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Instacart shoppers besieged by bots that snatch lucrative orders

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Re: Instacart shoppers besieged by bots that snatch lucrative orders

#61

Post by kfarr »

angry_octet wrote: post #59
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #41

> some shoppers are paying software developers who have created bots — in the form of third-party apps — that run alongside the legitimate Instacart app and claim the best orders for clients Instacart is a real-time market. In real-time markets reaction time is paramount. "Cranking up pressure against app makers and banning violators when they find them" is swimming up a waterfall. The solution is in the market struc…

What you're working up to is a reverse auction for delivery service. Who is willing to do a batch of deliveries for the least price? Constrained time TSP+Knapsack, a very challenging problem. (Because you can choose many different subsets of delivery jobs, run TSP for each, and calculate a bid price for each job that will win, or if you don't, minimises regret.) The real problem with instacart is that some orders are…

Agreed, gaming the system like this is an indicator that pricing is incorrect

Re: Instacart shoppers besieged by bots that snatch lucrative orders

#62

Post by erik_seaberg »

pishpash wrote: post #47
meritt wrote: post #39

No clue what Instacart shoppers do. What makes the orders lucrative/better? Is it high dollar orders, or multiple orders at the same grocery store, or is the tip pre-published, or what's the criteria when looking for orders to fulfill?

Lucrative orders are mispriced orders, no ifs and buts. That's how efficient markets work.

Instacart customers should be paying more for long trips and bulky items and short deadlines. Clarke once observed that “In orbit, caviar is cheaper than bread.”

Paying them more for valuable items only makes sense if the service includes preventing heists.

Re: Instacart shoppers besieged by bots that snatch lucrative orders

#64

Post by 1596603709 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #41

> some shoppers are paying software developers who have created bots — in the form of third-party apps — that run alongside the legitimate Instacart app and claim the best orders for clients Instacart is a real-time market. In real-time markets reaction time is paramount. "Cranking up pressure against app makers and banning violators when they find them" is swimming up a waterfall. The solution is in the market struc…

> open a 60-second auction window

Then people would complain that they are only able to get batches which are letting them earn way less than they already are. This can also be automated to keep going lower up to N dollars that the bot user is okay with.

> shoppers could set orders parameters within which they guarantee acceptance

Same problem as above

> Orders could then be randomly assigned to online shoppers

This would mean people who continuously exceed the customer's experience potentially lose out to those who are below them. This is a lose-lose situation

> bias towards ratings and other metrics.

This means that people will feel they don't have opportunities to improve their rating.

This is a really hard problem to solve in this market, imho.

Addendum: I agree with the sentiments about fees reflecting the order quality.

Re: Instacart shoppers besieged by bots that snatch lucrative orders

#65

Post by [deleted] »

angry_octet wrote: post #59
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #41

> some shoppers are paying software developers who have created bots — in the form of third-party apps — that run alongside the legitimate Instacart app and claim the best orders for clients Instacart is a real-time market. In real-time markets reaction time is paramount. "Cranking up pressure against app makers and banning violators when they find them" is swimming up a waterfall. The solution is in the market struc…

What you're working up to is a reverse auction for delivery service. Who is willing to do a batch of deliveries for the least price? Constrained time TSP+Knapsack, a very challenging problem. (Because you can choose many different subsets of delivery jobs, run TSP for each, and calculate a bid price for each job that will win, or if you don't, minimises regret.) The real problem with instacart is that some orders are…

[deleted]

Re: Instacart shoppers besieged by bots that snatch lucrative orders

#66

Post by 1596603709 »

ralmidani wrote: post #56

I’m a software developer who has been enthusiastic about technology pretty much my entire life, but lately I’ve started doubting that our current technological advances are even a net positive for humanity. Reading about things like this (and also about online ads, robocalls, tracking, spyware, ransomware, extortionware, massive environment-ravaging crypto-mining ops, state surveillance, “predictive policing”, fake n…

Then, you will learn about the plight of the farmers. Really, checkout "Super Size Me 2". I don't think there is any industry where its all gravy. Each industry has its own problems, you can only do your best to contribute in its positive growth. Don't be too hard on yourself. Also, you aren't Ghandi (or insert XYZ person here), don't put too much weight on your shoulders. FWIW none of us really matter, this is a symptom of how North American companies operate. Survival of the fittest. I went through deep depression for similar reasons, so hoping some tough love helps you.

Re: Instacart shoppers besieged by bots that snatch lucrative orders

#67

Post by qppo »

dylan604 wrote: post #36
troydavis wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many or most deliveries are contactless: https://news.instacart.com/introducing-leave-at-my-door-deli...

Taping an envelope to your door clearly visible for the delivery person would still remain contactless. If the envelope is still there when you pick up your items, then no harm in trying

Is there an app to deliver cash to my house? I haven't been to an ATM in at least a year.

/s but only kind of.

Re: Instacart shoppers besieged by bots that snatch lucrative orders

#68

Post by MattGaiser »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #44
mkatx wrote: post #25

Reminds me of working at amazon doing prime deliveries and using an Android app where you can create flow charts to automate grabbing hours. The difference is amazon at the time didn't care. We even reported what we were doing as a bug, and recommended a queue system instead, yet we only got automated responses not mentioning the issue at all. This automation included an annoying screen refresh, where you hit back an…

> a queue system is just the most fair option There are lots of systems better than first-come first-serve for logistical systems. Hiring someone with a background in queueing theory and financial market microstructure would be a good starting point for Instagram (EDIT: Instacart). It would likely improve customer outcomes, too, to boot.

Better in what sense? I want my order filled as quickly as possible.

Re: Instacart shoppers besieged by bots that snatch lucrative orders

#69

Post by 1596603709 »

gruez wrote: post #8

Is there a reason why instacart even allows you to pick orders? It seems like this exploit can be stopped just by only letting shoppers look at the first few items of the queue, and limiting the amount of skips.

I assume its to make sure orders get assigned to users who are actually available, but I am sure there are better ways of doing this.

Re: Instacart shoppers besieged by bots that snatch lucrative orders

#70

Post by tesmar2 »

malwarebytess wrote: post #50

When I was in college 10 years ago I did Amazon's Mechanical Turk to pay my way through. One of the things I did to make my life less miserable was to automate a lot of the searching, sifting, and grabbing of jobs (hits.) Bot would only accept jobs that fit my specified time/money ratio, or known hits that paid well and predictably. Having the experience of using these "gig" side jobs I don't think there's anything w…

If there was an alternative, higher wage they would pick that. This is the market labor cost.
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