Earnings · New shopper
How Much Do Instacart Shoppers Make Their First Week?
How Much Do Instacart Shoppers Make Their First Week?
Clear facts, real numbers, current for 2026."How much will I make my first week?" Everyone asks it right before signing up. It depends on you and your market far more than it depends on Instacart. Full-Service Shoppers get paid per completed batch plus tips. So week one really comes down to a count. How many good batches did you accept and finish? Everything below builds on that, and I'm not going to hand you a made-up dollar figure.
Here's the honest part most sign-up pages skip. Your first week is usually your worst week. That's not a warning to scare you off. It's just how the ramp works. You're learning three stores at once, you're figuring out the app, and you're second-guessing every substitution. By week three, the same batches feel easy. So if you take a screenshot of your Sunday total and decide the whole thing was a bust, you're judging the gig by its slowest possible moment.
Why "per hour" is the wrong first question
New shoppers want an hourly number right away. Instacart Full-Service pay doesn't work like that. Each batch shows you an upfront payment before you accept it, and on top of that you keep 100% of the customer tip. Here's what your real first-week math looks like:
Batches completed × (batch pay + tip), minus expenses like gas and mileage, is your take-home. A slow week with three batches a day looks nothing like a busy week you timed to the dinner rush in a dense area.
That's why two people who start the same Monday can report totally different numbers. One shopped weekend peak hours in a busy suburb. The other tried Tuesday mornings in a quiet zone and turned down half the batches. Both count as "typical." When you read someone online bragging about $30 an hour, or someone else raging that they cleared $8, both are probably telling the truth. They just shopped different hours in different markets with different acceptance habits. Neither one predicts your week.
Think of the upfront batch pay as your floor and the tip as the swing. A batch might show, say, a small base of a few dollars, and then a customer who tipped well can double or triple what that trip is actually worth to you. A batch with a great-looking item count and a zero tip? That can be the trap of the day. You do all the work and the pay never shows up. Learning to read that difference is basically the whole skill of week one.
What actually moves your first-week number
- ✓ Your market's demand. Dense metros with a lot of orders surface more batches, and usually better ones, than rural zones do.
- ✓ When you shop. Evenings, weekends, and bad-weather days tend to bring higher volume and better tips. The app can also go dead quiet at 2pm on a Tuesday.
- ✓ Which batches you accept. Read the batch pay and estimated tip before you tap accept. That's how you protect your effective rate. Low-pay batches with a huge item count will drag you down fast.
- ✓ Tips. Tips swing your total more than anything else. Customers can also adjust them for a while after delivery, so week-one tips keep settling for a few days.
- ✓ The learning curve. Your first shops are slow. You're still figuring out where items live and what to do when the oat milk a customer wanted is out of stock. Hour one is rarely your best hour.
- ✓ Expenses. Gas and mileage come out of your own pocket. Track them from day one. They're deductible at tax time.
- ✓ Your ratings. A strong shopper rating (roughly 4.7 and up matters here) can help you see better batches over time. A rough start with a couple of low stars won't sink you, but it's worth protecting from day one.
Notice that only one of those factors is really "Instacart." The rest are choices you make. That's good news. It means a smart first week beats a lucky one, and you have more control than the app's mystery pay logic makes it feel like.
A realistic first week, step by step
- Days 1 to 2: Expect to be slow and a little cautious. Treat these as paid practice. Grab a couple of straightforward batches and learn the app's rhythm before you chase volume. A single-customer order at a store you know beats a giant triple batch when you're still finding the aisles.
- Days 3 to 4: You'll start to recognize store layouts and spot which batches are worth taking. Your effective earnings usually tick up here because your shop time drops. This is also when you'll notice your own patterns, like which store near you has the friendliest checkout and which one always has half the produce out of stock.
- Days 5 to 7: Shop the busy windows. This is where most of a strong first week comes from, and where any qualifying-batch bonus progress really adds up. Lunch, the 4pm to 7pm dinner rush, and Sunday afternoon are the reliable ones in a lot of markets.
| Factor | Slow first week | Strong first week |
|---|---|---|
| Batches / day | 2 to 4 | 6 to 10+ |
| Timing | Off-peak, weekdays | Peak, evenings & weekends |
| Acceptance approach | Take almost anything | Read pay + tip first |
| Effective range* | Lower end (~$10 to $15/hr) | Higher end (~$18 to $25/hr) |
*These ranges are rough and illustrative. Actual pay varies by market and time, and Instacart does not guarantee an hourly rate for Full-Service. Pull up live figures in the Shopper app before you count on a rate.
Full-Service vs In-Store: two very different first weeks
Before you count on any of this, make sure you know which role you signed up for, because the first-week story is completely different between them.
| Full-Service Shopper | In-Store Shopper | |
|---|---|---|
| Car needed? | Yes, you shop and deliver | No, you shop inside one store |
| How you're paid | Per batch + 100% of tips | Hourly |
| Schedule | Open the app whenever you want | Scheduled shifts |
| Week-one predictability | Swings a lot | Steadier, since it's a wage |
| Best for | Flexibility and tip upside | Predictable pay, no driving |
Most people asking "how much will I make my first week" are picturing the Full-Service, per-batch model, so that's what the rest of this page focuses on. If a steady hourly check with no car sounds better to you, the In-Store role is the one to look at, and your first week will feel a lot more like a normal part-time job.
