When you talk to delivery drivers on apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash, they’ll tell you your acceptance rate doesn’t matter. You can decline orders all day, and new ones will still come in.
That may not be the case on Spark.
Spark is one of the only delivery apps that says that a higher acceptance rate can lead to ‘prioritized orders.’
But not all shoppers say that maintaining a high acceptance rate actually makes a difference.
Many say it’s a trick by Spark to manipulate you into taking orders that you wouldn’t otherwise or that any order priority is a mild benefit that isn’t worth the trouble.
A tale of two ARs. Who gets more orders?
So, does your acceptance rate matter or not? Read on for more info covering both sides of the issue.
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First, a lesson on how acceptance rating (AR) works on Spark
On Spark, your acceptance rating is the number of offers you accept out of the total offers you received. It is based on your most recent 50 offers.
If you accepted that last 35 offers out of the last 50 that you received, your acceptance rate would be 35/50, or 70%.
Only round robin (RR) orders count toward your acceptance rate. First-come-first serve offers don’t count.
Your acceptance rate is calculated on a rolling basis, meaning your oldest offer is removed from the calculation when a new offer comes in.
If your oldest offer was an acceptance and you accept your next offer, your AR won’t increase.
If the oldest offer was an acceptance and you decline the next offer, your AR will go down. An acceptance was replaced by a decline in the calculation.
Spark—and some shoppers—say that your acceptance rate matters
Spark specifically states that there is a benefit to having a higher acceptance rate: “A higher acceptance rate helps keep you prioritized to receive offers.”
Sparks says high AR = order priority. But does it really matter?
So if there are 10 orders going out and 15 Spark shoppers available, those with higher ARs will see the orders first. If someone rejects the offer, shoppers with lower ARs will see the offer next.
Order priority can be a major benefit if orders are in short supply. But order priority isn’t as big of a factor in markets with plenty of orders to go around.
Many shoppers say that a high acceptance rate helps them get more offers in their highly-competitive markets.
When they allow their acceptance rate to dip low, they stop receiving as many offers as they did when their AR was higher.
Spark drivers who say acceptance rating matters
“I have to keep it green in my zone to get anything of note”
“[Acceptance rate] matters in my desired zones. I notice a difference based on my own testing”
“It’s market dependent. I will say that it does matter especially when it’s slow like it is lately”
“Low AR means you’re likely to be stuck with the garbage rejected by those with higher AR”
The minimum acceptance rate for prioritized orders
Spark doesn’t say exactly how high your acceptance rate needs to be to get prioritized offers.
But there are three tiers for acceptance ratings that hint at the minimum AR you may need to keep getting priority.
The metrics tiers are: Green, yellow, and red
- Green: Acceptance rate of 40% and higher
- Yellow: Less than 40%
- Red: 0%
It’s likely that your AR must be in the green tier to receive order priority, but there is no direct evidence from Spark. Different markets may have different requirements.
Low ratings on the other metrics—customer rating, drop rate, and on-time arrival—may contribute to deactivations. However, a low acceptance rating will not lead to deactivation.
Your acceptance rage gives you order priority. Not necessarily ‘better’ orders
One misconception about having a high acceptance rate is that it will give you better, higher-paying orders. Or more bonuses and incentives.
But that’s not what Spark says in their documentation, and many shoppers confirm that their high acceptance rating doesn’t necessarily lead to the ‘best’ orders.
Spark says that your acceptance rate helps keep your prioritized to receive orders. Spark doesn’t say that the orders will be better.
Spark is only promising that you will receive priority, not quality. So it’s possible that your high AR will put you first in line for a bad order.
But many Spark shoppers say that your acceptance rate doesn’t make a difference
Even though Spark says that keeping a high acceptance rating can lead to order priority, many shoppers say that keeping a high AR doesn’t make a difference in their day-to-day experience.
Shoppers say they get plenty of offers even when their acceptance rating dips well below the green tier of 40% or higher.
Some have compared their order volumes with a high acceptance rate to the volume of offers they get with a low AR, and they say there is no noticeable difference.
Quotes from shoppers who say acceptance rating doesn’t matter
“I have had 0% when my zone is very competitive and I’ll still get offers”
“It doesn’t matter. Lol it doesn’t I had 20 offers in first come first serve at 7pm last night”
“I used to be in the 80s and it’s just as bad as it is now, I’m at 30s.”
“I was 78 2 weeks and there have been so many shitty rr, I’m down to 46. I’m still making the same.”
“No, mine is 15 percent and I get RR’s every hour everyday on the dot.”
“My acceptance rate starting this week was 0%. I rejected so many deals for days that this was the result. Guess what? Absolutely no difference in offers the last 2 days.”
The answer: It’s market dependent. You’ll have to find out for yourself
Generally speaking, the shoppers who say acceptance rating matters come from markets with fewer orders to go around, and shoppers who say that AR doesn’t matter are in markets where orders are plentiful.
Order priority can make a big difference if there are more drivers than offers.
But when there are more orders than drivers, everyone online will receive an offer and order priority doesn’t come into play.
This shopper on Reddit put it well:
“This is probably one the most zone dependent things in all of Spark. For some, it means absolutely nothing. For others, it’s the difference between offers and no offers. Then there are those who are in the middle, who may get some offers if it’s higher, and worse offers the lower it gets.”
Other acceptance rate problems: Random AR drops, miscalculations, glitches
Not only do you have to worry about keeping your acceptance rating up to get order priority, but you also have to worry that the metric is even correctly calculated to begin with.
Shoppers report many different problems with their Spark metrics.
Sometimes it drops randomly even when they haven’t logged into the app, or other times it doesn’t increase even after accepting many orders in a row.
Some issues are misunderstandings about how the AR calculation works, but legitimate errors also happen.
Sometimes the Spark app doesn’t update metrics for a few days, and other times there may be an outright glitch that nobody fully understands.
What Spark shoppers say about rating errors
“Doing 8 to 10 orders a day and my acceptance rate is 0%”
“Mine [AR] is not updating correctly. Yesterday, I started at 70%. I accepted 8 round robins and rejected 1 round robin, and I am at 72% this morning.”
“Why does my RR Acceptance rate keep dropping when I haven’t even received any orders?”
“My acceptance rate has been stuck at 0% for almost 2 weeks.”
“I haven’t logged on in about 3 weeks. I dropped from around 30% to 9% AR somehow.”
You’re an independent contractor: Take the offers that work for you!
I run 5-6 apps. I don’t give a F about my AR on any of them. I accept the best and only profitable offers any company sends me.
The biggest perk of being an independent contractor is that you’re free to accept or decline any offer that comes your way.
Don’t let the scary red text on your metrics page convince you to take unprofitable offers.
In the long run, you will harm your profitability if you take bad orders just to increase your acceptance rate.
Focus on your earnings per mile and earnings per hour. Then, set a target and only accept orders that match your criteria.
But that’s easy to say when orders are coming in. What should you do if you aren’t getting anything at all?
Not enough volume on Spark? Try other apps
Like all the other gig apps, Spark has its ups and downs. Sometimes you’re swimming in orders, and other times you waste a day waiting for orders to arrive.
It could be that Spark hired too many drivers or that order volume in your area has dropped off. Either way, you have no control over larger market forces.
But you do have control over there services that you work for. As a gig worker, the best way to keep your income consistent is to sign up for as many apps as you can.
When things are slow on one app, sign into another. While you’re sitting in your car waiting for a Spark order, why not hop onto Instacart too?
There’s almost no reward for loyalty in the gig economy. Go to the app that is busiest in the moment!
Other gigs that are perfect for Spark drivers
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