Getting started with Postmates is a fairly simple process, all is needed is a smartphone and a bank account. You can enter all your information online, they will pull your social for the background check, then once approved you’re good to go — no need to even wait for the Postmates debit card or hot bag, you can deliver immediately for any restaurant which pay is not required (which these days is most).

Personally I own and will use a car for deliveries although you can deliver by truck, car, motorcycle, bike or for the Fitbit lover, by foot. From my experience bipedal delivery would have to be in very select locations and times, although the Postmates reddit community seems to have a good amount of evidence of success for bike couriers.

Once you’ve downloaded the fleet app, your account is approved and your logged in it is as simple as pressing “Go Online” on the app. As you get your first delivery offered you’ll notice one of the reasons I’m a fan of the way they send the deliveries, you can see where the merchant is and where the drop off is before you accept it. Couriers are allowed to decline offers without any repercussions, this becomes important in long-term success as a courier. Some important things to know about a merchant include: ease of parking, distance from current location and are they friendly with couriers? If you have to drive around for 30 minutes to find parking for a pick-up it very well may be better to pass.

Once a delivery is accepted you are rolling, head to the pick-up location for the delivery. One thing I’ve picked up from experience, if a pick-up requires you to order at the counter you can save a lot of time and hassle by calling ahead to place your order — disclaimer I have no idea if this is frowned upon by Postmates but in my experience the amount of support and oversight has been dwindling for years and it was minuscule to begin with — it will help to think on your feet at times.

Upon arrival head to the counter and pick-up your order, pay if required. It’s always good to double check the order contains what it should as pay is very dependent on whether or not you get tipped. Then punch the drop-off location in your favorite mapping app and head to the drop off. Quick side note: I’m a huge fan of my Galaxy Active watch and it has in-app integration with Google Maps where it will give the turn by turn direction on my watch making navigation much easier to see as you drive. I don’t have any stake in either company but this feature has been incredible and highly recommend something similar if you’re going to be doing a good amount of delivering.

Dropping off is as easy as it sounds, or it should be at least. Just like knowing which restaurants aren’t worth the trouble, same goes with where you’re dropping off and this was a lesson I could only learn by experience. Some people live in well lit easy to navigate suburbs where finding the door you’re looking for is easy as pie. Other people live over the river, through the woods in a mess of a sprawling unlit apartment community where building numbers and gate codes are as mysterious as the meaning of life. On the opposite end of the spectrum maybe they live just across the street from the pick-up. “Fantastic” you exclaim! Until you realize that the shortest trips only pay out a small minimum, making you ever the more reliant on those precious tips. Drive for a couple weeks you’ll learn quickly where to focus your energy on, where to avoid, or you’ll likely quit in frustration.

Postmates as a whole is okay. It works. If you need to make money quickly you can do it. It won’t be a ton unless you really bust, but it’s work and a great stop gap until your find something more lucrative.

4 Days of Busting

The tips that work for me:

Chase the bonuses

Avoid congestion/downtown areas

Ignore the minimum guaranteed, i.e. “$35 guaranteed for your next 8 deliveries” — if you’re making less than they’re offering on a per delivery basis you need to reevaluate your strategy

Anyone can be a good/bad tipper. Some of my best tips have been on $8 worth of Taco Bell at 1am

It’s all about the tips. If you’re not getting tips you won’t make any money

Build redundancies, also sign up for Uber Eats or Doordash in case one app is slow

The most important takeaway is that you live and die by tips. Sure if you can camp out in an area with $8 bonus per delivery you’re going to have a good day, but overall you will succeed or fail based off of your tips. With tips there are no guarantees, other than one well off customer with an affinity for high-end wigs I’ve never been able to guess or expect tips, all you can do is to increase the chances for those extra dollars is by driving more. And more. And more.

Personally I’m grateful for the gig economy in that there are ways to make money immediately, while you very well may make less than minimum wage at times it’s still income and it’s on demand. It would be great if the pay was awesome, included benefits and all of the perks of “normal” employment but sometimes your bills don’t have that patience. I’ve also dabbled in walking for Wag, Doordash, charging e-scooters among other things. For myself Postmates works for now, until I find a more lucrative side gig I can build into a small business. It may not be for everyone, and anyone that has a side gig that’s more profitable/aligned with their interests then all the power to you, I envy you. But for the rent I have due in a couple weeks, being a Postmates delivery boy works for now.

Next — Side Hustle Profile: eScooters