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Top dashers are like the most intelligent and hardworking students in the class. Everyone else wants to get the scores they get, but without doing the work. Becoming a top dasher is not about how much money you earn. It is about more than money.
Since on-demand services like DoorDash rely on great customer experience, top dashers are the ones who help the company keep its mission alive.
But not everyone is happy to become one. As it turns out, it's not so easy.
Are these the things you are looking forward to, or is there something else to becoming a top dasher? This article gives key recommendations for becoming a top dasher.
What is a Top Dasher?
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A top dasher is someone who has better ratings and a higher number of complete deliveries than other dashers. To become a DoorDash top dasher and qualify for the perks that come with it, you need to fulfill some requirements.
Here are the requirements to become part of the Top Dasher program.
- At least 4.7 out of 5 stars from customers
- A minimum of 70% acceptance rate is required.
- A minimum of 95% completion rate is required.
- During the previous month, 100 accomplished deliveries.
- At least 200 deliveries have been accomplished during the course of a lifetime.
DoorDash executed this program to reward its top performers and motivate others to follow suit. But the real motive is to get every dasher to provide exceptional customer service and help the company earn more money.
Here’s what DoorDash has to say about the Top Dasher program:
“The Top Dasher program is a method for us to recognize and reward the top Dashers! Dashers that meet the criteria will be rewarded with extra perks in recognition of their willingness to go above and above for DoorDash clients.”
Read between the lines. Their priority is to satisfy the customers, and as a result, you will be rewarded for ensuring that. However, not every customer is the same. Even if you are getting priority access to high-value orders via the TopDasher program, it is not guaranteed that the customers will pay higher tips.
How Much Do Top Dashers Make?
Top dashers are in the Top Earners category. Some can make up to $1000 per week, but that is not guaranteed by the company. Following the information provided by ZipRecruiter, the Top Earners put around $1000 in their pockets every week.
DoorDash says that top dashers get 50% more delivery opportunities. But that is not a guarantee. Plus, they get more high-value orders (above $35).
What about the dashers who don’t work regularly? Can they become a part of the TopDashers program and get an opportunity to earn as much? It depends on which city you are working from and the current position of the area.
What Are the Perks of a Top Dasher?
Being a top dasher has a couple of benefits. DoorDash has provisioned extra benefits in some select cities. Every Top Dasher gets two major benefits:
Dash Now
DoorDash says that you are always invited to book a dash and "Dash Now" as a Top Dasher, regardless of how busy it is. You can dash in any neighboring zone at any time using the Dasher app.
You will still have to compete with other dashers to get the best orders. The Dasher application will suggest sprinting in red zones on the map. This offers dashers the freedom to get on the road in any zone they wish (even if it's gray!)
What’s with the Red and Gray Zone?
Every dasher map has two types of zones, red and gray. Red zone means that you can drive in the area you are currently located at, and the gray area means that there are enough drivers in the area and you are not allowed to work there.
Source: Reddit
As a Top Dasher, you can work in any zone (red or gray) irrespective of the present number of dashers there. Being a DoorDash top dasher, you do get better opportunities in the form of extended access.
More Deliveries
This is an interesting benefit. Higher deliveries imply that you will get favored to complete orders over other dashers. For instance, if three dashers are sitting in a parking lot and there is one order, you will get priority to deliver that. This is actually beneficial when there are fewer orders to be delivered.
High-Value Orders
Another perk attached to the top Dasher program in selected cities is access to higher-value orders. This can also become a way to earn more as a top dasher. With this new top dasher incentive, you'll get priority on orders for $35 or more. This might lead to more tips and a higher hourly wage. This Top Dasher benefit is currently being handed out across the board.
Top Dasher Requirements and How to Qualify
Let’s break down the DoorDash top dasher requirements and how you can qualify for them. DoorDash calculates the Dasher ratings based on the last 100 events that have occurred. The first three criteria are averages, but it's easier to comprehend if you think about it like this: How many times has it happened in the last 100 times?
Customer Rating (Required: 4.7)
DoorDash provides its customers access to a rating scale of 1 to 5 to rate your delivery according to their experience. As the customer’s experience is highly subjective, you cannot pinpoint what makes up for this experience.
DoorDash asks its customer two things after the order is delivered;
- What did you think of the food?
- What was your experience with the delivery?
You need to focus on the delivery rating. Doordash will create an average rating based on the previous 100 ratings you've received. Customer rating is, in my experience, the statistic that advances the slowest. Many customers do not return to the app to rate you.
