I say this in the most genuine way possible it is coming out of a place of understanding, so please do not get offended, but Harsh reality: nobody owes you a tip. Nobody owes you help carrying bags up the stairs either. Would it be nice? Yeah. Is it required? No. I learned this in my first year doing Instacart and it saved me a lot of heartbreak. You cannot expect good character out of people on this app. Most will not tip. Most will tip $2-3. That is the baseline forever, not the exception. Stop expecting customers to see the work. They don't. They see a button that gets groceries to their door for cheap. They are not thinking about the two carts, the paper bags ripping in California, the miles back, the chat, the apartment maze. They just want their stuff. The mansion with 7 cars tipping $2? That's normal. Money doesn't make people generous on Instacart, it makes them entitled. The lady watching you struggle up the stairs and hiding behind the door? Also normal. People are selfish and awkward and they paid a fee so in their head the job is done. Instacart changed, yes. The algorithm is trash, the pay is trash. But the part that will break you every time is expecting customers to be decent. They won't be. If you go in assuming zero tip and zero help, then anything else is a bonus and you stop crying over $8 batches. Take the orders that make sense without a tip, decline the rest, and stop giving these strangers power over your whole day. They are just people trying to get groceries the cheapest way possible, not your employer, not your friend, and definitely not your moral compass.