What is DoorDash? DoorDash is an on-demand delivery platform that connects customers with local restaurants, grocery stores and retailers, and you can order from it through its app or its website.[1] If you have seen the name on a delivery bag or an app store listing, this guide explains what the company does, how it works for customers, merchants and drivers, and what to know before using it, based on DoorDash’s own pages.
What does DoorDash mean and what does it do?
The question “what does DoorDash mean” has a plain answer: it is the name of a company, and by extension its app. What DoorDash does is link three groups, customers who want something delivered, local businesses that sell it and independent drivers called Dashers who carry it. DoorDash states its mission as empowering and growing local economies by connecting people to each other.
People also search for the DoorDash definition or write Door Dash as two words, but the product is the same.
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What does DoorDash deliver?
DoorDash’s product page lists several categories:
- restaurants, for delivery or pickup;
- grocery from participating local stores;
- convenience items, including from DashMart, DoorDash’s own convenience and grocery store;
- retail goods such as electronics, clothing, beauty products and tools;
- alcohol in select markets, where customers must be 21 or older and show valid ID;
- flowers and pet supplies.
Which of these appear for you depends on the stores and restaurants near your address, and delivery hours follow their opening hours.
How does DoorDash work for customers?
Customers place an order through the app or website, a Dasher picks it up and delivers it, and orders can be tracked in real time. DoorDash also describes DoubleDash, which lets you add items from a second nearby store to the original order, and Package Pickup, where a Dasher collects a prepaid package from your home and drops it at a carrier such as UPS, FedEx or USPS.
DashPass is the optional subscription. DoorDash says it gives $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees on eligible orders and lists it at $9.99 per month or $96 per year, plus tax. Fees at checkout vary by order, so read the total before you pay.
How does DoorDash work for restaurants and stores?
DoorDash for Merchants presents a marketplace where businesses reach nearby customers with delivery and pickup. Its merchant page offers a start with 0% commission and says more than 615,000 businesses already work with DoorDash, which is a company claim and not independent data.[2] It lists restaurants, grocery, convenience, liquor, pet, retail and flower shops as business types. What a merchant pays depends on the plan it chooses, so the merchant pricing page is the place to check it.
How does DoorDash work for drivers?
A Dasher is an independent contractor. DoorDash says you decide when, where and how much you work, and that you can choose whether to accept offers. When an order is placed, DoorDash offers the delivery to nearby Dashers. Once you accept, there are generally three steps: drive to the restaurant, pick up the food and drive to the customer.[3]
The US requirements are short. The Dasher page lists a minimum age of 18, 19 in a number of states and 21 in California, a driver’s license or other ID if dashing by bike only, and a Social Security number used for a background check. It says no particular car is required, only a valid license and insurance, and that a bicycle or scooter works in select cities. Doing it as a job is often called doordashing, or dashing. For the full age rules, see DoorDash age requirements by state.
How is a Dasher paid?
DoorDash says Dasher pay has three parts: base pay, promotions and tips. Base pay is its contribution for each offer and does not change with the tip. Promotions such as Peak Pay and Challenges add pay when conditions are met, and 100% of tips go to the Dasher.[4] The offer amount on the acceptance screen is the minimum guaranteed amount, and weekly direct deposit covers Monday through Sunday. Faster cash-out options exist and may carry a fee in the US.
DoorDash does not publish an average hourly figure, so any earnings number from another source describes someone else’s city and hours.
Is DoorDash right for you?
As a customer, the test is whether the stores you want deliver to your address and whether the total at checkout, including fees and tip, is acceptable. As a driver, the test is whether net pay after fuel, wear on the car and taxes is worth your hours, and DoorDash’s own earnings tab shows your results after a few weeks. If you decide to stop, here is how to cancel or deactivate a DoorDash account.
Because Dashers are independent contractors, tax is not withheld from earnings, so keep records of income and costs and ask a tax professional what applies to you.
