other scheduled shoppers are refusing to do. The Shipt AR system thread goes into detail on this.

As for the order amounts increasing, this is Shipt's promo system. As the order approaches the delivery window, Shipt throws more money at the order until someone picks it up.

3
Chaka-•

Precisely.

Every week in my metro, the average metro orders is about 1.5 -- meaning it fluctuates between 0-3 a day. I'm in one of those metros where if I am not on schedule, I generally won't be working.

I go on schedule because I want my member matches (which are still too few in my small metro for my liking). One example: Every Friday night or Saturday morning, I get an offer for "Jane's" order for 9:00 Saturday morning. Her minimum tip is $25. If I wasn't on schedule for 9:00 Saturday morning, I'd miss her order.

I will occasionally do a promo if it is somebody who I don't already know is a poor tipper AND I'm not going to be more than a few minutes late. For me, my star rating (which creates the member matches) is worth more to me than a few extra bucks.

All of our situations are a little different. I do this for part time extra money to speed up my debt free goal. I have a full time job for my primary income, so grabbing the high dollar promos is not all that important to me.

1
triscu1t•

Did you initially just take every order to find out who tips?

2
Chaka-•

I did and still do take new orders/customers who I've never shopped for before.

I've only been doing this ten months, very part time, and I'm in a very small metro. It will take more time to develop a good base of consistent matches and the only way for me to find those golden nuggets is to keep giving new customers chances.

Each chance becomes one of about three things after that. Someone I'd drop everything for to do their shop; someone who will fill the slot because even if they don't tip great, they do tip and they are close to the store; or someone who gets three big red Xs in my Google maps labels because they are not worth my time. Won't know which they are without giving them one shot.

So I don't take every order even when on schedule anymore. I take the best that is offered to me. If the only offer I get for a particular time slot is rubbish (non tipper), I decline it. Then I hope for another offer. Most times it works out and sometimes it doesn't. And I know that not everybody is able to do that because for many, something is better than nothing.

1
doktorphun•

In our metro (Tucson) there are rarely metro or promo orders. So we have to be on the schedule to get any shops.

1
T-RexLovesCookies2500+ Shops•

Same

2
Chaka-•

Same

1
MikeMiller88882500+ Shops•

There are almost no shoppers that service hours from midnight to 6 am. In my metro, there are no stores you can even order from through Shipt, it’s pretty much solely CVS delivery only orders that hit early morning. They always get huge promos, and usually get rescheduled to the first “decent” window of 6-7 AM. If you work those hours, you’ll do well promo hunting

1
NYlex19•

Simple solution 🤷🏾‍♂️. Go back to instacart ?

1
Slinger2OP•

Thank you for that contribution.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
xDialtone•

Small areas dont get this choice sadly. You have to take what you're given or your ar tanks

1