An Instacart customer said she discovered the app’s higher prices cost her nearly $100 after accidentally seeing the store’s paper receipt::undefined
Paying a contractor to have an employee drive to a grocery store, pickup $435 worth of groceries, drive them to you, unload them, then drive home would reasonably run $100. Many professional companies will charge that or more for 1-2 hours of employee time.
I think her issue isn’t that she’s paying more via fees and tips. It’s that the store is charging her more for every individual item. One would expect to pay the shopper and delivery person for their effort. But realizing that the store is capturing most of that AND charging you more for every item on top of it seems to be the problem. The shopper, delivery person and the buyer are all getting shafted.
Just to clarify, the majority of those markups are actually imposed by Instacart and not “the store” for what it’s worth.
Saved you a click: customer paid $514 for $435 worth of groceries, not including fees and tip. $79 is “almost $100” and is about a 16% markup
I’m waiting for the day all these shitty delivery services come crashing down. But sadly I think there’s enough idiots out there to keep them in buisness.
That said these practices aren’t unique. Almost any place where you buy X + a service will charge a markup on the initial item + their service fee.
They were nice at the height of COVID but once the first vaccine came out and masks were required I saw no point in them. A $25 food order costs $50 and takes twice as long as take out with a bonus of the delivery person possibly molesting or stealing your food.
I think they’ll eventually just consolidate into one company. The demand for grocery delivery is there, so the service isn’t going to disappear.
There are still people out there who believe everybody should still stay home due to covid. These services aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Not going that route, but covid quarantine definitely showed me how much time I can save by having someone else do my grocery shopping for me.
My grocery store has an annual membership of $100 which includes same day pick up and next day delivery (in a refrigerator truck), among other benefits. Grocery shopping is done on my couch in a fraction of the time. While handling 2 toddlers, that benefit is well worth it to our household
I used Instacart through the pandemic until vaccines were available. I knew about the markups, but couldn’t easily figure them out. -That’s not the problem I have with Instacart.
The big problem is their ability to leverage a discount from the store, which is even harder to figure out (outside of hearsay). -This makes it far more difficult for personal shoppers to compete on their own, or for customers to acquire a quality personal shopper they can rely on for a competitive rate.
You don’t even need to order to see the difference if your local grocery store also delivers. I was curious one day and brought up my local grocery place in one tab, Instacart in the other, and realized I was spending a significant amount more on markups alone using Instacart, not even including delivery charge and tips.
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The issue is they’re hiding it. If a business felt they were totally on the up-and-up, they wouldn’t try so hard to hide it.
I agree that undoing this would pretty much certainly mean they raise the actual rate they charge customers, but I feel that’s a far better system. Even if that charge wasn’t a flat charge and was like, 10% of the total or whatever the math currently works out to.
Basically, if they need to charge more money, do it. Don’t scam people into thinking groceries are more than they are. A disclaimer that prices have said 10% markup would do.
Maybe it’s regional, but Instacart use in my area straight up says which stores are priced the same or which are priced at a premium when you click on it. It isn’t hidden at all.
If they’re honest about it then it’s dumb to complain. I dunno though, I can’t afford to spend extra and have to get my own groceries
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I’d agree with you if it was expected that prices would go up.
If I buy that HDMI cable for 9.99 at a store, I know that some of that money is going towards the store’s upkeep, employees, all that.
If I bought that cable at some gas station close to my house for 14.99, I know I could get it for cheaper, so I know I’m paying 5 extra for some convenience.
If I bought the same cable for 12.99 and a 5$ convenience fee from a delivery app, and learn it was a 9.99 cable, I was told the convenience fee was 5, but I paid 7 for convenience. I’m mad, because I was lied to.
It’s not about the higher charges. Not directly. It’s about the fact that I already covered the purchase price for the product and the service charge for delivery, but then I was secretly charged even more.
It’s about the deception. Like when a thing is normally 40$ but then it goes on sale, so the tag reads “80$ 49.99$”
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Yeah that’s the whole discussion. Instacart charges fees for its use but it also doesn’t show customers the receipt it got from the store, because the prices it says goods cost it don’t match what it paid.
