Delivering packages for Amazon through the Amazon Flex app is a great way to earn extra money. But when it comes to app design and usability, it falls behind other delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats.
Anyone can pick up DoorDash and Uber Eats and immediately understand all the information in the app.
But when you open Amazon Flex and search for delivery offers, you are met with confusing codes and cryptic order types.
A DoorDash order will say something clear like, McDonald’s, 345 Main street.
But Amazon orders use unclear terms like, East Los Angeles (DLA3) AMZL. The codes are confusing for new Flex drivers, and the lack of clarity makes it hard to pick good offers.
In this article, learn how to decode a Flex order offer, find out what each order type is, what the warehouse codes mean, and how to get a sense of the work you’ll have to do.
Article contents
Amazon Flex offers: What each order type means
As you browse offers in Amazon Flex, each entry shows the date of the offer, estimated payout, length of the shift, information about the location (more on that below), and the order type.
The order types on Flex are AMZL, Amazon.com, Whole Foods, Fresh, Prime Now, Community Delivery, and Retail Delivery.
Each involves a similar type of work: Picking up items from a location and delivering them to a customer. But there are differences that you’ll want to understand before you accept the offer.
Amazon Flex order types
- AMZL or Amazon.com – Also known as ‘logistics’ offers. These are standard Amazon.com deliveries that come in boxes and envelopes. Most drop-offs will be 1–2 items
- Prime Now – Amazon instant deliveries with a 1–2 hour turnaround. Packages are in a bag. Many drop-offs will include several bags per address. Routes may be shorter. Customers can tip
- Fresh – Amazon Fresh grocery orders. Potentially fewer stops along the route compared to logistics. Customers can tip
- Whole Foods – Grocery delivery from Whole Foods. Go to Whole Foods store to pick up the order, then deliver to the route. Customers can tip
- Community Delivery – Deliveries from local food banks to people in need
- Retail delivery – Pick up orders from non-Amazon retailers at local malls and shopping centers.
How to decode a Flex order
Order types: AMZL, Prime Now, Fresh, Whole Foods. Note the estimated payouts
Tap an offer for more details. Orders with tipping explain how tipping estimates are calculated
Which orders allow tips?
Customers can tip Flex drivers on Prime Now, Fresh, and Whole Foods orders.
Order types that allow tips show two payout amounts: The base pay from Amazon, and an expected range of earnings from tips.
For example, a Prime Now order might show a payout of $38–$66 ($38 + tips). That means you’ll make at least $38 in Amazon pay, and Amazon estimates anywhere from $0–$28 in tips.
What are Instant offers? On-Demand Work
Instant Offers are on-demand orders you can accept or decline in real-time. It’s a good way to do deliveries without scheduling a block.
Instant Offers are typically for Whole Foods and Prime Now, though Prime Now is not available in every market.
For example, if you turn on Instant Offers near a Whole Foods, you might get an offer to do a Whole Foods delivery. After you finish that delivery, you wait for another Instant Offer to come in.
To enable Instant Offers, head to the home screen of the Flex app and tap “Available Now.”
The instant offer will tell you the pickup location and an estimated payout. There is no penalty for declining instant offers, so you are free to decline any offer.
Instant Offers are a good choice if you can’t get a delivery block or don’t want to commit to a long route.
Toggle ‘Available Now’ on the home screen to receive Instant Offers
Delivery pickup locations & warehouse codes
When browsing offers, you’ll notice that each offer lists a location, a code in parenthesis, and an order type.
For example, an order might look like: “Santa Monica – (UCA3) Prime Now.”
The location listed in each offer is the delivery pickup location. The delivery route will not necessarily be in that same location.
Many delivery routes will be within a roughly 20 miles radius of the pickup facility, but it could be further away.
The code listed in each order represents an order pickup facility. Amazon doesn’t have a map or list of pickup facilities.
You’ll eventually get an address for the pickup facility an hour before the offer begins, but it’s much easier to make an informed decision about the offer if you know where the warehouses are.
See this list of warehouse locations from Reddit. It lists warehouse IDs, names of facilities, and GPS locations.
How far will your delivery route be from the warehouse?
The Flex app doesn’t list where the delivery route will be. That can make it hard to select a good offer.
To see where a route will go, you first have to claim a block and arrive at the pickup facility. After you are assigned a route, you can see where the route is.
You’ll have to test your market to see which pickup locations lead to which areas. You might notice that a pickup location sends you too far, so you can avoid offers from there.
The maximum distance from the pickup location to the delivery route varies depending on the market.
A large, dense city like LA with many warehouses will have a delivery radius of around 20 miles from the warehouse. But other more remote locations might send you further away to begin your route.
An example of how far a route can be from the pickup spot: The driver below ended up having to drive over 130 miles for a route. That is an extreme example, but it’s possible.
You can decline a route if it’s too far for you, but it will affect your ratings.
This driver had to do around 130 miles for this route.
How to get more offers on Flex
Not getting many offers? There are a few reasons that can explain why.
Amazon says that “offers you see may depend on the amount of work you’ve done recently, the work you’ve reserved in the future, whether you’ve cancelled a lot of work, your Delivery Qualify, and your Reliability.”
So if you aren’t getting many offers, try to increase your ratings. Consider instant offers if you can’t get regular offers, and check back with the app regularly to see when warehouses release new hours.
You can potentially get more reserved offers by using preferred scheduling, a perk unlocked at rewards level 2.
Getting a feel for Flex
It would be nice if Amazon made the Flex app clearer and more user-friendly, but in the end, you’ll have to experiment with different order types and pickup locations before you can understand how this gig works in your area.
Eventually, you’ll learn which order types you prefer and which pickup locations to avoid.
Recinzi says
Does anyone know where Market Squares PMBJ(Colorado) is located
Edwin says
It’s a hustle folks. A hustle that has many variables. One of the biggest variable is what kind of vehicle you drive. If you drive a gas hog, don’t complain about gas. You will have to pay for gas so regardless of how much your block is worth deduct 15-30 dollars off that amount to accommodate for gas. Also you get paid 2x a week. Tuesdays and Fridays. So the cash flow will be steady especially if you have a full-time job and are using this as a hustle. I look forward to receiving 3 paychecks a week. You can make an extra 400 to 600 dollars a week on the side as a part-time hustle. I work out of the Cleveland area and it is what it is. The job isn’t a career nor is it rocket science.
For anyone thinking of doing Flex here are some simple tips for y’all:
Take extra caution by wearing a hi-vision vest ($5 to $20 at Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight)
Go buy a literal headlight($10 to $25 Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight) if you’re a night owl or early morning bird to remain highly visible while providing light if you’re delivering out in the boondocks.
And people, use your hazards when stopping and getting out of your car in the early AM/middle of the night.
Be safe, make extra cash, and take care of yourself and your vehicle.