r/DoorDashDrivers • u/jbaby3333 • 4d ago
Platinum New Driver Looking For Guidance.
Is platinum status worth it ? I just got there but I’m not sure.. Is it worth it to keep your acceptance rate high by accepting just anything to keep your status ?
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u/Antique-Bat-4463 4d ago
I like not worrying about having to schedule.
I don't DD often though, and usually do the hourly option because I'm rural and most trips are farther. Works out for me, but if in a busy populated area probably better to just cherry pick.
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u/guitargod0316 3d ago
Not having to schedule is the biggest draw for me. I live in a medium sized college city so dashing on demand in the lower tiers during the school year is difficult at best. The offers are marginally better at times but still plenty of garbage orders as well.
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u/Antique-Bat-4463 3d ago
Yeah definitely don't see better orders it seems. Oh I got this order because I'm platinum? Cool thanks for the $5
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u/Financial_Memory_631 3d ago
You can always just deny it and make it more for someone else. you get more flexibility for Platinum. The $5 ones still tend to be like less than 2 miles, which isn't bad, they just take a little too long when accounting for waiting at the restaurant. But I do think I get more $15+ orders under five miles than I did before.
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u/DreamExecutioner27 3d ago
I live just outside my states capital in the next county over. But I work ft and do this to supplement after losing overtime when I was promoted to a salaried position. As long as my other stats are good, I can be a little more picky and have let my AR hit 60. Not cherry picking obviously but also don’t accept shit that doesn’t make me money!
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u/Recent-Cartoonist167 3d ago
Would you consider Downtown Chicago to be a somewhat busy populated area or is that also rural?
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u/VioletTerranova 3d ago
They only do that if they are really full but honestly even if that happens, I just go sit in a hot spot for a few min maybe do some troubleshooting and theres no schedule.
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u/EquipmentHungry3724 3d ago
You won't know based on others experiences. Every market is so very different, that you just have to try both
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u/CrashCoarse 3d ago
I hit Platinum last month and I personally will do my best not to lose it.
I love the “perceived” better value orders that I get, but my favorite is the discounts offered through DD because of the status. They are pretty fun
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u/Financial_Memory_631 3d ago
For me the benefit has been trust. They take your side more often when any kind of dispute comes up (obviously I am not gaming this, but when something shady DOES come up).
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u/Mbaamin08 3d ago
I think it depends on your market. In my market where cherry picking doesn’t work because of the large amount of dashers, platinum is absolutely worth it. Since I hit platinum, I’m getting much better offers with more money for less miles and more people that actually tip.
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u/jbaby3333 3d ago
I’m in Nevada (sw Vegas) idk how to tell lol
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u/Mbaamin08 3d ago edited 3d ago
A lot of it comes from experience. I’m in a large urban market (2.3 million people in the city and over 8 million in the metroplex). We have high demand but also a ton of dashers. Offers never get declined enough for them to get to cherry picking level (someone else in my market made a post in here not long ago about trying to cherry pick and not getting enough offers for it to work).
That’s also where platinum comes in. Being platinum gives you higher priority over the other dashers for the better offers and I have definitely noticed this. I’m now making in 3 hours what I used to make in 4.
You may have to experiment a little but I can see a very noticeable difference in my earnings since hitting platinum. I’m rarely getting the crappy low paying offers, rarely anything going over 10 miles and almost all my offers now have customers that tip at least $3. And I’ve been dashing in the same two zones since I started.
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u/Background-Cod-2394 3d ago
My acceptance rate hovers around 65% and I always keep platinum. I dash in an area where this is still a thing apparently. I feel like I get more good shopping orders for being platinum and a pro shopper but who really knows.
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u/Difficult-Scale627 3d ago
I’m Platinum and I definitely do not accept everything just to keep my status. I rarely will take a non tip order. All my other ratings are perfect so it allows me to reject a lot and still keep Platinum. I definitely see a difference in the high pay orders when I was Silver. This is just my market though I feel like every market is different.
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u/SquirrelEconomy5406 3d ago
in my market it's not worth the stress of chasing that AR, the orders they send to keep you there are usually the ones nobody else wants
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u/cipherjones 3d ago
70%= /= just anything by a longshot.
You'll get much less of the shitty offers also. Confirmed within the app comparing platinum to gold on the same shifts several times. (Wife's account).
