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Home » DoorDash » DoorDash: Are Peak Pay & Challenges Worth it for Dashers?

DoorDash: Are Peak Pay & Challenges Worth it for Dashers?

Updated March 31, 2022 By Doug H6 Comments

Note: This article contains affiliate links for DoorDash. We may receive a commission for referring you to them.

Most Dashers quickly learn that there’s a lot more to the gig than simply accepting each order that comes your way.

You’ll soon find out which restaurants are a pain, that your acceptance rating usually doesn’t matter, and that being selective can be the difference between earning $3 per order and $10 per order.

The most important things a Dasher needs to understand are the driver pay formula and bonuses.

Bonuses like Peak Pay and Challenges might seem great on the surface, but they require strategic thinking and practice to master.

This article covers the bonuses available to Dashers and how you can decide whether they are worth your time. or if they are tricks to get you on the road during unprofitable hours.

Deliver with DoorDash! Click here to become a Dasher

A quick refresher on the DoorDash pay formula

Dashers are paid according to this formula: Base pay + promotions + 100% of tips.

Base pay is a calculation of time, distance, and ‘desirability.’ Promotions include Peak Pay and Challenges.

For each order request, the DoorDash app displays an estimated payout that includes the base pay, some or all of the tip (if the customer tips during checkout), and Peak Pay (if applicable).

Being selective about the orders you accept can be the key to higher earnings.

There is no minimum order acceptance rate — You can’t be deactivated for not accepting enough orders, though a low acceptance rate can affect your status as Top Dasher.

You are free to decline as many orders as you want if you’d prefer to wait for higher-paying orders.

  • How Much Dashers Actually Make, According to Top Sources

Peak Pay: A bonus when it’s busy

Peak Pay on DoorDash is a bonus added to each delivery that is activated during busy times or when DoorDash wants more Dashers to get on the road.

Example of a Peak Pay offer: “Earn an extra $3 per delivery during 11:30 am – 3:00 pm.”

Check the map area of the Dasher app to see if Peak Pay is in effect. You can tap on the Peak Pay icon on the map to see when and where the bonus is available.

Map of Peak Pay in the Dasher app

Tap on each Peak Pay icon to see more details

Peak Pay is included in the total estimated payout on the order request screen, but it isn’t listed separately from base pay.

Instead of the order saying “$3 base pay + $3 Peak Pay + customer tip,” it will only say “$6, includes DoorDash pay + customer tip. Total may be higher.”

So if you know there is $1 peak pay, and base pay is typically around $3, a $4 estimated payout means that the customer hasn’t tipped.

If an order only seems to be base pay + Peak Pay without a tip, it might be worth waiting for the next order.

One downside of Peak Pay is that it can do its job too well. Peak Pay can lure too many drivers onto the road, which can oversaturate the area and lead to lower order volume.

Is Peak Pay worth it?

Peak Pay can significantly improve your earnings when it is available. The only downside is that it’s not frequently available in some areas, and Peak Pay can lower order volume by attracting too many Dashers into the zone.

Peak Pay is so common in busy markets—like the bay area of California—that many Dashers only schedule hours that are likely to have Peak Pay.

The best move is to get Early Access and schedule the hours when Peak Pay is most likely.

But in other markets, Peak Pay signals that the market will be flooded with Dashers hunting for the bonus. Too many drivers = low order volume = low pay.

You’ll have to experiment on your own to see if Peak Pay is truly a bonus or if it’s your cue to log onto another app for the day.

If you have a DashMart in your area, it may be a good way to stack several Peak Pay bonuses. Often, DashMart orders are batched together, so you can receive multiple Peak Pay bonuses for one batched set of orders.

  • Should Dashers Do DashMart Orders?

Challenges

Challenges on DoorDash give you a bonus for completing a certain number of deliveries during a time period.

An example of a Challenge: “Earn an extra $100 for 60 deliveries before October 15th.” Challenges can be small, too: For example, another recent challenge was “Earn an extra $10 for 7 deliveries.”

You do not have to opt-in or take any action to participate in the Challenge.

Is there a way you can guarantee that you get a Challenge? Currently there is no way to control whether you are offered a Challenge or not.

Challenges are still a beta feature of DoorDash and may not be available in all markets.

