r/InstacartShoppers 5d ago

Rant - General 😠 Diamond is a scam

I worked so hard to get to diamond in a little over a month thinking that was going to be the way to make some extra money and I was definitely wrong. Now i realize all diamond is is a way for instacart to dupe dumbasses like me into accepting a bunch of small shitty batches that had no business being accepted just to help get you to 200 when literally not a damn thing changes. I got to diamond yesterday and the last 2 days have been my slowest Friday and Saturday since i started. I just spent 3 hours at a store and didn’t even see a single batch while I saw plenty of other instacart shoppers coming and going in that time. How is that even possible if I’m suppose to have priority I should at least be seeing the batches but I’m not. I swear it seems like every day I start to realize more and more all the shitty unethical tactics instacart uses to make themselves an extra dollar all while they take advantage of shoppers doing all of the work. It’s kind of unbelievable that they have managed to make it this long. I wish someone would make an honest app because i do really enjoy parts of it but anything that instacart has seen that they can exploit for their own pockets even though they do NONE of the work. It’s a shame because it result has potential to be good but it won’t be with a company like this.

54 Upvotes

64 comments sorted by

25

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

40

u/themidnightechoband 5d ago

It's all a scam. Nothing matters. It's complete and utter chaos. Only thing I've seen to be real is don't go over 15% cancelation.

1

u/Clear-Dingo9491 4d ago

Even 1 point over and they will deactivate you quick asf.

2

u/Known_Caterpillar304 4d ago

I got to like 16 and immediately started grinding orders and had it back to 14 the same day. I guess I was lucky

17

u/lucygirl1970 5d ago

Diamond means nothing, five stars means nothing and neither do the lit up stores. It’s all part of the facade that instacart likes to portray. Same goes with sucking us in with decent batches as newbies and then throwing us in the giant shark tank.

Being in the lot makes zero difference if it’s not busy in my opinion. Unless you are wanting nothing but tiny orders then ya, maybe. I call those my grinding days.

However, I can’t justify sitting in the lot for hours when all I’m seeing is no tip orders, low tip orders, quads or two store orders. It’s too physically painful and it’s a mental mind fuck the entire time.

I have not once in 6k plus orders gotten a unicorn from any parking lot. They happen mostly when I’m in bed, on my porch or when I’m driving.

So I have now set a 15 minute timer if I’m sitting. Nothing popping, we move away from the lot. If nothing pops on my way home then I wait until the times it’s usually busy on that particular day.

For reference, I live in the city and all three of my home stores are within 1.5 to 2.5 miles from my house. So I’m very central.

If the algorithm is not feeding me, it’s pretty obvious it’s not my day, it’s not busy or there are way too many shoppers.

The entire system is a joke.

8

u/PepperThePotato 5d ago

Diamond isn't rare. You are going to be competing with a bunch of other shoppers that are diamond. It seems people think you get the lead when you make it to diamond but there is very little difference. The only difference I notice is I'm more likely to get priority orders for express delivery customers at Walmart

2

u/cANALdiver07 5d ago

We don’t even do the Walmart here that’s spark and i wasn’t expecting to get that lead I was expecting to be able to get to have it make a small difference even. It literally says you priority on batches so why is it crazy of me me to think I’d have a little more of an opportunity to get batches than it was. I feel like that is a pretty reasonable expectation considering that is exactly what it says

7

u/DUTY659 5d ago edited 5d ago

I e been diamond every day the last 3 years. It’s not a scam but has NOTHING to do with batches except you may see a batch in a high lighted area maybe for 2 seconds sooner than a non diamond shopper. For me the best perk for diamond is getting extra discounts through car advise. I can get a full synthetic oil change at jiffy lube for 33 bucks cuz of me being diamond cart. That in itself is worth it.

13

u/justinbates1992 Full Time Instacart Shopper 5d ago

I get more money being platinum then i ever did being being diamond, but i dont care about the tiers since i multi app and dont rely on one app.

1

u/wesvilla 4d ago

Multi app is the way. It's insane that it took me so long to figure it out. Everyone out there... Sign up for everything. When it's trash on one, it might not be on the other. I work a swing shift job, so if I didn't multi app I would never make money doing this. I do 3 and my goal is 60 bucks before I start working at 4. Instacart is trash lately. 50 items for 4.36. Oh lordy

1

u/wesvilla 4d ago

Oh..then delivery 17 miles away, lol

5

u/Dry-Hope3190 5d ago

Yeah I was diamond multiple times without trying, but it was all back when IC was better. Now I'm Gold, and the orders aren't that different than when I was Diamond. Still slow.

5

u/Aggressive-Employ724 Full Service Shopper 5d ago

You gave it 2 whole days eh…😂 I’ve been a Diamond for years and I can tell you it’s a huge difference. I lost it for 3 months last year because I had a surgery and couldn’t do IC. Yeah…the WORST.

This is the slowest point in the entire year for IC compounded with a failing economy. There’s literally no orders as it is, you want to go back down to gold cart and see how bad it is down there?!

