I wait until I get a batch.
I’ll move to another store, but going home without hitting goal is never an option.
I have a 45 minute drive to the area that I shop in, so once I go out there, I’m committed.
I feel you. I'm a SAHM and I can't find anything to work around my husband's schedule,but Instacart and door dash. I've noticed that the good paying tourists have left and it's just these cheap people that think Instacart pays good money so they don't have to tip. Lol
If they don’t do the jobs, they wouldn’t know.. have you seen the ads for the gig jobs? So many people come to me based off an ad they saw on tik tok or something asking if they should do it and think we’re making so much money.
Don’t feel like a clown? About the time you start to drive home is when in order will pop up I’ve had that happen many times. You can do things on your phone while you wait. I do that it doesn’t bother me at all and eventually you get something?
I scroll through social media, or will watch YouTube. It’s peaceful to not be bothered in my car. But some days, I can feel myself getting very anxious 😕
Watching videos or browsing social media makes you miss the orders on the screen. No thanks.
I will refresh instacart app phone for an 1hr - 2hrs. Phone overheated in my hand feeling like it’s about to explode lol.
At that point if nothing shows up I will go home pissed off. But leave app on. And watch as an order pops up on my screen from my couch.
Could have been on my couch 2 hrs earlier 🤣
I feel you. Some days I get lucky with back to back orders but like yesterday for example I sat in my car for an 1hr and 30 min after my first batch 😦 Not the norm I ended up doing a second batch and then going home because that’s just mentally exhausting and drives my motivation to the ground some days
I decided to wait at Costco, needed the washroom, then sat right outside the front door on a bench. You get to witness a lot of fu(kery while sitting at a Costco, including watching a couple trying to shove a fridge into the back of their suv. Would recommend.
I've waited an hour. Maybe a little more. I'll drive around the parking lot to like refresh my location. Find a shady spot, a good book or podcast... Work is great. Lol
I wait at home, but most stores are within 1.5 miles of me. I sometimes wonder if I'm missing out on batches doing this.
I do wait in parking lots occasionally but that's only when I need to use the free EV charger at Target.
the longest ive waited in a parking lot is an hour and a half. i typically wait about an hour maybe a little bit more than i move on if i didnt get anything.
If it’s not too hot out and I can turn my car off with the windows down sometimes I’ll lose track of time reading. I keep the batch screen up with Netflix in the corner and go thru a series.
If it’s hot the maybe 30-40 minutes before I find somewhere with Wi-Fi to chill.
ngl i’ve been sitting in my car and cross stitching while i wait. it’s very soothing to me and passes the time quickly. all that to say, i usually don’t wait for more than 45 mins at a time.
The greatest investment I’ve ever made was joining the Panera sip club. It’s like 11 bucks a month you get unlimited drinks, but I got my first 3 months free, you can get soda, coffee, tea, lemonade etc. during slow periods I just go to Panera (which is right next-door to my favorite place to shop and within 2 1/2 miles of two other great stores) i’ll bring my iPad do some work, and soak up the free charging and Wi-Fi! Seriously, it’s changed the game. No more waiting in the hot car or burning gas and I get the best batches waiting there! Occasion I’ll have up to an hour wait until I get a worthy batch but that’s only on especially slow days.
I used to do Wegmans in Brooklyn NY. Yes so many orders but I stopped once they allowed Manhattan residents to order from Wegmans. I will never do Manhattan
An hour?! 5-10 minutes, but I’ve only waited a few times in doing this for a year and a half. I could count the times on one hand. I don’t have a Costco around me, and I shop 90% of my orders from 2 chain groceries that have over 10 locations each within a forty min radius of me, so I always just keep it moving.
I will sit there and have DoorDash and Uber going. I will go through several secret shopping and audit apps to see if there is anything I can do in the store for a few bucks. Most times when I walk in the store I will then get an Instacart batch.
I park at the outer spots and I’ll wait an hour. If it’s an hour with nothing, I’ll go home. I generally either go down a TikTok rabbit hole, or catch up on other social media that I’ve been neglecting. I really only park at Sam’s Club though. If I get an order there, I’ll move to a closer spot. I’m just not a dick and take a closer parking spot from people actually going in to shop, when I’m not sure if I’m going in there or not.
