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
Hi there, I'm one of the mods on /r/boston. I've fixed it.
What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown
21–30 of 92 posts
Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown
#22If you rely on a lot of service companies like Uber & Instacart, appified dry-cleaning and maid service then it may actually be cheaper for you to hire someone for 8 hours a day to do your chores. This guy ended up paying $70 for a single grocery trip, do that and take Uber twice a day, and you're verging on "I can hire personal staff" territory.
Well technically, thats what they are doing already in your example, just on an ad hoc basis, rather than full time. Which I concede, is likely a better deal for many people. Hrmm, where does one hire this type of pa?
Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown
#23Many comments saying something to the effect of "$140 for $80 worth of groceries? Robbery!"
What's $80 worth of groceries? It's what you're willing to pay $80 for. The grocery store is marking up the food from their suppliers, is that a rip off? Grocery stores in urban areas charge more than in rural areas, rip off? When there's only 1 small store in an area (food deserts) they charge 10-30% more - an outrage?
This is great information to have and a benefit to consumers that they know the difference, but if Instacart gives you a price and you pay it then that's a fair price by definition. It's not an outrage in any way.
Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown
#24Instacart 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.
The Amazon pricing makes sense though, because Amazon is paying the cost of shipping it to your door rather than you paying the cost of time, money, and gasoline to go fetch it at a store and bring it back. Amazon's model is at least price-transparent.
Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 sto…
I'd love to hear about some great small groceries in the outer sunset. Please share!
Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown
#26is this markup present for items advertised as same in store prices?
Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown
#27I've never used Instacart but it seems to be a weird thing to outrage over, when apparently you are told the final payment upfront, and you know you are ordering from a premium service that is fundamentally a luxury offering. And I'd expect most people to have some basic ballpark idea of how much everyday groceries cost. Does this person also expect businesses to disclose their profit margins before he's comfortable…
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Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown
#28Many comments saying something to the effect of "$140 for $80 worth of groceries? Robbery!" What's $80 worth of groceries? It's what you're willing to pay $80 for. The grocery store is marking up the food from their suppliers, is that a rip off? Grocery stores in urban areas charge more than in rural areas, rip off? When there's only 1 small store in an area (food deserts) they charge 10-30% more - an outrage? This i…
The outrage is that they are intentionally obfuscating the cost of using their service. It's not unreasonable at all to want to know how much more using their service costs than if I were to go shopping myself; that's how I can do the cost evaluation of whether it's worth it for me to spend that extra money to save me the time of a shopping trip.
Information is critical for driving free markets. Instacart is pulling some sleazy shenanigans, sending them down a path pretty similar to where Uber has ended up. I don't make it a habit of patronizing businesses that use deceptive pricing practices to try to rip me off.
Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
The Amazon pricing makes sense though, because Amazon is paying the cost of shipping it to your door rather than you paying the cost of time, money, and gasoline to go fetch it at a store and bring it back. Amazon's model is at least price-transparent.
Isn't that what Instacart is doing I.e bringing it to your door the same day, which I presume is much more costly?
Re: What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown
#30My housekeeper here in Thailand costs about $290 a month and fetches groceries for my household daily, so this makes me feel quite lucky.