Before you can earn a dime: getting approved
One thing that quietly delays a lot of "first weeks" is the onboarding itself. You need to be 18 or older, have a smartphone that can run the app, and be able to lift around 50 lbs, since some orders mean cases of water and heavy bags. There's also a background check through Checkr that usually takes about 3 to 10 business days to clear. So if you sign up on a Monday, don't be shocked if your actual first batch is the following week. Plan for that gap instead of getting frustrated by it.
Common first-week mistakes I'd tell a friend to skip. Accepting every batch just to stay busy. Chasing a low-pay, high-item order across a store you've never shopped. Forgetting to log your miles. Panicking on the first out-of-stock item instead of messaging the customer. And judging the whole gig by your Sunday total before the tips finish settling. Every one of those is normal, and every one costs you money.
Where the new-shopper bonus fits in
A lot of markets run a new-shopper incentive tied to finishing a set number of batches inside a window. It's often framed as something like "30 batches in 30 days." How many batches, how much money, and how long you get all shift by promo and region. If one is active where you are, entering code BEAN85579C at sign-up is how new shoppers claim it. Treat it as a bonus on top of your batch pay. It won't carry your week on its own, and the current terms live in the app.
Plan week one around the bonus. If your market's offer needs a batch count, spreading those batches across your first days beats cramming them at the end. See the full mechanics on our bonus terms and how it works pages.
One thing to watch: a batch-count bonus can tempt you into taking bad batches just to tick the counter. Don't. A qualifying batch is a qualifying batch whether it paid great or barely paid at all, so you might as well hold your standards and let the good ones count. The bonus rewards finishing batches, not martyring your effective rate.
A quick pro tip on reading the money right
When you're new, the number that matters isn't your daily total. It's your per-batch and your per-hour-actually-working. Two people can both make the same amount on a Saturday, but one did it in four focused hours and the other stretched it across nine while the app sat quiet. The first person had a genuinely good day. The second person had an okay day that felt like a slog. Track your time honestly for the first week and you'll learn which windows in your specific zone are worth showing up for. That single habit does more for month two than any tip trick.
Payout timing is the last piece. When your money lands depends on your cash-out settings and Instacart's schedule, and tips can keep adjusting for a few days after delivery. The number you see Sunday night usually isn't the final one. Give week one a little time to settle before you judge it.
Ready to start your first week?
Sign up as a new Instacart Shopper and enter BEAN85579C to claim any new-shopper offer available in your market.
FAQ
First-week earnings questions
How much do Instacart shoppers make their first week?
It varies widely. Where you shop and which batches you take matter most. As a Full-Service Shopper you're paid per batch plus 100% of tips, so there's no set weekly figure. Many new shoppers see a rough effective rate in the $10 to $25 per hour range once you account for a slow start and expenses like gas. That's a ballpark. Nobody can promise you a number.
Do I get paid per hour or per delivery?
Full-Service Shoppers shop and deliver with a car, and they're paid per batch plus tips, not by the hour. In-Store Shoppers pick orders inside a store without delivering, and that's usually an hourly role. Most people asking about "first week earnings" mean the Full-Service, per-batch model.
Are tips included in what I earn?
Yes. You keep 100% of customer tips on top of the batch payment. Tips are usually the biggest swing in your total, and customers can adjust them for a short window after delivery, so week-one totals keep settling for a few days.
Will I earn less because I'm new?
A little, at first. Your earliest shops run slower while you learn store layouts and how substitutions work, and that drags down your effective hourly rate. It usually picks up within your first several batches as you get faster and pickier about which ones you take.
How long before I can even start earning?
You have to get approved first. That means being 18 or older, having a smartphone, being able to lift around 50 lbs, and clearing a Checkr background check that usually runs about 3 to 10 business days. So your paid first week often starts a week or so after you actually sign up. Plan for that gap so it doesn't catch you off guard.
How many batches should I aim for in week one?
There's no magic target, but a strong first week usually means shopping the busy windows and completing several batches a day rather than grinding all day for a couple. If your market has a new-shopper bonus with a batch count, let that shape your pace and spread the batches across your first days instead of cramming them at the end.
What's the best time of day to shop as a new shopper?
In most markets the reliable busy windows are lunch, the dinner rush around 4pm to 7pm, and weekend afternoons, especially Sunday. Bad weather days also tend to bring more orders and better tips. Weekday mid-mornings and early afternoons can go quiet, which is fine for practice but rough if you're counting on volume.
Does code BEAN85579C guarantee a set first-week bonus?
No. Code BEAN85579C is how new shoppers claim whatever offer is running in their market. The dollar amount and the batch count needed both vary by region and promo, and Instacart alone decides eligibility and payment. Check the current terms in the Shopper app before you rely on any figure.
What expenses should I expect in week one?
Gas and vehicle mileage are the main out-of-pocket costs for Full-Service Shoppers, since you drive your own car. Track your mileage from day one, because it's generally deductible at tax time. This is general information, not tax advice, so talk to a tax professional about your own situation.