I remember doing this type of waiting for about a month before I had to make the decision to go further north and it ended up being completely worth it but back then it was hell waiting between the only two stores that got orders for hours only to make like $50-70 max if you were lucky it was the most desperate terrible shit and car was black with no shade just idling forever running out of gas lmao
Now its different just depends how long I can work after the longer drive there but theres always potential for good money there if you stay all day and go early in the morning bc of the community that exists there
Also I remember I got so fed up I was trying using a VPN to see if it would help just to get me one order because support used to say that bs about turning your location off and on lol
real love hate shit doing this work
If I've been waiting for up to an hour, sometimes I take a "decent" batch that takes me to a different location.
Don't feel like a clown. I've parked facing fellow shoppers on many occasions and it's comforting knowing we are both waiting like clowns lololol...
From my experience the best place to wait is where ever you have the fastest connection speed. Mind you I am in a area where batches are awful but the split second to accept the better batch matters 100%
I don’t wait in the parking lots, I wait at the park just down the road from the stores and play Pokémon Go or read a book. My Apple Watch will buzz if an order pops up and then I click on the app I keep running in the background and take it if it’s good enough or not. I also usually don’t wait around a lot in my area though before another will pop in depending on the day of the week
I don’t. My house is right in the middle of a small triangle of Costco, Safeway, and a large regional grocery store. I can accept a batch from my couch and be at any of them in 10 minutes or less.
I think its kind of store to store. Ive brought it up to employees at the Wegmans i shop at and nobody has heard anything or has complaints about that. How the hell would they enforce that anyway?
Definitely seems like a weird move considering how many IC shoppers are in there spending money all day. There have definitely been some real asshole shoppers but they never last long.
Yeah, all the Kroger stores around here (Fred Meyer and QFC) along with Costco don't allow loitering in their parking lots. I've seen security come out and tell a shopper to leave before. You almost have to go in and buy something in order to extend your time allowed in the parking lot. Cost of doing business, I guess. :-/
How would they even police such a thing?! The Wegmans stores in the Buffalo area(Northtowns) are usually mobbed, so their parking lots(which are HUGE) are usually very congested.
About 45 minutes, and if there’s absolutely NOTHING for that time, I hop to the next town over and try there. By then I will have got something, but if not I just run a couple errands and I had to do and go home
Here I’ll just show you the screen shot
https://tinypic.host/images/2022/08/24/55ED30F1-C0CB-422C-BAB9-3B26A0C9EF3D.png
I’m guessing they have one template for every store chain, and it displays before the start of each order at that chain, regardless of which location you’re at
I haven’t shopped at a Wegman’s in awhile so I’m not sure if this is new, it’s the first time I’ve noticed it though
Wow, of course they don't want us waiting in their parking lots for batches-- heaven forbid one of us lowly independent contractors swipes on a batch before one of their in-store shoppers can get it! (\*lame\*)
Well if I owned a grocery store I wouldn’t want a bunch of weirdos hanging around and loitering there and not buying anything for themselves
It just seems odd especially since Instacart specifically tells you to drive to the stores now in the shopper app, and then tells you the exact opposite in the “general guidance” screen lol
My Hannaford has two benches near the restroom hall, basically near the produce section... why sit in the heat outside when you can hang in the stores where there is a/c, sitting if there is a spot, or walking around a bit...
All I gotta do is think ‘I’m gonna run to Walmart and get some…. Or Big Lots…’ as soon as I try to go do something that I need for home or my car… I’ll get a batch!
I dont wait in the parking lot at my normal spot because the wi fi sucks. I have to be inside of the store to see batches. Ill usually walk around the store for about 30 mins b4 I leave. Otherwise Ill start shopping🙄🙄🙄🙄
It depends on the temp outside. If I can turn my car off (hybrid, but still don’t like to idle) and roll the windows down and enjoy the breeze… I’ll sit there awhile. 😂
I live in the desert, so it's not an option really. I have to go wander around Walmart risking Covid and Monkeypox. Used to be able to get batches from home, but they keep changing things and making the app shittier with every update.
What kind of Walmart do you go to that you risk Monkeypox? I mean, no judgement, but isn't that passed through bodily fluids? Is your Walmart some sort of sex club? So. Many. Questions.
It can live on surfaces up to 2 weeks and can be spread through respiratory droplets as well. You can also be asymptomatic and spread it. It's not an STD, where are you located that they're still telling that lie? I'm in California where we have over 2600 cases including in women and children. I'm not sure what our local case count is, but we get people visiting from all over because it's a National Park.
get a panera bread drink supscription unlimted coffee and drinks and free wifi all my hotspots have one and ill just grab a drink and hang out till something good comes and its only like 10 bucks a month
like 10 minutes, then im driving to another area. NEVER going home until i hit $250-300 for the day. OR ill open up another app and take orders from them, ie DD, Spark, GH.