After you begin a Challenge, the app tracks your progress on the Dash map. When you finish one, you’ll see a popup screen that summarizes the Challenge. The bonus will then appear on your earnings statement.

Showing a DoorDash Challenge

Example of a Challenge in progress

The DoorDash app showing a completed $200 challenge

$200 extra for 25 deliveries! Definitely worth it. Credit AffectionateGrab1711

You can technically earn both Peak Pay and a Challenge at the same time, but many Dashers say that when one is available, the other isn’t.

For example, you might see Peak Pay frequently for a few weeks. Then a Challenge appears, but Peak Pay becomes a rare sight.

Dashers speculate that DoorDash is experimenting to see which bonus is the cheaper way to get more drivers on the road.

Are Challenges worth it?

If you do the math, most Challenges offer less than $2 extra for each delivery — not much. So it might not be worth going out of your way to meet a Challenge unless you were already planning to do as many deliveries as the Challenge requires.

On the positive side, meeting an easy Challenge that fits into your schedule is a nice boost that might not require any extra effort.

Become a Dasher! Click here to apply to DoorDash

Referral bonus for signing up a new Dasher

Like many other gig companies, DoorDash has a referral program that offers big bonuses when you help to sign up new Dashers.

Referral bonuses vary quite a bit: Some markets have huge bonuses, while others have none at all. And they fluctuate often, so keep an eye on the app to see exactly how much a bonus is if you decide to refer a friend.

To earn the bonus, your referral will have to sign up with your link and complete the required number of deliveries within the specified time period.

To refer a friend and see the referral payout for your market, head to the Account area of the app and tap on “Refer friends, earn $x.xx.”  The referral terms will be listed alongside several options to share your referral link.

Find referral information in the Account area of the Dasher app

After your referral successfully signs up with your link, the app will begin tracking their progress. You’ll be able to see how many deliveries they have completed, so give them a nudge if they need some motivation to complete those final deliveries.

Are referral bonuses worth it? It’s always worth it to chase after a referral bonus if you know someone interested in Dashing. Ignore the haters that say adding new drivers saturates the market with too many drivers. Your $200+ bonus is well worth it.

Sign-up bonues for new Dashers

Not a DoorDash driver yet? You may be eligible for a referral bonus if you sign up using a referral link, or if you sign up on a DoorDash page that promises a bonus for new Dashers.

There are two types of bonuses for new dashers: A cash referral bonus and an earnings guarantee. Note that not all markets have a bonus for new Dashers.

Referral bonus: A referral bonus for new Dashers will typically promise a cash payout after completing a set number of deliveries by a certain date.

For example, at the time of writing in Los Angeles the offer is, “Do 270 deliveries by 11/28 for a $500 referral bonus!” To be eligible for a signup bonus, make sure to sign up with a referral link, or check to see if the general signup page on DoorDash.com promises a bonus.

Earnings guarantee: An earnings guarantee is a promotion that promises you will earn a guaranteed amount for completing a set number of deliveries.

For example, “Earn at least $1375 for your first 200 deliveries if you complete those first 200 deliveries within 45 days.” If your earnings from the 200 deliveries come out to less than $1375, you’ll receive a one-time bonus so that your total earnings match $1375. If you receive more than $1375, there is no bonus.

Why are there different bonuses for different Dashers?

Many Dashers report seeing different Peak Pay and Challenge offers for different Dashers.

Two Dashers waiting around for an order might compare their apps and notice that one Dasher is getting Peak Pay offers while the other isn’t.

Does DoorDash offer different bonuses based on a driver’s metrics, is this a glitch, or is it something else?

Here’s what DoorDash had to say: “Peak pay promotions may vary depending on the area and also the time frame of the bonus. It doesn’t vary [based on the Dasher]. It only depends on the area and time frame of the promotion. It works the same way for Challenges.”

According to DoorDash, promotions don’t depend on the Dasher. That means factors like ratings, acceptance rate, number of deliveries, etc. don’t affect the promotions you receive.

But with DoorDash regularly changing the way things work without informing their support agents of the details, there is still some doubt about how things actually work.

Didn’t get your bonus? What you can do

DoorDash is mostly reliable when it comes to paying out bonuses, but sometimes system errors might cause you to miss out on a bonus.

Start by contacting support and letting them know exactly what happened.

The best way to protect yourself against missing bonuses is to take a screenshot of the bonus that was active while you were out driving.