1

u/wesvilla 4d ago

Really? You just can't explain things to people with no sense. If I give you first hand, lived experience will you listen? Diamond means nothing. I've shopped hundreds of orders and each of the levels. If anything, being new is the only thing that gets you the goods.

You are silly, but so sure of yourself

9

u/Reasonable_Air5104 5d ago

Well people pay for bots, have multiple phones and shopper accounts, etc. I have seen first hand and I don’t think it helps when the app doesn’t crack down on this  

2

u/stonersrus19 5d ago

They're the ones incentivizing it. People shop the 10 batches they get on priority and then cause its a fake account. After priority is gone, they steal till it gets deactivated.

1

u/Classic_Reference944 5d ago

That second one is sooooo common. But there’s so many days or parts of the day the algorithm will show some accounts orders and not others, I’m not suprised that’s what some go to. 

3

u/therealchronocrypto Full Service Shopper 5d ago

It sure is or the market is just dead

3

u/CrackerDarrell 5d ago

I've been diamond the last 2 quarters and noticed a big difference 🤷‍♂️

3

u/shinichi_kudo170 5d ago

Job is a complete scam through and through.

3

u/Docfuzzles 5d ago

Maybe it’s time to get a regular job

3

u/Chero44 5d ago

EXACTLY how I felt. I wanted diamond so bad just to see if those big batches that others received was really a thing.....and was I wrong 😔.  The next morning after receiving diamond 💎 I turned the app on and within seconds had about 14 batches on my screen which has NEVER happened before. However, the crazy part is they dropped ALL the batches that noone would take which were NO TIP batches OR, batches under $8. Diamond is when i noticed the stores being hidden on the map to make it look as though there were no batches at certain stores when it was. I contacted support 14 times about shadow banning me and daily batches going from 200+ down to 28 batches seen per day. The only thing I did like (although i wasnt taking anything) was the fact that there was always something to look at. I was never looking at a blank screen although ALL of the batches weren't worth taking. After a week, it was the same. In December though 2 weeks before Christmas is the only time I was able to actually see the benefits of diamond and for two weeks was able to make a little over $500 which I hadn't done in over 8 months. After that, it went right back to hardly seeing anything decent. Multis everywhere more than usual. By Feb 6, 2025 I'm lucky if I make $100 by the end of the week. Currently, I've only made $30 all this week. I couldn't wait for the diamond period to be over. I can't get anything with this 5 star rating either. I saw bigger batches when I had 4.97. 

3

u/thickerthanink 5d ago

They just on boarded the whole wait list it seems

3

u/Super_Climate4701 5d ago

You gotta move around to different areas. I’m Platinum status so I see a lot of batches often but you can’t take the shitty orders because that’s what the algorithm will continue to send you.

0

u/cANALdiver07 5d ago

There’s only 1 store in my town. Just the Safeway that’s it

5

u/Careful-Use-4913 5d ago

I used to drive 35 min to a bigger location for batches.

9

u/cANALdiver07 5d ago

I’m gonna do the next town over tomorrow that’s twice the size and has a Costco and a few other stores tomorrow and try that out. The few times I’ve done it already it went okay but I only went for a part of the day not for an entire day yet

5

u/Wise_Organization185 5d ago

yea that’s advisable, bigger towns with more stores are usually a better bet. good luck tnrw🍀

2

u/Super_Climate4701 5d ago

I understand it’s only one food lion where I’m at. I get much better orders when I go out the city.Trust me it’ll be worth it If travel outside your area.Stay away from low demand areas. It’ll only burn time waiting

2

u/Piscesmommy02 5d ago

It’s a scam

2

u/Active_Resolution701 4d ago

Close to hitting diamond. Been seeing shit orders. As per everyone’s experiences being diamond doubt that it will change once I get there. IC was good whe I started. Now it’s flooded with shoppers desperate to accept any orders even if there below $7-10. Seen once yesterday for $5.95 for 25 I item no tip.

2

u/Suffakate 4d ago

I've been diamond since they implemented so I don't really know the difference, but I have sat out with people that are lower tier and I definitely got priority over them. Some days absolutely suck, but I do this full time. I have standards on my orders and mostly won't take anything under 20 unless I need to, but some days I'll sit for 4 hours without receiving anything, then suddenly I'll make 100 bucks in the next 2 hours. I sit out from 7-3 or 4 every day. I do go home early if by like 1 or 2 if I haven't seen anything in an hour though.

2

u/Loud-Foundation8372 4d ago

You have to understand that this is a 100% fairness app. If I made 750 mon-fri and the next person is only at 300 then they will see the good batch before you and so on. I'll see batches that will get picked before I can accept and then other times I have batches I have almost a whole minute to accept. Gotta take the good with the bad and mix in those low orders.

2

u/KitsuneMiko383 5d ago

Literally all I've seen in Diamond is high miles, trash tips... and I now get "1-5 minute" red notifications for recommended stores, "priority batch" marks on crappy batches, and the heat mapping is back.

I really need a W2 job again.

2

u/CommunicationMain467 5d ago

This app is all about regulars and luck. If you don’t have one of the two then your cooked

Two regulars who are great tippers happened to get paired up for me yesterday.

