May 2023 Update: Postmates was acquired by Uber Eats in 2020, and the Postmates Fleet App for drivers was shut down in 2021. Please see our list of best food delivery services for alternatives.
Living in the age of on-demand delivery is great for anyone who wants a flexible side hustle. And this Postmates delivery driver review will explain how you can start working for Postmates, how much delivery drivers can make, and how Postmates stacks up to other side hustles.
What is Postmates?
Postmates launched in 2011 as the "anything, anywhere, anytime" delivery service. It was acquired in 2020 by Uber for $2.65 million, and now Postmates orders are processed by Uber Eats drivers. Customers can still use the Postmates app or website to place delivery orders, but the entire order now goes through the Uber Eats platform, and Uber Eats began transitioning Postmates drivers to Uber Eats in 2021. Since Uber Eats acquired Postmates, DoorDash is our recommended alternative.
Prior to the acquisition, Postmates was famously sharing celebrity orders to give customers an idea of what you could have Postmated, like:
- Demi Lovato used Postmates to order a single Twinkie
- Kylie Jenner had them deliver "3 cozy blankets" from Target
- Chance the Rapper had Postmates deliver adult coloring books and men’s swim trunks
- Post Malone once had $8,000 worth of Popeye’s biscuits Postmated to a party
- Chrissy Tiegen accidentally had 200 limes Postmated to her house
Uber Eats and Postmates are virtually identical services now, and you can learn about the changes in our Postmates vs. Uber Eats comparison.
Below is our Postmates driver review before the sale to Uber Eats.
How to Make Money with Postmates
Working as a Postmates delivery driver offers some serious flexibility when it comes to making money. You don’t have to schedule your hours in advance, work a certain number of hours each week, or hit certain delivery minimums. You can just open the app and start delivering whenever you want.
Here are the Postmates delivery driver requirements:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Have access to an insured vehicle, or a bicycle
- Valid driver’s license, if you’ll be delivering by car
- Have a smartphone to download the Postmates Fleet app
- Pass a Postmates background check
As long as you meet those requirements, you can start to earn extra money delivering for Postmates. You can make deliveries via car, bike, scooter, or on foot. Postmate pay drivers based on the size of the order, distance, and difficulty – we’ll explain more about this further down.
Read more in Best Side Hustle Apps of 2023.
How to Apply and Start Delivering for Postmates
Signing up to become a Postmates delivery driver is a really simple process. Go online and get started at Postmates, then enter your email address and a secure password.
Postmates will ask you for your phone number and address so they can send you a Postmates card that you’ll use to pay for deliveries. You’ll be matched with the delivery location (what Postmates refers to as a market) closest to your address, but you can always change your delivery location if you need to.
Postmates will also ask for your Social Security number and date of birth so they can perform a background check. If you plan on driving for Postmates, which is how you’ll be eligible for the most orders, you’ll also need to enter your driver’s license number and expiration date.
After you’ve filled out your online application, it usually takes between 1 to 3 days for Postmates to verify your account before you can start driving. Postmates will send you a welcome packet, including a prepaid card and delivery bag.
Delivering for Postmates With the App
There are two different Postmates apps — an app for customers placing orders and another one for delivery drivers, called Postmates Fleet. As a delivery driver, Fleet is what you’ll use to accept and fulfill deliveries.
The cool thing about working for Postmates is that you don’t need to schedule your hours in advance. This is different from services like Instacart where you must schedule your hours in advance.
When you are ready to work, you open the app and slide a button to start accepting orders. Delivery requests will pop up in the app, and you click “Accept” to take an order. The app pulls up a map to give you the quickest route to the store or restaurant. The order might already be placed and ready for you, or you may need to place the order yourself or shop for items on a list — you’re paid for any waiting or shopping time.
If the order was paid for in the app, you’re ready to deliver. Otherwise, you’ll use that prepaid card Postmates sent you in your welcome packet and send the purchaser a picture of the receipt and order total.
The app shows you the shortest route to the delivery location, and the purchaser may give specific delivery details, like a gate passcode or instructions to leave delivery outside the back door. Any extra information you need to deliver will be in the app.
And that’s it!
How Postmates Drivers are Paid
Delivery drivers are paid weekly via direct deposit, and it takes about 2 to 3 days for your payout to show up in your bank account. You can keep track of your earnings for the day or week in the app’s dashboard.
If you want fast cash, you can sign up for Instant Deposit by linking your debit card to the Postmates app and cash out whenever you want. There’s no limit to the number of times you can use it, but there’s a $0.50 fee per Instant Deposit. You also need at least $5 in your Postmates account.
