3 Reasons Instacart Grocery Delivery Service Is A Big No-Go For Me

This post may have affiliate links. Please read the Disclosure Policy for complete details.

This is not an Instacart review. My opinions and experiences are solely based on my situation.

I’m self-employed and set my own hours.

I work from home and don’t have kids.

Publix Supermarket is a 3-minute drive from me.

Well, that does it…

I shouldn’t need to use Instacart unless I’m lazy, right!?

Just like everyone should stop paying for cable television.

And quit drinking lattes.

I mean, that’s what “money/social experts” seem to think.

But there’s much more to it than just that.

I do have friends, many of whom have kids.

I hear all of the adventures of “dragging them along everywhere” (their words, not mine!).

I hear the wishes of “It would be great to have X brought to me”.

I totally get it!

Hell, I’d love to have someone bring me 5 cases of bottled water and other supplies, especially when building my emergency preparedness kit.

I still can’t bring myself to use this grocery delivery service, not because I’m cheap, but for other reasons…

How Does Instacart Work?

Before we get into the three main issues, this is something that has been brought up numerous times.

No one seems to be able to answer with authority anymore the question of “how does Instacart work?”

Some regions require an Instacart Express subscription.

In some regions, you can simply order and pay the fee.

Sometimes the fee can be waived.

None of this information is transparently available on the Instacart website.

Many people in the comments on this very article state as much.

Apparently it isn’t as simple as signing up, ordering, paying, and knowing exactly how much your Instacart order will cost anymore.

If I was desperate to have a grocery delivery service available to me, this would be a 4-part article!

Alas, it isn’t so let’s get to my actual complaints about Instacart!

I Don’t Trust Instacart Shoppers

Instacart shopper inspecting white eggs in a cardboard carton in front of egg cabinet at grocery store
Many people won’t even check eggs (or other items) for quality when they shop for their own family, so I don’t trust that they will check for me if I use a grocery delivery service.

Personally, I know my mother taught me how to shop.

She showed me how to use coupons, not obsessively to the point where the search would outweigh the benefit, but like a normal person.

She taught me how to look for the best quality groceries.

And most importantly, she taught me that everything has an expiration date.

That’s right, it’s not just the produce.

Or the meat.

Or the dairy.

Even pantry and dry-packaged items have expiration dates.

This is where my mistrust comes in.

On the site, I don’t see anything about qualifications except for age, availability, and ability to lift heavy loads.

Simon over at the Rideshare Dashboard has a pretty in-depth overview of the Instacart job signup process for being an Instacart shopper.

He specifically mentions the fact that viewing training videos and passing the associated quizzes is no longer a requirement for becoming an Instacart shopper.

There is also some talk about actual in-person training which doesn’t seem to inspire much confidence either.

So, who is to say that when I place an order, the person who does the picking will have any knowledge about shopping other than what food is what?

If I order meat, will they just grab a package that comes close to the amount of weight I desire, or will they actually inspect it for quality (fat content or color)?

Will they know that eggs need to be checked to make sure they aren’t cracked on the bottom and stuck to the carton?

Hell, will they even open up the package to see if the eggs are cracked on the top?

You might want to read this article about cracked eggs and bacteria.

If I order produce will the picker know how to test fruits or vegetables for freshness?

I have a hard time paying for a service that is 50-50 at best to deliver me the best quality items available at the time.

Now, this isn’t to say that all shoppers are bad–there are always good and bad people in any line of work–but a generalization isn’t a shot at anyone in particular so please understand that if you or someone you know is a shopper/driver…no one is speaking about them personally!

However, there are instances of Instacart shoppers purchasing products for their own use on the customers’ dime which doesn’t help alleviate any trust issues not just in one instance, but across the country.

I guess that can happen when you have to pay for an expensive car on tips.

I Don’t Trust Instacart Fees/Pricing

Black male surprised trying to figure out Instacart prices for grocery delivery service on a laptop
That’s the look of many people who have no idea what the actual cost of a grocery delivery service will be until they are actually charged (from the many comments).

Just today, I tried a little experiment.

I had just come back from that Publix which is around the corner from my house.

Yes, in the middle of the morning on a Friday…that’s one of the best parts of a business owner.

But I digress…

I decided to go to the Instacart website and test out the prices.

Unfortunately, I had to create an account first, which I also find to be a pain in the ass, and don’t really trust sites that don’t let you see how they work without giving over your personal info.

Hesitant as I was, I did it so I could gain access and see what the prices were like.

Now, I did read the FAQ about pricing and averages and data feeds and all before doing my comparison.

That in and of itself gave me pause because if you have all of these disclaimers, you are essentially saying that your prices probably won’t match the store’s prices.

It’s basically just an excuse to charge even more on top of the standard grocery delivery service/subscription fees.

Anyway, the first thing I looked at was Fresh Express Baby Spinach because I knew that I had just bought it and remembered the price I paid was $3.99 each BOGO.

I did a search on the Instacart Publix section and found this:

Instacart, Publix, Grocery Delivery, Amazon Fresh, Food Delivery, Grocery Shopping

The BOGO is correct, but the pricing is off.

And just to compare it to what the store itself advertises in the current circular:

Instacart, Publix, Grocery Delivery, Amazon Fresh, Food Delivery, Grocery Shopping

Notice in the 2nd image, it says “SAVE UP TO $4.19”?

That means the most expensive Fresh Express product that Publix sells under this sale costs $.40 more through Instacart.

Want another one?

Good, because I tested another one from the Publix ad simply to see if there might be something to this.

This time I tested a 5lb bag of Organic Russet Potatoes:

Instacart, Publix, Grocery Delivery, Amazon Fresh, Food Delivery, Grocery Shopping

So this one even tells you that it’s on sale and displays the “savings” as well.

But compared to the one from the Publix ad…

Instacart, Publix, Grocery Delivery, Amazon Fresh, Food Delivery, Grocery Shopping

Sure there’s no picture on this one, but it really doesn’t matter because the Instacart image is just a plain bag and anyone who has ever been grocery shopping knows, those 5lb bags always are branded.

Getting back on track…

The Publix ad shows, again, a lower price.

And remember that “savings” Instacart displayed?

Well, it appears they not only charge more than the store does but also calculate everything differently, reflecting larger price savings than Publix offers.

And I tried a bunch of other items too, but I wasn’t in the mood to start clipping images of everything…you can do your own test to see how your area stacks up.

It just doesn’t sit well with me.

If everything is $.40-$.50 more expensive and you are paying for the service on top of that I call bullshit real quick!

Sure, the store may dictate the pricing via Instacart, but here’s the real problem:

Instacart is getting money from the store to provide the service and from you in the form of fees/subscriptions.

That is double-dipping, and that is where my big issue with the price differences comes from.

Instacart Isn’t Partnered With All Of My Stores

This may be insignificant to many people.

That’s cool because this is only pertaining to my personal reasons for not using the service.

If any of you are friends with me on Facebook or follow my Facebook Page or Instagram feed you’ll know that mention an Italian market frequently when I talk about food (and if you aren’t, go follow NOW ? )

That’s because 90% of the items I buy from it beat the pants off of any of the national/regional supermarket chains.

And in case you’re wondering, I mostly buy fresh meats/produce and cook my meals from scratch rather than buying prepackaged foods–not a judgment, but it does clarify why I don’t get much use out of a big supermarket.

Here’s the thing–in my area, there are 4 options for using Instacart, and my main store isn’t one of them.

Side note: Instacart is in a bunch of Aldi stores which is a place I definitely think people should give a shot!

So, when it comes to the one I do go to that is in my service are–Publix–I only go there for the BOGOs, and occasionally when I get coupons for $5 of $50 in the mail direct from the store itself (which is like 1 month a year).

And when I go, I may end up spending between $15-$25, which makes even a $5 delivery fee a relatively HUGE amount!

It’s kind of like those dumbass pizza chains that give you a $7 pizza after applying the promo code but then charge a $4 delivery fee (and they all suck anyway hahaha but you get my point).

If you shop frequently or in a larger volume than I do and can get that fee down to a tiny relative value, that’s great…it just doesn’t work for me.

Instacart And Store Receipts

A big issue stems from the pricing differences and receipts–or not getting the original.

Some people have come to me to argue that you don’t get the original receipt from the store because you are buying from Instacart.

The argument is that as a reseller you shouldn’t get a receipt showing what the original cast was the same way you don’t get a receipt from the store showing its own purchase price in addition to your copy.

The fault with that argument is simple:

Instacart isn’t buying items to store and sell later via its website.

Instead, the company is providing a personal shopping and delivery service.

This is exactly why you should get the original receipt–as a personal services company, you should be allowed to compare what the cost difference is between doing it yourself and what the Instacart costs add.

Personal shoppers do exactly that–spend the client’s money at cost and add their fee on top.

That’s an important piece of the puzzle for a lot of people.

People who budget their time and money want to know if the added cost is worth outsourcing grocery shopping as opposed to doing it themselves.

It’s not a minor thing for a lot of people, especially when they take the time to really break it all down and see a sometimes large percentage increase in cost by using the service.

Instacart Customer Service

Woman looking over Instacart receipt with concern after receiving grocery delivery service order.
If you check your Instacart receipt and notice that you were charged for items you didn’t receive Instacart customer service is quick about rectifying the situation.

It does seem as though there is one “bright spot” about using Instacart for a grocery delivery service.

The reason I put bright spot in quotations is that I firmly believe that with the best companies you will never hear anything about their customer service (good or bad) because they deliver from the start.

But I digress…

It seems from most accounts–especially down in the comments–that Instacart customer service is pretty good.

As mentioned in point #1 above, there have been many instances of Instacart shoppers buying their own items on the customer’s order.

I definitely can understand some people’s worry about becoming an identity theft victim in these circumstances.

Alerting Instacart customer service seems to quickly resolve the issues.

This appears to also go for underwhelming selections picked by the Instacart shoppers.

Again, while I think it’s terrible to have to even contact Instacart customer service for these negative issues, at least they are given the latitude to fix it quickly.

Update For 2020 & Beyond

I hate talking about hot-button or “moment-in-time” issues, but this needs to be addressed.

(To be clear, I am not using the names or buzzwords here specifically because I am not trying to capitalize on those searches)

A lot of people are starting to comment about how life is changing for them.

Using Instacart and similar grocery delivery services can certainly make life more manageable, particularly if you unexpectedly find yourself home with children for an extended period of time.

Or if you are elderly.

Or have a compromised immune system.

Having Instacart deliver the groceries will certainly allow you to practice (extreme?) social distancing or at the very least insulate yourself.

Trust me, I’m acutely aware of the importance of this as my mother is immunocompromised due to a kidney transplant.

This all goes back to my main point–that I have questions about the service.

Never do I say you should not try Instacart.

I never even say that it’s a bad service.

Never do I say these people shouldn’t try to earn a living.

So, especially now with the situation impacting the way we go about our daily lives, it’s important to understand that I am simply voicing my own personal concerns about Instacart.

If shopping using the Instacart grocery delivery service makes your life easier, go for it.

If it makes you feel safer, use it.

Again, you need to do what works for you and your particular situation, regardless of what anyone else has experienced–including me!

Wrapping Up

Look, not everyone is going to agree with me.

I not only recognize that fact, I expect it.

I also realize the marketing agencies are all over the negative trying to convince people of how great Instacart is via ad campaigns and social media.

Plus, I actually wrote about how personal finance should be tailored to the individual and not used as a blanket or a one-size-fits-all type of deal.

So, sure you may be like many of my friends and not want to drag screaming kids up and down the aisles of your grocery store (again–their words, not mine!).

You may not care that you’re paying higher prices on top of the service fee because any amount would be worth having that task off of your shoulders.

The quality or shelf-life of your food may not even matter because you never even considered it important yourself.

You may have the money in your monthly budget to pay for the convenience.

That’s all cool with me.

Again, this is all due to my own personal manner of handling my food needs and my personal living situation, and yours may vary greatly.

I’m just voicing my own concerns because I hear about people using the service or waiting for it to be available and I keep thinking about those three things each and every time.

Your Turn

Have you ever tried Instacart? Tell us your experience–good, bad, ugly it all helps! And if you haven’t used it yet, what are the reasons for your own hesitance? Share your experiences in the comments below!

.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

876 Comments

  1. I Just used it. I didn’t research ahead of time like you. However, i now have the same beliefs as you. My driver “accidentally ” gave me the actual public receipt. I immediately noticed about a $10 increase on the instacart total. I didn’t mind paying the delivery fee for instances where i just couldn’t get to the grocery store (i dont mind shipping with the kid because it hellos get learn about good food choices and such). However, the higher food prices aren’t worth it. We really need to get back to some basics. I let the appeal of convenience deter me from that and it ended up costing me limited resources.

