Do Doordash Drivers see Tip before delivery?

So do Doordash drivers see Tip before delivery? And if not, how are drivers able to reject some orders when they can’t tell how much Tip they’d get per order?

We’ve gotten asked this question severally. As a result, this article is dedicated to this question.

How tipping works on Doordash

Before going into the topic of the day, let’s have a little grasp of how tipping works.

If you’re new to shopping for food online, you may find the whole tipping thing buzzing in your ears. But how does it work, and why is it a sort of mandatory?

Simply put, On Doordash it’s like an appreciation for a driver’s effort in bringing your food.

While it’s totally an option, common courtesy suggests that you do them.

But not just that alone, tipping determines a lot for a platform like Doordash.

Firstly, as a customer, without a tip or with a low tip, you’ll barely get your orders accepted. This is because drivers are usually keen to cherry-pick orders with good tips, leaving others aside. In fact, this is one reason most people tip.

And for this same reason, you may want to tip before the delivery.

For tipping afterward, it’d still serve its purpose (appreciating a driver for a service well done), but it may not help in getting your orders accepted faster.

Also, tips make the most of drivers’ earnings.

Doordash’s base pay, as with many other food delivery companies, is quite poor compared to the work input and nothing to write home about. Tipping serves is the supplement

$1, $2, $4, and a little more (barely more than $10) – are the common base pay you’ll find on Doordash as a driver. On the other hand, a driver has to pay for fuel, insurance, tax and still make money for themselves.

Hence, Tipping has actually moved from being an “optional” feature to being a sort of standard practice.

Note that the delivery fee you see on Doordash is different from the driver’s base pay.

Lastly, Tips go in 100% to drivers – one of the reasons it’s a big deal to drivers, whether you tip in cash or through the mobile app.

Do Doordash drivers see Tip before Delivery?

Just as the practice in most food delivery companies, on Doordash, drivers can’t see the exact tip a customer makes on them before delivery. However, most experienced drivers may be able to estimate their tips with the little information Doordash provides.

So what little information are we talking about?

Firstly, as we said earlier, drivers can’t tell exactly how much tip they get “before” delivery.

They’ll only be able to accurately do so after delivery, as Doordash would provide them with a full breakdown of their earnings, showing the base pay for the delivery, Tips, and any promotional offers (if any).

But before the delivery, drivers are only presented with the total earnings they’re expected to make after delivery, called their minimum guaranteed payout.

Editors note: We like to call it guaranteed minimum payment, as this is the minimum amount a driver can earn per delivery. It could go higher thanks to hidden tips, and other promotional offers.

Here’s what drivers are shown before delivery:

After the delivery, this is what we (drivers) are shown:

As with many drivers, however, considering the distance, restaurant, and amount of orders, they can easily tell whether a customer tipped or not and even when a customer tipped little or overly.

For instance, in the last image, I could only see the total earnings I was to earn in the delivery ($6) before the delivery.

But considering the fact that it was just a mile delivery, and the restaurant wasn’t Mc Donalds or Tacobel (that I’d spend so much time in), I knew it’d be worth it and there would definitely be tips for me.

Voilà, I got a $3 tip there. As you can see, the base pay is trash.

As a rule of thumb, for most orders with a guaranteed payment of $2-$5, it’s very likely the customer didn’t tip or didn’t tip well. This is because as with most people that tip, the minimum tipping is usually $3-$5.

There are also other ways a driver can tell whether a customer tips or not.

One of the most common is the…

Distance to base pay.

Drivers can estimate how much they earn per mile on orders. If this is something a bit consistent in their location, a simple multiplication with their mile rate and the distance of an order (in this case, your order) can show how much they’re expected to make (as base pay).

Any excess money more than $4 would be likely tips.

Tips on Tipping Properly on Doordash

So here are some tips we recommend if you intend to make an order as well as tip on Doordash:

1. Tip before the delivery: This is a no-brainer. As we said earlier, drivers can only make assumptions about how much you tip when you tip before the delivery. Unless you’re not concerned about getting your order accepted faster, you can tip after.
2. Consider Tipping in Percentage: As with dining in a restaurant, the most recommended way of tipping on Doordash is using the 15%-20% formula – where your tip is in these percentages of your order total.
3. Adjust for weather conditions: If your delivery is made in difficult conditions, such as bad weather or during peak traffic hours, consider giving a larger tip to compensate for the additional effort.
4. Distance: The longer your location is to the restaurant, the longer it takes to get to you as well as the stress it costs your Dasher. Tipping higher in longer distances is an obvious practice. Remember, tipping should be an appreciation ;).

Final thoughts

There you have it.

While Doordash drivers may not be able to accurately tell how much tip they’ll get per delivery, there are enough clues to make a good estimate.

Hope you found this article helpful!