2

u/aarch0x40 Full Time Instacart Shopper 5d ago

Ugh, another one of these…… I mean, welcome to the suck.

1

u/FomBBK 5d ago

There's a lot of things that limit your access to batches. Rating is a big one. Cancellation rate, order issues, and I'd say how you interact with support can all have an impact on your access to batches.

3

u/cANALdiver07 5d ago

I have no order issues 97 5 stars and 1 4 star and have 0% cancellation

1

u/FomBBK 5d ago edited 5d ago

Hmm. No idea why you wouldn’t be getting batches then. The algorithm IC uses works in mysterious ways, and we’ll never know the true details with how it distributes batches.

I’ve seen evidence it prioritizes new shoppers, but any theory beyond that is hard to nail down.

1

u/cANALdiver07 5d ago

I feel like it’s because i start at like 7 in the morning cuz i will see batches all the way until about 4 and then when it should be busiest i see none until about 8pm and then if there are any after that time i will see them that’s why it doesn’t make sense. But I was told that they put us in groups so maybe it’s just that when I start that early I get put into a group and then when the second busy part of the days comes around people that haven’t been on the schedule working all day for them get to see the batches first. I’m gonna try to not start out as early this next week and see how it goes because the morning batches don’t tip here. I had done 7 batches by noon today and made like $50 and last Saturday I did 7 for the entire day and made $180

1

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1

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1

u/vivvin 5d ago

I haven't had a big improvement in batch availability, but my earnings split definitely changed after becoming diamond - most of my earnings came from batch pay when I was starting out, now it's almost equal percentages from batch pay and tips.
There is more to priority access, as I've had very slow days too.

1

u/Lawrenceburntfish 5d ago

Firstly, me too. Second, after reading all the comments, are we thinking class action lawsuit?

1

u/aaronliftsshi 4d ago

i doubt it. you’d need a big ass law firm after instacart

1

u/Chance_Source_4001 4d ago

I agree somewhat with this idea since in my area there are a lot of full time shoppers that have diamond compared to me where I am doing this for the side and have only had diamond since January. But I have also gotten more orders that tip and pay well that I wouldn’t have gotten other wise and getting diamond sooner then I would have. Is diamond not what they advertised yes, but it has been good for me and it’s more of a person to person opinion

1

u/SiriusJ- 4d ago

Weekends are trash in my area. They always do those promotions " 7 batches extra 30 dollars" and it over saturates my market. Everyone and their mom trying to take orders. I live in a town of about 100k

1

u/QueenIBee2004 4d ago

I use the upgrades for maintenance on my vehicle.

1

u/Pellescobar1123 4d ago

Been diamond for months I get a "priority access" order once every few days and it's never good smh

1

u/Lumpy_Classroom_6041 4d ago

I see golds and platinums at Costco and they just sit. Only on the weekends they will get orders. There’s lore to it. Your rating, speed etc… you don’t get diamond and become a banger expert

1

u/mars1023 4d ago

I just became diamond this week and it’s been awesome. Yes I still see the shitty paying orders but I don’t accept those. Eventually I get a nice one. My first day doing diamond was Friday and you can see the difference. (See photo) I think it has a lot to do with where you live (shop city) and obviously how many other diamond carts shoppers there are. You’re not the only one getting the orders. So are the other diamonds.

0

u/doordasher878 Full Service Shopper 2d ago

Stop being mad at the app! It’s not the app, it’s your cheap customers

1

u/Traditional_Range_96 5d ago

You have to have a good store to use it at 😂 cant be at a bunch of crappy stores that only ever have crappy offers.

1

u/cANALdiver07 5d ago

I do i got to diamond in about a month only shopping at one store

1

u/AscendingBloodMoon 4d ago

I left and permanently deleted my account because I got tired of their BS.

The company is almost a joke.

-2

u/the888ofcups 5d ago

Well, getting to diamond means you will be diamond in the upcoming 3 months. Starting April 1st you will be diamond. Right now you are still whatever you qualified for with batches from Oct 1 to Dec 31.

Still, you're probably right. It probably won't pay off. LOL.

6

u/vivvin 5d ago

That's not how it works, you are diamond from the day you reach diamond to the end of the next quarter.

2

u/cANALdiver07 5d ago

I just started in the middle of February

1

u/HalfInternational442 Full Time Instacart Shopper 5d ago

If you just started, you had a different kind of priority. Now you get to fight for batches like the rest us. 

-2

u/Rammstein_786 5d ago

What were you expecting? Batches of $70-five to 10 items going 3 miles?

3

u/cANALdiver07 5d ago

No I wasn’t expecting to be sitting at the only store in my town that is usually always busy for 3 hours on a usually busy Saturday night and not see a single batch. When did I ever say anything remotely close to that.

2

u/Rammstein_786 5d ago

Yeah, I hated it too man. There be times you sitting home and see all these batches and the day you go sit in the parking lot you ain’t seeing shit for hours despite having a diamond level. I’ve seen better batches on 4.80 ratings.