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What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown

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Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown

#12

Post by wpeterson »

This may be a confusing thing, I suspect Instacart may get volume discount from stores for bringing the extra business.

So this markup may be based on discounted cost instacart pays, not necessarily what YOU would pay at the store.

Still think it's a crazy premium, but I enjoy grocery shopping.

Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown

#13

Post by pyrophane »

Instacart and some of these other apps charge a LOT of money, so they go to pretty great lengths to hide the amount they are actually charging. Instacart is being especially clever by raising the price of the item then charging an additional service fee and delivery fee with, apparently, surge pricing. It also isn't clear how much of any of this goes to the actual person doing the work, so you still need to tip around 20%.

For me, this isn't just about whether it is "worth it" to not have to shop for groceries, but also whether there is a much cheaper option available through either your grocery store or a non-Instacart personal shopper.

It boggles my mind that people are paying this much for the privilege of being able to use an app rather than having to interact a bit more with an actual human being.

Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown

#17

Post by dasil003 »

pyrophane wrote: post #13

Instacart and some of these other apps charge a LOT of money, so they go to pretty great lengths to hide the amount they are actually charging. Instacart is being especially clever by raising the price of the item then charging an additional service fee and delivery fee with, apparently, surge pricing. It also isn't clear how much of any of this goes to the actual person doing the work, so you still need to tip aroun…

It's not just apps. Amazon is making it really easy to purchase on a whim via Echo or subscription to staple items. They even offer a 20% discount if you subscribe to a minimum number of items.

However if you actually go and price this stuff out, it's often 30-50% cheaper at Walmart or Target. I get the convenience factor, but it really adds up when you're talking about daily necessities.

Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown

#19

Post by PuffinBlue »

pfooti wrote: post #14

Initial post removed, here's the imgur link to the receipt that was accidentally left in the bag and screenshots of the instacart list. https://imgur.com/a/r6KGn

And the text of the original post:

http://pastebin.com/raw/9K9jP016

Edited - because of the wall of text I've linked to a pastebin of the original text

Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown

#20

Post by pfooti »

free2rhyme214 wrote: post #16
pfooti wrote: post #14

Initial post removed, here's the imgur link to the receipt that was accidentally left in the bag and screenshots of the instacart list. https://imgur.com/a/r6KGn

Highway robbery

wellll, I'd wondered how instacart worked, when my nearby nice grocery store got bought by safeway. Originally I thought it was just the delivery fee, and I felt like the delivery people couldn't possibly be getting a living wage out of the work.

Here at least I can see that instacart gets enough revenue to probably be sustainable and pay someone a reasonable wage for doing the actual work of going to the grocery store on my behalf.

That said, I've just been finding great small grocery markets in the outer sunset to shop at. I'm lucky to live in a place where I can walk to a number of excellent small markets, so I just do that instead of paying for grocery delivery.

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