I was reading an article on Bloomberg discussing the #DeclineNow movement. Two drivers local to me in Easton PA have been trying to beat the Door Dash algorithm to earn more money. These two drivers, Dave Levy and Nikos Kanelopoulos met as Uber drivers waiting at the airport. They both noticed that when you decline an order in Door Dash, that order gets assigned to someone else at a higher pay. In an effort to increase the pay for everyone, Dave and Nikos created #DeclineNow, a 40,000+ person online forum. Think of them as the subreddit wallstreetbets of Door Dash. With everyone declining low pay orders equalling less than $7, Door Dash is expected to offer those orders to someone else for $7 or more.
It’s hard to tell for sure, but the group already claims that they have seen increased pay for workers across the country, especially in Pennsylvania where it all started.
Door Dash however is fighting back by hiding tips from the initial delivery offer. You may think you are getting a $6 offer, but Door Dash may be hiding the $2 in tips until you complete the delivery. Door Dash also recommends that you have an acceptance rate of at least 70% to be considered for the “Top Dasher” status, whatever that means.
A quick poll done by Doordash Diaries, a YouTube Channel, shows that only 13% of people have an acceptance rate of at least 81% and 31% of Dashers have an acceptance rate of 20% or less.
I personally decline any order that pays less than $1 per mile, but I have never reached less than a 90% acceptance rate. Recently I declined an order for McDonalds at $3.25. I would have had to drive 8 miles away from my house just to reach the McDonalds, plus another 5 miles further away from my area to reach the customer. These orders are not worth it. You actually lose money by accepting these deliveries. After declining that order, I received another order for Wawa at $7.25. Unfortunately this order required me driving for several miles and would have taken at least 30 minutes to complete. I declined the order once again. Next I received a $9 order for Outback Steakhouse. This was also far, but it met my $1/mile minimum, so I accepted the order.
You must consider depreciation, maintenance, and fuel costs when accepting a dash. I would include taxes, but it gets too convoluted. I have a 2016 Honda Accord with a great resale value and I average 29 miles per gallon. It takes regular unleaded fuel which costs $3 per gallon in my area. My variable depreciation cost is roughly calculated at $0.12 per mile, maintenance is roughly $0.03 per mile, and fuel is roughly $0.10 per mile. My cost to Door Dash is $0.25 per mile. I want to make a minimum profit of $0.75 per mile, hence my minimum Dash is $1 per mile. If you drive an SUV or Minivan, a larger engined car, or an unreliable vehicle, you should set your minimum Dash at $2/mile or higher. If you drive a Fiat, Land Rover, Chrysler, or Dodge, don’t even try to DoorDash. It’s not worth it. Although rare, you can expect to earn as much as $4/mile during DoorDash promotions.
In conclusion, you should definitely decline orders that lose you money or cause you to break even. You are not required to accept all orders and you won’t get any penalties for doing so. If you are a Delivery driver, check out my list of must have products for any delivery driver.
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