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Part-time pizza delivery to help pay off debt?

U

Uphill In The Snow

New member
I've heard from several sources including Dave Ramsey's show that pizza delivery is a great part time job to add on to help pay the bills.

In our town for pizza delivery we have two independents, Pizza Hut, Dominos, and Papa John. So I have several choices. I'm looking for real world advice and experience. What about your car insurance? What kind of money did you make? And how physical does it end up being?
 
I've delivered pizza. It all depends on the neighborhoods the restaurant serves. Nice homes? Run down area? Town with well lit streets? I'd go into a couple of the places and ask the drivers how they like it and what kind of money they make.
 
I delivered pizza part-time for the same reasons, Uphill in the Snow. It was roughly 20 years ago, so mine might not be the most recent advice, but I made about $12-14 an hour.

When we weren't delivering, we were washing the pizza pans, assembling delivery boxes and cleaning up. During those times (about 1/2 of the hours worked), we only made minimum wage, so everyone was eager to take a delivery because that was where the tip money was.

The only other advice I can give is that the neighborhoods with lower incomes are more profitable. Many, many times I delivered to low-income neighborhoods and got a $3-4 tip for a $20 order. Meanwhile, the wealthier neighborhoods would typically tip $1-2 for a $40 order, if they tipped at all. Once I delivered $65 worth of pizza for a child's birthday party and the customer actually dug out the change in his pocket to make sure I got my $1.00 tip, LOL! And he had a tennis court and basketball court in his yard and a Mercedes in the driveway!

So keep this in mind if you can choose your location.
 
Depends on the area too. I did it once, and none of us wanted to deliver to apartments. It was a guarantee you wouldn't get a tip. Housing whatever the income class was a toss up, some tipped well others didn't. You never knew what you were going to get from a new customer.
 
I delivered for Dominoes back when they did the $4 off if it didn't arrive within 30 minutes. The town I worked in had all income levels.

If it was a lower income area it was a mixed bag.
I loved delivery to young singles apartments, families starting out, etc. they generally tipped well, they weren't making a lot of money but they were people who were WORKING and understood how hard it was to make a buck. Especially the singles apartments, but that was mainly because more than once a drunk/stoned naked woman would show up at the door!

Then there were the "established" poor areas where poverty was a lifestyle. They would turn off their lights, park a car in front of the mailbox or give the neighbors address. Anything to try to delay the delivery past 30 minutes, and they would let you know if you were 1 minute late! Not only no tip, but $4 off the pizza!

For middle class, upper middle class, affluent, it was also mixed bag. Some tipped well, others didn't.

Like poverty, the other income groups weren't defined by their income but by their values. Some tipped well, others didn't. But I will say this, I never feared for my safety in the middle class and nicer neighborhoods, but there were some poverty areas most drivers including me liked to avoid due to safety concerns, and one section 8 housing complex our store would not deliver to due to the number of robberies.

For a guy in his early twenties it was a fun job, and I made decent money all things considered - but I wouldn't want to do it now because I'm not that fit! If you have a reliable compact car with good mileage, it is a decent way to bring in a few bucks, but compared to the 1980s it's probably not as good. A large pizza back then was about $16, they tend to cost less now!
 
Our store didn't have any really bad neighborhoods within our delivery area, just more affluent and less. But I'm glad you mentioned the really bad areas, because it brings up another bit of advice.

When my older brother was delivering for Domino's, he had to deliver to the really bad zones, and at the time people were calling up for delivery to a house where no one was home and waiting in the bushes to rob the drivers at gunpoint. If I remember correctly, it happened several times to drivers at his location.
 
Of all the short term part time jobs you can get quickly without a high skill set, ie, fast food, bagging groceries, stocking retail shelves, etc. pizza delivery is probably one of the best paying. The others will be minimum wage or slightly better. Waiting tables is another good paying part time job, once you've been at it for a a few weeks and polished up your customer skills. Waiting tables can be even better paying. I've done both, I never liked delivery but that's mainly because my car sucked gas when I ran the A/C so I rolled the windows down instead.
 
Delivery drivers, waiters and waitresses, barbers / stylists, cab drivers, bell hops, bagger at the super market, etc. I always make sure I give them a good tip, and a memorable tip if they gave memorable service. They tend to be thankless jobs, and dollars are a good gesture to say thanks in a meaningful way.
 
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