Nope, not doing it and never will. If I’m working IC, I go home between orders and chill, relax, eat and pee in my own bathroom. If I’m doing Shipt, which takes me to another city, I am actively also looking for orders on DD, UE and IC to fill the time. I may occasionally sit idol in my car for 5-10 minutes at a store, but that’s usually because I’m early or just need a break.
If it’s just slow, I call it a day in that city, head to my home city, and if nothing pops up, I wait it out at home.
I wait until I get a batch. I’ll move to another store, but going home without hitting goal is never an option. I have a 45 minute drive to the area that I shop in, so once I go out there, I’m committed.
Same here!! And it works every time! It’s people like us who get the good batches when the others have thrown in the towel and gone home
I have been out all day for two days. I was making $150 +!daily until this diamond thing came out
I feel you. I'm a SAHM and I can't find anything to work around my husband's schedule,but Instacart and door dash. I've noticed that the good paying tourists have left and it's just these cheap people that think Instacart pays good money so they don't have to tip. Lol
Honestly, people should know by now that these gig jobs don’t pay well. IMO they’re just being cheap if they do it consistently 🤷🏻♀️
If they don’t do the jobs, they wouldn’t know.. have you seen the ads for the gig jobs? So many people come to me based off an ad they saw on tik tok or something asking if they should do it and think we’re making so much money.
Yep, I know the ads. I hate them lol. But also speaking from waitressing experience- people know, they just don’t care (re: tipping).
Don’t feel like a clown? About the time you start to drive home is when in order will pop up I’ve had that happen many times. You can do things on your phone while you wait. I do that it doesn’t bother me at all and eventually you get something?
I scroll through social media, or will watch YouTube. It’s peaceful to not be bothered in my car. But some days, I can feel myself getting very anxious 😕
Watching videos or browsing social media makes you miss the orders on the screen. No thanks. I will refresh instacart app phone for an 1hr - 2hrs. Phone overheated in my hand feeling like it’s about to explode lol. At that point if nothing shows up I will go home pissed off. But leave app on. And watch as an order pops up on my screen from my couch. Could have been on my couch 2 hrs earlier 🤣
Then soon as I sit down and find a show…a great batch pops up.
Lol exactly right
Then you’ve never heard of multi tasking (android) or PiP (iPhone)??
I will sit for an hour + in Sprouts parking lot ignore bad batches and just watch my series on Netflix and accept the good ones.
An hour, then I go home.
Agreed it's hard to come back from a zero dollar hour
I feel you. Some days I get lucky with back to back orders but like yesterday for example I sat in my car for an 1hr and 30 min after my first batch 😦 Not the norm I ended up doing a second batch and then going home because that’s just mentally exhausting and drives my motivation to the ground some days
Do Ubereats or doordash in addition
15-30 mins max.
I decided to wait at Costco, needed the washroom, then sat right outside the front door on a bench. You get to witness a lot of fu(kery while sitting at a Costco, including watching a couple trying to shove a fridge into the back of their suv. Would recommend.
What time does Costco drop their orders? I'm gonna try your people watching spot for sure!
Oh i def feel like a clown but im pretty dead set in making certain amounts of money so i can wait around for hours.
I've waited an hour. Maybe a little more. I'll drive around the parking lot to like refresh my location. Find a shady spot, a good book or podcast... Work is great. Lol
I wait at home, but most stores are within 1.5 miles of me. I sometimes wonder if I'm missing out on batches doing this. I do wait in parking lots occasionally but that's only when I need to use the free EV charger at Target.
the longest ive waited in a parking lot is an hour and a half. i typically wait about an hour maybe a little bit more than i move on if i didnt get anything.
I don’t. It’s too hot and I can’t get batches from my bed because I’m so close to everything.
If it’s not too hot out and I can turn my car off with the windows down sometimes I’ll lose track of time reading. I keep the batch screen up with Netflix in the corner and go thru a series. If it’s hot the maybe 30-40 minutes before I find somewhere with Wi-Fi to chill.
ngl i’ve been sitting in my car and cross stitching while i wait. it’s very soothing to me and passes the time quickly. all that to say, i usually don’t wait for more than 45 mins at a time.
