Instacart Shopper Review: Everything you need to know before you start. Step by Step Tutorial (2021)

hey guys i’m back with another one and i have 
no idea why i don’t talk about this opportunity  
enough because you can make really good money 
with this side hustle and get paid the same  
day and if you’re only available to work on the 
weekends you could pick up an extra three to four  
hundred dollars each weekend and if you have the 
flexibility to work more you can make a thousand  
dollars or more in the week but there are some 
things you have to factor in and i’m going to  
cover it all but first for those of you who don’t 
know who i am my name is whitney bonds and i find  
legitimate opportunities that people are doing to 
make money i interview them and then i share all  
the details with you guys so you can get inspired 
and decide if this is something that you want to  
do now in today’s video we are going to talk about 
becoming an instacart shopper and how to make the  
most money now i’ve got some really good tips for 
you guys so make sure you stay tuned until the end  
and like i said we are going to cover all the 
good and the bad so you can decide if this is  
something that you want to do all right so 
let’s first talk about how instacart works  
so instacart has capitalized on the fact that 
people like me with three kids would much rather  
pay

someone else to do their grocery shopping
for them so they have created this platform
where i can simply order my groceries online and
can either pick them up from the store or get
them delivered to my house so when you’re working
for instacart you have two options to make money
you can either be an in-store shopper who fulfills
the orders in the store and then hands them off to
an instagram driver or you can be a full-service
shopper where you do both you fulfill the orders
in the store and then deliver the groceries to
the customer’s home now in this video i’m only
going to focus on the full service shopper because
that’s how you can make the most money now if you
guys want me to do a video on an in-store shopper
only just let me know in the comment section below
now the first thing that you want to do is to
make sure that instacart delivers in your area so
i’m going to put the link in the description below
where you can put your zip code in and see if they
deliver it in your area if you’re unsure all right
now the hiring process the hiring process is quick
and easy and it’s all done through the app so
first you just need to download the instacart app
and then put in your information now if you want
to use my referral code i will put that in the
description below if you want to put that in when
you’re signing up and then it will take you to the
next screen where they’ll ask if you are 18
years or older able to lift 40 pounds or more
and eligible to work in the u.s if you are
then you proceed to the next screen will you
choose if you want to be an in-store shopper or
a full-service shopper you’ll confirm that you
have access to a car and then they’re going to
ask you if you have auto insurance that covers
instacart services so you do want to check that
before you go ahead and get started you’ll verify
your driver’s license and then once it’s verified
instacart will set you up with your own pre-loaded
instacart payment card now this is gonna be
the card that you use to purchase groceries
then you’re gonna need to sign paperwork and
agree to a background check and then it will
take up to 10 days for the background check
but i’ve seen it done like two or three days
so it doesn’t usually take that long and once you
receive your payment card your lanyard and now a
mask once you receive all of that then they will
let you know when you can go ahead and get started
now let’s talk about the pay now there are several
factors that play a part in how much you can earn
like if you live in a well-populated area you’re
gonna have access to more orders which means you
can make more money also the amount of hours
you work and the types of orders you receive
it all matters like you can earn more for batches
with a heavier load so if you had cases of water
in your order you’re gonna make more money so it’s
really hard to say how much you can earn per hour
but when i was mentioning how you can make
three to four hundred dollars on the weekend
that’s after putting about six hours in and like
i said it strongly depends on where you live the
types of orders you pick and the amount of time
that you put in but it’s also good to know that
you can get a hundred percent of customer tips and
i’ve got some really good tips to help you guys
maximize your earnings so make sure you stay tuned
and you will be amazed at how much people tip so
if you’re an instacart shopper watching this video
let me know in the comment section below the most
you ever made in a tip so when you’re ready to
start making money all you need to do is open the
app and see which batch you want to pick up and
just so you guys know orders are called batches
that’s what they call in instacart and this is an
example of one right here now in these batches you
can see the store location, item count and then
the batch payment so you want to review all this
and assess it to see if this is something you
want to pick up before you actually choose it
just so you know the distance is shown from
the selected store to the customer’s home
and if you want to accept the batch just swipe
right and then get to work and just so you guys
know there can be more than one order in a batch
where you will actually have to deliver them to
different houses so the best way to deal with
these is that you want to stay organized so you
can either use two baskets or use one large basket
and then you can use the individual hand baskets
to separate the orders so you can stay
organized and don’t get the orders confused
the cool thing about instacart is that
you choose if and when you want to work
so you just open the app and see what batches
are available and you decide which one you want
to pick up if you want to pick it up now shoppers
are offered batches based on their customer rating
and other things like distance how close you are
to the store delivery time and if you have an
alcohol and prescription certification now you
can take the quiz on alcohol and prescription
deliveries through the app and it will give
you access to more batches and sometimes bigger
tips so each quiz takes about 10 minutes and
you’ll find these in the app under how am
i driving just go ahead and select that and then
improve my skills and lessons and that’s where you
can find the quizzes you also want to make sure to
check your state’s law before applying to deliver
alcohol because it’s illegal in some states now
let’s talk about how the shopping process works
once you accept the order you’re going to head
over to the store to fulfill the order now the app
will display your shopping list and you’re going
to mark off each item as you get through the app
and this will update the customers in real time
so they can actually track the order with you
now you’re going to want to know if something
isn’t available and it’s just always a good idea
to take a picture of replacement items to see if
the customer wants that or not now you’re going to
also use the insta carbon payment card to purchase
these items and they’re going to simply deliver
that to their house and that’s it just rinse and
repeat but like i said we are going to talk about
it all so let’s talk about the good and the bad
but we’re gonna start with the bad first now some
