Why DoorDash Acceptance Rates Don't Matter For Dashers (2024)

Key Takeaways

  • Acceptance rate reflects percentage of accepted delivery requests out of the last 100.
  • No minimum requirement, but high acceptance can lead to more opportunities and benefits.
  • Falling below 50% triggers a notification; consistent declines can pause account for 10 minutes.
  • Tips for increasing: accept more orders, understand rolling average, and possibly reset rate.

Acceptance rates explained →

Do acceptance rates matter? →

  • The DoorDash Acceptance Rate Explained
  • What is a Good DoorDash Acceptance Rate?
  • What is Considered a Bad DoorDash Acceptance Rate?
  • Does Your DoorDash Acceptance Rate Matter?
  • Tips for Increasing Your DoorDash Acceptance Rate
  • How to Check Your DoorDash Acceptance Rate
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Wrapping Up

The DoorDash Acceptance Rate Explained

Your DoorDash acceptance rate is one of a handful of Dasher ratings the delivery app looks at when you start driving for DoorDash.

It’s represented as a percentage of your 100 most recent delivery opportunities. Thus, if you accept 10 delivery requests out of the 100 sent by the DoorDash platform, your DoorDash acceptance rate will be 10%.

It’s worth mentioning the other ratings that make up your Dasher ratings, as they differ from your acceptance rate in one key way. These metrics include:

  • Customer Rating: This is a score between one and five. DoorDash calculates it using your 100 most recent customer reviews. It’s a rolling average, which means DoorDash constantly replaces older reviews with newer ones. You’ll need to aim for a high customer rating to get better delivery opportunities.
  • Completion Rate: Your DoorDash completion rate is a percentage of the completed deliveries out of the most recent 100 delivery opportunities you accepted.
  • On-Time/Early Rate: This metric is another percentage that’s calculated based on the number of deliveries you completed successfully. You must either complete the delivery by the estimated delivery time or five minutes later for it to be factored into your On-time/Early Rate.

Unlike customer rating and completion rate, your acceptance rate doesn’t have to meet a minimum requirement on the DoorDash platform. In contrast, the minimum requirements for the other two are as follows:

Rating Minimum Requirement
Customer Rating4.2
Completion Rate80%

Meanwhile, your On-time/Early Rate can result in the deactivation of your DoorDash account (if you’re repeatedly late).

Related: What the DoorDash waitlist means

What is a Good DoorDash Acceptance Rate?

A good DoorDash acceptance rate depends on your personal preferences and goals.

While DoorDash does not require a specific acceptance rate to remain active, maintaining a higher rate, such as around 50%, can potentially lead to more consistent orders and possibly better offers.

However, accepting lower-paying orders to increase your acceptance rate may not always be financially beneficial. Ultimately, the choice of which orders to accept is up to the individual dasher, balancing between acceptance rate and order profitability.

What is Considered a Bad DoorDash Acceptance Rate?

A bad DoorDash acceptance rate isn’t explicitly defined, as DoorDash does not enforce a minimum acceptance rate for its drivers. However, consistently declining deliveries can negatively impact other dashers by shortening their delivery times and possibly leading to late deliveries or poor food quality.

While acceptance rate alone doesn’t directly lead to deactivation, a driver’s account can be deactivated for consistently poor ratings, frequent lateness, or a high cancellation rate.

A completion rate below 80% or a customer rating below 4.2 are more critical factors for deactivation. Therefore, it’s advisable to accept orders you are confident you can complete to maintain a healthy completion rate.

Does Your DoorDash Acceptance Rate Matter?

Your DoorDash acceptance rate isn’t critical for maintaining your account, as there’s no minimum threshold required, and a low rate won’t risk deactivation. However, consistently refusing orders can impact service efficiency.

In DoorDash’s words:

There is no minimum requirement for an acceptance rate, but consistently declining delivery opportunities negatively impact the experience for other Dashers (who will have less time to complete the delivery), the customer (who is more likely to get a late delivery), and even the merchant (whose food will sit for longer).

Therefore, you have the right to decline as many requests as you like, and DoorDash will continue to send them your way when they become available. It makes sense, considering that DoorDash views its drivers as independent contractors, not employees.

With that said, your acceptance rate matters because a higher acceptance rate provides a number of benefits.