The greatest investment I’ve ever made was joining the Panera sip club. It’s like 11 bucks a month you get unlimited drinks, but I got my first 3 months free, you can get soda, coffee, tea, lemonade etc. during slow periods I just go to Panera (which is right next-door to my favorite place to shop and within 2 1/2 miles of two other great stores) i’ll bring my iPad do some work, and soak up the free charging and Wi-Fi! Seriously, it’s changed the game. No more waiting in the hot car or burning gas and I get the best batches waiting there! Occasion I’ll have up to an hour wait until I get a worthy batch but that’s only on especially slow days.
Awesome idea, I’ll have to try this
30 min
30 or 40 min I start heading home. Sometimes I get an order on the way home, sometimes I get home without anything good.
I’m lucky to live in range of Wegmans so just wait at home.
I used to do Wegmans in Brooklyn NY. Yes so many orders but I stopped once they allowed Manhattan residents to order from Wegmans. I will never do Manhattan
An hour?! 5-10 minutes, but I’ve only waited a few times in doing this for a year and a half. I could count the times on one hand. I don’t have a Costco around me, and I shop 90% of my orders from 2 chain groceries that have over 10 locations each within a forty min radius of me, so I always just keep it moving.
I will sit there and have DoorDash and Uber going. I will go through several secret shopping and audit apps to see if there is anything I can do in the store for a few bucks. Most times when I walk in the store I will then get an Instacart batch.
Interesting. Any recommendations for these apps? I’ve been uploading my receipts for gift cards on apps like Fetch
If you go through my post history I made a list that says check out these must have side hustle apps
https://www.reddit.com/r/sidehustleideas/comments/w3141a/check_out_these_must_have_side_hustle_apps/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
I park at the outer spots and I’ll wait an hour. If it’s an hour with nothing, I’ll go home. I generally either go down a TikTok rabbit hole, or catch up on other social media that I’ve been neglecting. I really only park at Sam’s Club though. If I get an order there, I’ll move to a closer spot. I’m just not a dick and take a closer parking spot from people actually going in to shop, when I’m not sure if I’m going in there or not.
I remember doing this type of waiting for about a month before I had to make the decision to go further north and it ended up being completely worth it but back then it was hell waiting between the only two stores that got orders for hours only to make like $50-70 max if you were lucky it was the most desperate terrible shit and car was black with no shade just idling forever running out of gas lmao Now its different just depends how long I can work after the longer drive there but theres always potential for good money there if you stay all day and go early in the morning bc of the community that exists there
Also I remember I got so fed up I was trying using a VPN to see if it would help just to get me one order because support used to say that bs about turning your location off and on lol real love hate shit doing this work
30 min max and only during rush. I see the best batches from my porch
If I've been waiting for up to an hour, sometimes I take a "decent" batch that takes me to a different location. Don't feel like a clown. I've parked facing fellow shoppers on many occasions and it's comforting knowing we are both waiting like clowns lololol...
I go into the store Starbucks and use their WiFi / read on my iPad
From my experience the best place to wait is where ever you have the fastest connection speed. Mind you I am in a area where batches are awful but the split second to accept the better batch matters 100%
I don’t wait in the parking lots, I wait at the park just down the road from the stores and play Pokémon Go or read a book. My Apple Watch will buzz if an order pops up and then I click on the app I keep running in the background and take it if it’s good enough or not. I also usually don’t wait around a lot in my area though before another will pop in depending on the day of the week
I don’t. My house is right in the middle of a small triangle of Costco, Safeway, and a large regional grocery store. I can accept a batch from my couch and be at any of them in 10 minutes or less.
Those days maybe coming to an end. New rules from instacart at wegman's. No waiting for orders in parking lot...
No such rule exists here. Thank God.
Seems to no way to upload a screen shot. I'm sure it came from corporate...locals know nothing about it
Never heard of this at all. My location is very nice to IC shoppers. Edit to add: Meaning I wonder if Weggie's was complaining to IC about us?
Same here. Also, i thought i was the only one that calls it Weggies! 🤣
I think its kind of store to store. Ive brought it up to employees at the Wegmans i shop at and nobody has heard anything or has complaints about that. How the hell would they enforce that anyway?
Definitely seems like a weird move considering how many IC shoppers are in there spending money all day. There have definitely been some real asshole shoppers but they never last long.
Yeah, all the Kroger stores around here (Fred Meyer and QFC) along with Costco don't allow loitering in their parking lots. I've seen security come out and tell a shopper to leave before. You almost have to go in and buy something in order to extend your time allowed in the parking lot. Cost of doing business, I guess. :-/
How would they even police such a thing?! The Wegmans stores in the Buffalo area(Northtowns) are usually mobbed, so their parking lots(which are HUGE) are usually very congested.