    1. Hey Tt!

      Sorry you didn’t have a positive experience. The one thing I can say is that it’s better to have wasted money on something rather than time since you can always make more money, but you can never get back your time once it’s gone.

      Hopefully that make it just a little bit easier to deal with 🙂

        1. Some people can’t go out and shop. So it’s not just about you. The elderly or disabled for example. I use it for my 76 year old mom because I don’t want her lugging stuff around and she doesn’t live near me. It sucks that the only other options are also super expensive. Hopefully more competition is coming. Instacart isn’t the best at all. They need to fix their glitches. I have also used Amazon Prime Fresh. Suuuuuuuuper expensive!

          1. Thanks for reading Eva!

            I can’t speak for anyone else, but I agree with you which is why the title of the article is about why *I* can’t do it, and not “Why no one should use it”.

            Also, I specifically state in the wrapup that people aren’t all going to have the same opinion and that it’s perfectly ok, I don’t expect everyone to share my views. As long as the reason for dissenting opinions is based in fact or experience and nothing else, I’m cool with it 😀

            1. The comment to you saying: “It’s not all about you”… ?…. lol! You made it perfectly clear that it was your opinion and based on fact. People like that chiming in drive me insane.

            2. A late reply to a months-ago comment, but I have to say what drives me insane is when people respond to things without actually comprehending what was said. The “it’s not all about you” response clearly wasn’t saying that it isn’t all about Eric, it was a person saying that the choice to use a service like Instacart isn’t always about your own personal preferences, but sometimes is about how you can assist others, like an elderly parent who can’t shop on their own and can’t lug heavy things around.
              She was saying that you can hate everything about Instacart but if you don’t live nearby someone who needs help getting groceries, you just might have to use it anyway…because it isn’t all about you.

            3. Wow that totally cleared it up for me. I read it the other way and it the tone seemed hostile and confusing, (which I guess is how I ended up reading this far) but I didn’t even consider your interpretation. Anyways, just wanted to let you know that your comment was noticed and appreciated.

            4. Nice reply I took the initial comment the same as u did its not always easy when it’s in texting to interpret things corectly apperantly and I just wanted u to no u weren’t alone on that i interpreted it the same way as you did when I read it and I really think your second response was very well written not like u care what I think but thought I’d let u no I like the way u handled it . Ok take care

            5. Exactly, If Eric doesn’t like it, did we need to know. Now in the virus age my NY sister was able to get my SC butt some oranges, lemons, oranges etc bc I don’t shop on line with my card. Oh yes the Publix guys are in for a tongue lashing, but Aldi’s got it perfectly correct. So use smaller stores and ladies as your shoppers! BAM!

            6. Exactly, if I like something but someone else doesn’t then they should just shut up and keep their opinions to themselves ?

            7. I specifically came here to read Eric’s opinion of Instacart, so my answer is, yes. I want to know if Eric does or doesn’t like it and why. If one doesn’t want to know what a blog writer thinks, they why read his or her blog? 

            8. Exactly, and also that it’s not a good thing when it’s really need but then  is so expensive for people with limited incomes. 

          2. I completely agree with your article.
            I’m a low income retired senior, older than your mom, living alone, with Medicaid and Medicare. Having my Medicaid with an HMO gives me a free transportation service to go wherever I need to, doctor’s appointments, shopping’s, etc.
            I live close to a Publix Store and love to go over there; but don’t trust anyone choosing my items; like You do, I check everything so, I’d trust you doing mine. Of course it’s a joke.

            1. And you shouldn’t trust anyone people these days have a hurry up attitude. It doesn’t matter thought process not aeveryone but enough. I’ve always took pride at whatever I do or whatever company I work for in this year of 2019 soon to be 2020 things have greatly changed with the workforce.

            2. Until you deliver for Instacart how can you basically say that we don’t take pride in our work? And the hurry up attitude you’re referring to is because instacart shoppers won’t make any money if we don’t hurry, ma’am. The company is cheap on payments, it’s sad. I take a lot of pride in my work…a lot! And many other instacart workers do as well, I know for a fact. It can be very frustrating be an instacart shopper, especially these days…y’all have no idea!

            3. You are so right Jerry,I been doin instacart for over a yr now and my attitude is always 2 be in and out a store as quickly as possible but that doesn’t mean I don’t make good quality food choices,i check expiration dates and fruit as if I was shoppin 4 myself.I have a 5 star rating and good customer feedback as well.I also take pride in any job I do,I dress the part and always nice and friendly and because of it I get an increase in tips after a drop off all the time.

            4. And you’re that way, Tracey because you’re a good person. Even though we know that there’s customers out there that don’t recognize the little things we do and the things other workers won’t do, there’s quite a few customers out there that do, so regardless of the money from one batch to the next, keeping that passion and consistency is always key…cause it pays off somehow-someway. When being the type of shoppers/workers like us that even though the drive and desire to kick ass doing our job is heavily due to the desire to impress, earn more pay, or even just to insure keeping the job period, there’s that humungous part in us that works hard along with making sure all the other things that require consistency of being the best at whatever it is we’re doing gets done because it’s what it does for ourselves as individuals…knowing that we did a good job. A pride thing. I know I take major pride in my work….and it sounds like you do as well. Keep up the good work, Tracey! And if you’re interested in using that kick-ass work mentality and drive in other areas besides instacart, let me know…I just might have some other work for you if you’re interested. It would be web-based type work…but time and effort and ability to learn quick is how your income would be determined…so, could be something that fits you well. Until then….take care and godspeed!

            5. EXACTLY!!!! This is my business, I take pride in what I am doing for someone else…I want it PERFECT and I want to find every item the customer requested!!! The “hurry up” attitude being talked about is sometimes because the customer wants their groceries by a certain time….AND WE ARE TIMED!!!! Do people even know that???!!!

            6. I highly doubt that you never been impatient with anyone on your job. Our problem is that we see what everyone else does when we do the same thing. I take pride in my job as well, but I also have my fays when people just irriate me or my personal life irriatates me and I have to suck it up and try my best not to show an attitude. You are not perfect so stop trying to be. The instacart workers I came in contact with was very nice, my produce was frsh and they took their time getting everything. ASSuming these people have hurry up attitude is pure ignorance. You can’t base thing off your own opinions and you can’t base everyone vharacter off one encounter. It’s just ignorant and foolish when people speak or throw opinions around without facts.

          3. This one I really agree wtih you. There are 7 times over 56 times delivery that I feel good.
            3 times for moms that look like they don’t look so good. I means they might be about to get sick
            2 times for early person.
            2 times for someone that have a car.

            Even Instacart paid shopper so little but I actually don’t need to care much about their pay. I just need to drive my car because my car consume battery more than I thought. My house is close to everything. I don’t need to drive much. BUT I do feel bad for the other shopper who try to make a living from Instacart and be treat unfair.

          4. Im 66 and do not drive so i can not carry a case of water and alot of the heavy items i do go and get the smaller items that i can carry so you see its not being lazy the older you get you will see what will be in store for you you are all just behind me and you will get there

            1. It is not a charity or a service organization. It is a business offering a service to those who need or want it. When I need their help, I appreciate it and am glad to pay. Your roofer, plumber, doctor, yard man, mechanic, etc., don’t work for free either. They have to pay their overhead and make a profit.

            2. Sit down. Lol. This why you price compare even for those and get estimates on things. You don’t want to over pay in those either. But hey if you have money like that go ahead. I know I don’t. Even a 10$ diff makes a huge deal. Instagram is 50$ a year plus fees and they over charge. That isnt cool. Especially those in fixed incomes.

            3. I am on SSDI and no longer drive or own a vehicle. It’s far more expensive for me to take a Lyft taxi to and from the grocery store and then have to entice my taxi driver with a large tip just to help carry my groceries up to the second floor to my apartment door. That’s one of the great reasons I LOVE USING INSTACART. They also have a huge weekly buy one get one FREE Section that creates huge savings for my budget. I eat extremely well on my fixed income because I know how to make good buying choices and budget as best possible. PLEASE look through my several posts and replies to others and read them. I hope it will enlighten your opinion. Take care and God Bless you always.

            4. Yes!!!! I have a Master’s degree in business management with an emphasis in accounting and finance and can sincerely and completely be in agreement with your statement. Thank you for such an educated, logical, and enriching post!

            5. Well just so you know they used to at one time keep the tips. They did a lot of things that they were sued for. Trust me they make more than a good profit. I have a friend who lives in a different state than me. They have one small fee. The food prices do not get inflated and they are not allowed to accept tips. They pay their drivers well and don’t expect the consumer to pay for it.

            6. It’s fine if they get compensated for the services they offer but they have to be CLEAR about the amount they will be compensated so the consumer can make an INFORMED decision. It’s not fine that they are not clear to the consumer that each and every item that is shopped will cost you %10 more. It’s deceptive of them to only add this in the vague fine print of the app. I’m cancelling my membership and asking for a refund

            7. A website is not a plumber, doctor, yard man, or mechanic. It is just a website run by a skeleton crew of people who don’t even interact online, let alone in person, with the company’s customers. A website has little “overhead.” Once the site was created, almost everything is automated and the few people running it just keep it maintained. With the fees the company charges, it’s a cash cow at the expense of the customers and the people doing the actual work. It also benefits grocery stores because they’ve all dropped their own local delivery services in favor of signing up with Instacart. They don’t hire employees to make deliveries anymore. 

            8. Never said I do not want to pay, simply when in need it’s more expensive then going into market myself. Please don’t misconstrue my comment

            9. Please try to imagine being on the second floor, educated but still mentally and partially physically disabled, weak and without a vehicle and unable to continue driving, and having to pay for a Lyft taxi to and from the grocery store and then having to entice your driver with a large tip just to carry up your groceries to your door which Instacart drivers do happily for FREE. I LOVE USING INSTACART!!!! They have a huge buy one get one FREE Section online that changes every week and talk about BIG savings! I am a finance and accounting major so I really can budget well. I have to in order to eat well as I am Blessed and thankful to now be on SSDI which I worked many years putting into. Long story short, what some scoff about can be an answer to someone else’s prayers. And. By the way, I do shop Thrive sometimes with an annual membership fee and auto-renewal fee of close to $80.00 a year now. All my packages now have to be sent to my daughter’s place due to so much theft where I live. Not everybody, it just takes a few. But its absolutely beautiful here and I just adore my apartment and am truly grateful. Take care everyone and God Bless you all!

            10. That’s great, but your needs and experiences do not negate those of others. It isn’t about you. It isn’t personal. 

            11. It is very expensive and even more so since Eric posted. An $8.99 item at Publix becomes a $9.99 item with Instacart. I had to use it as it was necessary for a while. Almost every time there was something wrong with my order and is Eric said the dates. Food was ready to expire the following day. (Meat) They always replaced my item if it wasn’t available with a much more expensive item. And they used to telephone you if there was a problem, or text you however now they expect you to watch them for two hours while they shop and if you see something you’re not happy with comment on the app. I’m not paying them so I can sit and watch them shop on my iPad or my cell. And let’s not forget we need to tip these people of course. Almost daily I would watch the prices rise on Instacart. The prices don’t go up a few cents they go up a lot. And $.99 1 L bottle of Coke went up to $1.45 overnight. No I couldn’t agree more. I’m done with Instacart.

            12. Taking full advantage of customers is very important to instacart. The absolute need to make as much money as they can regarding people who cannot or will not go shpping for themselves. Why sugar coat this simple fact.Hey go shopping and bendover and put the items in your car or on the bus . Or you can bend over for instacart.

            13. So compassionate. Some people become incapacitated. That has nothing to do with being lazy. Why are you even on this feed? You have absolutely nothing to offer.

            14. I happen to be an Instacart shopper. I have a bachelor’s degree and retired from the medical field October 2019 after 30 years. I do this now because I still wanted to help others and I really do care. I shop for others as I would for myself and my family. God bless you and all of my customers. Stay healthy.

            15. Your post interests me, Cynthia, because, after the first time I used Instacart (only because, even though I’m a very healthy, active 76, I feel vulnerable to the virus, maybe terrified of catching it and giving it to my compromised partner), and I texted back and forth with the shopper a couple times during her shopping, I immediately realized I would really enjoy being a shopper myself and being able to help people get what they want and need if they’re unable to go to the store for whatever reason. So that’s where I relate to your post … I think it could be rewarding to work as a shopper. But today I got only my second Instacart order, and was shocked at the many markups of prices, and higher fees than last time, (3.99 delivery fee plus 4.86 service fee … why are there two separate fees?), plus a generous tip on a $95 order. I’m going to try not to use Instacart again because of those two fees AND the price markups which I hadn’t noticed the other time. I could tolerate the fees, and I expect to pay for service, but when I noticed the price markups at the store in my neighborhood I’ve shopped at for 20 years, I was shocked and felt cheated.

