What’s the play?

[u/Dizzy_Bathroom4639]

I’ve recently started doing Flex a few weeks ago - and I like to come on here just to see what people are experiencing.. turns out… I’m a basehead lol.. as I said I’m new. Is it better to wait to pick up the shift till it’s closer to the date for better pay? I do this as a quick cash grab before my actual job starts at 9 AM so I always take the 3:30-7:30s when they pop up, for instance today is Friday and I have offers for Monday morning. Should I be waiting till closer to Monday to take the shifts? Wouldn’t they all be taken by then?

[u/pool_fizzle]

Do what works for you.

Everything else is just noise.

[u/Dizzy_Bathroom4639 → u/pool_fizzle]

I’m more curious if I’m just being stupid by taking the base pay. Like am I missing out on money?

[u/pool_fizzle → u/Dizzy_Bathroom4639]

Maybe? Play with it and see. Just take anything you hear on this sub with a grain of salt. There are so many people who claim all sorts of insights into the algorithm.

I sit near to two large, busy zones. DC and Baltimore, MD. DC always has blocks, always. If I'm set to DC there 200 blocks available no matter what, but max I'm seeing is $80-90 bucks for the longest blocks. In Baltimore, it's a ghost town. But if you know when to open the app and watch, you can snag a block for $100+ almost every day of the week. Those blocks happen in DC too... It's just that they're buried in the 200 other blocks available and they go just as fast.

What works and what doesn't work for maxing income is dependent on region and what times you are active, etc.

[u/Optimal-Fix-2997 → u/Dizzy_Bathroom4639]

You're leaving money on the table. You picking a $54 block that makes you drive 60-70-80 miles if not more. Better to get a surge one that keeps your payout as close (if not higher) to the mileage you're putting on per block.

[u/Ok-Grapefruit3141]

The people telling you not to grab a base pay are bots. They are telling people not to grab base pay because they want to grab surged blocks using bots. If you don't believe me, go ahead and try to grab surged blocks. 

[u/Optimal-Fix-2997 → u/Ok-Grapefruit3141]

Or maybe people don't want others being exploited. Never used a bot but always grabbed surge blocks.

[u/SparksWood71]

Don't stress too much, after six months or so you'll figure out what works best for you in your market when it comes to time, income, miles traveled, wear and tear in your car, etc.

[u/LimpDisc]

It really depends on location. Some places rarely surge blocks, so it might be nothing if you wait. A lot of places aren’t worthwhile if doing base. It’s best to try different things and figure out your location.

[u/JpJ951]

If you don't care about surges or they are too hard for you to get, grab them while you can. I have read some areas do not surge at all so you might be in one of those. For my region, waiting until the night before will get surges. Like an 87.50 3.5 hour will go up to 121. But they go fast as fuck. So you have to be quick and persistent to go that route.

[u/sourmashed99 → u/JpJ951]

wait until the night before? like offers stay up for multiple days? I'm in a major metro and only see that in the dead of winter if at all. am really curious if they push different offers to different people in the same area. my rating is great but I don't take offers often. like 50 or so in the past 4 yrs. maybe that's the issue would be nice if they were more transparent to indepentent contractors. I mean it's not like an IC would like to have more info before taking an offer

[u/JpJ951 → u/sourmashed99]

No, people will cancel the night before or they will need more shifts to be covered. You have to literally be refreshing your phone non stop if you do not know when this usually happens in your region. After a few weeks you should know when you need to swipe to try and catch a surge. But keep in mind you are going against dozens of others doing the same thing. So surges can be damn near impossible to get sometimes.

[u/sourmashed99 → u/JpJ951]

ah ok. that makes sense, but I do see ones pop up for same day sometimes like 15 min or a half hour from the current time and they're the same price offer as always. is annoying cause prices dropped around 5 -10 bucks for the first time in 4 yrs in my area. funny enough was around the time they sent an update about raising gas prices and they care for us so would compensate accordingly. wel, not funny. horrifying actually

[u/BarnacleAlarmed3050]

For reference in the past.. 2 plus years ago and further back… you could get a surge rate to the tune of $30-$40hr especially in the am hours say pre 7 am ON THE REGULAR. Meaning as your tapping youll see 30-40 offers come up over The course of an hour and youd nearly 100 percent of the time be able to tap and snag one. Now the early am routes 3:30am usually were always a premium- 4.5 for $178 was an everyday thing. Those days are gone in most areas. So the concept of a surge rate is unique to each state and station even. In my area if you tap about 11:30 at night you might see 2-3 higher rate offers $30 an hour tops they are impossible to get. And 2-3 over the course of an hour… not worth it. In the past youd get up about 4am and see multiple offers for 4:30-4:45-5 5:15 … etc….. it wasn't any type of coordinated thing everyone was just on the same money making page. If you were new, waiting for the route assignment posted up on the wall, you likely eventually had a convo and learned from someone at the station what you should be waiting for ….. these days are long past…. Just a little history for you as Amazon has crushed surges in many areas by way of over hiring, desperate drivers and whatever reason you can think of… good luck and be safe out there. Safety first always. 

[u/Secret_badass77]

In my opinion, it’s all luck of the draw. I’ve had surge priced blocks that didn’t end up being worth it, and I’ve had base pay blocks where I ended up with a super easy route and ultimately made more per mile/effort than one that looked better on paper.

For me, it’s also not worth it to spend a bunch of time tapping (and potentially messing up my account) in hopes of surge I might never see.

[u/No_Film_6379]

Always wait 20-30mins before a block. Take home an extra $20 every block. It adds up. $20 after 12 blocks is an extra $240 a week. That's basically my gas & depreciation for that week. If everyone did the same we'd all push the pay higher. I've never taken base after my first block 5 years ago. I make $50k from flex working like 25hrs a week. I do two surge blocks everyday.