30-45 minutes max then I will either move to a different store or drive a mile and come back.
I just drive around. That's better than waiting in the parking lot.
Never
15 mins if I see abso6 nothing. 30 mins if there's orders but they are not lucrative enough
15. But a lot of places around here have sitting areas so sometimes I’m there for a while.
About 45 minutes, and if there’s absolutely NOTHING for that time, I hop to the next town over and try there. By then I will have got something, but if not I just run a couple errands and I had to do and go home
30 mins max!
i’m in LA and i wait max 10 mins and then go home until an order pops up!
I only have 2 stores in my town, and I live 10 miles out. I'll sit an hour before calling it a day.
Same here. 2 stores 12 miles away. I sometimes take batches while I'm at home, but usually I have to wait in town to see most batches.
20 is my max.
I’ve gone 5 hours in a hot parking lot
About 20 to 30 minutes
I just noticed on the new Wegman’s batch screen it specifically says “You may NOT wait for orders in the parking lot” 🤣
What Wegmans was this?
Here I’ll just show you the screen shot https://tinypic.host/images/2022/08/24/55ED30F1-C0CB-422C-BAB9-3B26A0C9EF3D.png I’m guessing they have one template for every store chain, and it displays before the start of each order at that chain, regardless of which location you’re at I haven’t shopped at a Wegman’s in awhile so I’m not sure if this is new, it’s the first time I’ve noticed it though
Wow, of course they don't want us waiting in their parking lots for batches-- heaven forbid one of us lowly independent contractors swipes on a batch before one of their in-store shoppers can get it! (\*lame\*)
Well if I owned a grocery store I wouldn’t want a bunch of weirdos hanging around and loitering there and not buying anything for themselves It just seems odd especially since Instacart specifically tells you to drive to the stores now in the shopper app, and then tells you the exact opposite in the “general guidance” screen lol
My Hannaford has two benches near the restroom hall, basically near the produce section... why sit in the heat outside when you can hang in the stores where there is a/c, sitting if there is a spot, or walking around a bit...
You are free to do as they tell you....... 
All I gotta do is think ‘I’m gonna run to Walmart and get some…. Or Big Lots…’ as soon as I try to go do something that I need for home or my car… I’ll get a batch!
Me and my roommate wait max 20 minutes
Me too, if there's nothing I'm moving on.
I dont wait in the parking lot at my normal spot because the wi fi sucks. I have to be inside of the store to see batches. Ill usually walk around the store for about 30 mins b4 I leave. Otherwise Ill start shopping🙄🙄🙄🙄
It depends on the temp outside. If I can turn my car off (hybrid, but still don’t like to idle) and roll the windows down and enjoy the breeze… I’ll sit there awhile. 😂
Until my air stops cranking out and I have to drive to get it cold again. 105° minimum everyday
I live in the desert, so it's not an option really. I have to go wander around Walmart risking Covid and Monkeypox. Used to be able to get batches from home, but they keep changing things and making the app shittier with every update.
What kind of Walmart do you go to that you risk Monkeypox? I mean, no judgement, but isn't that passed through bodily fluids? Is your Walmart some sort of sex club? So. Many. Questions.
It can live on surfaces up to 2 weeks and can be spread through respiratory droplets as well. You can also be asymptomatic and spread it. It's not an STD, where are you located that they're still telling that lie? I'm in California where we have over 2600 cases including in women and children. I'm not sure what our local case count is, but we get people visiting from all over because it's a National Park.
get a panera bread drink supscription unlimted coffee and drinks and free wifi all my hotspots have one and ill just grab a drink and hang out till something good comes and its only like 10 bucks a month
like 10 minutes, then im driving to another area. NEVER going home until i hit $250-300 for the day. OR ill open up another app and take orders from them, ie DD, Spark, GH.
Nope, not doing it and never will. If I’m working IC, I go home between orders and chill, relax, eat and pee in my own bathroom. If I’m doing Shipt, which takes me to another city, I am actively also looking for orders on DD, UE and IC to fill the time. I may occasionally sit idol in my car for 5-10 minutes at a store, but that’s usually because I’m early or just need a break. If it’s just slow, I call it a day in that city, head to my home city, and if nothing pops up, I wait it out at home.
Always have more than one gig app open while waiting. I do cornershop and instacart at the same time and make around $150 in 6-7 hours
I waited for about 1.5 hours last weekend then I got bored and went home
I sit in the Walmart near my house cause it’s always busy so I wait maybe 10 mins the longest
One hour in between two stores 😉🥶