            16. How do you think Instacart gets money to pay their shoppers?  The $3.99 doesn’t even begin to cover the cost of the delivery and the person’s time.  You are really in a fog if you think that a shopper is going to spend an hour of their time for $3.99.

            17. if your item isn’t available you can specify for them to just give you a refund. If you don’t then they will do there best to get you a close replacement which may cost more. We are paid by percentage so the more your items cost the more we make as part of our guarantee payout. Tips are not guaranteed so we focus more on the guaranteed payout. You are paying someone to do all your work for you use there gas and time. If instacart only charged the actual price of the product in store they wouldn’t be able to pay there workers very well. If you can’t afford the service or are cheap and on a budget then go to the store yourself. Many of us do this as a career since being laid off its how we pay our bills.

            18. I always tip well and appreciate the fact that i don’t have to go to the store myself sometimes..it’s just like anything else..you’re paying for a service..if you don’t want the service don’t use it but don’t bitch about it.

            19. As a shopper it never fails to amaze me how people expect other people to use their cars, their time and their gas to get their groceries and oh my god! You have to actually pay them! It is expensive because we are contracted workers tracking up miles on our cars and trying to eke out a wage. I enjoy delivering groceries and helping people out but make no mistake…this is my job…not a hobby. Not everyone can afford it but it is not a social service paid for by the government.

            20. Yes finally a shopper who gets it. Amen sister. Oh my . esp shop now with shortage of stuff. We do use our cars our gas. And. Mileage on our cars . we pay our own taxes. It is great to help others and our customers are grateful to see us

            21. Grateful to see you if you actually f***ing showed up. I ordered from instacart today and the stupid f*** was too inept to find my apartment. He went to the wrong building and said he couldn’t find my apartment number. I texted him and told him he was in the wrong apartment building and which one he needed to go to. He replied with “Oh.” And then never showed up. I texted him after it had been 10 more min and said “Hello?” He didn’t reply and then a few seconds later I got an email saying my order had been cancelled and that I wouldn’t be charged. I was charged! I called Instacart 4 times, waiting 20-30 min each time and finally got thru to someone on the last time. They couldn’t offer me any kind of credit, discount or compensation whatsoever. All they did was supposedly note my experience so they could supposedly give feedback to the driver. They then transferred me to Kroger to ask for a refund which will take 7 to 10 business days to go back to my account! Now I don’t have money to buy groceries. WTF I’m I supposed to do? Starve, because your stupid a** employee was too inept and retarded to find my apartment (not to mention I checked the box that said I didn’t need to be home for the groceries to be delivered – but I was home)? F*** Instacart and f*** anyone on here who defends them or works for them. I don’t care if you do a good job or not; you work for a sh** company that rips you and the customers both off, and instances like this should be enough to cause you to not want to work for or defend such a sh** company! You literally don’t give a f*** that some a***hole didn’t deliver my sh** and now my money is locked up for 10 days just because the driver was a retard! And no, you don’t deserve a tip on top of a $10 delivery fee. If the company can’t give you a tip out of a $10 delivery fee, and I’m expected to pay more, then you need to find a reasonable company to work for that pays their employees reasonably. WTF f***ing f*** is a delivery fee for, if not to pay the driver? No excuses. If it’s not for that, it’s just a stupid a** greedy company. Period. F*** that, and f*** you. I am not lazy, and was using the service to try to be safe during the pandemic, but I normally do all my own shopping. This is only my 4th time using the service, but it will be the last. I will go get the groceries myself. This guy didn’t even ask if I wanted replacements either; just texted that he refunded items they supposedly didn’t have, and ignored my requests for replacements (and yes I put replacements allowed). The driver I had before this one was very nice, had 5 star reviews and I flat out asked him what he makes and if he depends on the tips and he showed me how much money, on his phone screen, that he was making off each deliver, not including tips, and it was PLENTY. You don’t depend on tips. Stop f***ing lying and expecting people to give you an extra pat on the back for doing your f***ing job a***holes. I’m done with you and your sh** company. F*** you all. And no, I”m not wrong. I don’t give a f*** what you say. Nothing you can say can justify not delivery someone’s groceries and then holding their grocery money for 10 days. F*** you. Peace. Out.

            22. One shopper had problems finding my place once but texted me for directions. After that, I revised my info to give better, more detailed (even TMI) instructions to avoid a repeat (worked). So if any confusion is possible, make your delivery instructions bullet-proof and make sure the driver knows to look at them. You should have the option to text them somewhere in the app. Gotta be pro-active, as they say. If communication were easy, there would be fewer wars. You can chat with the shopper before they even start to shop (here shoppers are also the drivers).

              It’s pretty rare for a delivery to not happen (that driver is likely not working for them any more…), but unfortunately you do have to wait for the bureaucracy to process the refund. Hence the joys of credit cards.

            23. Most customers have no clue as to your arrangement with Instacart. They don’t know your arrangement but assume you are employees of the company they’re paying to provide a service. Frankly, it isn’t really their problem to worry about, but between you and Instacart. It becomes the customers’ problem though when a company exploits its workers and then they feel obligated to make up for what Instacart isn’t providing you. Many people won’t enrich Instacart by paying multiple add-on fees you never see on top of higher grocery prices, and then turn around and tip generously on top of it to guarantee you a decent wage. Too many people can’t afford to throw their money at Instacart like that. Customers don’t expect you to work for free, they expect Instacart to take a small fee for its service as nothing more than an intermediary between you and your customers, and for the company to make a fair agreement with its “independent contractors.” 

            24. So you’re Time and Gas and the convince and the wear and tear of your car is cheap, when you go to restaurant do you complain and say this restaurant is expensive, you do tip your server. You should should not say it’s expensive you should say you’re cheap.

            25. If your employee doesn’t pay you well or compensate you for, time, gas, and wear and tear on your vehicle, then you work for a sh** company. Find a better job. Don’t expect people who make the same as what you make, or less, to have money to pick up the slack for your sh**y employer. Take your sh**y entitled attitude and shove it up your a**.

          5. You are so right about this I used it for my parents they are in their 80’s can’t drive it works for them , but when I used it something went wrong 16 items at Aldi should not be $113 .. it said $60.25 but then in my account $113 was taken out …. very displeased with that . I get it though it is good for seniors or if your sick

            1. Sounds like you may have been scammed. Did you check your online receipt to verify that you were only charged for the 16 items you ordered?

            2. Did the $113 stay or was it removed? Instacart does do a temporary charge on a credit card that is much higher than the initial estimate, to allow for extra items added later and changes in weights etc. But that should be adjusted after shopping is done. Definitely talk with customer service if that happens.

            1. I love it! I’ve never had a bad experience. During these bad times it works for me. I tried to give a good tip. I also don’t mind working with my shopper.

      1. It’s too bad there is not a competitor who does this kind of like the Meals on Wheels program. I tend to trust the concept of Instacart my daughter and grandson both work for them, but the price is holding me back. As an elderly couple with multiple health issues I really could use this service. The inflated costs are what is keeping from it. I know what my kids tell me that make along with tips on the orders. Only with being proud of their industry I am amazed. My kids often take the groceries in and help an older person more than required by the company. So maybe there are other kind drivers out there too.

        1. I’m a shopper and driver and I always help every sustainer I carry it in no mate show he ya andim a little woman. I do everything to make sure the food is good and not expired. All the shoppers I know do too.

          1. I LOVE USING INSTACART!! I am soooooo Blessed by your awesome services. I am on disability and no longer drive or own a vehicle and live up on the second floor so the fact you guys happily deliver to my door usually with a big smile Blesses my life.

            1. I am a shopper for instacart and i can tell you that i shop for every order as if it is for myself. One order may take me an hour to collect. And then i have to drive it to the member and deliver it, many times receiving no tip! I think it’s strange how people will gladly tip their pizza delivery, or restaurant server for just bringing a plate of food, but feel that the work we put in is worthless. Yes the prices are higher because that is what pays for the software app and support that is necessary. This service is a godsend for the elderly, disabled, mothers of young children, etc.

            2. I am a good tipper! I’ve waitressed and totally understand. I appreciate people who live on a large part of their tips. Even though I’m on SSDI, it would cost me a great deal more to use a taxi service.

            3. Yes! I agree…and as a shopper myself, i have many times seen the Insta platform prices lower than the store prices. So depending what your list looks like, you can assume it typically averages out.

            4. I’ve never seen Instacart prices lower than the store’s prices. Perhaps you’re applying coupons.

            5. I suspect most non-tippers believe you’re receiving the delivery fees, of which there are between two and four, depending on the order. That’s the problem with a company being so vague and confusing about its fees and your compensation set-up. It makes sense that when they see multiple fees on their bill that they would think most of it goes to you. The blame should be directed at Instacart, not the customers. Instacart is who you’ve signed on with. 

            6. Thanks Kimberly! I too am on SSDI, without a car and unable to carry bags or lift them. I use Safeway.com delivery. However, my last order was cancelled completely due to COVID-19. I am about to use Instacart for the first time. I am trying to find out whether my “JUST4U” and “SAFEWAY CLUB CARD” DISCOUNTS will be deducted from my order. Tried to call Instacart but there is a 76 minute wait time. Do you or anyone else know if I will be able to still get those much needed discounts? Thanks and GOD BLESS. Stay healthy and safe.

            7. Hi there Kathleen! No, unfortunately, they are unable to use your shopper’s card, phone number, etc for your own extra personal discounts. But I highly recommend them. You’ll have a choice of grocery stores to choose for them to shop from for you. I always focus on the nut one get one free from PUBLIX. Happy shopping!!
              Kimberly

            8. This is not entirely true. I think you actually picked the worst store to review. The issues you have described are Publix issues and not instacart. I use instacart with Food Lion and the prices are exactly the same.

              You review your shopper. I had a bad one and someone from instacart called me 10 minutes after my review and gave me refund for the item in question.

            9. I am a shopper in Texas. The stores I shop that have shoppers/Loyalty cards the card and a large barcode populate on my iPhone even as aim as I indicate in d don’t and heading to the check out. One of the chains jet gives a several % discount on the entire total for seniors. I also ask for it when shopping for a known senior. Whether or not it of passed along to you the customer I cannot access.

            10. We love you too! I get enjoyment shopping for my customers and picking the best quality items. I don’t even mind carrying them up to an apartment. My reward is seeing happy faces from folks like you! ?

          2. Yes, my shoppers have asked me if the only items they find have close expiration dates. Just had that situation today. If I’m going to eat it right away or freeze it, I can tell them to go ahead and get it. But it’s obvious that they are paying attention to such details.

        2. I feel that a lot of the increased cost is offset by the fact that the instacart shopper isn’t being tempted to throw a bunch of things in the cart that aren’t on the list, as I am often prone to do. No wear on the car, no gas burned.

          1. It’s not possible! You’re app has all of the ordered items on a list. No way to throw something else in. Technology

            1. I am a shopper myself… and there is a way to just add items. It’s done all the time. A customer will realize they forgot something and ask to have it added. And yes there are the dishonest shoppers that will items for themselves and have the customers pay for it.

            2. My experience. Shopper added 2 deli sandwiches and chapstick and kept them while I paid for them. Got a refund but still feel the burn.

            3. That is something that needs to be reported. The dishonest shopper will be deactivated.

            4. I don’t see how they can get away with adding items for themselves, as long as you keep an item. If they add something, or make a change, you need to approve it. Sometimes I get receipts sometimes I don’t. But always get one by email, and if I find an error, they immediately fix it.

            5. @Exho Cattoor can you tell me more about how shoppers can add items without customers knowing? I am a frequent Instacart customer and have recently realized that shoppers can add things “accidentally” or intentionally because a shopper of mine said she accidentally added a personal item for herself and gave me the cash for it when she delivered my order… I wonder after that how often this happens and how easy it is to get away with. The item she paid me cash for was not on digital receipt for by the way. Thanks for your help and reply.

        3. Instacart offer a huge buy one get one free Section that creates huge savings for my budget and I’m on a fixed income as well. You are never obligated to pay them ANY tip but you will need to adjust your settings and select None as your tip preference. I no longer drive or own a vehicle and the cost for me to take even a low cost taxi service to and from the grocery store bus a large tip I have to offer the driver just to have them carry my groceries up stairs to my apartment door is approximately three times more than using INSTACART. Wha6some people assume might be too costly or a waste of money has been an answer to my prayers. Take care and may God Bless you always.

