How To Cash Out On Instacart: 3 Easy Methods

Recently, Instacart has seen a massive uptick in business from customers who are willing to pay a bit of extra money to have someone else grocery shop for them.

The delivery service’s popularity with customers has made it an excellent way for personal shoppers to earn extra cash.

If you’re an Instacart shopper and are wondering whether or not you can access your pay before the weekly payday, you’re in luck.

Keep reading to learn how to cash out on Instacart and get your earnings whenever you want.

When Does Instacart Pay?

Instacart’s standard payment model is a weekly deposit each Wednesday delivered to shoppers for the previous week’s work.

This deposit includes all wages earned directly from Instacart and all shopper tips each shopper received during that pay period.

Does Instacart Have Instant Pay?

Instacart introduced its Instant Cashout option back in 2019, much to the thrill of its shoppers.

Instant Cashout offers its shoppers the ability to cash out their pay as needed and deliver it via direct deposit to their debit card.

Previously, the only time a shopper could receive their payment was on payday, so Instant Cashout was a real game-changer for shoppers.

How Does Instacart Instant Cashout Work?

Instant Cashout gives each shopper the ability to receive their earnings via direct deposit the day they earn them.

Usually, shoppers would have to wait for payday each Wednesday.

However, with Instant Cashout, shoppers can choose to access their pay any time they need to.

How Soon Can You Cash Out on Instacart?

If you’re hoping to get some instant money, you’re in luck.

Now that Instacart has implemented its instant pay feature, you can cash out your earnings when they’re applied to your account.

It usually takes about half an hour for funds to be credited once you mark an order as delivered, so shoppers can get paid on the day they do their shopping, often within hours of delivering an order.

Remember that you can only cash out on your wages from Instacart.

Any customer tip you receive won’t be available for a full 24 hours after delivery.

This delay is because Instacart allows each customer up to 24 hours to adjust their tip.

However, if you receive a cash tip for delivery, you can simply pocket the money.

New shoppers to the Instacart delivery service should be aware that they’ll need to have at least five completed deliveries in their account before Instant Cashout is an option.

If you hustle or use a batch grabber, you should be able to rack up those deliveries in just a few days.

Can You Cash Out on Instacart Whenever?

You can use Instacart’s Instant Cashout feature as soon as your account has been credited with your payment.

Usually, an Instacart shopper’s account will receive the payment within 30 minutes of when they’ve marked an order as delivered.

Once it’s cleared, you’re good to go.

Can You Cash Out on Instacart Every Day?

Instacart hasn’t put a limit on their Instant Cashout option.

You can cash out each day if you want to get your funds instantly, but be aware that Instacart charges a fee each time you use the cashout service.

How Much Does It Cost to Cash Out on Instacart?

One of the downsides to Instant Cashout is that you’ll receive a fee each time you use it.

Each instant cash payment will cost you $.50.

This fee might not seem like a lot, but if you decide to cash out after each shopping trip, you could end up paying quite a lot in fees.

For example, if you use the feature three times a day for five days a week, you’ll end up paying almost $400 in fees per year.

So if you want to avoid spending a lot in fees, you should only use the cash-out option if you need funds right away.

Where Is Instacart Instant Cashout Available?

Instacart first rolled out its Instant Cashout feature in March of 2019 to select cities in North America.

By June of that year, every US Instacart delivery shopper could use the Instant Cashout option as long as they met the requirements.

How to Cash Out on Instacart [Tutorial]

*Note on How to Cash Out on Instacart

As long as you have at least $5 in your account and have completed five orders, you can cash out your earnings.

Just be aware–a single batch will only count as one order, even if the batch itself contains multiple orders.

So while you may receive a 5-order batch, that will only count as one delivery toward the five you’ll need to be eligible to get your money instantly.

How Long Does Instacart Cash Out Take?

The process of getting paid instantly on Instacart is very quick.

Once your order has been confirmed as delivered, it’s just a matter of transferring your funds from the Instacart app to your bank account.

Although transfer times to banks can vary, your direct deposit should process within a day.

To ensure your money gets into your account as quickly as possible, ensure all of your banking information is correct in the Instacart app to avoid delays.

Troubleshooting: Errors With Cashing Out on Instacart

The Instacart platform usually works great for shoppers, but now and then, you might run into some problems.

Here are a few troubleshooting tips that might help.

Why Can’t I Cash Out My Money on Instacart?

There are two requirements you’ll need to meet as an Instacart shopper to be able to cash out your funds.

• Have a minimum of $5 in earnings.
• Have completed at least 5 orders with Instacart.

If you haven’t met both of these requirements, you won’t be able to get your money instantly.

Another problem could be that your debit card isn’t correctly connected to your Instacart account.

Double-check your banking details to make sure there aren’t any errors because that could cause significant delays.

If you’ve confirmed that your debit card and banking details are correct, you could also try uninstalling then reinstalling the app on your phone.

If all else fails, you can contact Instacart directly for assistance.

No Cash Out Button on Instacart

When you go into your earnings tab, you’ll see the “Cashout” button.

If you’re eligible for instant money, the button will be green.

If you haven’t met the requirements for Instant Cashout eligibility, the button will be gray.

If you think you should be eligible to cash out, but the option isn’t showing up on your “Earnings” tab, try reinstalling the app or logging in from a different device.  

Alternative: Cashing Out With an Instacart Competitor

Not sure if Instacart is the right grocery delivery service for you?

Fortunately, there are plenty of grocery delivery services to choose from if you want to make some extra money.

Shipt Instant Pay

Shipt is a same-day grocery delivery service run by Target.

Unfortunately, Shipt isn’t available in all areas, but it’s a great option if you live in a more highly-populated area such as New York.

Customers who use Shipt pay a membership fee, similar to Instacart Express, to get groceries and other items from various big-box and grocery stores delivered same-day.

Shipt shoppers get paid via weekly deposit each Friday, but they also have the option of withdrawing their earnings at any time with no added fees.

The lack of transaction fees for instant cash is where Shipt Instant Pay has a bit of a leg up on Instacart.

DoorDash Fast Pay

DoorDash is a grocery delivery service app similar to Instacart and Shipt.

However, the main difference is that it includes food delivery, similar to Uber Eats.

Dashers can cash out their money instantly using DoorDash Fast Pay, the company’s instant cashout feature.

However, the eligibility requirements for instant cash are a bit more strict than for Instacart.

To qualify for Fast Pay, you’ll have to have completed at least 25 deliveries, been with DoorDash for at least two weeks, and had a debit card on your account for at least seven days.

As long as you meet those requirements, you can get instant cash as soon as deliveries are credited to your account.

In addition to the stricter eligibility requirements, DoorDash also charges Dashers a $1.99 fee to use their Fast Pay service.

So, to get your money faster, you’ll have to pay a premium for it.

Wrapping Up

Now that shoppers can access their pay instantly, a side hustle as a grocery shopper can be a great way to make some quick cash.

If you want to earn some extra money on the side, a grocery delivery service is a great choice.

Between Instacart, Shipt, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and all of the other platforms that are emerging, you’ll undoubtedly have your pick of who to work for.