5 Ways To Do Instacart Without a Car

Instacart does not provide cars for their shoppers, but there are at least five ways to do Instacart without your own car:

• Use a (motorized) bike or scooter
• Use public transportation - busses, trains, and subways
• Ride along with another Instacart Shopper
• Rent or borrow a car
• Sign up for the in-store only Instacart Shopper role, if available in your location

Each option comes with various pro’s and con’s - let’s dig in to explore whether you need a car for Instacart.

Bikes & Scooters

You could do small orders with a motorized bicycle and a backpack. Note that your bike/scotter must be motorized; Instacart officially prohibits traditional bikes. Regardless, this approach isn’t recommended - you’ll miss out on accepting those large batch orders that are likely to net you bigger tips and delivery fees for fewer hours of work.

Pros of using a motorized bike or scooter:

• You don’t need a car
• You’ll spend less on filling up your gas or paying for car maintenance
• Suitable for orders in a downtown environment, where parking can be difficult, expensive, or unavailable

Cons:

• Instacart does not officially recommend this approach
• You might not be able to take bigger (more profitable) orders
• You will move slower than someone with a car, which impacts your ability to complete more orders and earn strong ratings from your customers
• Many orders include a long travel distance (e.g. 10+ miles), which wouldn’t be practical to accept if you are planning to use a bike or scooter
• Not a great option during inclement weather, such as rain, snow, or heavy winds

Can you do Instacart without a license?

Although it is technically possible to complete orders without a car, Instacart does require that you provide a valid driver’s license when you are signing up to be a shopper. So you must have a valid license to sign up to be an Instacart Shopper.

Michael Vaness, an Instacart shopper with over 3 years of experience, additionally points out that you’ll need to re-verify your license after your license’s expiration date: “Instacart will lock your app until you can provide a renewed license to them. They do not accept the temporary paper proof that the DMV provides while you wait for your new license in the mail. You must have the physical card. It's a good idea to renew your license 2 weeks or more in advance since many states now mail the license. This way, by the time it expires, you will have the new license or at least have to wait less before you can send proof to Instacart and start shopping again. I found out the hard way and lost 2 weeks of work.”

A number of shoppers use public transit

If someone is located in a major metropolitan area with public transit (busses, trains, subways) options, using those can sometimes be even more effective than using a car.

Oliver, an Instacart Shopper with over a year of experience working gig jobs, enjoys this approach: ”I'm one of these. Sometimes if I don't want to drive, or if my wife needs the car, I'll do Instacart orders downtown and take transit. There are limitations, but it is a lot of fun.”

Pros of using public transit:

• You don’t need a car
• Suitable for orders in a downtown environment, where parking can be difficult, expensive, or unavailable
• Great opportunity for extra exercise

Cons:

• Instacart does not officially endorse this approach
• You might not be able to take bigger (more profitable) orders
• Limited by the size of the transit system and its reach
• Not a great option during inclement weather, such as rain, snow, or heavy winds, though moderately better than taking a scooter or bike
• Much like bikes and scooters. you will move slower than someone with a car, which impacts your ability to complete more orders and earn strong ratings from your customers

You could try riding along with another Instacart shopper

A shopper without a car could possibly ride and shop with another shopper, who does have a car. Instacart’s policy does not allow “bringing anyone along (including minors) who does not have an Instacart Shopper account while providing services on the platform,” which clearly implies that someone with a shopper account can join a ride.

This can be challenging to make effective, since you will have to accept batches that allow you to shop at the same or nearby stores. Or you choose to split the wages from single batches and get more done by splitting the work.

Pros:

• You don't need to own your own car

Cons:

• You’ll make less money, since having two people in one car doesn’t save you any driving time
• It may be hard to coordinate with your friend

Renting or borrowing a car is possible, but tricky

We’ve written more in another post about renting or borrowing a car to do Instacart, but the conclusion is that it may be difficult to earn enough money through Instacart to justify paying for a car rental.

William Ross, an Instacart Shopper and Uber driver who has been working gigs since 2014, suggests to consider just making the leap to car ownership instead: “As a shopper, I would try to avoid the rental option altogether. If you have money saved, then get financing on a new vehicle, or get a used one with low miles, manufactured within the past year or two and in good condition.”

If you choose to consider renting anyway, here are your best options:

• Use HyreCar, a car sharing service made for people like you
• Use a typical car rental service like ZipCar
• Borrow a friend’s car

Pros:

• You don’t need to own your own car
• You can avoid paying for maintenance on your own car

Cons:

• Rentals might be more expensive than the amount you earn from Instacart

The in-store only role is an option in some locations

Instacart offers two roles. One is the “Full-Service” role, which does require using a car. The other is the “In-Store Only” role, which means you never leave the store - and so you don’t need to use a car while on the job.

Pros of the in-store only role:

• You don’t need a car
• You get paid per-hour, so your earnings are more predictable
• You can focus on shopping without the stress of driving through busy streets, risking an accident, etc.

Cons:

• You sign up for shifts, so your hours are less flexible
• This role has is available in only some locations, and not at all in Canada

Ready to get started working for Instacart?

Read more about the shopper & delivery role, or take a look at the in-store only role.