          1. I NEED TO INSERT SOMETHING that I AM A HUGE BELIEVER IN GENEROUS TIPPING. My comments above were directly addressed to the people who were complaining that there is obligatory tipping and it was pre-set. That’s to whom I was addressed. I ALWAYS Tip up to 99% of the time. It takes a total injustice and dishonesty PLUS** for me not to tip. For example, I had a $20 gift code from a restaurant delivery service so i order a deep dish pizza and salad. The total including delivery was only $11.26 and i tipped the driver $7.75. Especially dud to these rough economic times and health risks for them and I’m on SSDI Glory to God!
            Thank you and most sincerely yours,
            Kimberly

            1. Meagan just so u know,as an instacart shopper,many shoppers wont accept a $0 tip not knowing if they will receive one later or a cash tip,me included.I would at least put the minimum then take it up if u choose afterwards.One reason is that’s not everyone’s thought process,sum just don’t tip. Period.If i knew those ppl would cash tip or tip afterwards i would accept the order but not chancing using up my gas and time for nontippers,just no excuse for that.I used the service for the 1st time last week and tipped my driver$20 for a very small order because i know how those generous,unexpected tips make your day.Some large order customers may only tip 6,$7 and i get that every1 isn’t able to overtip all the time but when u can please do it’s greatly appreciated!!

            2. I did leave a 15% tip. I’ll have to start letting it default bc it’s taking days for orders to be picked up.

            3. Hi Megan. I too am am Instacart shopper. You may not know, but you should have up to 3 days to adjust the tip after delivery in the app. I would like to suggest that when you place your order, you tip as generously as you like, and then reduce the tip as necessary when you receive poor service.
              And please leave feedback when that happens so that fellow shoppers become aware of what improvements they can make to provide better service.

              Thank you for being a great tipper by the way.

            4. Megan,
              As a veteran shopper I will say this, and most veteran shoppers know this. Due to tips being stolen from Instacart in the past or higher paying tips being used to compensate us for our work instead of instacart paying us fairly. There is a code tip of $.22 that we know means you will either tip cash at the door or raise tip post delivery. This also forces instacart to pay a proper wage to the shopper.

            5. That’s interesting. I’ve been setting it at 10% with a note that I’ll increase it after an accurate delivery. 

      2. Agree if only you have money to spend. extra $10-$50 per grocery. what a big deal! right? The different between the rich and the poor (who isn’t as rich as you or more than you) They have a budget. If you only think from where you stand,…(you are the rich so you must be smart enough to know what kind of people are you.)

            1. Christine, not in Cincinnati, Ohio. In fact I was charged 28.00. It did include tip, but it was supposed to be 10.00.

            2. Tips are NEVER A REQUIREMENT. All you do is change your settings under tipping preferences and select None. That’s what I did for total control. If you are dissatisfied about anything just call customer service immediately. They actually want to help you. Also, just try to limit your purchases to their very large buy one get one FREE Section and you’ll rack up HUGE SAVINGS! I believe that section changes weekly. I no longer drive and no longer can afford to own a vehicle anyway so I LOVE USING INSTACART! It’s Heaven sent to me. It’s soooo much cheaper than even a low cost taxi service like Lyft to go to and from the grocery store and then to have to entice the taxi driver with a large tip just to bring up the groceries to the second floor apartment door which INSTACART drivers happily do for FREE. I am so Blessed to have access to their services and excellent customer service if I need anything resolved over the phone. They are really there to help which I experience less and less often these days. Well I hope this has given some enlightenment as to a more positive perspective of Instacart. Take care and God Bless you always. Reply anytime if you want to start a discussion. It might be fun.

            3. You don’t tip?!?! Instacart drivers are not even making minimum wage without tips…plus having to use their own cars and gas. I drive for them and it’s not even worth my time or effort if customers aren’t tipping at least 10%.

            4. Jane…of course I tip! More for great service and less for poor service. I’ve only had an extremely bad experience with only one driver. I just have it set at None so I can choose the tip amount. I’m a loyal believer in tipping. I’m sorry you read my post in the wrong way. I NEVER said I don’t tip. You assume wrong. I just go back into the app and tip an amount I choose. In my post where I said that there is no tip required I was referring to all the grumbling people out there putting down their app and whining about the automatic tipping. How does that infer that I don’t believe in tipping. I’m a loving and generous Christian woman. May God Bless you always and forever. Take care now.

            5. I too am a shopper for Instacart and I, like most other drivers will not take an order if it has no tip. If you choose no tip you will get the desperate shoppers that do not care. You have 3 days to adjust tip after delivery. If you want a good quality shopper tip when your order is placed and if you do not like the service you got change the tip after delivery. Most people do not know that we are only paid in most areas only $7 per order sometimes having to shop for 2 or 3 people at the same time. Would you shop and drive miles in your car on your gas for $7? That is what we see with no tip orders. Of course most people would not jump to take it. As a shopper you do not know the customer will change the tip after and most don’t so 90% of the time it will be passed over and you will get a terrible shopper or someone new, they are not being paid well for their time and personal effort which means they want to rush to get it done so they can get another order. And I 10000% agree with the fact that a pizza delivery driver gets tipped better than the person who spend at least an hour hand pick shopping and then delivering not just 1 item but many many items. Why should a shopper be excited to do all that work including milage for most often $7 and a $2 tip? Your shoppers are independent contractors not employees and we are not compensated from Instacart the over amounts that are charged and trust me as your shoppers we apologize for that and wish it were different but we have no control over it whatsoever. My advice is if you want wonderful 5 star shoppers that know how to shop quality items like myself a $5+ tip will go a long way. Rating your shoppers will also help.

            6. One other thing that is not known it seems is not all items are up charged btw. Many things ordered are the same as the are in store so when you get an order you are not being charged and extra .50 or whatever the case may be on every item. I’d also like to make an analogy..if food was cooked poorly at a restaurant why do you take it out on the servers tip? They didn’t make the food, they really have nothing to do with it but they are the face of the issue to you when really the issue is you shouldn’t pay for the food that was poor. It’s the same for your shopper, they have no control over the issues about pricing with Instacart but they are the face to you of Instacart. But like the waitress who gets a poor tip cuz the cook sucks, it’s the same for the shopper suffers with tips when the issue is you don’t want to pay for fees. The issue is with Instacart not your shopper. But as a customer how are you to know any better. To you it is one entity and not your fault there are so many fees and the only thing you have control over is how you tip. If tipping is involved in any service maybe we should all keep mind it is because it pays less than acceptable and that should be taken into account. A standard tip is 15% but most Instacart tips are 5% or less. Thought everyone might want to know that a service that involves more work beyond what most people do to earn tips is tipped far less than the standard tip you would pay.

            7. This country needs to join the rest of the modern world and get rid of tipping altogether. It’s used by industries to increase their profits at the paying public’s expense. They get away with almost free labor because of it. If you tip in England or France, the servers are insulted because they earn liveable wages as the professionals that they are should. 

            8. This is good to know. I zero out the tip until delivery. I had no idea it was affecting my order being chosen. That’s irritating. I always do 10-15% except twice when I had so so service.

        1. I believe you are not opening your mind enough and your post was poorly thought through. Please read through my several posts for some enlightenment on how Instacart has helped me on my fixed income without a car and just getting in on their huge weekly buy one get one FREE Section. And tips are NEVER A REQUIREMENT. I just went into my settings and selected None under preferred tip amount. Now I am in control. Take care please and may God Bless you always. This post was not intended to put you down just to try to open your perspective of life. So, PLEASE take a moment to read through my several posts. Peace to you.

        2. I can’t spend much, have to spend at least $35, plus a tip $5-6 is kmmy usual grocery fee. The tip is so worth it!
          Of course at Aldi’s, the savings is huge.

        1. Oops! I meant to say, I disagree with Eric.
          I absolutely LOVE InstaCart, and I don’t think the prices are as bad as you say — PLUS I always get free shipping because I spend at least $35 each time I shop.

          Since I’ve been without a car for the past 6 months, I was taking Uber to/from the grocery store. Then I discovered InstaCart, which is less costly than Ubering, it’s more convenient, and I don’t mind paying for the convenience. I also like the convenience of being able to shop from multiple stores on one order. However, to get free shipping when I order from multiple stores, I will have to spend at least $35 at each store, but I can live with that. It beats trying to get to all those stores with no transportation.

          At first, I too was skeptical, about the shoppers being very careful, but I decided to give it a try; and I was pleasantly surprised that the shoppers I’ve had so far were just as meticulous as I am. One shopper even used her phone app to refund a watermelon that advertised for $3.99 each, but it rang up as $3.99 a pound. Had she text me, I would have told her to leave off the watermelon; but she went ahead and got it and pointed out how expensive it was when she delivered the groceries; then she did the refund. I checked my online order and saw the price was immediately adjusted. AND I got to keep the watermelon! 🙂

          Even though, I track my order until it’s finally delivered, I missed that higher price for the watermelon. So, that was a good decision on her part to bring it, then refund my money once she got here, because I would have been furious had I later discovered I was overcharged for that watermelon. So, I gladly gave her 5 stars and a nice tip.

          Lastly, the shoppers have to maintain a rating of 4.96 out of 5 stars, otherwise they’ll get kicked out the system. So, that’s an incentive for them to watch those training videos and do an excellent job! So far, I have given all my shoppers 5 stars!

      3. Not when you are living on a fixed income, you can’t always “make more money”. And it seems that the senior base would be some of heir most important customers

    2. So you expect your InstaShopper to use their gas their cell data their time and energy to check every label on every package when the store already has a system in place to remove outdated items. Spending extra time in the store to then deliver you the best available items. And your upset you have to spend $10 over the cost of groceries? You do realize Instacart is a company they have to make money the drivers are independent contractors and do not make a hourly wage they get paid a percentage of your delivery fee and your order they don’t get paid extra for spending extra time in the store. Your shopper was be nice by giving you the real receipt so you could return anything you needed to. Smh ?‍♀️

      1. I’m sorry Summer, but I have to disagree with you.

        Claiming that the shopper was “nice” for giving the original receipt? No, that is a requirement. She paid for the items so she should get the real receipt to see exactly what the breakdown of the purchase was.

        Secondly, there’s nothing wrong with making a profit, but don’t try to take a piece of everything, and be transparent about it. People shouldn’t have to pay a fee PLUS a markup over store prices and then be expected to give a tip on top.

        Lastly, if the shopper doesn’t want to do a thorough job, then they shouldn’t be shoppers. It’s a total disservice to the customer to simply grab an item off the shelf without inspecting it. Ever hear of the saying about treating customers better than you would like to be treated? How about underpromise and overdeliver? Think about it, how would you feel if you were delivered an order of groceries with over/under ripe produce or items with an expiration date of the following day? If you would honestly have no issue with that, then great!

        No one is asking to get everything for free. People just want to know that they are getting the same quality they’d get by going themselves and to be able to know what the actual final cost will be beforehand. Nothing wrong with those expectations.

        1. I so agree! I had a recent bill with Instacart that was $40 over the receipt that was mistakenly included (?!?). When I called Instacart on this, they said they were “sorry” the shopper included the original store receipt (what? I wasn’t upset by getting the receipt, but I can see why instacart was upset I got it!). They said there are store upcharges when I asked for a full breakdown of what I spent. I was really pissed off to find out that there is a delivery fee, a tip, a “service fee”, AND STORE UPCHARGES, which is ridiculous. I don’t think the stores care who is shopping in the store. The “service fee” should cover all this, and there should be NO STORE UPCHARGES. I’m canceling instacart.

          1. It says right on the App, Publix has to pay
            Instacart for their service. That is why there is a mark up. They pass it on to the customer.

            Times are changing and stores have to make sure they are keeping up with the deliveey service that seems to have been brought on by Amazon, or get left behind in the 20th century.

            Your comment “I don’t think the stores care who is shopping in the store” is incredibly naive. Just read a little, and ask questions. These stores have a contract with Instacart.

            1. Which means both the stores and the customers are paying Instacart for nothing more than their intermediary website service, while independent contractors are doing all of the work and bearing the costs of doing Instacart’s business. . 

          2. I am a 56 year old woman, an Instacart shopper and a Christian that pratices treating people better than I would want to be treated, I ALWAYS give the store receipt and Instacart has never ask me not to. I also check for freshness of meat and produce but like stated above why check for everything when the store has a system to pull expired dry goods and I am on a time limit or Instacart will quit sending me if I am always late, I usually have about 45 minutes to get to a store and shop and about 15 more to get it delivered.

