10/07/2026
■Distance and Considerate Tipping:
‼️‼️ THIS ‼️‼️
With the current US economy and gas prices soaring to nearly $5.00/gallon, something to consider when placing an order is how far away from the store YOU are located.
Many stores have shoppers sitting there on site, waiting for batches to come through. They are already at location waiting to deliver to you.
But from a shopper's perspective, what it boils down to for us to consider, is how far we have to drive out from that store (and back, keep in mind!) and if we're able to make a profit from it.
Shoppers, at their discretion, can choose to work for Instacart part-time or full-time, whenever they want. There's a good many of us that actually work for Instacart full-time as our "9-5", so it has to pay the bills like every other job. Even more so, because a larger portion of our earnings are paid back into our gas tanks and vehicle maintenance/repairs.
Below are examples of batches that will likely sit for a long time before Instacart is forced to boost the batch in order to accommodate for poor tipping. And, odds are, lower Cart Star shoppers will be the ones to complete the batch. Is that necessarily a bad thing? No - BUT, your higher Cart Star shoppers have invested a lot and care a lot about providing premier service to their customers!
•See one of my earlier post about distinctions between different Cart Star levels.
Batch earnings are all that Instacart compensates a shopper for, so the rest is ultimately up to the customer! And, the more considerable the tip is, the more chances you have of:
1️⃣ Getting a shopper *quickly*
2️⃣Getting a top shopper, if not a Diamond Cart shopper, to accept your order.
