# FLEX vs Food Delivery: PROs and CONs?



## Timlee252525 (Apr 14, 2020)

Please post PROs and CONs for FLEX vs FOOD DELIVERY.
I am looking to add FLEX to my gig. I am doing UE, DD and GB.

Thanks


----------



## nighthawk398 (Jul 21, 2015)

flex you never know what area they will send you to...


----------



## rideshareMN (Jan 25, 2017)

Timlee252525 said:


> Please post PROs and CONs for FLEX vs FOOD DELIVERY.
> I am looking to add FLEX to my gig. I am doing UE, DD and GB.
> 
> Thanks


i haven't done food delivery since amazon dropped the restaurant delivery gigs, so this might not be the full comparison you were looking for:

flex pros (i stopped doing warehouse runs a year ago when covid hit, so right now i only do fresh)
--active (i like getting in and out of car frequently for more exercise)
--deliveries tend to be fairly tight in a neighborhood zone
--usually finish flex gigs well ahead of schedule (30 min early on 2-hour fresh block/was often much less on a warehouse run)
--per hour pay seems pretty decent, but the work is too sparse

flex cons
--having to constantly watch the app to then only hope to snag a gig is dehumanizing, and takes away from family time
--fresh gigs are not plentiful enough to generate enough income because of Amazon's reliance on instant offers
-- @nighthawk398 made a good point about flex warehouse runs, they could be close to home, or 50 miles in the wrong direction

hope that helps!


----------



## kdyrpr (Apr 23, 2016)

May want to supplement flex with your other gigs. Fresh is best paying, but toughest to get. Correct, too much time sitting at your app hitting refresh.


----------



## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

I did flex one tear during the holidays. A few pros... I drove to the warehouse for my block, but there were no deliveries. I was still paid for the block. Another time only had 3 packages for the block, so I was done quick and got the full block pay. 

But the drawbacks were a few blocks had deliveries so far and a few businesses were closed, so had to return the packages back to the warehouse and worked over my block for no extra pay.

Pros for food delivery was my car wasn’t filled with packages, received decent tips some days (never got a tip for packages), easier access to bathrooms, not having to take a picture for every delivery (most of my flex we’re left by the door, so had to take pictures, didn’t have to return food as I had to sometimes return packages to warehouse, enjoyed talking to most customers/restaurant staff. 

My snow days paid the best with food, and I typically didn’t travel as far as flex for starting my route. With flex, they closed the warehouse in the city and put it in the neighboring county in the country. 

And food didn’t weigh as much as some packages. One time I remember with flex this crazy long entrance to an apartment building. It was a hassle delivering to multiple apartments since the leasing office refused to accept the packages, so it wasted a lot of time.


----------



## rideshareMN (Jan 25, 2017)

Invisible said:


> And food didn't weigh as much as some packages.


did a fresh (prime) run this morning, and it reminded me that some people won't be able to do the physical side of flex...had 13 heavy packages to a low-end apartment with *no elevator*, the 13 packages included 2 24-pack of soda and 2 24-pack of water bottles; also, vehicle is something to think about for flex work -- i have a nice big crossover/suv and there were times that the ENTIRE vehicle was filled on a warehouse run with huge, heavy boxes; even prime/WF can have runs over 40 packages, which starts to dramatically fill up even a big vehicle


----------



## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

rideshareMN said:


> did a fresh (prime) run this morning, and it reminded me that some people won't be able to do the physical side of flex...had 13 heavy packages to a low-end apartment with *no elevator*, the 13 packages included 2 24-pack of soda and 2 24-pack of water bottles; also, vehicle is something to think about for flex work -- i have a nice big crossover/suv and there were times that the ENTIRE vehicle was filled on a warehouse run with huge, heavy boxes; even prime/WF can have runs over 40 packages, which starts to dramatically fill up even a big vehicle


That sounds awful! I never did fresh prime, but after reading your story, so glad I didn't. I know people who did the grocery delivery with other apps and said the same about the soda/water deliveries. Any apartment delivery is normally the worst because of the extra time, sometimes not able to park so close and often no elevators.


----------



## cvflexer (Apr 27, 2017)

rideshareMN said:


> did a fresh (prime) run this morning, and it reminded me that some people won't be able to do the physical side of flex...had 13 heavy packages to a low-end apartment with *no elevator*, the 13 packages included 2 24-pack of soda and 2 24-pack of water bottles; also, vehicle is something to think about for flex work -- i have a nice big crossover/suv and there were times that the ENTIRE vehicle was filled on a warehouse run with huge, heavy boxes; even prime/WF can have runs over 40 packages, which starts to dramatically fill up even a big vehicle


Buy a foldable cart or wagon.

Input your vehicle information in the Flex app and you will get the appropriate route to fit in your vehicle 95% of the time. The other 5% you either deal with it or have them change the route.


----------



## oicu812 (Aug 29, 2016)

I made $160 on eats in 4 hrs. Did 13 deliveries. That's like 2 flex 2 hr blocks with none of the bs. Weekends are best left to food deliveries. When it's slow for food deliveries, do flex.