Benefits of a Higher Acceptance Rate

It pays to have a high acceptance rate for a couple of reasons:

  • More Reviews: This benefit is straightforward. Accepting orders increases the likelihood of you receiving positive reviews, which spills into the next benefit.
  • Access to High-Paying Orders: Your acceptance rate determines your eligibility for select DoorDash features. For example, a 4.5 rating combined with a 50% acceptance rate gives you priority accessto higher-paying orders. The said orders are an excellent way to boost your base pay other than DoorDash’s sign-up bonuses.
  • Everyone Wins: You win by getting good reviews. Other Dashers win by not having to pick up your slack on short notice. And the customer wins by getting their order on time.

Your acceptance rate also determines your eligibility for Top Dasher statuseach month. As a top DoorDash driver, you can Dash any time, which may mean more money.

One of the criteria for Top Dasher status is a 70% acceptance rate. The others are a 95% completion rate, a 4.7 customer rating, 100 completed deliveries for the month, and 200 lifetime deliveries.

Are There Any Consequences for a Low DoorDash Acceptance Rate?

There are. The main consequence of repeatedly not accepting orders is an account pause. If you decline 10 orders in a row, DoorDash will pause your account for 10 minutes.

The platform takes this action to give other DoorDash drivers a chance to see and pick up the orders you’re declining. However, since the main reason for declining orders is because they’re low-paying, you don’t have to worry about missing out on a high-paying order during the pause period.

Once the 10-minute period elapses, your account will become active again, and you’re free to accept or decline subsequent orders.

What DoorDash Considers as Being a Low Acceptance Rate

DoorDash considers any percentage below 50% to be a low acceptance rate. When you fall below this number, the app will send you a notification.

Tips for Increasing Your DoorDash Acceptance Rate

If you have an acceptance rate you’re not happy with, try one or more of the following tips to raise it:

Tip 1: Accept Requests More Often

Try accepting more orders to raise your acceptance rate. As much as this tip is a no-brainer, it’s the quickest and easiest way to get a higher acceptance rate. The more deliveries you take on, the more declined orders you can bump out of your acceptance score.

Some measures you can take to accept more orders include keeping your phone charged at all times and having a reliable internet connection. Both help you Dash more often, which will go a long way to raising your accepted delivery rate.

Tip 2: Consider DoorDash’s Rolling Average

You’ll need to be aware of how DoorDash’s rollingaverage works because it can affect the speed at which your rate goes up.

To summarize, your acceptance rate is unlikely to change if the oldest opportunity you accepted is still being counted as part of your recent 100 opportunities. This measure works solely for bumping out declined orders, not accepted ones.

Tip 3: Reset Your Acceptance Rate

You can also try resetting your acceptance rate on the DoorDash app via the Priority Access program.

DoorDash’s priority program lets you reset your current acceptance rate. The prerequisite for your ability to do that is having a qualifying customer rating (4.5) and at least a 50% acceptance rate.

If you meet the above criteria, DoorDash will either send you an email or a notification informing you of the ability to reset your rate.

You’ll need to click on the email link or tap the notification and fill out the form before the provided deadline elapses. Take the above steps, and DoorDash will send you an email confirming the reset.

You’ll be able to see the reset come into effect when you start a new Dash and after a new declined or accepted order.

How to Check Your DoorDash Acceptance Rate

DoorDash is easy to use, which means that checking your acceptance rate through the app is straightforward. Here’s how in two steps:

  1. Launch the DoorDash Driver App
  2. Tap the Ratings Tab (second icon from the right), and it’ll transport you to the rating screen.

Your acceptance rate is the second metric from the top that you’ll see.

Frequently Asked Questions

To help you keep up your rating system working in your favor and reaching top dasher requirements, here are some frequently asked questions:

Is it bad to not accept DoorDash orders?

Choosing not to accept DoorDash orders means missing potential earnings. Regularly accepting orders can significantly boost your income, especially for those relying on DoorDash as their primary source of earnings.

How do you increase your acceptance rate on DoorDash?

To boost your DoorDash acceptance rate, accept more orders. This will quickly offset any previously declined orders. Using the DoorDash driver app can help you manage and accept orders more effectively.

Wrapping Up

Even if having a low acceptance rate won’t negatively impact your account, it’s a metric worth keeping an eye on. That’s because it can provide benefits like the possibility of earning more positive reviews and getting higher-paying orders.

If you need to raise your acceptance rate, consider accepting more requests or resetting your rate through DoorDash’s priority program.

Why DoorDash Acceptance Rates Don't Matter For Dashers (2024)

FAQs

Why DoorDash Acceptance Rates Don't Matter For Dashers? ›

Your DoorDash acceptance rate doesn't matter in terms of avoiding Dasher deactivation. In other words, you can decline as many orders as you want and you won't face any direct penalties. You don't receive fewer DoorDash orders either even if you have a low acceptance rate.

