Blessings of Being an Instacart Shopper by Andrea

Blessings of Being an Instacart Shopper

After a few days of my daughter coming home saying things like “I made $70 in two hours!” and “Today I got a $30 tip!”, I declared, I could spare a couple of hours a few times per week to make some extra money.  I want my house painted and I want new furniture and I want to add more money to my savings accounts!  She shared her referral code with me.  I applied and within a couple hours, I was an independent full service contractor with Instacart.  After a few days, I was on the job.  After three shifts and six hours on the clock, I had only made $33.  I tried to continue with a happy attitude, positive self-talk (it takes time to make money, to work out the kinks and learn how to do this well).  Then I met a hill, a third floor apartment with two cases of Topo Chico and a 8-count package of Bounty Paper Towels.  By the end of the my two hour shift and burning 800 calories in two deliveries, I had blown my on-time metrics, made about $20 and was absolutely OVER Instacart.  At work the next day, I mentioned this to a colleague who also works for the delivery service.  She encouraged me not to give up, to give it more than a week.  She shared that there is in fact much money to be made on Instacart.  She averages $25-35 per hour she said.  And for some reason, I decided to trust her and give it a go once again. She shared a couple of tips.  So I adjusted my techniques (if you ever decide to work for Instacart, talk to me first I’ve got some hacks for you) and went back out again.  By my fifth shift, I was hooked.  And it was not the money, though that started to add up, too.  I enjoyed the service.  My customers turned the whole deal around for me.

I started that shift picking up 30+ packages for three customers.  The first of whom opened the door standing alongside a huge barking dog, making the 30 pound bag of dog food in my trunk seem too small to satisfy that guy for very long.  The customer was youngish. I told him it would take me a couple more trips to get all of his packages to his second floor apartment.  He offered to come down to help.  We got to chatting while unloading his groceries, with me remarking how cool it is to have your packages delivered and not having to spend an hour in the grocery store with the lines and traffic.  He remarked, “Yes it is, especially when you don’t have a car.  Imagine carrying a 50 pound bag of dog food on the bus!”  Instant gratification for me to know that I was helping someone who really did need me. 

My second delivery landed me at another apartment complex (I detest apartment complexes.  I want to know who thought it would be a great idea to label the buildings at angles which are impossible to see and to number them out of order!).  This time, my customer was waiting for me at  her door.  She wore a housedress and slippers, though it was early afternoon.  I greeted her by exclaiming, “Hello!  Your groceries are here!”  She smiled and stepped back a little as I came up the steps.  At first she said I could put the packages right inside her door, but I realized she was moving rather slowly and with great effort.  I told her I could take them inside and put them wherever she needed them to go to make it easier for her to unload.  She let out a breath and said “Oh, thank you so much!”  She watched as I hauled the bags in, making space in her small kitchen to put them down.  She commented, “You’ve got to be in shape to do this job.”  This, too, is an unexpected benefit of working for Instacart.  I burn a lot of calories climbing apartment stairs and carrying heavy loads of groceries.  She apologized for the disorganization in her kitchen then explained that she had just gotten out of the hospital!  She said the groceries were priority one, then laundry and eventually she would get around to cleaning.  After a couple more casual exchanges about my work and her health, we parted ways and I was so much better for having served her in this small, yet important way. Feeling light on my feet and a flutter in my heart, I headed over to my third and final delivery of that batch. 

Another apartment complex.  Luckily, this customer, like the last, was an older citizen who lived on the bottom floor.  I found the building and correct door fairly quickly.  On one shoulder I carried an Ikea cargo bag filled with HEB grocery bags, on the other a Costco keep cool storage bag with milk among other refrigerated items and a case of water in my hands.  Like I said, I get to burn a lot of calories!   As I made it close to the entryway of the apartment, I noticed a gentleman sitting out front.  As soon as I greeted him and made my way through a small opening leading up to his door, I could see he was a double amputee sitting in a wheelchair.  My heart quickened and filled with joy at my fortune of being sent to another soul in need of service.  We talked briefly about where to put the groceries.  He needed me to line them up in the kitchen in a way that would allow him to maneuver his wheelchair as he put the packages away.  Well, there were more packages than space so I called out to ask if I could begin in another area.  A voice answered from behind me and I looked to see another person confined to bed by an oxygen tank softly humming next to her.  I practically floated out of their home after I said my goodbyes. 
 
You see, I prayed a few things about my work with Instacart.  One, I prayed that I would be able to have a lot of fun and that the time I would be taking away from my home or family a couple hours a day, a few times a week, would not be in vain.  That if this was not going to be profitable, at first I was thinking financially, then let me figure that out quickly.  I prayed, too, that I would meet great people along the way and that if even just for a few moments, I could bring light into someone else’s day.  I prayed to see all sorts of people and for my heart and hands to be open to them. 

After my shift the next day, I sent my co-worker a text with a million thank-yous for encouraging me to stick with it.  I had, in fact, made a ton of money.  But my eyes, ears and heart were opened in ways that money could never buy nor replace.  I got a cash bonus on my first real week working Instacart.  It is called a five-star bonus and is given to the shoppers who are ranked in the top 25% for customer satisfaction ratings.  I cheered and cried when I got it, again not because of the money, but because it meant that I had provided my customers with the very things I had prayed. 

My only wish, other than apartment complexes doing better with their numbering, lighting and ordering systems, is that I could see the same customers each week.  I have only highlighted three here but in the weeks I have been serving in this way, I met a man who gave me a packet of morning glory seeds, a lesson on how to plant them and an admonishment to join him in spreading joy all around central Texas by passing on the first harvest of seeds from my flowers then he gave me a big hug and a God Bless.  He told me he liked my smile and my spirit.  I’d give anything to see him again.  I liked his smile and his spirit, too.  I have helped elderly ladies put away items they couldn’t reach and saved a mom the agony of getting off work, and facing the parking lot that is Ranch to Market Road 620 at rush hour to get water bottles and gatorade for a soccer game the next morning.  I had the pleasure of delivering to an elderly, visually impaired customer placing her first order on Instacart.  She was so proud and so was I.  It may sound crazy because my first job as an educator is one that brings me so much joy, but I would work Instacart all day if I could.  I am worn out at the end of a shift- carrying groceries up flights of stairs while on a timed delivery system is my Camp Gladiator- but the joy in my heart is worth every sore muscle and shin.  “Do work you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”  As a teacher and an Instacart shopper, I am doubly blessed in the world of work.