How to make $1000 a week with Uber Eats

The demand for food delivery has skyrocketed since the pandemic started. Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub reported record increases in revenue in 2020.

As more people turn to apps on their phones for on-demand services such as food delivery and ride-sharing, the financial payoff has been huge. Uber Eats has grown to become a $6 billion business for Uber.

Uber Eats drivers make on average between $8 and $12 an hour. However, it is possible to earn more than $25 an hour with tips, but many Uber Eats delivery drivers don’t know how to make $1000 a week with Uber Eats.

Things to consider before signing up for Uber Eats

Making 1,000 a week as an Uber Eats driver is pretty simple, and it all depends on how much time you have, if you’re doing it as your side hustle or a full-time job and how much tolerance you have for traffic and traffic jams.

Making a living from this side hustle can be difficult if you don’t know where to start. However, making money delivering food with Uber Eats is not as difficult as you think and we’re going to show you how.

As with the case with any gig economy job, you should ensure that you work efficiently to boost earnings, set your working hours and be your boss. You can enable or disable Uber Eats deliveries in the Uber driver app. Before you download the Uber Eats app and get started, there are a few things to consider.

Where do you live?

If you’re in New York City or San Francisco, Uber Eats won’t work for you. This is because there are already 80 drivers on the Uber Eats platform for every available delivery request.

On the other hand, if you live somewhere where there isn’t high demand, and there aren’t many or any Uber Eats drivers, then this is something you should look into doing.

It takes a lot of time to learn the ropes with Uber Eats, but it can be highly profitable once you do. If you live in a smaller city, you will be able to deliver for Uber Eats and achieve your $1,000 per week goal.

First of all, there are fewer cars (and therefore no drivers) in most small towns. That’s not the case with moderately sized cities. The larger the city, the more drivers there are and generally speaking, the more customers.

It is safe to assume that in major metropolitan areas such as New York City or Los Angeles, where Uber Eats has done exceptionally well, an abundance of potential customers is waiting for your deliveries every day.

But the downside is that it can be pretty competitive in such locations and in New York, in particular, if you don’t get lucky early on with the surge pricing, the demand for your deliveries may not be strong enough to warrant driving around just waiting to pick up orders.

All that being said, I’m going to assume everyone who would read this already lives in a town big enough to have Uber Eats. If you don’t, this probably won’t help, but congratulations on living in a city!

How much time do you have?

If you’re a new driver, it can be tempting to drive for twelve hours at a time and take every order, small or large. However, you must understand that quantity over quality is more important.

If you want to make $1,000 per week as an Uber Eats driver, you will have to put in at least 30 hours into it per week. This means that if you work another job as well, you will not be able to make this much.

You could make around $500 a week if you work 20 hours or less per week on Uber Eats, but it will take longer for you to get to $1,000, and your payment will be lower than other people working the same amount of hours.

How much money do you want to make?

If you only need $200 per week, then that’s fine. You can work whenever it is convenient for you and drive relatively little for this amount of money.

However, if you need more than $500, it will take more time to get there. Keep in mind that once you get to $1,000 or more per week, then there is no stopping you. The potential here is enormous.

It will take a lot of driving, but if you live in a city, it should be possible for you to make $1,000 a week as an Uber Eats delivery driver.

How much does Uber Eats pay its drivers?

The Uber Eats pay depends on the distance traveled from pickup to drop off, the time from pickup to delivery, the pickup fee and the drop off fee.

The drop off fee is also known as the delivery fee. It also depends on surge pricing, which is when Uber Eats charges more than the average amount for an order.

The different types of days

The first thing you need to know about making $1000 a week with Uber Eats is that there are three types of days.

The Slow Day

It’s sunny, it’s Saturday, and everyone is out having fun at the park or the lake or whatever. Today, fewer drivers are on duty because most people aren’t interested in working on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. 

The Catch Up Day

It’s raining, it’s Sunday, and it’s another slow day. The sun is not out, people are watching movies and relaxing, and there aren’t that many drivers on the road. 

The Surge Day

It’s Friday night; everyone is out because they just got paid, and it’s the beginning of the weekend. These are the busiest times.

Even though Uber Eats says the surge rate will be 1.5x, maybe there are even three times more people placing orders than usual tonight! If you get lucky and you’re in the right place at the right time, it could be 5x or higher.

What to expect from each type of day?

So what do these three different types of days mean for you, a prospective Uber Eats delivery driver? Let’s break it down.

The Slow Day: If you pick up many orders in a slow day, you might spend more time waiting around for jobs than actually delivering them.

It can still be worth working on these days because the rates are usually decent when fewer delivery drivers are on duty.