Does acceptance rate really matter for DoorDash? ›

Q: What requirements must I meet to qualify? A: Currently, Dashers must have a customer rating of at least 4.5 and an acceptance rate of 50% or higher to unlock Priority Access. Dashers who have an acceptance rate of 70% or higher will receive even more priority for high paying offers.

How do I improve my acceptance rate on DoorDash? ›

You can raise your acceptance rate by consistently accepting offer opportunities that are assigned to you. It is also a rolling average, which means it may take a few opportunities before you see an increase in your average.

Is having a low acceptance rate bad? ›

In general, schools with low acceptance rates (lower than 10 percent) are more selective or have high standards, or have tens of thousands of students applying for relatively few spots. This can be good if you seek a more rigorous academic program or want to be part of a more competitive and prestigious student body.

What does your acceptance rate have to be on DoorDash to be a top Dasher? ›

An acceptance rate of at least 70% Completion rate of at least 95% 100 completed deliveries during the last month. At least 200 lifetime deliveries completed.

Can DoorDash fire you for a low acceptance rate? ›

But, according to DoorDash's own rules, there isn't a minimum acceptance rate you need to maintain to stay active as a driver. That's right: a low DoorDash acceptance rating doesn't mean you'll get kicked off of DoorDash or suffer some sort of penalty.

How to get higher paying DoorDash orders? ›

How do I get more offers and make more money? High-earning Dashers make more money while dashing by accepting and completing more offers! Consistently, the Dashers who accept and complete the most offers are the Dashers who earn the most. The busiest areas are marked in red on the map of your Dasher app.

Does DoorDash acceptance rate reset? ›

Here's the short answer: You can't manually reset your DoorDash acceptance rate. But don't worry, there's more to it. Your acceptance rate changes based on the last 100 delivery opportunities.

Who has the hardest acceptance rate? ›

1. California Institute of Technology

Caltech Admissions are very selective, making this school one of the hardest colleges to get into in the U.S. The Caltech acceptance rate is 3%—tied with Harvard for the top spot on our list of lowest acceptance rate colleges.

Is 50% acceptance rate good? ›

Extremely selective: fewer than 10% of applicants accepted. Very selective: between 10% and <25% accepted. Moderately selective: between 25% and <50% accepted. Moderately inclusive: between 50% and <75% accepted.

How do you know if you're top Dasher? ›

Here is what DoorDash specifies as the Top Dasher qualifications:
  • Customer rating of at least 4.7.
  • Acceptance rate of at least 70%
  • Completion rate of at least 95%
  • 100 completed deliveries during the last month.
  • At least 200 lifetime deliveries completed.

Does DoorDash prioritize top Dashers? ›

First is priority scheduling: If two Doordashers have the same order available, the driver with Top Dasher status will be given priority. High-value order priority: Top Dashers get priority over orders of $30 or more. 'Dash Now' anytime: You can use the 'Dash Now' feature anytime.

Is Top Dasher still a thing in 2024? ›

Jun 25, 2024•Knowledge. IMPORTANT NOTES: The following information may not be relevant if the Dasher Rewards tiered program is live (Platinum, Gold, Silver). Top Dasher is no longer available in these markets, and to unlock similar perks, you will need to qualify for the Dasher Rewards program instead.

Does DoorDash penalize you for low acceptance rate? ›

DoorDash has no minimum acceptance rate. You can reject as many orders as you would like and still remain in good standing with the app. The only penalty, potentially, is your bottom line. Declining orders means you're turning down money and gambling that a better-paying order will take its place.

Is it hard to get accepted to DoorDash? ›

If you want to drive for DoorDash, you'll also need to meet the following requirements for transporting food. Spoiler alert: these requirements are pretty easy to meet! You can use any car as long as you have a valid driver's license, clean driving record, and insurance.

Does completion rate matter in DoorDash? ›

Yes, completion rate matters for DoorDash. You have to maintain at least an 80% completion rate to remain an active driver. This is just one of the several factors that can lead to deactivation. You also need a customer rating of at least 4.2 and you can't be repeatedly late or you might face deactivation.

Do top dashers get priority? ›

Key Top Dasher Benefits: First is priority scheduling: If two Doordashers have the same order available, the driver with Top Dasher status will be given priority. High-value order priority: Top Dashers get priority over orders of $30 or more. 'Dash Now' anytime: You can use the 'Dash Now' feature anytime.

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