How much to tip on DoorDash?

Let's find out!

So you're ordering in on a rainy day. Maybe from your favorite local spot or just some fast food from a major chain. Good for you. Maybe you got DashPass. If not, DoorDash probably has some promos like free delivery, right? 

Oh free delivery! Does this mean I don't have to tip either??

The cold hard truth about all food delivery apps is that tipping is not optional.

Preposterous! They say tipping is optional so the drivers probably get paid enough and tipping is just a nice extra, right?! 

As if!

Has tipping culture gotten out of hand?

By far the greatest disservice to the food delivery industry has been the memes about tipping culture getting out of hand.

Yes they're funny and ridiculous and no you shouldn't tip $10 for someone handing you a cup of coffee or a muffin but I want to distinguish between someone handing you a muffin and someone driving their own car, braving traffic and weather conditions to deliver your food.

I often hear, DoorDash should pay more. It doesn't.

DoorDash pays the driver between $2 and $3 for your order without giving money toward mileage. So why deliver with DoorDash? Because when people compensate their drivers, it's great fun and good money.

Wait, DoorDash pays the driver only $2ish to deliver my food?

Yes. I've delivered around 1,500 orders on DoorDash alone and aside from maybe an extra dollar or two during hazardous weather conditions or especially busy nights and weekends, DoorDash has consistently paid between $2-$3 for each order I've delivered. 

If DoorDash groups two orders together, it may be a little over $4. 

You might say, that's very little in this economy. And I'll say, that would have been very little even 20 years ago.

Here are some real life examples of DoorDash pay during busier weekends. I wanted to give examples where tips were not outrageously high either so you can kind of see how little an order pays.

I took these orders because they were nearby and the delivery distances were under 5 miles so I could quickly get back to another restaurant.

How long could it possibly take to deliver food?

Great question. This order was a grouped double order with two pizza places that are right across from each other and a five mile delivery.

You can see that it only took 20 minutes to wait for each order and deliver. Most orders take between 20-30 minutes from start to finish because I choose delivery distances within a ten mile radius.

I can usually only deliver two orders in an hour so many times I earn between $25 and $35 an hour before gas and taxes.

In this case DoorDash, paid $3 for both orders. DoorDash loves to group orders because it doesn't have to pay the Dasher a whole lot more, if anything.

Between the two customers, the tip was $7.61, which also isn't amazing but for me delivery distance is a factor. I never wanna venture too far away from busy areas. In this case, I was able to come right back to the area to grab more orders.

If I had taken a 10+ mile delivery maybe into a more rural area, I wouldn't have done it for $10ish because I would have had to backtrack 10+ miles just to get another order.

I see so many people order 20+ miles from the restaurant into a rural area and that's just not feasible for the driver. That's where you really have to increase your tip to make it worthwhile.

You have to think about tipping in terms of how far you are from the restaurant (think time and gas) and how much you value not having to go out.

I've had some crazy good tips from people who simply appreciated the service. 

Can the Dasher see if you're tipping beforehand?

While it doesn't show the exact tip, since we know DoorDash pays between $2 and $3, through deductive reasoning we can conclude that this is a no tip order and not worth our time.

So what happens if you don't tip?

In short: no one will take your order or you'll be waiting a while. The order will pop up on dozens of driver's phones and they'll just hit decline.

That'll keep going until a driver who maybe lives in your area and wants to get paid even a little to drive home and call it a night. Or maybe you'll get a newbie who doesn't know they can decline orders.

Your food will be cold and soggy and you'll have wasted your money. If you don't mind cold and soggy food, that's fine but most people do mind.

People find this preposterous, especially since tipping seems "optional" on most popular delivery apps, including on DoorDash. Well it's optional if you don't want your food delivered.

As you can see, these delivery apps don't pay so why would someone use their car and waste gas to get paid 2ish dollars?

If you don't like it, take it up with DoorDash! I'm just the messenger.

But I don't tip and I usually get my order. 

DoorDash sometimes groups a higher tipping customer with a lower tipping to get drivers to take the order. That's really the only reason why you'd  get your order on time.

Unfortunately, next time you won't tip again because, well you got your food on time the last time. 

But I digress...

So what's a decent tip?

Not the dreaded $2. DoorDash already chooses to pay us $2, could you not? Many people assume that $2 is enough. It's not. Under any circumstances really. Ever.

A decent tip is anything that compensates your driver for having to drive to the restaurant (think gas), wait for your order (time) and drive to your home (gas and time). If you live in a more rural area, the driver isn't gonna get paid for another order until they're back in a more populated area so that's also a consideration.

How much is that convenience worth to you?

