.png){kind=logo}
So Doordash has been known to give out some crazy high referral bonuses on all sides, especially for the refer a Dasher side of things. It is a great incentive to use it and be able to tell your friends and family about how much you are making driving for Doordash.
However, there are some things that aren't said about these links and those who use them are either mad about not making as much as they expected to, or shocked to find out what ends up happening if using them in the wrong way.
The last thing I want to do is to see you put all this effort into making money with Doordash or other means and then be surprised when it doesn't turn out how you expected, or you end up in the worst case scenario that most people aren't aware of when using it.
In an attempt to help you make the most of Doordash's referral links, I want to go over the types of referral links that are available, how to properly use them, and some common pitfalls that most people end up falling into because they use them in the wrong way.
But before any of that, My name is Joseph Mandracchia, I have been working full-time with the gig economy since 2018 and have completed over 8100 orders and deliveries across several different platforms and pay models, as well as other forms of income.
It is my hope to impart some of my knowledge and experience unto you to help you make the most money in your side hustle and help you on your journey to achieve financial independence so you can choose to live your life in anyway you would find valuable to you.
Disclaimer: I am not a financial, tax or legal advisor of any kind. I am not giving you financial, tax or legal advice. I am simply expressing what I have done to overcome in this area and hoping you can find a take away for yourself within this article.
What is a Doordash Referral Link?
A Doordash Referral link, like any other referral link, is a link provided by Doordash or another network in which you can be rewarded for someone using your link to complete something for which that link was purposed for.
For Doordash, that can be signing up a new customer, new driver, or another type of promotion that can be ran, such as a gift card.
Some of those rewards can include, but limited to, Doordash credit which you can redeem to make more orders or a sum of money which is most of everyone's favorite!
In order to receive those rewards however, some rewards are harder to achieve than others because of the requirements that it can have attached to it, and some even have restrictions that limit where you can actually display them.
What Types of Referral Links does Doordash Provide?
So Doordash has a wide variety of options when it comes to referral links and if you use the wrong link for the wrong purpose, that can lead to deactivation of accounts and overall banning you from the platform, as per their terms of service.
But what types of links are available to you? How can you access them? What is the wrong and right way to use these links so you can make money with them as well?
There are two overarching types of links, one is for friends and family and the other is affiliate links.
Friends and Family Links
Friends and family links are available to on your consumer or Dasher apps, and are provided to you so you may get compensated when a customer uses your link to complete a task, like placing an order or becoming a Dasher, you receive some kind of bonus.
The amount that you can receive per use can change regularly and may not even be available for certain periods of time, depending on what season Doordash may be in.
A certain gauge for people is the higher the value of the referral link, the more they need to have more of the subject.
For example, if the new dasher link is of high value, then Doordash needs new drivers in your area. If it has low, or even no value at all, then Doordash doesn't need new drivers at all.
There are two types of friends and family referral links Doordash typically makes available for people, new customer and driver. Let's go over each of them and see how they work, how you can use them and some pitfalls people can fall into in the event of using them.
Doordash New Customer Referral Link
The new customer referral link is an offer found on the Doordash ordering website/app, and when you send someone your link, sign up with it, and place an order for at least $15 and they receive $30 off their order, and you receive a bonus for referring them to the platform.
This offer is a bit hidden on the customer page but you can find it on the hamburger menu under "Get $10 in Credits" if you are using a desktop or if you are on mobile, you can find it in your profile and click "Refer Friends, Get $10".
You can then either email, text or just copy the link they provide for you to send to people and if they place the order, which you can see the status if the did or didn't, you then receive a credit towards your next order.
The credit you receive has been known to be worth up to $15 of value. Which is cool, if people actually use the link, sign up and place an order right away.
Although in my experience, this is very inconsistent and most people who you send the link to won't use it, and those that do, most actually don't even follow through on the order to make you eligible to receive it.
Doordash Driver Referral Link
The Doordash Driver Referral Link can be found on the Dasher app in mulitple places, which is really convenient and a great marketing play on their part, and they give you the option to send the link to people through email, text, or just copy and send to someone.
Now this one has a much higher payout, and in cash, hundreds and depending on location over $1000 at times! Which is what I think most people want at the end of the day. There is a catch on this though and it is the eligibility of receiving this bonus.
In order for someone to actually receive this bonus, the person needs to use your link, sign up, go through the orientation, get approved to drive, and complete 200 deliveries within the first 60 days of signing up.
This is a higher commitment to expect from someone, especially since the chances of someone driving for Doordash most likely won't stick with it in the long term. Just like in sales positions, there is a high turn over rate for Dashers.
In fact, in most cases when I sent out this link to people who were looking to make some extra money, they decided to not even do a single delivery even after signing up. This is because they don't realize what they are getting themselves into.
When this happens they look for a single reason to use as an excuse to not continue on the platform.
"Oh my mileage keeps going up too high"
"I am not making a lot of money"
"I don't think this is for me"
So if you use this link make sure the person or people you send it to, is self-motivated, follows through no matter what, and they know what it is going to look like to really make money with this platform.
Common Pitfalls of using Friends and Family Referral Links
So with using friends and family referral links, there is quite a few pitfalls people don't realize that they can fall into. Some can even jeopardize your accounts with Doordash, causing you to lose the ability to place orders on the platform, or worse lose a source of income!
The first pitfall that I notice is what I like to call the spam game. This is where someone who is just sending links through social media, text messages, emails and other forms of communication to solicitate their contacts to do something with them.
This is not just going to fail, but it may even cause some rifts in your relationship with them resulting in unfriending and unfollowing through social, blocking contact info and closing off opportunities to you that would otherwise help move you forward in life.
