20 Different Errand Runner Jobs to Earn Side Cash

Running errands is a necessary but time-consuming and stress-inducing aspect of life. It sucks even more if you don’t have the time to do them or if you physically can’t do them. This is why there are errand runner jobs nowadays.

There are people willing to pay errand runners to make their lives easier by freeing up their time so they can spend it on things they want to do or by alleviating their physical burden.

Read on to know how to get paid to run errands plus where to find errand runner jobs.

How to Get Paid to Run Errands

What exactly do errand runners do, then?

An errand runner, quite simply, get paid to run errands for customers who hire them, either because they’re too busy to do them, they can’t physically do these errands themselves, or they’re willing to pay someone to do errands they don’t particularly enjoy doing.

Here are some of the things you need to put together so you can start getting paid to run errands.

1. Dependable transportation

There are errands you can do while on foot, but that’s rare and mostly only in larger cities. Most other errands require you to drive your own vehicle.

Without your own transportation, you’ll lose out on clients and profits from errand runner jobs that require you to drive, whether because of the distance or because of the urgency.

Your clients would usually request you to do errands that require a small to midsized vehicle. You’d also want to update your insurance and you’d want to be able to pass a DMV check.

2. Reliable smartphone

Most of these errand runner jobs are offered through apps and websites, and you’d need to have a smartphone to be able to access these apps and websites even when you’re out of the house.

A powerbank is also a sound investment so you never run out of power when you’re out.

3. Knowledge of your target market

To be able to do your job well and ensure client satisfaction, it pays to know who your potential clients are; that is, who are willing to pay someone else to run their errands.

Seniors. Because of their age or because of physical or mental illness, some seniors may not be able to get out of the house and run their own errands.

These clients usually need someone to deliver their groceries, pick up and drop off their prescriptions, pay their bills, go to the bank, sort, read, and write their mail, and sometimes just be a walking or eating companion.

Disabled individuals. Some disabled individuals are still able to function and run their own errands, while others are unable to.

Similar to seniors, disabled individuals need their groceries and meals delivered, prescriptions filled, and mail taken care of, aside from other personal errands.

New/stay-at-home parents. Being a parent taking care of young children, especially newborns, is exhausting, both physically and mentally. Plus, for both new parents and stay-at-home parents, going out with small kids to run errands can feel like a production.

These clients normally need errand runners to get them food, groceries, and their mail, go to the bank and pay bills or deposit checks, and pick up and drop off their laundry and dry-cleaning. New parents are likely to need these services more frequently than other stay-at-home parents.

Busy professionals. As anyone would probably tell you, time is money. A professional who earns $200 hourly (for example) wouldn’t spend an hour at the dry cleaner’s. It’s smarter for them to work during that hour and pay an errand runner a fraction of that to get them what they need.

Such professionals usually need errand runners to take care of their personal errands, such as grocery and retail shopping, laundry and dry-cleaning pick up and drop off, and various other personal errands.

Small businesses. Start-ups operate on a small budget for employees, so when they need small tasks done, it’s more practical for them to hire errand runners on an as-needed basis rather than hire a part-time or full-time assistant to do these tasks.

How Much do Errand Runners Make?

Errand runners make anywhere from $15 and $50 an hour, depending largely on the type of errands you complete. The average hourly rate of errand runner jobs is $25/hour. Errand runners based in major cities charge higher than those in small towns.

Graveyard errands (those completed at nighttime) are often tagged with higher rates than errands performed during the daytime.

Errand runners can get tasks assigned on a regular basis and pre-schedule the errands days ahead. Emergency errands will cost more than errands that have been scheduled and blocked off.

If driving is required, you can tack on an additional charge per hour for mileage fees.

In addition, some errand runner apps charge by task completion and not by the hour.

20 Places and Apps to Find Errand Runner Jobs

Ready to start earning quick cash for helping people out?

Check out these apps and sites today!

Food Delivery Apps

1. DoorDash

DoorDash is the top Food and Drink App in the US that connects the best local restaurants and convenience stores to customers through their Dashers, or delivery drivers.

Your earnings through DoorDash are composed of your base pay (based on the time, distance, and demand), tips (you get 100% of tips through the app), and driver incentives (earn more during peak hours and get a bonus for completing a certain number of deliveries in a set amount of time).

It’s available in these cities, so if you’re in or near these areas, you can apply to become a Dasher and earn up to $20 an hour.

2. Grubhub

Grubhub is the OG food delivery app available in more than 4,000 US cities and partnered with more than 320,000 restaurants.

Pay is calculated similarly to DoorDash (mileage, time spent, tips, and driver incentives).

3. Uber Eats

Unlike others on this list, the only errand Uber Eats does is deliver food from restaurants, coffee shops, and other food places that normally don’t offer delivery.

As an Uber Eats driver, you install the app and then pick up and deliver orders in your area.

You can start work anytime and while using a bike, scooter, car, or any other vehicle. If you do this regularly, you have the chance to earn around $15 hourly.

4. Favor

If you’re based in Texas, you can apply for an errand runner job with Favor.

Favor mostly delivers food from restaurants to their customers, but their personal assistants called Runners can deliver anything from food to groceries to dry-cleaning, even keys.

Runners receive 35% of the delivery fee, 100% of tips, and an average of $10 to $18 per hour during peak hours.

Drivers who apply to be Runners must be at least 18 years old, have a smartphone with the Favor app installed, reliable transportation, and a clean record.

See if you live near these locations in Texas covered by Favor.

Grocery Delivery Apps

5. Shipt

Shipt is regularly filling errand runner jobs that pay up to $22/hr.

Your errands will be mostly grocery shopping.

You’ll be responsible for picking out produce, getting items off the shelves, keeping them cool, and delivering them on time.