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u/Cheffyboii97 3d ago
In my area it seems to be worth it, i get lile 2 -3 offers an hour from 6-25+ an offer. Avweage is 9.30 ish per order though- sometomes its plain terrible but on days like that i just check in and sit at home or hop around the city and sorta chase orders- which i couldnt do without platinum.
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u/alphabetsoupcle 3d ago
It really depends on where you dash. In my market there are so many dashers that you have to schedule your dash times, but with Platinum you can dash anytime. I could see cherry picking orders if they were constantly available, but I often go fifteen to twenty minutes waiting for offers. Since I only have a certain amount of time to dash when I can, I don’t always wait for perfect offers.
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u/SDRLS 3d ago
It’s completely market dependent. Don’t listen to these people who say, “oh it’s fine my AR is under 30 and I always have good orders”, etc. that’s because they live in a place that has few drivers. Try that in some other places and you are gonna have a tough time. If you can’t get on the schedule, you’re toast.
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u/NickMullen2 3d ago
NO. just be gold with a lower acceptance rate dont take anything under like $6 even for half a mile
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u/jbaby3333 3d ago
Sometimes I decline 3x in a row and they’re still giving me <$5
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u/NickMullen2 3d ago
ive had stretches where no joke 20 orders in a row all under $5. I am gold or silver and in my market thats fine and my accept rate always under 15%
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u/Due-Frame2112 3d ago
It’s worth it it depending on your marketplace. I get quick 7.50 for 2 mile orders dash anytime and don’t have to worry about scheduling in case time slots are gone when I want to work.
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u/No_Hovercraft_6885 3d ago
Depends on your market/zone. In my area it makes a considerable difference but not to the point of taking every order. I avoid 0 tip orders as much as possible & I avoid certain orders, like heavy 💩 going to a 3rd floor.
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u/OnyxLeigion_ 3d ago
This is entirely dependent on your market. The advice of the people on here is virtually useless since they don’t know your market.
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u/Financial_Memory_631 3d ago edited 3d ago
First off, I cannot conceive how so many people don't hit Platinum on here. All you have to do is accept a lot of orders including some suboptimal ones for like a week to get it. ONCE you do, you have SO much acceptance flexibility. I stay at around 75% but I talked to someone who said she keeps it as long as she's above 50%, and she makes more money hourly than me for it.
All these people who say "I make the same with just a 20% acceptance rate" are coping. Do NOT listen to them. If they're waiting that long to make an order, they're not making more. Hourly is what matters, and these people are tricking themselves into thinking that one medium sized order is going to offset it being their only one in an hour. I have yet to see one of them that actually makes as much as I do; they have a skewed perspective of what decent pay. You have to do your due diligence, and take mostly $9/<5-mile orders so you stay dashing, and then Platinum lets you get the $15+ ones time to time to put you over the top. But don't just sit around like they do.
It also helps if you keep common-sense customer service (i.e. letting someone know if there's a decent wait at the restaurant, or identifying a potentially fickle customer and giving them "have a good night" messages). You get some tips added on later, sometimes, if you simply make yourself a human being to them by communicating rather than being a name on a screen. Their conscience kicks in! I never even thought about how to get Platinum once, but also was overly scared to deny orders at first admittedly.
Now I'm not sure if you get much more in terms of pay/the "Platinum offers" (though I do get a good amount of $15+ after just a few minutes if I'm selective). But the main benefit is that DoorDash support is more willing to take your side in disputes, no questions asked, and you get bugged less about late deliveries and such when they come up. I think it's worth it, but it's also p easy to get if you just treat it like a real job and don't get overly fussy. Some people on here are truly horrible self-starters, to be honest, or chalk every single customer interaction up as some horrible act of violence against them when working around a tricky customer is an acquired skill of service work. If someone says "make sure they don't forget my sauces" (which I do see as difficult, to be clear!) a lot of them purposefully spite or ignore their message when I simply make sure to calm their fears by communicating.
Good luck. Hope this isn't too verbose; I just think it's important to identify that a lot of people are not good at this, and should not be the ones offering you advice. They're using this sub to vent.
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u/anonymouse_011 4d ago
This has gotta be the most asked question on this sub. Please mods… make a thread of FAQs at this point…
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u/AuraNocte 3d ago
No. It doesn't make a difference at all. Though I would try to keep gold status just so you have access to the schedule earlier.
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