Even if you got one of these people to use the link and receive your credit, for that alone it is not worth it.
The second is the more understandable one, posting it on social media in your news feed. This is one of those things where I get it, although this one can result in the same thing, even if it doesn't make any sense to you.
So many people are on social media, trying to get you to buy something, or to sell you an opportunity, or some kind of deal of sorts that most people will find your posts annoying and unfollow you.
The worst part of that is that most people wouldn't even notice if that happened, and this method also has a poor rate of success, and now your efforts are more publicly known.
Finally, there is the more ambitious method and that is putting the links on a blog, forum, YouTube Channel or other form of public website. This is the most ambitious method, however it is the most dangerous one if done wrong.
So logically it makes sense to put this link on a website so when people look for it on YouTube or something, it can work out in everyone's favor... until you read their terms of service.
So with these links, they are designed for friends and family and in the event that this link is found on a public website such as a blog or in the description of a YouTube channel, you can be deactivated for referral fraud.
To me, this is not exactly clear as far as reading straight from their terms of service. Since they say it is okay for social media but it isn't okay for YouTube.
Yes, YouTube is a social media but it is also the second largest search engine in the world!
It is for this reason that it would lead to deactivation of your account because you cannot use a link like this for Youtube.
Instead, I would use an affiliate link for blogs. YouTube channels or other means of public website development.
Affiliate Links
Affiliate links are one of the easiest ways to create streams of income that can make you a lot of money, if used correctly. For some people, these links can create a way of income to pay bills and provide for families who wouldn't be able to otherwise.
Now unlike friends and family links, they are not as easy to access and as far as I have found, you cannot even find them on their website. So you will need to find an affiliate network that does have them available.
That being said, some networks also have better offers than others so I would make sure that you get the best deal as possible by doing some thorough research. You are also going to want to make sure you get the proper link for what you are trying to use it for.
In fact, each link has a different method of paying you out and trying to explain what each type of affiliate link is going to pay you out is going to be an article within itself, and not one that this website will be using.
So instead of going over each type of links and their payout methods, let's go over the different types of affiliate links, how best to use them, and some common pitfalls with using them, and then the money will flow to you freely.
Doordash Consumer Acquisition Program Link
The first link we should talk about is the Doordash Consumer Acquisition link, similar to that of the new customer link discussed above, this link pays you when someone uses your link to make an account with Doordash.
This link is made for public websites such as blogs, Youtube channels, etc. Now these links are the exact opposite of family and friends links in the sense of you cannot just send them to friends and family or social media, even after we stated the potential pitfalls.
Now keep in mind, this also depends on what the type of content you are promoting to begin with. If you making content about saving money, you might need to incorporate how someone can save money ordering from Doordash.
If you are making content about eating healthy, you can make content about great places to order from on Doordash that can help you lose weight.
Just don't use it as a random plug, like talking about investing in futures or ETFs and "oh and by the way, don't forget to order something on Doordash, use the link below" that would not only be salesy, but extremely cringe worthy.
Doordash Driver Acquisition Program Link
Next, let's talk about the Doordash Driver Acquisition Program, which is probably what most people want to see. Similar to the Doordash Dasher referral link for friends and family, when someone uses this link to apply for Doordash, you get a commission.
What is really cool about this one is that it is has such a lower commitment level in comparison to the friends and family link. The friends and family link is sometimes available and has a high payout in some areas, but they need to complete 200 deliveries in 60 days.
This program on the other hand, they simply need to apply and you get paid! This in my opinion is so much better! There is one challenge with this though... it is your access to the link itself.
While the barrier of entry to get the friends and family link is rather low and can be found on the website, for this program you would need to be part of an affiliate network and being a part of that can be rather challenging.
Some have higher barriers of entry than others but more importantly, and if you don't have a per established following on any blog or social media, then you may not be able to access that network.
If you do have that and you have the ability to access these links, then I would recommend writing content specifically about that. Anything unrelated would come off as salesy, pushy or scammy and will not produce positive results.
Doordash Gift Card
The last and most unique of them all is the Doordash Gift Card link, which implies that when someone uses your link to get a gift card from Doordash, you get a commission.
Personally, I haven't tested this one so I don't feel comfortable telling you how to use it, but I do think it is important to let you know that it is available.
Common Pitfalls with using Affiliate Links
So affiliate links, like friends and family links, have some pitfalls that should be talked about and quite honestly, should be common sense, especially at this point in the article, however common sense is not common practice so let's quickly go over them.
You shouldn't be sending these links to your friends and family, this is simply just spamming loved ones to do something for money and that is going to hurt your overall relationship with those people.
It is also going to be very ineffective, and the goal is to find the best way to use these links to make money.
Next, we should probably talk about how people have access to these links normally, that would be through affiliate networks, and to have access to these networks you need to have a background of content creation and have a decent amount of following on those platforms.
Those platforms can be a website or blog, YouTube or another video streaming platform, podcasts, etc. If you don't have any presence on these platforms, I would recommend building that following before applying to an affiliate network.
That said however, the amount of work that goes into building an audience or following is going to be more than you think so just be prepared for that kind of challenge.
Final Remarks
Making money with referrals, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to make money and add value to people, companies and yourself. However, doing it in the wrong way has been known to earn you a poor reputation and hurt your trust with others.
Just keep in mind that you always want to have a client/follower focus when it comes to building content for other people, especially since what you say and do will be what is imparted to other people.
With that said, thank you so much for taking the time to read this article! I hope you found some value in what you read here and will apply this information in your life and success in your side hustle!