It’s easy to take a screencap of the Challenge you’re going for, but it might not be as easy to take a screenshot of Peak Pay. But if you’ve had issues with Peak Pay in the past, the extra trouble might be worth it.

Which bonuses are worth going after?

With delivery apps like DoorDash, you never know what you’re going to get. Earnings can change based on the time of day, the day of the week, the month, or any number of factors.

You’ll have to drive for a few weeks to get a feel for your market, and you’ll have to experiment to see how bonuses affect the conditions in your market.

You might find that driving during Peak Pay is the best way to boost earnings, or you might find that Peak Pay can actually reduce your earnings because it adds too many other Dashers to the road.

And for Challenges, do the math and see how much extra work you will have to do to complete the Challenge, and skip it if it doesn’t fit into your schedule.

More Reading on DoorDash
  • DoorDash Delivery Driver Requirements
  • Catering orders: How to join the large order program
  • Deactivated By DoorDash? How to Get Reactivated

Originally Published September 29, 2020
Filed Under: Delivery Gigs, DoorDash

About Doug H

Gig economy driver, writer, and expert since 2013. I created Ridesharing Driver to help drivers navigate all of the challenges we face in the on-demand world!

Comments

  1. Dana Hollowell says

    June 15, 2022 at 5:16 pm

    I have referred two people now that both signed up correctly and completed deliveries required and no referral pay given. Contacted support, spent over 30 minutes on the phone they sent an email and promised to call with 48 hours and no response yet.

    Reply
    • DougH says

      June 16, 2022 at 9:55 am

      Keep up the pressure!

      Reply
  2. What do you care says

    March 30, 2022 at 4:32 pm

    Door dash had a challenge for new drivers. Complete 200 orders in 30 days. I completed the challenge and door dash is asking for a screen shot to prove the challenge. I find this Despicable when so many people are trying to work to put food on the table. They got their money and closed the case on my dispute. I do not recommend working for Door Dash. They make money off of peoples Desperation

    Reply
  3. Robin Seth says

    November 14, 2021 at 5:52 am

    I as a driver get frustrated because the thing happened to me twice now. I don’t get the peak pay in my area where every dasher is getting the peak pay. I had contacted the support and they say that the promotion is not showing in my profile.
    So I as a dasher get frustrated because I work all week long and my friend works only from Thursday-Sunday and he gets the peak pay on each order. When he send me his promotion screenshot I was shocked because he is getting the peak pay from 5pm-9pm on Saturday. But I am not getting any. This is really frustrating because the DoorDash shouldn’t have any biased on paying the dashers who work all week long. When I contacted support they said it will automatically will be added to your account in 24 hours. But never got any promotional peak pay Money.

    Please do recommend me doing something.

    Reply
  4. Max says

    September 8, 2021 at 6:31 am

    I am still struggling with how total pay is calculated for a delivery.  The calculation of time and distance are objective numbers and easily verifiable, that part I get. But will someone please talk me off the ledge here and tell me how ‘desirability’ is calculated??

    Desirability is not a number. So now we are dealing with something subjective so let’s just blanket it with the all-encompassing term ‘algorithm’ which is now fashionably referred to as AI. And now enter voodoo economics. This is where it really gets to be potentially dirty pool.

    For example a $2 promotion is active, the driver receives delivery, for now, $18. But how can we determine that $18 delivery would have been $16 without the promotion? They simply can push or pull the ‘desirability’ phantom number to pacify drivers to make them think they are getting it. It could very well have always been $18 delivery which means it should now be a $20 delivery.

    It’s insulting to drivers and bad business practices to structure a process around ambiguity and the secret sauce.
    I believe that promotions are nothing more than a marketing strategy to drag more drivers onto the road to accommodate and sudden influx of orders. And that is desirable to only 2 out of the 3 parties involved. 

    Reply
    • Liz says

      June 13, 2022 at 10:09 am

      Absolutely. I still don’t understand the manner of base pay, whether I’m actually seeing the bonus, or why it should be a mystery. Esp with regard to the latter, it not only begs the question as to whether you’re getting that promo as well as how they calculate the base pay in the first place. Wth is desirability? That leave open the door to even MORE questions than answers, particularly with an avg gas price of $5.00> a gal.

      Reply

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