----------



## ashlee2004 (Apr 19, 2019)

Timlee252525 said:


> Please post PROs and CONs for FLEX vs FOOD DELIVERY.
> I am looking to add FLEX to my gig. I am doing UE, DD and GB.
> 
> Thanks





cvflexer said:


> Buy a foldable cart or wagon.
> 
> Input your vehicle information in the Flex app and you will get the appropriate route to fit in your vehicle 95% of the time. The other 5% you either deal with it or have them change the route.


I agree with what was previously mentioned about being active. If you're looking to burn some calories, a flex route will definitely do that. However, there are MAJOR drawbacks as far as location.

I'm not sure where @cvflexer is located but in the DC area, you get the route you're given, and if you don't want to go to that part of town, your options are:
A. Suck it up and do it anyway
B. Go home without getting paid and get penalized for canceling the block late.

I cannot tell you how many times I've had to wait patiently while the warehouse staff argues with drivers that don't want the route they're given to the point of physical altercations. There are security officers at the warehouses around here for this specific reason.

If you can make the commitment to delivering packages in an area you don't like, for 4.5 hours, in potentially treacherous weather, then hey go for it. But just know what you're signing up for!

I've had an equal number of blocks get finished early, as I have had blocks I never had any shot of getting done on time. Racing the clock for 2-3 hours is really stressful, especially when you're already exhausted from working for hours on end.

Flex is NOT for the faint of heart or people that expect to cherry pick their way through it.


----------



## cvflexer (Apr 27, 2017)

Read before you say so much please. Never said you can pick and choose routes. Only advised in case there is a mismatch between route given and vehicle information in app, then you can try to get it fixed.


----------



## ashlee2004 (Apr 19, 2019)

cvflexer said:


> Read before you say so much please. Never said you can pick and choose routes. Only advised in case there is a mismatch between route given and vehicle information in app, then you can try to get it fixed.


Wasn't directing most of it at you, obviously. &#128580; And again, don't know where you're located, but none of the things you just described exist in my market. The point being, to the OP (not you), that there are a lot of possible pros and cons to explore.

Sounds like you should calm down.


----------



## cvflexer (Apr 27, 2017)

You fit the profile. Dumb blond


----------



## rideshareMN (Jan 25, 2017)

cvflexer said:


> You fit the profile. Dumb blond


why resort to personal insults? this thread has been in the spirit of trying to answer/help with the OPs question

FWIW, I've seen enough of her content on this board to also know you're way off-base on that assumption


----------



## Driving With A Purpose (Jul 28, 2020)

One thing not yet mentioned that isn’t a pro or con per se...

Flex and food delivery gigs actually go well together. Think about it this way. I get a Flex gig and have no clue where I’ll be when I’m done. It could easily be 25-35 miles from home. Rather than swear how much I hate the job the entire way home, I can just turn on a food delivery app (I do UE, but it could just as well be DD or GH). Then, with the food delivery app I can get paid to work my way home over perhaps a 2-3 hour period. 

So you could argue that this is UE bailing out Amazon. Perhaps it is, but I like having both of them available.


----------



## Driving With A Purpose (Jul 28, 2020)

If you do food deliveries only, then you can get by with a tiny but fuel efficient car. I would totally forget that if you are doing Amazon Flex. I have an SUV and there have been a number of times when my SUV was loaded to the gills with packages. That doesn’t just go for Flex, but also Prime Now and even Whole Foods.


----------



## SpinalCabbage (Feb 5, 2020)

I didn't find Flex very profitable. It is also harder work than most of the other gig-economy jobs. Instacart running a close second. Just my opinion, of course.


----------



## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

cvflexer said:


> You fit the profile. Dumb blond


On the contrary, Ashlee seems smart and has common sense. Insulting someone, especially for hair color, just shows your insecurities. A confident person doesn’t put others down.


----------



## rideshareMN (Jan 25, 2017)

instant grocery offers in my area will now include picking...i wonder if that will spark some tension with existing pickers and delivery people? plus, drivers are not going to know where stuff is...


----------



## Chungyi (Jan 3, 2020)

have good experience with regular flex. I usually wait till around 4:30 pm hoping to get increased rate for late block. Usually get over $30 an hour doing that. I’m part time. If I can’t get it, I will do Doordash for the day. Heard good thing about Amazon Fresh, so I tried it yesterday. Instantly regret it. Picked up from Santa Clara. Was asked to picked up 2 more items from 2 other places. Drove total about 100 miles. Carried 8-10 large bags to each of 3 apartments. Problems with access code. I sit down on floor running out of breathe lol. All packages were assigned to me 2 hours late, so I got customer complaint as well. 2 hours block ended up 3 hours and see myself driving back home from Redwood City. Probably make same money driving Uber one trip from Santa Clara to SFO minus with far less tome, hustle, and stress. Doordash May make me the same for 2 hours work and lots of sitting. I guess just bad luck with whoever the fker who arranged my cart yesterday. Some people finished 2 hours in one


----------

