One thing that might surprise people who have never worked a side gig or contract work job is that, despite not being a full employee, you may still follow a payment schedule.
Even with grocery delivery service Instacart, shoppers have the freedom to make their own hours, but company policy is that they get paid weekly on Wednesdays. But is that still the case, or does the company pay daily? if you’d like to find out, keep reading!
Does Instacart Pay Daily In 2024?
In 2019, Instacart introduced its new Shopper app feature, Instant Cashout. For a small fee, shoppers can collect their earnings daily, or even multiple times a day, so that they have the money right when they need it. Earnings eligible for Instant Cashout do not include tips; only Instacart’s base batch pay in 2024.
To learn more about how to get paid right away by Instacart, how to cash out instantly on the Shopper app, and much more, read on! I have all you need to know!
Does Instacart Pay You Right Away?
As of 2019, Instacart heard its shoppers’ pleas for more flexible access to the money they earned, so they rolled out Instant Cashout.
This is a semi-instant payment method that charges 50 cents per transaction to have your Instacart earnings transferred over.
No longer do shoppers have to wait until Wednesday for their earnings to hit their account.
Rather, they can cash out daily, or even multiple times per day.
As previously mentioned, this payment method is semi-instant, as earnings for batches are not instantaneous.
The Grocery Store Guy explains that it can take up to 45 minutes for the funds to hit your Shopper account after completing a batch.
But if you’re lucky, it will take much less time.
However, note that Instant Cashout does not give you the money from tips. This can only be dispersed with your weekly payments on Wednesdays.
The reasoning behind this is that Instacart offers its customers 24 hours to change their tips.
If someone tipped you $20, you cashed out instantly, but then the next day, they changed it to $10, then Instacart just lost $10 because you were already paid.
In a way, though, not receiving your tips instantly can be helpful for shoppers who might otherwise spend everything as they make it.
How Do You Instant Cashout on Instacart?
Cashing out instantly on Instacart is super easy to do.
Open your Shopper app and press on Earnings. Once that screen is open, you can see if you’re carrying a balance on your account, and how much (if any) you’re eligible to cash out.
The cash-out button will be green if you can transfer the funds to your bank account. If it’s grey (like for example, all that’s left in your account is tips), you won’t be able to cash out.
The screen also breaks down how much comes from Instacart, and how much comes from customer tips, plus when you earned your funds. It’s pretty interesting!
Go ahead and press the button if it’s green, and you will be taken to the Instant Cashout screen.
You’ll see the amount to transfer, the “adjustment”- the 50-cent fee- and the total after the fee is taken off.
You will also see the account to which the money is going to be moved. If you get rid of an account or get a new one, you can edit where the money heads.
Press on the green Cashout button, and your money is on its way (check out this brief but very informative YouTube video that shows the Instant Cashout process in real-time)!
How Much Is Instacart Instant Cashout?
Instacart charges 50 cents for every Instant Cashout transaction.
While this doesn’t sound like a lot in theory, it does add up surprisingly quickly.
For example, if you shopped five days a week, and used Instant Cashout once a day, that would come to $2.50 per week, and that weekly total turns into $130 per year.
Now imagine if you were using Instant Cashout multiple times per day you shopped. You would be giving back to Instacart hundreds over the course of a year.
Instant Cashout is an incredibly convenient method for getting paid when you need the money.
But to maximize your earnings, it’s best if you use it sparingly, perhaps only a few times per week, if at all.
What Day Does Instacart Pay?
Even if you use Instant Cashout, you still receive your tips only on the usual payday, which is Wednesdays.
The pay period runs from Monday through Sunday; after that, the funds are totaled, and you get paid for the previous week on the upcoming Wednesday.
How Much Can You Make a Week with Instacart?
Everyone’s earnings with Instacart are going to differ, but sites that aggregate the pay scale for shopping with this company indicate a rate of around $13-20 per hour.
That comes out to $520 to $800 per week, assuming a 40-hour workweek.
At eight hours a day, that would come out to $104 to $160 per day.
So, if you’re interested in becoming an Instacart shopper, your chances of making over $100 per day are fairly good. (The better you get, the more you’ll earn.)
Also, if you need the money right away, you don’t have to wait until Wednesday; you can simply pay the 50-cent fee and use Instant Cashout.
This can be very useful when there is a birthday you need to buy a present for the next day, or if you want to surprise your partner with a little trip somewhere the following week.
To learn more, you can also read our related posts on whether or not Instacart take out taxes, how can you quit Instacart, and Instacart background check.
Conclusion
Instacart now allows its shoppers to withdraw their earnings as often as they’d like, using Instant Cashout. At 50 cents per transaction, shoppers can get paid daily, or multiple times a day, though tip money is only paid out weekly, on Wednesdays.