Acceptance Rate (Required: 70%)
Another one of the DoorDash top dasher requirements is the acceptance rate. This metric shows how many orders you have accepted out of the total orders received. So, if you have got 100 orders in a day and you accepted 70, your acceptance rate will be 70%. This is one of the most controversial requirements (more about it in the later section).
Completion Rate (Required: 95%)
Don’t confuse it with the acceptance rate. Completion rate is how many deliveries you have completed successfully after accepting. To qualify as a top dasher, you need to complete 95 out of 100 deliveries accepted.
Irrespective of the reason for backing out and how justifiable it is, if delivery is not complete, your rate will go down. So, if you want to be a top dasher, make sure not to miss those deliveries.
Completed Deliveries (Monthly and Lifetime)
You must complete 100 deliveries in the last month and 200 in your lifetime as a dasher to become a top dasher. Delivering 100 orders in a month is not a big feat, provided you work regularly and get at least five orders in a day on average. Out of all the requirements, this one is the most simple and easy to complete.
As soon as you complete the top dasher requirements, you qualify to work as a top dasher and enjoy the perks that come along. Are these perks good enough to get you in a position where you can earn more than regular dashers? Let’s find out.
Reddit Reviews on Top Dasher: Pros & Cons
We always find refuge on Reddit when the task is to get an accurate ground report. DoorDash is always in favor of more drivers getting onboard with the Top Dasher program.
DoorDash will break any ties in your favor when you are stacked against other drivers for the same order. This is a benefit if you want to deliver as much as feasible.
However, it was unexpected to find a few extra pieces of advice for Top Dashers on their website, which essentially go against the program's entire aim.
DoorDash, for example, advises that you keep setting delivery time slots even though you have priority to dash at any moment. This indicates that having the option to dash at any time isn't always beneficial.
The advantages are obvious, but is it all simply a ruse to encourage more dashers to fall into this money trap?
The Ground Report;
The majority of the top delivery agents are not happy with the DoorDash top dasher requirements and the benefits that come along.
Getting the required acceptance rate is not easy. Most of the door dashers do not accept low payout orders of $2 to $7. Rejecting these orders means hurting the acceptance rate.
If you do accept them, you will spend more on gas than earning from the gig. Another perk is that you get priority delivery. There too, if the order is for $3 or $5, top dashers don’t accept them.
These orders then go to other dashers, which eventually negates the benefit. The priority delivery option is also a fad because you get favored over other dashers when there aren’t a lot of orders to deliver.
So, it does not matter if there are orders or not because you won’t get any requests due to low demand.
These issues are not new. We have seen posts from 2 years back complaining about the program and from a few hours ago at the time of writing. The problems continue, and there is no resolution.
The priority dashing for top dashers is not fruitful. Once the top dashers reject low-pay out orders, DoorDash passes them to other dashers. As the order was rejected multiple times, DoorDash raises the offer rate, then goes to other dashers.
Look at this image;
That is not it; according to some Reddit posts here, top dashers make good money. They drive less, have the power to reject offers, and travel less. However, this is not the same for every dasher.
In some cities, the top dashers make good money, while in others, the dashers stand to gain more (see image for example).
This brings us to the next topic, what’s the difference between a Top Dasher and a Dasher.
Top Dasher vs. Dasher Comparison
Once you become a top dasher, you feel the pressure to maintain the rating as you want to sustain your designation. A top dasher gets access to high-worth orders (>$35) and priority delivery.
They don’t need to schedule the delivery time beforehand and can start dashing anytime, anywhere. Top dashers also get the opportunity to deliver more orders.
A dasher does not get any of these benefits and has to make do with low-paying orders and pre-schedule their time to work.
If we are to go by the Reddit reviews, being a top dasher is not as good as claimed by DoorDash. Getting priority doesn’t matter if there are enough orders for everyone to deliver.
When there are fewer deliveries, everyone will get a chance to accept or reject. Top dashers get the request first, but most of these are low-paying orders, which is not worth the gas and time spent. Ultimately, the regular dasher is better off than a top dasher here.
Conclusion: Is Top Dasher Worth It?
It depends on your experience and way of managing things. The main bone of contention is the acceptance rate, well, only for some dashers. One Dasher will consider 70% to be excessive and determine that a far lower rate will suffice. Another Dasher will be absolutely content with a 70 percent or more return on investment.
So, things change from city to city and the way a dasher manages things. Based on our research and Reddit reviews, enjoying the perks of being a DoorDash Top Dasher is subjective.