The Catch Up Day: On these days, you may have to drive for hours to get enough jobs to make it worthwhile. But, if you can get the work done, the payment will be significant!

The Surge Day: This is the day where you have the potential to make hundreds of dollars in just a few hours.

The key takeaway is that to make $1000 a week with Uber Eats, you must understand that the order volume fluctuates between each type of day, but tipping doesn’t.

At the same time, it doesn’t matter if it’s a slow day, catch up day or a surge day; the more deliveries you make, the more money you can expect to earn.

If you’re willing to put in a little more work, then you can make $1000 per week as an Uber Eats driver. If not, there’s always the option of taking a gig as a food delivery driver for restaurants through other food delivery apps like DoorDash or GrubHub.

Many factors go into making money delivering for Uber Eats, and it all depends on your personal preference.

This blog post will show you exactly what steps to take to start making money with Uber Eats right away and some tips to keep in mind while deciding your delivery strategy.

How to make $1000 a week with Uber Eats

Decide your schedule

Are you delivering for Uber Eats during the day to make a little extra cash on weekdays, or are you delivering for Uber Eats at night while working your full-time job? 

The absolute best times for food delivery services are weekends and dinner times. 

Regardless of what strategy you choose, there is no shortage of potential customers on Uber Eats. There’s always someone looking for food late at night and people who work long hours and don’t have time to cook.

If you deliver for Uber Eats during the day, make sure that your phone is charged and turned on all day because it will take many orders to rake in $1000 a week at this rate. It’s essential that when you are idle, you’re still checking your app for orders.

If you deliver at night, then it’s a little easier to make $1000 a week with Uber Eats since there are fewer orders to compete with. Your phone doesn’t have to be on all day and is only needed when your shift starts or if you get an order during your off time.

If you don’t work at a job and have plenty of time on your hands, then it’s best to focus all your attention on Uber Eats. If you work at a job, you can alternate between your job and Uber Eats to make the most of your time.

Ask yourself, “Do I have the time to make this worth it?” If you don’t, then stick with your regular job. Another thing to consider is how much traffic are you willing and able to handle?

You will be driving around a lot to deliver food for customers, so if not being stuck in traffic bothers you or you have another job you need to attend, Uber Eats might not be the best option for you.

It would help if you thought about the hours you can work and what strategies will make it worth your time while still leaving room for other activities like school or a full-time job.

Scope out your area

You should scope out your area and see what the competition is like before deciding on a business strategy. Identify the areas with the most restaurants and delivery spots.

You’ll get more orders if you are in a busy area with plenty of customers. It would be best to be realistic about how much you want to work and consider the time it takes for each delivery.

Is it worth driving an hour to get a $10 order if you’re only going to make a buck for your time? No, of course not. You have to consider the effort and fuel consumption to get drive from Point A to Point B.

It would be best to prioritise certain areas more than others based on where you’re at and where the restaurants are located.

During the day, I recommend focusing on delivering for restaurants that deliver to your area so you can get several deliveries in.

I recommend concentrating on diners who offer delivery at night since there are fewer orders at night than during the day.

If you’re in an unpopulated area with few restaurants, focusing on delivering for only one or two restaurant types instead of everything makes sense.

If you’re in a small town, then chances are there is only one restaurant that offers delivery or dine-in service, so focus on just those two types of restaurants to make the most money since deliveries and diners will be infrequent.

To do your food delivery job efficiently, it would be best if you had a car. If you don’t have a car, you can even deliver food for Uber Eats with a bicycle. If you don’t want to pay for gas, insurance, and other expenses, go with Uber Eats Bike Delivery.

Don’t overwork yourself

It’s important not to overwork yourself since this can lead to people feeling sick or burnt out, resulting in quitting altogether, so be sure to set limits on how many hours per week you can spend delivering. It would be best if you were flexible with the hours that you are available to work.

Make use of peak hours

If you’re in a busy area, try to find out what times of day get more orders so that your delivery windows align with those peak periods to boost your daily income in full swing.

You’ll also be able to make big tips during this period. It’ll take time for visibility, but it will pay off in the end if you start early.

If you’re not in a busy area, don’t worry about it and stay flexible with your delivery windows.

Keep up with local events

Local events affect business for restaurants, so you might want to consider the impact these events will have on your delivery area and plan around them accordingly.

For example, if there is a big event or a big game in your area, people are most likely to order food. It would be best to keep tabs on football games, concerts or other events and have your phone ready for activity bursts because these areas will have high demand, and people will pay you to bring food to the event.

Don’t deliver where the competition is fierce

It would be best if you stayed away from delivering where there are already many other Uber Eats drivers because those areas will most likely have lots of deliveries, creating more competition for you.