            1. If instacart never told told you not to include the receipt, (which they did in the fine print when you first signed up) that’s because no one has called to complain. Either because they don’t care, don’t mind the extra cost for the convenience, or don’t even look at the receipt.

            2. Instacart most definitely tells you to NOT give the original receipt following check out before delivery, Everytime. While, yes, the original receipt shows the customer a difference in price another issue is that customers have tried to return products to stores and get instacart to refund them. So then they are getting twice the refund. This gets eliminated by not giving the receipt. I have seen several Facebook posts about this issue and customers who think it’s right.

            3. That would be really hard to do, since the shopper uses their Instacart card to pay, and it’s clearly listed on the receipt that it’s an Instacart purchase… I can’t imagine a store refunding a customer directly with an Instacart receipt… they would have them go through Instacart. I have found Instacart more than kind in their customer service… there have been issues where I didn’t request a full refund but they would refund the entire item even for a small issue. Over the last few years, I’ve probably used them over 100 times and yes, I’ve had some issues but they have always been resolved to my satisfaction. Now you want to see upcharge? I made the mistake of getting myself and my sister gift memberships to Shipt last year… that was a whole other ballgame. I know in the beginning there was no upcharge on the groceries through Instacart, and even now I don’t find them exorbitant, but with Shipt I was shocked. And at times, both Amazon Fresh and Amazon Now have had a much higher upcharge.

            4. I use Instacart once a month. I am on disability and don’t drive anymore. I used to pay $3.99 for delivery in 2019 but now they’ve upped their delivery fee to $7.99. And I do tip. It’s definitely a small financial strain because there are also service fees. However, I’m not sure but it seemed like their service fees decreased a little. Anyone else notice that they have doubled the delivery fee in 2020? I.will still still use them in a pinch.

            5. You need to read the help section in the shopper app. You are NOT to give the customer the store receipt. It’s against company policy. They even send me an email stating this when we started shopping for aldi. They get an electronic one. When someone is issued a receipt it should reflect that they paid with their credit card or whatever payment method they used. The store receipt reflects that I as an instacart shopper paid with a company credit card. Therefore. the customer should never get the store receipt.

          3. I totally agree – I had a publix order that was very pricey. Instacart person was excellent and I tipped her well. Then I found the original register tape in the bag and item for item, all the prices were up charged between 50 cents and $2 per item. It literally cost me almost $40 more for these increased prices, plus delivery, plus a good tip. So because I didn’t do my own shopping, it torpedoed my food budget by about $70 more. I was livid. Instacart customer service was very apologetic, said they don’t control the store pricing, but the refunded me $20 credit to keep me happy. So I blame Publix for this. From what I see, other stores don’t do this.

        2. Actually many business models do require a percent from buyer and seller, aution house have this model. Supermarkets are notorious low margin hi waste . So as long as it’s disclosed I don’t mind

        3. It is NOT. A requirement it’s againstpolicy to give the receipt. You obviously have no clue what you’re talking about.

          1. Alot of things mentioned here I had no idea about. I have been working for instacart for a few weeks now. I’m a shopper n a meticulous one. I shop for my customer like I shop for myself. I look at the meats, fruits, vegetables, etc as I do for myself. I think that meticulous nature comes with age. There are young people who may not have the same understanding as a woman of 49 does. I greet every customer, I make sure they’re happy with any changes I make for them. We are timed with every order. My main reason for responding is simply because I give my clients their receipt every time. I had no idea we weren’t supposed to, n never have been told not to. So to read that was very offsetting to me. As a shopper I only speak for me, but for anyone who’s encountered issues with instacart I’m truly sorry. I will say that I believe in quality, trying to shop in a minimal amount of time is fine but I stand by quality over quantity at all times n also believe that as long as my clients are happy with how I shop for them it will overshadow a few extra minutes it may take to give the client the best there is to give and I’ll keep my job because their comments will reflect that.
            Happy holidays to you all.

        4. Publix charges the extra mark up. It is stated on the app. Publix states they have to charge more because they have to pay Instacart for their service.

          I believe I will make up the difference
          because they show me sale items,
          coupons, and BOGO’s.

          I don’t buy a huge order of groceries.
          My husband does main shopping.
          I have used Instacart twice.

          Last minute notice my son and his gf
          were coming over for dinner and I wanted to make Beef Stew. The stew
          meat I could not have picked out any better. The carrots, onions, garlic and potatoes all excellent. The lady that brought my groceries was extremely KIND.

          Second order I was not happy with an item they purchased. They credited my account-no questions asked -and said to keep the item. The “shopper” is to keep
          the original receipt and you can get a digital one on your account.

          I plan to use them to make an impromptu
          meal, or order up some items when my grandchildren are coming over.

          The closest Publix to me is an 18 mile round trip. My favorite one, which is smaller and I know where everything is…28 mile round trip.

          By the time I drive to the store, shop, (get distracted), drive home, put away groceries, I am too tired to cook. I have health problems.

          My children sometimes say they will come by in the evening, or ask me to keep the grandkids at the last minute.
          So this works out well for me.

        5. What a cuck! You sound so entitled. Thats fine, take your ass to the store in a rainstorm and check every label and save $10! When you go to restaurant, do you question the chef who picked your steak out? Or the tip for waitress? Or the cost added for a steak you could have bought cheaper at the store? Its a service. You pay extra. And as a shopper, i find you insulting and i hope i would never get an over picky ,ungrateful customer like you. Oh and giving you the reciept is NOT a requirment.
          Ffs

          1. As a shopper myself, I find it very disrespectful and unprofessional to lash out at the customers for putting their opinion out there. The people adding their opinions on here may actually be helping you do your job by pointing out the issues that InstaCart could possibly made an effort to fix.

        6. Actually, the shopper is not supposed to give the customer the receipt, so yeah, she was either being nice giving it to you, or new and didn’t know not to. The person using Instacart to get their groceries gets a receipt in-app or by email.

          I am a full service shopper, which means I shop AND deliver. All on my dime. Instacart pays me $7 per order, plus .60 a mile between the customer’s house and the store.

          That being said, I do a thorough job. I wouldn’t pick an item for a customer that I wouldn’t pick for myself. And I’m VERY picky when it comes to things like meat, dairy and produce. I’ve been late on orders many times just make sure I got the freshest (insert item name).

          I also make sure I go to the closest store to the delivery address (because those aren’t always the ones selected) to make sure a customer’s items remain as close to their original temp as possible, which means I sacrifice mileage pay.

          And yet, with all that in mind, I still wouldn’t order with Instacart because of how crappily I get paid so I know how crappily the other shoppers get paid. I had an order for 24 32 packs of water, and 16 24 packs of soda. This was back when Instacart would add heavy order pay after the order. Guess how much I made for that order? $10. And that wasn’t all that I had to get for that order. I had to leave my kids car seats at the store in their break room just to fit everything. And because of the water and soda, STILL had to make 2 trips. Didn’t get mileage pay for the second trip, either. They basically “oh well’d” me and I didn’t get heavy order pay either.

          Many people (as you’ve noted) either can’t shopping for themselves, or use Instacart for the convenience, but I would rather drag my kids kicking and screaming than put another penny in Instacart’s coffers. I only shop for them because it makes it easy while I’m getting my degree, and I can spend time with my kids while they’re young.

          1. I am also a shopper and deliverer. The pay that you are putting out there is incorrect. You get paid the tip, per mile, for the batch in general, and you can make an extra $3 just to get a perfect rating. I have yet to see a batch that was as low as $10. Kudos to you for shopping at the store that is closest to the customer, but that is not available to everyone. We are actually supposed to have company approved insulated bags that keeps food hot/cold!

          2. Yea,

            I am not understanding what people are complaining about on the prices.. it shows you what you by, and the price, per item, in your cart on the app or website.. how did they order? Did they not look at what they were buying and the price.. it shows you the item, item price, and when YOU , mr customer, pick your deliver time, it shows you the fee for that time slot, it also shows you the tax, tag and title… it’s all broken down for you, before you hit purchase.

            In the year I been using it, I have never got a receipt.. don’t need one, it’s on the app, and I can go back to history and see them all

            These people are confusing me as I go read down the comments.. amazing

            As I said in my other post , that I just made,, never had a bad delivery person/shopper in over a year, since I been using all the delivery services.

            It sucks to not have a car, but having these types of services is wonderful and there are more companies doing it now.. target does it and thank God we got more food delivery’s then just Pizza now

        7. All I know is that, due to a circumstance, I have become physically unable to shop..at all.
          When my shopper starts my order, and I either use Publix or Kroger. Kroger is generally cheaper but Publix generally has more things I want because their prices are at higher by about a dollar an item. Therefore, it seems more people shop at Kroger and they are more likely out of what I want more often..
          Moving on….I instantly start a chat with my shopper. I walk through the shopping experience with the shopper. I tell them exactly what I will and will not accept for replacement. Within the app there is an option for replacements. I always choose the ‘do not replace’ option and put in the comments to ‘check with me before replacing anything’. On every single item I comment to ‘not get Any item at all that expires within two weeks.’ I put it on every single item I order. Whether it is packaged meat or a can/bag of beans or a package of cheese of half&half.
          I don’t trust my shopper to pick out my meat. And generally don’t trust them to pick out my produce. I have a friend that lives close that I have pick those things up for me because I also have a special diet.

          As far as paying more, it’s not about who is rich and who is poor. It’s about what you choose to spend your disposable income on. If it’s convenience, so be it. If it is going to a movie or going out to dinner instead of buying groceries, so be it. If it is buying video games or cigarettes, those are all personal choices -And no one should be berated for choosing to spend their money on one over the other.

          So far the worst experiences that I have had is the STORES not having the correct items in stock. It blows my mind every time a shopper tells me they don’t have my product. I live in Bellevue. My shoppers shop at Publix on Highway 70 or Kroger at Highway 70/OHB. Kroger has gotten very very very busy lately. So they run low on everything all the time. So it is just something that I have come to understand before I choose my order.
          The first 10 or so times I was told they were out of the items, I actually called the store to check on the shopper! And the store told me the same thing.

          My shoppers for the most part have been extremely nice. They have been very capable. And Keeping in constant contact with them, they are more invested… they will take pictures of the items that are available if something is out of stock. And I will send him a picture of what I’m wanting from my fridge if they need it.
          If I ask them to check with the stock persons, many times my item is in stock, it just is not out -and they are willing to wait for them to get it.

          That said, I do usually tip double the suggested tip amount Because I appreciate that they will go to that effort.

          My worst experience with a shopper was asking that everything be packaged in paper bags and it was all packaged in plastic. One other time was I had ordered a particular type of soup and I got a different version of what I asked for. Same brand same type of soup just a different version of it. And that only happened once. That’s it. That’s my worst With either Publix or Kroger shoppers.

          I used SHIPT for a while .. pricier, however, if you or a regular grocery delivery patron, and you understand the way Instacart is run versus the way SHIPT is run, it makes sense to use SHIPT.
          UnFortunately, I had a disagreement with their management and went to Instacart.

          If you want to use this service, just be practical for your own self about it. Figure out what you’re willing to spend for the convenience. And figure out what you will and will not let someone else pick out for you to go in your refrigerator or your pantry. It’s pretty much that simple.

          I think that Instacart works for some people and it doesn’t work for others. And some parts of it work for some people and other parts don’t work for those people.

          That’s my 2cents.

        8. That is incorrect. The receipt is for instacart’s purchase of the items they are selling you from the website. Your credit card had not been run until 3 days later. There was a hold on it. The shopper has a credit card they use to purchase your items at checkout. You are not directly purchasing from the store. That is not your receipt. Sorry.

        9. I ordered 4 bananas yesterday.. In the
          Instructions box I said I wanted organic
          With a little. Green on them. I got
          PERFECT bananas. Be precise what you want.

        10. Just an FYI on some of the post and things that are being assumed

          I agree , a little, on the price surcharge.. it does stink that you have to pay higher prices AND a delivery fee, AND a Tip

          I would be more inclined to give a better Tip if the prices were not so high.. yes, I Know we’re taking about driver vs company, but I’m also talking about my wallet… but it is what it is

          As for the shopper,,, I know that Instacart rocks if something was wrong… I mean take care of the customer,, I had a few things happen and each time, it got taken care of,,,, for example, when the shopper starts shopping, you get text alerts.. I got an alert that the driver would be here, let’s say 5pm-515pm, at 430 I got a text that said the driver was now at the store doing shopping, at 432 I got a text that said “your order had been delivered”, now, I know this had to of been some sort of app problem, like the driver hit the wrong button, but I was kind of worried, I called up Instacart and said “hey, were is my order, I got a text that said it was here and it’s not”, thu apologized and said we will credit your $75 back to your account, and bam, it was back,,, they credited the whole order (my order showed up about 40 mins later.