of the cons are the customers so you can have some
of the most pleasant people to work with and then
you can have some of the most difficult people
just dealing with different kinds of people you’ll
just never know what you’re going to get and
that’s just something that you want to be aware of
because they can affect your customer rating which
could affect how many batches you have access to
another con is that you have to see if your
auto insurance covers instacart services now
if it doesn’t this could cost you extra money i’ve
seen where people have had to add an extra 10 to
15 per month to people’s insurance when they have
added these services another potential con is that
you are also an independent contractor so a 1099
employee so there are no reimbursements for things
like gas or wear and tear on your vehicle but
it is important to know that you can write these
things off on your taxes so like the maintenance
and repairs including tire and oil changes gas,
car insurance and there’s so many other things you
want to make sure that you guys are tracking all
of this so you can actually get some of this money
back so definitely make sure you guys have this
app called hurdler or i cannot even pronounce it
but you want this app because it tracks everything
in real time and you can claim the maximum tax
deductions so you want to make sure you have this
i’m gonna put it in the description below because
i cannot pronounce it and you definitely need it
and speaking of taxes you’re going to want to save
at least around 25 of your income because you are
an independent contractor so you’re responsible
for reporting and filing your own taxes and last
but not least competition this is another con
because there can be a lot of people in your area
trying to do this which won’t leave you with a lot
of opportunities to make extra money so i wouldn’t
depend on this as a consistent source of income
but just a way to make extra money on the side
okay so enough of the cons let’s talk about the
pros and then i’m going to share some tips to help
you maximize your earnings now instacart has this
thing called instant cash out where you can cash
out anytime you want but you have to complete
at least five batches before you use this tool
this is definitely a pro if you need
money right away and also keep in mind
that the money that you’re going to get from this
is only instacart payments this is not your tips
because tips can be pinning for about three days
so just keep that in mind some other pros that you
can get really good exercise doing this shopping
for other people you also are working on your own
schedule you are your own boss which you really
cannot even beat that and i have friends that have
done ubereats and postmates and they have all said
they have made much more with instacart by far
and also instacart does have bonuses which is
another bonus where you can make more money
now here is how you can maximize your earnings
and some good little known tips for beginners
so you first want to start by taking small batches
for at least a few days because these batches are
just easier to complete and they will just help
you learn the app without getting overwhelmed
once you are more comfortable with the app you
can go ahead and start taking larger batches
and you want to really analyze each batch to see
if the earnings tips and the distance are even
worth your time shop stores that you are familiar
with you know it’s easier to shop the same stores
because you learn the layout this makes shopping
much faster and can increase your hourly rate
and when you’re shopping just always think about
yourself if you won’t buy an item for yourself
you shouldn’t buy for your customers when i’m
talking about i’m talking about fruit if it looks
bad or vegetables just don’t get it for them just
take a picture and then show them why and they’ll
really appreciate that you want to communicate
as much as you can through words and pictures
and if they don’t reply just give them a call
also pay attention to expiration dates one time
i ordered milk and it expired the same day
i got it i was just really upset about that
and when you deliver the items be sure to smile
and act like you’re enjoying what you’re doing
doing these things could really result in getting
you a bigger tip and it will keep you having a
high customer rating you also want to make sure
that you join this facebook group called instacart
showers by steph this is a great group and she
shares the script that she sends to her customers
every time before she actually shops and she says
that this has been a game changer so i’m gonna put
the link in the description below of her group and
the actual script she uses so you guys can just
copy and paste and use it too now if you find that
you really like this and you want to do this more
often definitely consider getting these things
this one right here is actually required now
by instacart and it’s insulated bags so instacart
recommends these ones right here and they cost 25
but i found a better version that’s only five
dollars at walmart so definitely check those out
and they will be approved by instacart and
if you also have signed up for doordash
they stimulate insulated bags that zip so
you can just use those for instacart as well
you can also consider getting a phone mount
to help keep you safe while navigating
you need a portable charger because the app just
drains your battery so make sure you have that
you should also consider getting a lanyard phone
holder to keep you from dropping your phone while
shopping you’re definitely going to see why i’m
seeing this once you get started and last but not
least definitely consider getting a stair climbing
cart or a wagon like these for big orders because
it will make delivering groceries to a house or
apartment with stairs so much easier especially
for big orders you get that have cases of water
or just other heavy items and you’re gonna need
to bring them from your car to the house so if you
plan on doing this definitely consider investing
in these because these are all text write-offs
just keep that in mind you can also use other apps
simultaneously like ship door dash even amazon
flex to increase your earnings you know just find
the highest paying order and take that one another
tip to earn more money is to tell people about it
by referring others to joining instacart you can
earn up to 600 in referrals so what i would do is
just start doing this and then i would show my
impressive earnings to my social media networks
and i would encourage other people to sign up
using my referral link now those are the ways
that i recommend to maximize your earnings and one
last tip as far as what you wear you can just wear
whatever you want but you want to be presentable
yet comfortable so you can just decide what that
looks like alright so that’s it so if you think
that this sounds like something that you want
to do be sure to give this video a thumbs up
and then let me know in the comment section
just say i want to try this and if you’re looking
for some other ways to make money definitely check
out my video i did on 15 side houses that can earn
you an extra thousand dollars per month or more or
if you’re interested in amazon flex i just did a
video on that i’m telling you everything you need
to know before you go ahead and get started
with that all right thanks for watching and
be sure to subscribe and hit that bell for
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of my videos on ways you can make money alright
thank you guys for watching and have a great day