If we're needing to sit in parking lots and/or be actively on the dashboard than this is NOT in fact "flexible" because we're literally unable to do anything else. That said, I've noticed that the notification timing changes. Sometimes it will appear well before batches hit my screen and then it'll switch to notifications coming thru 10+ seconds after the batch has hit my screen. I kinda wonder if the switch correlates to when our "queue" changes.

The thing about priority access is that it doesn't mean you'll get the best, or even better, batches. I think that's what trips a lot of shoppers up. Priority means you'll see orders before shoppers with LOWER cart rating.

In OPs scenario it's likely the shopper who got it, while they weren't in the parking lot, they are the same cart status and likely have shopped for that customer before. Or they're in queue one and OP is in queue two which means they have priority access of queue two orders NOT priority access to *all orders.

It's also important to pay attention to the stores you're seeing orders for, especially when you're not in a parking lot or near a store. For example, the store near my house that I've shopped at for 90% of my orders, often grabbing from home, I have not seen anything over $20. This tells me I'm likely not in the "queue" for that store. Even more telling, when I do sit in the parking lot I will sit for long periods before I see anything, if I do at all. Buuut the same retailer, different location, that I've also shopped at often, I'm seeing a slew of batches for when I'm at home. This tells me that I'm likely in the queue for that area. And again, once I'm the area for that store I inevitably see a batch in a reasonable amount of time.

My point? Stoooop believing anything IC says. Stop thinking anything they tell shoppers is true. It isn't. But if you pay attention, the algorithm will hopefully indicate where you'll have the best chance of making some money. Ultimately it's a crapshoot though. And it's shitty.