          Then they did the same thing on another order I had an issue with.. credited it all back.. now, it’s twice in about a year but the story is, they take care of there customers.

          It’s really not that bad, if you can get over the prices…

          I can also say, I Have had a 100% success rate with all the drivers.. never once a bad driver, in over a year. And that with Instacart delivery and Walmart delivery.. haven’t used target yet, but have used a few others stores.. never had any issues with drivers ( they are not like taxi drivers..lol)

          1. If you can’t afford a luxury service, DON’T USE IT! In other words, if you can’t afford to pay the person who drives to the store, shops for your groceries, bags them, loads them in their car, and delivers them to your door step, a 10-20% tip, you can’t afford the service and need to get your ass up to the store yourself or find someone you know to do it for you (good luck with that). Instacart shoppers do more than a server does in a restaurant, and on their dime with crappy pay, but you wouldn’t think of tipping a server any less than 20% For good service or else you choose not to eat out, right? People who use Instacart and don’t tip well are taking advantage of workers who have no other choice but to take shit paying jobs because at least it’s something. It’s a first world sweat shop.

            1. I want to tip 20%, but do I do that on top of the 5% driver tip that is added to the order?

            2. During COVID-19 pandemic, it’s not just a luxury service. For many. it’s a necessity. 

        11. Spoken from ignorance. As a previous shopper, Summer is accurate. No need to judge her option as it is more of a fact. You are terribly mis-informed. It is a policy not to give the receipts. That shopper was nice to give it but also violated a policy. As you, stated in the article that these are the reasons you dont shop this way. But many people do shop this way with the same mis-information. Justifying not taking tipping because they don’t want to pay the person shopping for them.

          1. Just because something is “policy” doesn’t mean it’s right.

            I can’t tell you how many class action lawsuits from service providers I’ve read about because someone was upset about a “policy” and brought it to the attention of a lawyer to look into.

            1. It is the policy. If someone has a problem they need to take it up with the company. Not the shopper. Again, they were nice to give a receipt to a customer because they were not supposed to. Not up to the shopper to violate policy.

            2. The same is true for the shoppers. If their compensation is lacking because Instacart takes more than its share and has vague and confusing fee structures, they need to take that up with the company they signed on to work for instead of blaming their customers. 

        12. I am just starting as a shopper, my goal is to make the customer happy with their shopping experience. I will always shop for others like I am shopping for myself. I guess after reading all of this, will I even make any money doing this as my second job?

      2. Well said i couldn’t say it any better I’m a InstaShopper and I know how both side of the fence feels. The way I look at it. If you feel you can’t trust a company that’s trying to serve you then don’t use them. I have great feedbacks only because I shop like I was shopping for myself.And most of my customers are not fortunate to shop for themselves. And some just don’t have the time.And That .40 cents per item more that person is complaining about .might wanna know it just cover the wear and tear on car with the hope gas is cover we only get paid$3.85 tips is what we count on.I was a waitress in New York we count on our tips not the $2.00 an hour that you get from your boss.So unless this person ever know what’s it like to serve and work for nothing maybe she should serve and not expect to get paid.And not to mention there’s 4 different fundraising I’ve voluntarily do to support this year alone.Thanks Summer for being so understanding all thou can’t speak for shoppers who don’t know what they doing shouldn’t be there.They either learn thru their mistakes and become a better shopper.customers are always right most of the time,lol. Thanks,sandy

        1. So, Sandra, if you found that a company was shady or wasn’t totally up front, or even didn’t follow through on stated promises, you would sit there and keep your mouth shut? Sorry, I doubt it.

          But, instead of doing what most people do–running to every platform and irrationally crying and making zero sense because–I presented it in a way that gives potential customers a non-biased, rational view of the service. Yeah, I know, strange thing to find on the internet.

          Now, if you would have READ the article–again, I know, something not common these days–you would have seen that it wasn’t just the price differential, or just the shoppers, or just any one thing. It was everything IN TOTAL plus the practice of hiding the information while making it difficult for potential customers to find out exactly what their actual costs will be.

          And don’t make assumptions (you know what they say about those who assume)…I’ve worked delivering Chinese food and newspapers in high school and barback in college–all tip-based jobs. So, yeah, I do get it 😉

          1. Do you get the receipt from the food distributing company that supplies your grocery store with food? Ummm Nopers there’s your answer!

            1. Apples and oranges.

              A retailer purchasing the products for sale direct from the distributor/manufacturer is much different than a service simply picking up the retail product from the store.

              Nice try though ?

            2. The simplest explanation is Instacart is a grocery reseller. You don’t get the receipt because we didn’t use your credit card shopping your order we use instacarts credit card. When you order through instacart you use your credit card on instacarts site. So you get an instacart receipt. Why do you think your entitled to get the store receipt when your credit card was never even used inside the store.

            3. Thanks for your insight Peter!

              While I don’t necessarily agree with that point I understand where you’re coming from. To me, Instacart is a shopping and delivery service more than a reseller. But that is like someone looking at an “non-burger” with one calling it a veggie patty and the other calling it a veggie burger.

            4. I like Walmart Grocery. I paid $100 for one year free delivery. Their prices are the same as in store, no service fees, upcharges, etc. Their selection is better than Instacart and Amazon’s Prime Now.

          2. I happen to see in a couple of you’re comments you think it’s absurd someone who orders from InstaCart has to create an account. I find that slightly hypocritical considering in order to receive newsletters regarding starting their own business(something of that nature) from you, their email address has to be given to you. Would it be possible to just post the newsletters on you’re website? Why does it have to be emailed?

            I briefly read over a small amount of you’re website and it sounds like you know you’re stuff, but $700 to take a class for the best information, seems a bit high to me. Just because you are “the best of the best” go to resort if someone wants to start their own business, doesn’t mean it is 100% guaranteed. My uncle had no idea how to start a business, run it, be the president etc, but he figured it out on his own. He is now a multi-millionaire of a pharmaceutical company. I don’t know if you have this info on you’re website or not, but I would be curious of the amount of people that took the course and became successful.

            I am an RN and until I find the right job that suits my family, I do Instacart on the side. It is just something to keep myself busy.

            I hope I am not coming across as rude, but based on you’re posts, you seem angry at the company itself.

            1. Hello Marie.

              I guess you can say that I am “angry” but in the same sense that I am angry about bloggers not presenting all of the info to the readers, or “experts” pushing their one-size-fits-all solution to whatever the problem is that they address. It’s all about transparency and not being shady.

              As to the point about the email newsletters, it’s not really apples to apples–for the majority of blogs (including my own) you can read all of the content without having to give anything. The newsletter part is generally for “bonus” or “exclusive” content as well as to be kept in the loop about new content or things like promotions/giveaways. You aren’t required to give your email address to read the articles which give a hell of a lot of info for free if I do say so myself. But in the case of Instacart you actually have to create a full account before you can see what it’s all about–granted there are some other sites like that but I’ve never had a real interest in those so I never wrote abut them. And again, for the majority of retail sites you don’t have to give any information to browse the selection or pricing up front unless there are legal issue like with banks but then you just need to give just your state or zip code to see everything that applies to you.

              I think you may have missed one point on the course pricing–that $700 price-point is for personal 1-on-1 training in addition to the course itself. The course on its own is only $197.

              Lasty, no, you aren’t coming off as rude at all.

        2. it is not just .40 per item more…let’s be real i was uncharged $4-6 on most of the stuff from costco – what a freaking joke…it was a switch and bait if you ask me..they said express for $149 per year is free delivery – well there is nothing free about it… Had i not been nickled and dimed on fees i would have actually gave them a tip but its my understanding that nice service fee is what they get. my bill was estimated at $300 then i got a final charge for over $400 and that is just wrong.

          1. The service fee doesn’t go to the shopper. We get a small number based on the market. For example, I shop in Las Vegas. I get $7 per order plus .60 per mile. Then I get a tip, if the customer chooses. Not to mention, Instacart steals a portion of the tip. I have one customer I deliver to regularly who stopped tipping in-app because their tip was always sliced. She put a flat amount. Usually double digits close to $20. On my end, I’d see $10 or less. We compared screens a few times, and after that, she now tips all her shoppers cash.

            1. I am appalled. Is this true everywhere? I tip online because I didn’t know if the drivers were allowed to accept tips in person.

            2. Yep, i had read about the tipping issue, un-checked the tip or svc. fee, and gave the shopper that delivered cash. It was my first time using Instacart and I loved it ! I don’t shop often enough to be a Instacart Express member though, and really don’t understand the difference. The 10-15% higher hold in my bank account was upsetting, found out that was on Instacart’s side, not my bank’s. How does 81.70 total come out as being deducted as $100 in my bank? Hmm, must be an error in my calculator…hah

          2. This is still happening a year later after this post. I was charged over 18% more for each item. I had no clue I was being charged this amount extra on the items. I thought that I was paying a service fee and delivery charges for the SERVICE that Instacart provides for allowing you to shop online and have items delivered.

            I understand Instacart needs to make money, but hiding that money in each item you buy is despicable. Especially, if you don’t disclose this at checkout or the difference per item and warn customers with more than, “Oh… well it says it on a link when you hover over the name of the store, then click here, look there and read the fine print.” It’s almost 2020 and transparency has been such a huge deal in the media so why is it ok for Instacart to use deceptive practices? The majority of the population won’t read the fine print. The expectation is that you are paying normal prices for items and paying a SERVICE fee for the SERVICE.

            Charge us A FEE for using the service. Why should Instacart make more for every item you buy? The shoppers should be getting that extra money. Do you really think Instacart is paying shoppers what they are worth? Heck no, just like all companies that become corporate, the more customers pay, the profits go straight to the top to a bunch of CEO’s that sit on their asses, and not to the hard workers at the bottom.

            I had been using Instacart for years and had NO freakin clue they were charging me more for everything until today when I noticed that the Thanksgiving dinner from Costco had the price stuck right on it. Then looked at what Instacart charged and it was $6.58 more!!! WTH! So then I checked the other items and found they were charging $3-$7 more PER ITEM! This adds up to a HECK of a lot more than $10.

            The fee should not change based on total amount spent. There should be a SMALL service fee for the use of the online service. Instacart’s workforce is minimal compared to the shoppers it utilizes to make their billions. It doesn’t cost Instacart more if I was to spend $100 or $200. Most of the work is handled by servers (computer servers), The ones that deserve to make the billions is the shoppers which is about 99% of their workforce, NOT the CEO’s that are less than .01% of the company and just sit their making STUPID policies like not disclosing true prices – so they can make more money. If they would be honest and just charge a specific and reasonable fee, they would gain way more market saturation, make more money and make customers happier knowing that Instacart is being up front and honest and FAIR.

            I want to chose to spend $10 on a service fee or not for a service rendered, Instacart should be paying it’s shoppers MINIMUM wage at LEAST and then based on that shoppers work ethic, get better tips. There will always be those type of people that gip hard workers out of a good tip, but most people will tip well for good service. I would much rather give Instacart a $5 service fee and the shopper a $10 tip than vice versa because quite honestly, that’s how it should be. Instead, respectively, Instacart would get $12 of that $15 and the shopper would get $3. This is hypothetical and just trying to get across a point, it’s not supposed to be exact or even near it. Just saying that the people that deserve our money the most are getting the HUGE raw end of the deal.

            I understand that a service costs money. I understand that employees need to get paid. But all that extra that we pay per item does NOT go to the employees, it goes to greedy unethical jackasses at the top. Be honest, transparent, ethical and FAIR and you will make a much better honest buck and customers will love your company and not hate it as most do. It’s a LOVE-HATE relationship that most people HATE to love. Loving, meaning that they either need or want the convenience enough. But a WIN/WIN is the best business ethic, not WE RIP YOU OFF/HAHA.

            I don’t argue with paying ONE fee for A service and knowing what that fee will be up front and deciding if I want to pay that to use the service. I am totally FOR paying shoppers way the heck more than they get paid and would/do contribute with higher tips for those that deserve them. I have had good and bad shoppers. So there can be a range of quality of service but I still think they should at least get minimum wage.

            Thanks Eric for your insight and somewhere to post my point of view. I appreciate that you constantly state how it’s YOUR opinion and YOUR bias based on YOUR lifestyle and that everyone is entitled to their opinion and views. Although, when it comes to charging extra per item, there’s no correct opinion other than UNETHICAL and DECEPTIVE.

        3. The amount that you claim for your tip is wrong. I just did a batch an hour ago and got almost an $8 tip. I made almost $30 for just one delivery.