Read more at Work Online and Get Paid Instantly (More Than Just Survey Sites!)
How Much do Postmates Drivers Make?
Postmates pays their delivery drivers base pay rates based on pickup, dropoff, minutes spent in-store, and rate per mile. Here's a range of the rates for each of those factors:
- Per pickup $1.30-$1.85
- Per dropoff $0.50-$0.95
- Per minute $0.07
- Per mile $0.42-$1.05
On top of base pay, Postmates delivery drivers also keep 100% of customer tips.
Postmates has a couple more market-specific ways to earn. There are starter guarantees for new delivery drivers, and as long as you complete a certain amount of deliveries in a set amount of time, you earn a bonus. You can also earn payouts for each new person you invite to start driving, as long as they complete a certain number of deliveries in a set amount of time.
An example of a Starter Guarantee in Houston, TX is: Complete 30 deliveries in 14 days and ean a guaranteed $200 including base earnings and per delivery bonuses.
Starter guarantees change based on market demand availability of new delivery jobs. When we first published this Postmates driver review article in 2020, the starter guarantee in Houston was $275 for completing 35 deliveries in 14 days.
How Much do Postmates Drivers Really Make?
Like we said, what you earn depends a lot on where you’re delivering. A Postmates delivery person in a big city will likely make more money because there’s a higher need and a higher level of difficulty, meaning it may be more difficult to get from place to place and restaurants might be busier.
Keep in mind, there are a couple of factors that can affect your earning potential as a delivery driver:
- Wear and tear on your car. When you put more miles on your car, that’s more frequent oil changes, new tires, brakes, etc.
- Time between deliveries. Say one delivery took 20 minutes to make, but you might find yourself waiting 20 minutes before receiving your next order. You’re not getting paid for those 20 minutes, but you are waiting to work.
These are the same things you’ll need to think about if you’re considering rideshare driving or delivering for similar companies.
Postmates Driver Alternatives
Like we’ve said a couple of times, Postmates offers serious flexibility. That gives you a better work-life balance if you want to make extra money, and that’s what a lot of Postmates couriers like about it.
However, if you’re not interested in delivering for Postmates, there are tons of other delivery services you can try. Delivering for more than one at a time is a great way to earn even more – it’s what a lot of the most successful drivers do to increase the amount of money they make delivering food.
Here are three other top companies worth checking out:
Delivery Services |  DoorDash |  Shipt |
|---|---|---|
Rating | ||
Tips | Yes | Yes |
Perks | Peak hours and challenges to | Free membership & access to Shipt Shopper Perks |
Review |
DoorDash Disclaimer: Actual earnings may differ and depend on factors like number of deliveries completed, time of day, location, and expenses. Hourly pay is calculated using average Dasher payouts while on a delivery (from the time you accept an order until the time you drop it off) over a 90 day period and includes compensation from peak pay, tips, and other incentives.
Postmates Driver Review 2023– The Final Word
As long as there are orders in the app, delivering for Postmates offers a flexible schedule if you want to make some extra money. So if you’re looking for work outside the house, it’s an option worth checking out.
The downside is that some drivers find that they make less than expected because of factors like the time between orders and the wear and tear delivering can put on their vehicle. Keep that in mind if you do want to start delivering for Postmates.
And if none of these options do it for you, there are still lots of side hustle ideas. There’s no excuse not to start earning more money, especially if you want to destroy your debt, save more for retirement, fund an epic vacation, or just put more money in the bank.
FAQs
Unfortunately, some customer orders can get canceled for any number of reasons. A customer can change their mind, a restaurant might be too busy to take new orders, or have to close unexpectedly.
If the order was canceled when you’re on your way or already at a restaurant or store, you will still receive a small portion of your payment. For orders that have been paid for or in route to be delivered, you’ll receive your full fee. You probably won’t receive a tip, and you can do what you want with the order.
Yes. As long as you have location services turned on for the Fleet App, all you need to do is open it up and find orders. Realistically, you could be traveling and still earn some extra cash with Postmates.
Yes, Postmates delivery drivers keep 100% of customer tips.
About Millennial Money Man
Bobby Hoyt is a former band director who paid off $40,000 of student loan debt in 18 months on his teaching salary and then left his job to run Millennial Money Man full-time. He helps other Millennials earn more through side hustles, save more through budgeting tools and apps, and pay off debt. He is a personal finance expert who has been seen on Forbes, Reuters, MarketWatch, CNBC, International Business Times, Business Insider, US News, Yahoo Finance, and many other personal finance and entrepreneurship media outlets.
