Over at MyMoneyBlog, Jonathan did a post on delivering pizza to make extra money. Delivering pizza is often mentioned as a good side job to make extra money. Information about the job isn’t always accurate though. Since I currently earn most of my money from delivering pizza I’m going to review the post and share what I know about delivering pizza.
Most pizza jobs do pay minimum wage + ~$0.75 per delivery + tips. That much is accurate. Making 6-10 deliveries an hour though is well on the high side. My average is closer to 3-4. I believe there has only been once or twice that I made 6 deliveries in an hour. My experience is that people in the upscale areas do tip better. My delivery area includes the richest zip code in Kansas City as well as some of the poorest. I get much better tips in the rich area than in the “hood”. Unfortunately, people in the “hood” order a lot more pizza than people in the upscale areas. Most of my stiffs come from the “hood” but with a positive attitude you can still make decent money in the hood.
The big pro is flexibility of working hours. I’ve changed my work schedule several times to accommodate other jobs and school and it was not a problem. They have never been fully staffed for drivers in the over one year I’ve worked at this job, if I had to quit and come back again I would most likely be able to do so.
The cons are the wear and tear on your car. I’ve got a hoopty that has already depreciated about as much as it can depreciate. It also gets 29-30 MPG doing pizza delivery. That makes a big difference in the profitability of the job. The cost of gas has reduced my profit a little but not that significantly. If you figure that I drive 60 miles in a shift that is only 2 gallons. If gas is $1 a gallon more than last year I’m only out $2. Even if you double that figure it is only $4 a shift. That is noticeable but not that big a deal.
The crime is what I consider the bigger drawback. We had several drivers robbed last year, including one that was carjacked . His car was even more of a beater than mine which put a big hole in my theory that my car was too crappy for someone to want to steal. One weekend we had robberies three days in a row. The store was robbed once also. I haven’t been robbed myself but I came close to being robbed once. I seriously considered quitting at one point but the management cut out the worst part of the delivery area and things have improved quite a bit since then. There were some complaints of racism but it was a fact that the area was unsafe so I’m glad they stopped delivery there.
As for the fringe benefits of pot and pizza going together that is definitely true. I’ve worked several pizza places and the pot/pizza connection has always been there. I’m usually one of the few non-tokers in the store. I’m guessing that the pot munchies drives a pretty significant percentage of sales too. The odor can frequently be detected when making a delivery. At least they’re not driving while high.
I think pizza delivery is a good way to make extra money. The key is to drive an older car that gets good gas mileage. I’d also try to work in a slightly upscale area or one with a lot people employed in the service industry if possible. That would probably get you the best total pay.
