Personal Shopper
The short answer: Employees in sales and related work, the occupation closest to personal shopping, earned a median $23.21 an hour in May 2025 per the BLS, which is employee pay, not side-hustle income. On shop-and-deliver apps, DoorDash driver Nicholas Earle says large item counts make well-paid-looking orders poor value. (BLS OEWS; Nicholas Earle - Doordash Advice) Nicholas Earle says shoppers who know a store well can do fine there, so personal shopping suits people who know their stores. (Nicholas Earle - Doordash Advice)
| Median pay of employed sales and related workers, all other | $23.21/hr ($48,280/yr) BLS OEWS, May 2025. Employee pay, not side-hustle income |
|---|---|
| Projected job growth, sales and related workers, all other | +1.1% BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35 |
| One creator's reported earnings | $25/hr Reported by The GIG Economy Podcast, Jun 2026 |
From 1 quote by 1 creator and BLS data. A creator figure is one person's account.
Go deeper: all the personal shopper evidence
How much do personal shoppers make?
For app-based personal shopping, Nicholas accepts Shop & Deliver orders only if they work out to about $20 an hour. Journey Ride Along made about $75 in roughly 5.5 hours online on a Los Angeles food and grocery delivery shift. (Nicholas Earle - Doordash Advice; Journey Ride Along)
Employees in sales and related work earned a median $48,280 a year in May 2025, per the BLS. (BLS OEWS)
| Related occupation | Median pay | Middle 80% |
|---|---|---|
| Sales and Related Workers, All Other | $23.21/hr ($48,280/yr), BLS OEWS, May 2025 | $29,720–$97,910/yr |
| Online Merchants | $39.93/hr ($83,050/yr), BLS OEWS, May 2025 | $47,880–$150,010/yr |
Median annual pay of employed sales and related workers, all other: $48,280 nationally; highest and lowest states below (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
| Highest-paying states | Median | Lowest-paying states | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | $75,100/yr | Oklahoma | $29,630/yr |
| New Jersey | $74,520/yr | Puerto Rico | $28,260/yr |
| Hawaii | $70,720/yr | Arkansas | $26,490/yr |
What do people doing personal shopper say?
“earn an extra $25 on every personal shopper order because of your recent customer feedback.”
What does it cost to start personal shopper?
Not enough evidence yet: No source we track states a startup cost yet.
- Sign up as a shopper on an app such as Instacart or DoorDash Shop & Deliver. (Side Hustles To Earn Extra Cash)
- Judge each order by total time to drive, shop, check out and drop off. (Nicholas Earle - Doordash Advice)
- Start with stores you know well. (Nicholas Earle - Doordash Advice)
How long does a personal shopper order take?
A personal shopper order includes driving to the store, shopping every item, checkout and drop-off, and Nicholas counts all of it. Journey Ride Along was active for 3 hours of a Labor Day evening delivery shift in Los Angeles. (Nicholas Earle - Doordash Advice; Journey Ride Along)
Not enough evidence yet: No source we track says how long the first payout takes or how many hours it needs yet.
Who should become a personal shopper?
Anyone who dislikes hunting for items should skip app-based personal shopping: Nicholas says the app gives general areas instead of aisle numbers in some stores. People drawn to fashion can sell personal shopping sessions instead, via a Sidetrain profile or in person, as the Side Hustles To Earn Extra Cash podcast describes. (Nicholas Earle - Doordash Advice; Side Hustles To Earn Extra Cash)
Which platforms do people use for personal shopper?
Platforms people doing personal shopper use: Shipt.
Is being a personal shopper worth it?
Pros
- Personal shopping apps can be combined: Grandma Dasher ran DoorDash and Instacart together to reach $100.29 against a $100 goal. (Grandma Dasher Side Hustles)
- The GIG Economy Podcast quoted an offer of an extra $25 on every personal shopper order for recent customer feedback. (The GIG Economy Podcast)
Cons
- Nicholas avoids five Shop & Deliver store types, such as dollar stores and Aldi, because slow item hunts hurt hourly pay. (Nicholas Earle - Doordash Advice)
- Items can be out: Journey Ride Along handled a shop-and-deliver order with a missing item. (Journey Ride Along)
What are the risks of being a personal shopper?
Personal shopper offers shift between apps: Journey Ride Along said DoorDash offers have dried up compared with Spark and Uber Eats. Nicholas takes orders from the store types he avoids only when they are small and well paying. (Journey Ride Along; Nicholas Earle - Doordash Advice)
What are the alternatives to personal shopper?
- Delivery Driving as a side hustle: Often covered together (8 shared videos).
- Pet sitting: Also in local services.
- Photography as a side hustle: Also in local services.
- Videography side hustle: Also in local services.
Sources and method
Quotes are verbatim and linked to the moment they were said. A figure from one report is not confirmed by a second source. BLS figures describe employees in the closest related occupation. Every quote, the pay in each state and the full source list are on the all the personal shopper evidence.
- Nicholas Earle - Doordash Advice, YouTube, 21 Oct 2026.
- Nicholas Earle - Doordash Advice, YouTube, 26 Oct 2026.
- Journey Ride Along, YouTube, 9 Sep 2026.
- Side Hustles To Earn Extra Cash, podcast, 8 Nov 2023.
- Side Hustles To Earn Extra Cash, podcast, 6 Dec 2023.
- Grandma Dasher Side Hustles, YouTube, 8 Oct 2026.
- The GIG Economy Podcast, podcast, 8 Jun 2026.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, 31.0.
Other data behind this page (3)
| Fact | Value | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demand trend | stable | Accepted | BLS Employment Projections |
| Nearest occupation | Business Operations Specialists, All Other | Accepted | O*NET 31.0 |
| Projected employment change, 10 years: online merchants | 3.9% | Official statistic | BLS Employment Projections |