Consider delivering to locations that are further away from high-traffic zones like malls and other crowded areas.

Read customer reviews

If you want to succeed with Uber Eats, you must pay attention to customer feedback since your ratings will be directly affected.

Uber Eats uses the average of your past 100 5-star ratings as part of its acceptance process, so make sure you are attentive to customer orders.

Try your best to provide service that customers love, leading to satisfied customers and better ratings. Customers also tend to tip generously if they are happy with the service.

Your rating is critical, so make sure to be courteous to customers. If you have a 4.7 rating or below, it will be challenging to become a successful Uber Eats driver because higher rated drivers will always get priority on Uber Eats.

Follow the rules of Uber Eats

When driving for Uber Eats, don’t drive too fast, drive defensively and obey all traffic laws or you will get deactivated.

Keep your car clean and deliver your orders as fast as possible without breaking the speed limit. It’s essential to follow the rules of Uber Eats.

Uber is very strict about its rules, so make sure you know them, or else your account might get deactivated.

Do what makes sense for you

The most important thing is, to be honest with yourself. Be realistic about your goals and what you’re willing to do for money as an Uber Eats driver.

Don’t work crazy hours if it doesn’t make sense for you, but don’t be afraid of making money either. Think about how much effort you want to put into your job, and then go for it!

If you would rather be an independent contractor with the freedom to work when you want, then go for it! If you’d rather drive around in circles all day to make more money but still enjoy your personal time, then do that.

Remember that there is no one-size-fits-all solution in life, so only do what works for you! Be true to yourself, and you’ll find success in this job if it’s something that interests you!

Deliver long distance

You can also try delivering long-distance for Uber Eats.

For this, your car needs to be able to make deliveries over a certain distance, and you’ll get paid per mile driven depending on the size of the delivery area and how much traffic there is at that time. 

If you’re feeling a bit adventurous and want some extra money, then this might be for you!

Maintain relationships with restaurants

It would also be beneficial to maintain good relationships with the restaurants that are partnered with Uber Eats.

This way, they will keep sending you more delivery requests, which means that you don’t need to spend as much time looking for orders.

Stay updated on new promotions

If you want to be successful with Uber Eats, you must stay updated on all the latest promotions they offer because those could significantly increase your earnings!

To get even more money from Uber, make sure that you read the terms and conditions of each offer before you start delivering.

Also, keep tabs on the new services such as grocery delivery opening up with Uber Eats. You can also make use of the referral bonus that Uber Eats gives you when new drivers sign up with your referral code.

Usually, Uber informs you when a Boost Income promotion, which gives you a multiplied pay rate, starts. You should make sure that you’re prepared to work the entire Boost shift. 

See how it goes at first

It can certainly be challenging to find a balance between riding for Uber Eats and taking your other responsibilities into account, so it’s important to remember that you can always scale back if needed.

If the overall process is too time-consuming for you, remember that nothing bad will happen if you leave or take a break.

You don’t have to force yourself into doing something just because it seems like the right thing to do!

Set Goals

If you’re still wondering how to make $1000 a week with Uber Eats, you can accomplish this if you set goals for yourself.

You must also keep in mind that you will make more money the more hours you put in.

You must be disciplined to stick with it, but you can make 1,000 a week with Uber Eats if you are.

You can start from your own house and drive around looking for orders, or you can go to a crowded place like a mall, but either way, you need to have a car that’s acceptable for Uber Eats.

Be prepared for the “luck phase,” where at first, all orders seem to come right as soon as they’re available, but eventually, this will taper off.

Enjoy your job

It’s important to enjoy every aspect of being a food delivery driver if you want to continue with it as a full-time gig.

This includes dealing with customers who might take issue with their orders or getting bad reviews from people for mistakes on your end.

If you’re going to be late, you should communicate this to the customer as soon as possible.

Nothing is worse than showing up at a customer’s doorstep with their order only to have them wait for over half an hour because you didn’t inform them that the restaurant was out of one of your customer’s orders.

An irate customer is almost always worse for the driver than it is for the customer! If you get poor reviews for something you’ve done, take responsibility for it and try to improve.

If you go the extra mile by working efficiently and being positive, you will earn more tips and good reviews. Although it can be challenging at first, it will all pay off with the right attitude.

Wrap Up

You should pick a company you believe in so that it doesn’t feel like a waste of time.

As mentioned earlier, you can also try delivering for restaurants through other food delivery apps like DoorDash or Grubhub if Uber Eats isn’t your thing.

If food delivery is not for you and you would like to socialize with people, you can consider driving for Uber.

The key is to find something that works with your schedule and preferences. You can easily make 1,000 a week delivering for Uber Eats by being smart about it and having a lot of patience.