Shipt is one of the more higher-paying jobs on this list with availability in most major cities.

6. Instacart

As its name suggests, Instacart is exclusive to grocery delivery.

As an Instacart shopper, you can buy and deliver groceries to other people for around $25/hour. You have to be living in or around the 15 major cities Instacart is available to apply.

7. Gopuff

Gopuff delivers groceries, as well as meals, snacks, alcohol, and many other consumer goods to customers in over 1,000 cities.

Gopuff drivers earn around $10 to $15 per hour, and may earn more from incentives.

Further reading: We’ve previously written about how to earn money as a personal grocery shopper, including a list of personal grocery apps that you can check out.

Caregiver Apps

8. Care

As a caregiver for Care.com, you’ll take care of other people’s pets, children, the elderly, or other loved ones.

Clients choose from a library of caregivers and if you’re lucky to be chosen after an interview, there’s a chance to land a regular gig.

9. Sittercity

Sittercity is an online job board primarily for babysitters and nannies, but they also list pet sitters, senior care specialists, and special needs caregivers.

Your hourly rate will differ depending on what type of care you can give and your specific location. They operate on major cities across all US states.

10. Rover

As far as enjoyable errand runner jobs go, this is probably the best one.

Rover connects dog owners with dog walkers and dog sitters. You can earn up to $20 for a half-hour walk, and even more for drop-ins to clients’ houses and pet boarding.

Further reading: Here’s a guide on how to be a professional dog walker, including other apps where you can sign up to be a dog walker.

Apps for Miscellaneous Errands

11. Gigwalk

This app allows its “gigwalkers” to choose local assignments, which last somewhere between 5 minutes and 3 hours.

Examples of gigs include verifying if products at a specific store are fully stocked, taking photos of store displays, and other market research tasks.

As a gigwalker, you can do this as a side gig or a full-time job. Payments start at $3 and are processed via PayPal.

12. Same Ole Line Dudes

Same Ole Line Dudes (SOLD) is a New York-based professional line sitting service, which charges $50 for a minimum of two hours of waiting in line and an additional $25 for every 60 minutes added to the wait.

SOLD guys will line up for your favorite food, the next Air Jordans, in-demand tickets, and other stuff.

While the company is currently operational only in NYC, Same Ole Line Dudes has plans of expanding to other major cities, so if you want to become a professional runner, e-mail your resume to jobs[at]sameolelinedudes[dot]com and indicate the city you live in as the subject.

13. WeGoLook

As a “looker” for WeGoLook, your job is to inspect, assess, and document property, vehicles, equipment, damages, risk, loss, and so on.

Other tasks include notarizing/signing documents and courier delivery services.

Payments range from $12 to $30 hourly, depending on the tasks assigned. You can receive payments via direct deposit to your bank account, checks, or PayPal every Friday.

14. TaskRabbit

As a TaskRabbit “tasker,” you are paid for doing various tasks like grocery shopping, cleaning the house, delivering food, etc. for people around your area for anywhere between $20 to $150 an hour.

If you’re in one of these locations, you can apply as a Tasker.

15. Magic

Magic is a personal assistant app targeting small businesses and busy professionals that prides itself on being a service that can get you what you need, when you need it. All you need to do is text them and they’ll take care of the rest.

They are seeking people in the San Francisco area to be a “Magician” and to fill errand runner jobs.

16. Eaze

Driving and delivering for Eaze is an unusual errand runner job in that you’ll have to pick up and deliver cannabis.

Yes, in effect, you’ll be delivering weed and weed-based products.

Eaze is a platform that connects licensed cannabis retailers to customers in their area. They are currently looking for Delivery Specialists to deliver safe, high-quality, and most importantly, legal cannabis products.

As a Delivery Specialist, you’re employed by a subsidiary of Eaze that focuses on delivery alone. They guarantee an hourly wage of between $14 and $26 per hour, as well as mileage reimbursement.

For now, Eaze delivers to select locations within California and Michigan.

17. Bark

Bark is a UK-based platform connecting professionals and small businesses with customers who need to have things delivered or jobs done.

Some of the personal services that customers have hired professionals on Bark to pick up mail, deliver food or groceries, clean their houses, shop for presents, photograph events, design websites, train them for workouts,

You can create an account in a few minutes and start getting customers immediately. Hourly rates highly depend on the errands that you run for customers.

18. Thumbtack

Thumbtack connects professionals (or “Pros”) with nearby customers to do mostly home projects, such as furniture assembly, painting, or moving.

There are other odd services as well, such as tutoring, DJing, and even notarization services.

Thumbtack allows you to set your own prices for your services, and it’s worth researching your competitors in the same platform to find out how much they price similar services.

19. Steady

At first glance, Steady is a database for side hustles and part-time gigs, custom filtered to your job preference, experience, availability, how far you’re willing to travel, and other factors.

But more than helping their members get jobs, Steady aims to increase their members’ incomes and help them make and achieve financial goals.

Their data analytics tools provide members with insights that are useful in finding the right income sources to fit their lifestyles and goals.

At the same time, they have Income Boosters available in the form of cash incentives, bonuses, and emergency cash grants.

20. Caring Senior Service

Many seniors nowadays opt to “age in place”; that is, they prefer to stay in their own homes and communities rather than move to retirement homes.

Caring Senior Services offer plenty of errand runner jobs and in-home care solutions, especially for seniors aging in place such that they get to maintain a level of independence, safety, and comfort without the need to relocate.

Their locations are scattered among 17 states, with a higher concentration in Texas.

Start Applying for Errand Runner Jobs Today!

Doing errand runner jobs is a great way to help people in need and make a difference in their lives while earning some money.

This is also one of those jobs where you’re in charge of your schedule and how much income you earn.

Also, it has good potential to become a business so you can reach more people and earn even more.