When you look for a job, especially for side income, what really matters is the potential earnings. It plays a really big factor as you consider where to apply and where not to. A job as one of the Amazon Flex drivers is, indeed, an attractive option. But regardless of how it looks, driving for Amazon is all about hard work, and it is all on you.
You will definitely need to make the best use of your available time if you want high earnings. Thus, let us look into Amazon Flex, how it works and how much the drivers earn. Besides, if working for Amazon Flex is really worth it or not.
Amazon Flex rose to fame in 2015. It is a platform that offers delivery services to the customers who are ordering in. Say you are working for Amazon as one of its drivers. Thus, Amazon Flex will connect you to those customers. In this way, it offers you a chance to earn at your ease and availability.
You, as a driver, will have to use your own car. Also, you will need to make use of your phone in order to receive orders from people.
How does Amazon Flex work?
Contents
Amazon Flex works by making various kinds of deliveries. It includes Prime Now, Merchant Pickups, Prime, Amazon Locker, and Restaurant. Let us discuss them briefly.
- Prime Now: The service is only available at select locations. It offers people with Amazon Prime Now subscriptions a two-hour delivery option.
- Merchant Pickups: The pickup service works with a merchant to deliver products to the drivers. Thus, in this way, the driver has to pick it up from the merchant and not from an Amazon Station. Through this option, Amazon makes services such as Amazon Fresh available for its customers. These merchants can be the usual brick-and-mortar stores that are working with Amazon. Also, small local stores can also be merchants.
- Prime: Unlike the two-hour delivery services of Prime Now, Prime is Amazon’s usual service. Though Amazon uses UPS or USPS options for most Prime deliveries, it hires private drivers through Amazon Flex. Through this option, Amazon is able to make more deliveries at a faster rate. Amazon Flex deliveries are also available on Sundays.
- Amazon Locker: The service offers an alternative for its customers. Under this category, Amazon Flex drivers deliver the packages to these Amazon Lockers. From here, customers can pick up their Amazon orders. It is efficient as people who want their orders to arrive faster can go pick them up from Amazon Lockers.
- Restaurant: Under this option, Amazon Flex drivers deliver food orders through the Amazon Restaurant section.
Is Amazon Flex worth it?
There are always give and takes when it comes to any kind of job. To see if Amazon flex is really worth putting effort in, let us discuss its pros and cons.
Pros
- To start with, Amazon Flex is among the best delivery jobs. It is because it offers to its drivers a minimum hourly pay rate that is above the national average. It is a minimum of $18 per hour.
- The pay increases with certain factors such as rush or difficulties in delivery. Also, drivers might also receive tips that belong entirely to them.
- Amazon Flex as a side job is attractive due to the timely weekly payments. Also, the app allows easy tracking of packages.
- Amazon Flex works around the availability of the drivers. You can choose whichever slot you are comfortable with.
Cons
- Drivers need to use their own cars and phones to pick up and make deliveries. Besides, drivers pay for the gas, parking, maintenance of their cars, and tolls out of their own pockets.
- For new drivers, finding and tracking the addresses will be a little hard.
- The app has a lot of bugs, and hence, it can be very inconvenient and affect your deliveries.
How much do Amazon Prime Drivers make?
Now, let us talk about the earnings of an Amazon Prime Driver.
Whatever category you may belong to, Amazon pays its driver a minimum hourly pay of $18. Though, these rates are much higher in some markets. Also, depending on how difficult the delivery is, the hourly pay can rise as high as $25. Other factors that might increase the hourly pay rate are weather issues, increase in demand, or even rush during holidays.
If you are a driver working for Amazon under the Prime or Prime Now category, you can earn tips. Under normal situations, it is not required for the customers to pay any form of a tip. But if you offer timely deliveries and provide high customer satisfaction, you never know. It is possible for you to earn tips as an Amazon Prime driver.
Also, Amazon limits the number of hours any Amazon Flex driver can work for. Thus, it also includes Amazon Prime drivers. It ranges from a maximum of 7 hours in a day and 29 hours a week. Also, Prime drivers can work for a max of 116 hours in a month. That means that, in a month, an Amazon Prime driver can earn a minimum of $2088.
How often do you get paid with Amazon Flex?
Amazon Flex drivers receive their pay twice a week in the form of direct deposits. That is, once a driver completes their set number of deliveries, Amazon Flex gives them their pay.
How much can you make a week with Amazon Flex?
As mentioned earlier, Amazon places a cap on the number of hours for Amazon Flex drivers. It translates to a maximum of 29 hours in a week. Also, Amazon offers a minimum hourly pay rate of $18. Thus, an Amazon Flex driver is able to earn a minimum of $522 in a week. Besides, the pay is not constant. Suppose you take in factors such as the weather or rush and even difficulty in the delivery, the pay rises. Also, there is a chance to get tips from customers.