      3. I am the shopper too. I suggest you collect the shopper and go on strike. Look, you and I work for Instacart. So, Instacart should paid fair. Not just Delivery commission $4.10. And don’t worry because Instacart isn’t going down alone all the partner too.

      4. I agree, I use the service due to health issues and my mobility. It is a little extra but it really takes a load off when I am unable to stand long and in pain. My shoppers are always professional and nice and they always leave the receipt which is a plus. I will continue to use the service.

        1. I must say that the concept of grocery delivery services reminds me of the early days Of cable television and cellular communication. in the beginning those companies that provided a service, not much different than instacart, Went thru a learning curve. That’s to be expected. Additionally, more competition will enter the marketplace. And it is then that consumers will be heard! Gone are the days of contracts which were considered customary in the early days of Telecommunications. it has now spilled over into almost every aspect of the consumers purchase Power. If you put in a security system in your home, gone are the days of contracts. the average price quoted now to monitor a house , $15 a month. 10 years ago that price was unheard of! the grocery delivery service industry like any other industry is going to have Growing Pains! cream always Rises to the top. Competition will almost always Ensure that the best customer service is protected and rewarded!

    3. They overcharged me big time, and several times on my debit card, and I had to shut it down and get a new ATM card to stop them charging for products, that I never recieved, and if they would give a credit, it was a store credit for future purchases. They will come to your home before the stated time, and customer service had one guy so super condescending, making noises, and interrupting me, as I tried to cancel tge free delivery app. I always use Peapod, because they charge what is on your bill. Please do not use InstaCart, for they are dishonest, greedy, and crooked.

      1. Agree. I worked for Instacart as a Shopper. They are really dishonest, greedy and crooked. I myself will never use Instacart. Why? They say the shopper look for the best for you. They only give shopper 120 seconds (seriouly they count time as seconds) to find the item you order and grab it. So, they have don’t have time to find the expire date. What they are looking for is the barcode that they have to scan and move on.

          1. I see Jen’s point, but I’ll have to agree with Jay, the shopper. From the Shopper videos I’ve been watching on YouTube it seems that Yes, you are Timed, but it doesn’t really affect anything.
            A lady who was a Top Shopper with many bonuses said that they’re only trying to “encourage” you to go Fast. But you can still take your time and pay attention to your orders, and you’ll still make the same money. (eventually you’ll naturally get faster).

        1. I have never been given a time limit for each item. I shop at my own pace. If you shop slow, then it gives you tips on how to improve your time. I do quality shopping in the amount of time that they give me.

    4. I got the receipt from my shopper also. I was a little put out saying that you try it for free for 2 weeks. I had a $12.00 increase. But I will tell you that my shopper did an excellant job. Items were what I ordered. Still a little funny about someone picking out my meat. I wished I had known of the service two months ago. I underwent two knee surgeries and its not fun trying to ride one of those scooters or limp thru the store.

    5. This happened to me today I placed my 3 rd ordee today and driver left original reciept in the bag and i saw im paying $10 more than if i just went to the store so skrew them will not be ordering ever again and cancelling my monthly subscription. They never get the order right I asked for pork they brought beef, wanted 1 % milk they brought 2%, wanted regular juice they brought diet. Seems small but its for my picky child who wouldnt eat or drink those items. I ask for fried chicken they brought a mini rotisserie chicken. They knock and ring your doorbell like the police whem they leave your order or they dont knock or ring at all. I didnt mind paying $10 a month since I dont drive and have a toddler paying for lyft would cost me that $10 going one way and trying to carry groceries upstairs with a toddler is hectic and multiple trips but to pay an extra $5-$10 on every order is going to add up and be equivalent to me just going to the store getting the exact item and us getting some fresh air and some excercise.

      1. The not following instructions or communicating with you about substitutions is absolutely wrong. The delivery people here have been wonderful about everything. I don’t understand quibbling about the price, though. This is a business. They aren’t a friend or neighbor who owes you a favor. They aren’t doing it as a public service or for their health. Why would they shop for you, drive, deliver your groceries upstairs in multiple trips, for a month, for only ten dollars? I live far enough out and sometimes need the help bad enough to be grateful I can get it.

      2. Truthfully, I do not know how this is possible. If the correct item is not chosen, then the shopper app will not allow the shopper to purchase that item. If the item cannot be found, then the app gives you suggestions to replace it with. The customer can also put in what their selection would be if the actual item that they want is not available. If the shopper picks an item that is not on the list, then the customer is alerted of the change and can make a selection to deny the replacement. The customers can keep up with their order each step of the way. The customer can literally watch as the shopper selects the items, checks out, and leaves the store. If you are not satisfied, then inform the company. The shopper actually makes less money if they do not receive a good rating.

    6. if They don’t charge you a simple 10 dollars how do you expect them to pay the people that are actually shopping for you?

    7. I agree I spent 200 on instacart they were out of many things and I look at charges in bank statement I got a charge for 235 I and I dont know how they were able to charge more afte to my card anyways but they did so I was missing about 50 worth of items and charged 35 more the. Then initial payment in site I was given and none to call that can help me with it at all total RIP of

    8. I used Instcart and was very happy with them. As for the difference in prices, Publix tells you up front that they will be slightly higher to cover their cost. They have to pay them a fee to do this. Also they include a tip unless you added one to your cart and instacart has a fee of $10.
      If you are able to go to the store yourself, by all means do so, but pleace take the precautions suggested, ie rubber gloves and masks.
      I for one am not able to go to the store. I have been told by my doctor to stay home as I am over 80 and have COPD and there are many others like me.
      As far as I’m concerned, Instacart is doing a good and much needed job.

    9. Yes but you have to realize that the person shopping for you has to get paid no one works for free got it.

    10. I received the same experience, yet due to the virus I can’t get a delivery date soon enough so I cancelled my subscription

  2. Customer service deserves 5 stars. Not so the shoppers, which in one case left out 12 items with a value of about $50. You have to be very alert. Shoppers selections are not always the best but this is what you get for not doing you own shopping. Finally, my card will not get accepted and they cannot explain why, so I cancelled. Online mess up apparently. Too many problems. No more instacart but I will continue searching for a better alternative as home delivery can be very useful.

    1. That definitely sounds like way too much hassle to put up with Maria!

      Hopefully, you’ll find a better alternative in your area or at the very least one that you can live with until a better option comes along.

  3. Each of these are legitimate concerns but they are ill founded and I can explain why.

    1. Shoppers are held to high accountability for their purchase decisions. It is incumbent on the customer to engage the shopper through the app and provide guidance when items are not available or otherwise not what the customer ordered.
    2. Pricing is set via the contract with the vendor, not by Instacart. In many cases the pricing is the same as in store pricing, but not always. It is clearly disclosed on the site.
    3. Instacart Express members have the ability to shop at multiple stores without ANY delivery fee. (Purchases must equal $35 or more at each location)

    1. Hey Robert, thanks for replying!

      I’d have to disagree with you based on principle and in fact, specifically:

      1. I shouldn’t have to hold their hand during the shopping process. Sure, in the case of an unavailable product it’s not on the shopper, but I shouldn’t have to be in continual communication to guide them on how to make sure items are fresh/ripe or to make sure they buy the right variety of product.

      2. The website itself states that on items priced higher, it is indeed Instacart which adds a mark-up to the already-set retailer price.

      3. Express isn’t a solution for people like me. As I said in the post, it doesn’t apply to the store I shop at, and the store that it does work with, my bill doesn’t normally reach the $35 minimum to get the free delivery.

      I do appreciate the thoughtful and real response!

      1. I’m a Shopper and I will tell you that I like my customers to respond in the app to approve any replacements or refunds because we get rates. If we don’t get what they give us bad ratings. I like to try and get 5 star rating from all my customers and most of my customers appreciate the communication. As far as the expiration dates go. Instacart hires some really bad shoppers and when they start, Instacart tells them it’s all about speed so that’s why these shoppers don’t check. Most of us veterans that have been doing this for a cpl of years actually care and do check and take our time. It’s going to get worse now because Instacart has decreased our pay by 40% and wants us to work for $3 an hour. They have taken all of our commissions away and it’ll be based on justctips and if we have tobregund our customers, they’ll take it out of our tips. Instacart shoppers are now on a national strike because of it andcright before the holidays.

        1. Each batch that I have done I have made at least $12 off of and have never shopped more than 1.5 hours. The only thing that they have involving $3 is a tip that is given for being given a 5 star rating.

          1. You keep saying that. But thats your area. I regularly get 7 dollar batches. Different zones pay different. When i did it in the valley i always had at least 10 dollar orders. So please quit correcting other shoppers on their experience. I have done this for years now and i can say most of the people you’re correcting, i have dealt with what they’re saying or seen it. The area im in now i make a lot less than where i was before. I myself have even had a low paying batch like the lady who had to make 2 trips. The difference that made it a low paying high volume order was that it is multiple of the same item. They pay well if it was different items, but because they pay by item not unit you get j types of theseipped if theres 5 waters versus 5 different brands of water or 5 cases of coke versus 5 different flavors of soda. Just be happy you apparently have not encountered these, but it doesn’t mean other shoppers aren’t.

      2. You can put a not under the item when you order it. The note stays in their each time you order the item unless you remove it. Some customers do put in notes like want green bananas or want ripe avocados.

        1. I write a note that says I will increase the gratuity after a delivery of the correct items. When putting together my order, I write a note for each and every produce and deli item. We are vegan so I don’t have to worry about meat and dairy. I write what I want my produce to look like, what it can’t look like and if that’s all there is then don’t buy it, and what expiration dates are acceptable. I choose in advance what substitutes are okay and for every single item I do not want substituted, I include “do not substitute.” Then as the shopper scans in substitutes, I click “accept” as she goes (they’re always females). I don’t know why that is necessary when I have already provided the substitution information, but that’s the system Instacart provides for the shopper and me so I cooperate for their sakes, in case they need me to do it for some reason. 

          Instacart does not explain how the entire process works, so the very first time I placed an order, I did not know I was supposed to be in touch with the shopper while she shopped so I got some old produce and substitutes I did not want, but after that I figured out my part and it never happened again. 

          I would rather it was like back in the day when grocery stores delivered groceries themselves. Way back in the day they paid local teenagers to deliver to locals. I wouldn’t be surprised if shoppers and delivery people would make more on tips alone and a flat service fee for shopping than they do working for Instacart. 

          1. “I would rather it was like back in the day when grocery stores delivered groceries themselves.”

            When the hell was this? I never encountered a delivery option offered by either grocery stores or companies like Instacart. Before the advent of Instacart, Shipt, Amazon Fresh (formerly Amazon Prime Now), Amazon Pantry, and Amazon’s general site, the closest things were: Meals on Wheels, delivery services by small subways/Chinese food outfits, and regular shipping and delivery services (if the food items were non-perishable, such as cereal or canned vegetables).

            I have no clue what fully disabled and homebound people relied upon, as I just don’t remember ANYONE offering delivery services even at exorbitant prices for the general population. This world has just been an inaccessible jungle for us disabled recluses, prior to ~2014-2016. You had traditional cab services who MIGHT get a guy there EVENTUALLY, and NOTHING else. If you needed someone to acquire items on your behalf, you had to get family or friends to venture there and select for you. Even if you COULD get to a store, if you lacked a vehicle, good luck hauling a decent stockpile of food back home via public transit (worse still, on foot)- double fun if it was summer.

            I would probably just elect to kill myself if I had to countenance going back to the pre-Modern Era without Lyft/Uber/Instacart/etc.

            1. Back even in the 1970s and 1980s, small grocery stores routinely delivered. My mother would walk to the store to shop and then wait back home for the delivery time. They would do a bunch of deliveries at once. Her cousin would even just phone in his order.

              Back in the 1950s and into the 1960s, it was normal for department stores and such to deliver. People would go to the stores on the bus and shop, then their purchases would be delivered later in the store’s truck. Individual vendors delivered items such as bread, dairy, eggs, locally grown fruit & veg in the summer. People had metal boxes on the porch for the dairy and egg deliveries, which were done in early morning before many people were up. I’ve heard that even one potato chip company routinely delivered their chips in big metal containers…. Not to us, though!

              Many people did not drive, my mother was in her late 30s before she learned. By the time I was in high school, everybody took Driver’s Ed around the age of 16. Women driver jokes by comedians stopped after that, when the insurance companies realized that young women were a safer bet than young men on the road once they were taught to drive at the same time. Mother Nature gives us impulse control sooner on the average….

              I had deliveries myself much later from the pet store for litter and food and office supplies (self-employed). When they stopped, I had to go to mail order for such things as well as paper products for myself. No car and can’t really carry all that. I don’t care what kind of jerk Jeff Bezos is, Amazon has been truly a godsend for people like me.