Some people say well, it's just popping in to the restaurant but let me tell you, I'm not your loved one on her way home who begrudgingly pops into a restaurant to pick up your food.

I'm not gonna show you all the amazing tips I've received in the past because I do want you to decide for yourself.

I do understand that not everyone has money to spend but you are springing for delivery, don't cut corners where it matters most.

OK fine, so how much??

Here is what I would recommend as a baseline for tipping:

• at least $3 in tip for lunch orders within a couple of miles from the restaurant
• at least $5 for dinner orders on weeknights if you live within a 5 mile radius of the restaurant. Beyond 5 miles, you should add $ to account for mileage (58 cents per mile is standard)
• at least $8 for weekends during busy times from 5PM-8PM

I'm talking minimum here! No matter if you just order a sandwich from Panera or a full meal from your favorite local spot.

More than that is always appreciated and will get your food to you faster.

What about the restaurant tipping standard?

So we've already discussed compensating me for my time, gas and putting a price on the convenience of having food delivered to your doorstep.

Many people choose to use the 10-20% restaurant tipping standard based on the total of their order.

That works perfectly fine but many orders are around $20 so bear in mind that the process of picking up a $20 involves the same on my end as a $90 order.

In other words, tipping 10% off your $20 or a $2 tip isn't great and would most likely put your order in a similar holding pattern as a no tip order, especially on the weekends when it's busy and drivers are able to get orders between $15 and $25 a pop.

If we do the math from before, I'd get around $3 of base pay since it's the weekend plus your $2 for a total of $5 so that's not gonna be a priority unless you live around 1 mile from the restaurant. 

The restaurant tipping standard is fine for orders over $40 but please bear in mind that unlike waitstaff, I use my car to drive around and deliver to your doorstep so if you just have a $10 Panera order, don't just tip 10-20%.

Are cash tips OK?

I think by now you know that's not a good idea unless it's cash upon delivery in addition to what you tipped on DoorDash before you placed the order.

If you plan on tipping cash only, your order will show up as a no tip order on the drivers' end and not get picked up in a timely manner or at all so cash is a super nice extra but not if you're adding $0 on DoorDash beforehand.

You're doing yourself a disservice and you risk wasting a ton of money on your food that's gonna get to you in bad shape or not at all. 

UberEats gives us 100% of your tips so there's no reason to opt for just cash. 

What about terrible drivers?

I know you've probably wasted some money on a terrible Dasher and vowed to never tip that much again. Maybe that person was new or just a DoorDouche, who knows.

Even delivery driving isn't for everyone even though anyone who can pass a background check can be a Dasher. 

We don't receive training (I know you're thinking, how hard can it be to grab an order?) but trust me, I've had to deal with anything from missing orders to double orders to wrong addresses, etc.

I've created this site in hopes of providing relevant information to food delivery drivers so they can provide the best customer service since the companies we deliver for don't usually provide much, if any training.

I am a big advocate of drivers using professional insulated bags because DoorDash only provides a tiny bag upfront that only fits nothing really. I’ve had to buy my own bags and yes that’s a tax write-off but most drivers don’t go the extra mile and don’t use bags, which is probably why you’ve received some lukewarm meals in the past.

DoorDash isn't so big on letting customers increase or decrease their tips after delivery but in all honesty, I'm all for that. You got crappy service? You should reduce your tip and leave a bad rating. 

I've ordered on DoorDash and have had drivers look down and barely acknowledge me when handing me the order and other weird stuff. I also know, drivers often leave the order right in front of a door that opens outward so your stuff gets knocked over. 

Again, that's what ratings are for. Make it about that particular driver, not everyone who dashes. 

Here's a tip for a better delivery experience

See what I did there?

I highly recommend leaving insanely detailed delivery instructions such as "door opens outward, do not block it". Seems obvious but honestly, a lot of times, we're rushing to get you your order and are probably lost so when we finally get to your place, we're like phew that's done.

People don't leave good delivery instructions. Some places don't show up on Google maps, if you know that you live in one of those places, leave delivery instructions.

OK, that's enough of that but it's super important to take charge of your order. You've already outsourced all the annoying parts like cooking and having to go out to grab the order so take a few seconds to leave good delivery instructions.

That's all she wrote. 

Hopefully, you have a better understanding as to why your tips matter so much. It's not someone spinning an iPad around after you've ordered a small coffee and expecting a tip.

It's for someone who is willing to go out when you're not. Someone who often braves weird weather and traffic conditions, wait for your order and use their car to deliver where no man has ever delivered before.

Well, that's a bit much but you get the point. 

You might like

How to tip on Instacart (one of my favorite pages I've written!)

How to tip your Amazon Flex driver when ordering from Whole Foods for delivery (ugh, you gotta tip those guys too?)

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