I tried the Instacart full-service shopper side hustle for a week and didn’t hate it. I found the level of activity involved — shopping and loading at grocery and other types of stores — to be more fulfilling than chauffeuring people around as an Uber driver or doing taco and smoothie deliveries with DoorDash. (I tried both of those gigs, too).
Even though I liked it, I didn’t make much money, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. I chalk my struggle up to being a total Instacart noob and living in a relatively small town in Maryland. Also, I was filming my experience for a Nerdy video, which slowed me down a bit.
How much do Instacart shoppers make?
According to ZipRecruiter, the average pay for Instacart shoppers in Maryland is about $17 per hour. I made less than that.
I tested this side hustle over the course of three days, spent just under seven hours active in …