Jobs with Instacart are not working from home opportunities. But for those that would like a flexible option for working out the home, the Instacart positions can fall in the category of great side gig. This is not a position that you can take your child with you when you go shopping for the customer’s groceries. Instacart policy says that you should not go shopping with any children or anyone else. For the safety of the customers and the shoppers, they run a background check on each shopper.
Instacart is a national grocery shopping service that employs and contracts with shoppers throughout the United States and Canada. There are currently two shopper options available: one is as an independent contractor, and another is a direct employee of the company.
Full-Service Shopper is the independent contractor option currently offered by Instacart and is the one that many may be more familiar with. Full-Service Shoppers are not direct employees of the company and do not have taxes withdrawn from any of the payments. So, you should set aside enough money when you pay your annual taxes so that it does not turn into an unmanageable tax bill. Full-Service Shoppers are paid based on the orders they shop for and deliver and for the items that only deliver. You can be very flexible in times that you are available. It may go without saying, but you will need to have a reliable vehicle to deliver the customer’s groceries.
In-Store Shoppers are the newest type of shoppers that Instacart utilizes the shop for customer grocery items. These are direct employees of the Instacart company and taxes are directly taken from your weekly pay. Instacart has been able to sign contracts with various grocery chains to have shoppers work directly in the stores. These shoppers will shop for groceries for a customer, bag the groceries and then place them in a temperature appropriate location in the store. Instacart employees have a designated area in the store that has shelves, freezers, and refrigerators for bagged customer groceries. The In-Store Shoppers do not deliver the groceries, instead, the Full-Service Shoppers will come and get the bagged groceries and deliver them to the customer’s designated location. In-Store shoppers are paid by the hour and that pay will vary by location. In some locations, In-Store Shoppers can receive tips from the customer, but this is not the case for all the locations.
When you sign up to be an In-Store Shopper you must sign a contract that you will be available for certain days and times. You also may be able to work every other Sunday. Each week you must set what time you will be available to work. Then you will be scheduled to work with those times you designated in the app. You are allowed to cancel hours within 24 hours of the start of your shift and now be penalized. You can also go into the app and see if there are available hours to work that one of your coworkers has canceled; you can then select to work those hours. At one time In-Store Shoppers had to work a minimum of 15 hours per week, but now the minimum required to work is 20 hours per week. This is a part-time position with no benefits and you are limited to only working 29 hours per week.
These options do not afford you the ability to work from home but may be flexible enough for those that have children in school and want to work around the school hours. If you are interested, you can visit the Instacart website and find out more information about both positions and also apply for the position that interests you.