              Deliveries from groceries started to make a comeback some years ago, before general services like Instacart. There is really a need for it. Local stores lost a lot of my business when they stopped delivering.

        2. I use those notes extensively to indicate ok substitutions (I have special dietary requirements so they can’t guess, I have to check labels carefully before ordering anything). When they start shopping, I tell them to check the notes for such info and so those subs are pre-approved. I feel kind of like it’s overkill but it really helps if I can’t respond quickly or if the network itself is slow (which happens). Also I can tell them what kind of bananas I prefer (not too ripe if possible), what’s ok and what’s not ok, if brand matters or not, etc. The things I use myself to decide what to get if I’m shopping. They’re not mind readers.

    2. I just tried it at. Outcome for the first time. I am older now, and it is harder to carry thr heavy products, and it takes an hour to get there. Additionally. One does not need a membership to order from there. We will see. It is s. It primer. But on balance, it appears to be a better option at Costco, at least

    3. The delivery fee is less than the service charge, so free delivery is no big whoop. 
      Now, in 2020, using it because of COVID-19, there is a mandatory service charge that is a percentage of the total grocery bill, plus the delivery fee, plus a heavy items fee if one orders a certain amount of things like bottled or canned water or soft drinks. If one orders alcohol, there is also an additional alcohol delivery fee (why?). When I worked at Costco, Neither I nor Costco were paid more for me pulling those big cases of bottled water off of members’ carts, throwing them on the belt and then putting them back on members’ carts. 

      Between the delivery fee, service charge, higher prices than in-store shopping, and the tip, My groceries always cost between $40-$75 more per delivery than if I did the shopping myself. That really adds up, and most of it doesn’t even go to the shopper. 

  4. #1 if you ever think you’re going to get someone to shop for you, wait in the line, load & unload groceries and then bring them in your home or to your door for no upcharge then you are delusional!

    I’ve done 4 deliveries in my spare time and in each case it was a needed service. Disabled, Newborn with a public servant spouse, very elderly and post surgery. So thank you for spewing garbage and a terrible lead in title to hurt those of us who are out there helping. If you don’t need the service then don’t say anything, obviously you weren’t taught manners as a child; but I do see that you, without a doubt, have a horrific sense of entitlement.

    1. Thanks for the insight Erin!

      Always happy to receive a logical and pragmatic response! Next time I’ll have to remember that if I’m wary about something to just keep it to myself. Hey, and if I find a great way to save time or money I should probably shut up about that too since someone will undoubtedly have a dissenting opinion or opposite experience and we wouldn’t want that now would we? 😉

    2. Yeah, apparently OP has forgotten that it takes time and work to actually provide the service, and it follows that it would cost the user of the service more, the more time/work is needed for a certain order – IE more items bought. God forbid you’d pay more for that, when it makes sense why you’d pay more for that.

      1. Yeah, apparently the commenter has forgotten that reading the entire article is necessary to get the context — IE then they’d see that I’m not opposed to paying for a service, but the way things are marked up on top of tips & delivery fee or membership pricing.

        God forbid someone would take the time to fully consume information when it makes sense that you’d get the whole picture that way ?

        1. If only most people would read what they’re going to comment on, but they don’t. Then there are those who struggle with reading comprehension.  

    3. I have nothing against anyone except the jerk who didn’t deliver my groceries and charged me. Shame on him… and he would have made a $10 tip for delivering $20. of groceries had he shown up.

  5. I recently used Instacart and the shopper left the actual receipt as well. I was charged $70 for groceries that were $42 . It’s not worth it, I won’t be using them again.

    1. 28.00 may have been fair compensation for somebody driving in their person car, shopping for you, and again using their personal car to deliver to you. On top of that instacart deserves to make money for running the company. You are not factoring in what it actually costs to pay and compensate somebody for doing this for you. What do you expect to pay for this? $5.00? Eric said he would be pissed off. Again you and him both want something for nothing. The person doing this job for you deserves to be compensated fairly. I mean take a good look at what you expect here.

      1. You need to take context into account Jennifer.

        No one is saying that they don’t want to pay for someone’s time. Both Monique and I are speaking about the difference in the cost of the items themselves. That’s not what they are suggesting to tip or what the shopper will get, but just the product cost.

      2. Instacart keeps most of that money but Instacart doesn’t actually employ the shoppeRs and deliverers. Instead they’re classified as independent contractors so Instacart does not have to expend resources doing what employers do, like paying at least minimum wage, paying its share of their social security taxes, paying for workers comp and unemployment. No worries about whether to pay for employee health benefits sick/vacation days. 
        It’s a valuable service when it’s needed, but that doesn’t change the fact that Instacart is just an intermediary website run by people exploiting it’s “independent contractors” while gouging customers. It’s no different from Uber and Airbnb. They all do essentially the same thing and they all started off with great ideas that were wildly popular, but then their companies’ honchos ruined them for everyone because of their own greed. 

        The more complex *any* system is, the more you can be sure you’re being gouged and someone is being exploited. 

  6. Hey!

    This was a VERY HELPFUL article. I just signed up for Instacart (through Publix) and am super excited to use the service. I own two businesses, have two small children, and live a little further out than a quick run to the grocery store (they DO deliver to my address, so I got lucky there). However, I was leery from the moment I signed up and saw the disclaimer about the pricing, so I started doing some research; your article came up during that time and hit the nail on the head for my concerns.

    1) I 100% agree that you shouldn’t have to pay for the service AND have an upcharge on each item. The items I’ve researched so far have an average of $.45-$.50 increase on their price tags than what you’ll find in the store. I’d be okay paying a couple of dollars more for delivery if it meant that every item I chose matched the price in the store. That $28 difference, written about above, is ABSURD to me.

    2) I, too, am worried about the selections. I’ve always had this ‘thing’ where I would pull the second or third items from the shelf instead of the first one (in the front) on the shelf. Of course, that’s MY weirdness coming out, but still… I worry about expiry dates, packaging, freshness, ripeness, color, etc. I’m SUPER funny about counts and cost v. reward on brand items, compared to their generic items. For instance, I don’t want to pay $5.49 for a pack of 50 solo cups JUST BECAUSE they are on sale and promoted to me online. If I see a generic, yet quality-comparable item right next to it, I may decide right then and there that the generic is fine because I’m getting the same amount of cups for half the price. When I’m doing online shopping, I can’t make those spur of the moment decisions that might save me money. I mean, I know you don’t go into using this service with the pretense of saving money, obviously, but… it’s just one of those things that, if I were personal shopping for someone, I’d be trying to find them deals all the time. You just can’t get that from random personal shopping sites.

    I honestly have a few more things that concern me. However, I think I’m going to try this service… at least one time. I want to see if it proves me right or proves me wrong, you know?!

    I’ll report back… I’ve done so much research, that my info/notes/comparisons/etc. may be beneficial to you and other people who read your post in deciding whether or not to use this service.

    Thanks for your insight!

    1. Hey Alex!

      I totally get where you’re coming from. I have a thing about trusting online reviews since they are very subjective. That’s why I made sure to never say that this was a “review” and simply laid out facts and concerns I found with proof 😉

      Hopefully, your experience makes it all worth the money and you get to spend more time with family than running the errands!

  7. The service is great. I’ve been using it for about 2 years. I do have to be very explicit about choice selection and replacements though which I’ve learned the hard way. Customer service is exceptional. Drivers are a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, I just made my last purchase. I’ve done Instacart because I’m kinda agoraphobic. Nonetheless, I got ready to make an order this morning to find fees have gone up. I don’t get enough deliveries to do Express. I might order once a month and once extra if a forgot anything. The fee has gone from $5.99 to $9.99. They charge for bags and extra on goods. I have to tip. There is an optional service charge. It is officially too expensive for me. But that won’t dampen my opinion that the service saved my sanity for a few years. I’ll just have put on a brave face now and bear a grocery trip on my own. Maybe all those fees can go to a decent savings account.

  8. I’m back to make a correction. I just noticed my cart totaled $34 and some change. On a hunch, I added more to get over $35. Delivery then went back down to $5.99 from $9.99. I still may have to reconsider for the future however. I just don’t have continued money to burn. Spectacular service though and absolutely no worries about their competence.

  9. How do you think they make their money? Would you go and shop for someone and deliver it to them for free? Good for you that you live close and are self employed so you can save money, many are not as fortunate as you. You are paying for convenience, why is that so difficult to understand?

    1. Thanks for “reading” Mariam 😉

      I’ll make it easy: It’s ok to charge one or the other, the fee or the upcharged prices to account for the service but not both. That’s double-dipping and not cool.

      I also said that while it’s not for me, I don’t think that it’s not beneficial in general. In fact, I specifically stated that it’s ok if you don’t mind the extra cost for the convenience based on having a different lifestyle from me.

      But hey, who actually reads everything, right!?

      1. My service charge was around $5 and my tip was $4. The driver spent an hour between driving to the store, picking up my order and delivering my order. Not sure thaf only charging $9 for an hour of an employee’s time would be a feasible business model especially since you can opt out of the tip. That’s just not a sustainable business model. They are a business which requires a profit margin to cover their expenses to operate. Naturally those want a premium service like a personal grocery shopper should expect to pay a premium.

        And I’ve never had to hand hold as they select produce. In fact, the only question I received was about an item being out of stock (they asked if they could substitute with a similar item). I’ve never had any issues with expiration dates or bad produce. It’s in the shoppers best interest to carefully select items – otherwise they could end up with a low rating/bad review and no tip.

        1. As a shopper, I can guarantee you that your shopper did not receiver 100% of that tip. We also don’t get the service fee. One order I had was over $2000 (in-store, idk what it was from IC) and was delivered to a VERY swanky house on the hills. Unfortunately I’m not allowed to say who it was. I received an incredibly generous tip, (think triple digits) and if it weren’t for that tip, I’d have make less than $20. It also took me almost 3 and a half hours to shop that order, and I’m pretty fast.

        1. Ok Jay, I did some reading and this is what I read: The service fee cannot be waved if you are not an Express member.

          Instacart service fee info

        2. I realize this was 10 months ago, but the fee is no longer optional and is higher than it was “suggested” in the past. The upcharge has also increased. I have been pretty loyal to Instacart for a few years but do feel like it has gotten a little out of hand on the nickle and diming. A year ago, I was ALL IN!! But I hate to say, I’m cancelling my Express membership this month… not to say I won’t use them again but until they reel it in, I think I may be out. Then again, I’ve said that 3 times in the last 6 months LOL

      2. Instacart is not double dipping. It plainly states on the Instacart App that Publix is charging more because they have to pay Instacart for their delivery needs. They are passing that charge onto the customer.

        1. It is double-dipping because they are taking a fee from both ends–the stores are having to upcharge to cover their own IC fees. Like the saying goes “six of one, half a dozen of the other”, either the store does the added fee to pay for IC or IC charges to provide free service to the store–IC still takes from seller and buyer.

        2. If INSTACART wasn’t charging Publix, then Publix wouldn’t have to pass on that extra charge to it’s customers when Instacart is already getting paid for their SERVICE of providing an APP that is a middle man. How would you feel if you found out that Home Advisor was charging you to use their service to find a contractor and that you were being charge a service fee for using Home Advisor and then being charged WAY more for the service because Home Advisor was charging your contractor ON TOP of the service fee they charge you so that the contractor’s work cost you almost 20% more? Let’s say you paid a $100 ‘finder’s’ fee to Home Advisor and then you found out that you were paying $1200 instead of $1000 for the actual work just because of Home Advisor but you didn’t even know you were paying $200 more than the actual price? I know it’s not exactly the same but it’s close enough. The question is transparency and honesty so that the consumer can make an informed choice.

          1. This is actually exactly what happens with things like home advisor or Angie’s list. The service provider (contractor in your example) has to pay a fee in order to be listed with the service, and the consumer usually has to pay to access the list. Not all contractors pass that cost onto the consumer because they consider it the cost of doing business and promotional costs. But when you’re dealing with a service that is selling your products second hand, you want to increase the chances of new customers by listing with the provider.

            Personally I think it’s fair. IC is charging the retailer for the services required to opt into their service with the retailer’s expectation it will bring in more customer volume and pay off in the long run. Including managing accurate pricing, updating sale (and retail) prices which change weekly, and inventory monitoring (or interfacing with the store’s existing inventory software which may be different from location to location even under the same retail name if the store is franchised) to ensure customers are able to find what they are looking for.

            IC is charging the customer the fees for overhead for their customer facing components, such as the storefront, app and server maintenance, customer service employees, and the cut that they pay directly to their shoppers. Plus the databases that link shoppers/drivers to the orders, manage the rating system, and cross-check availability of delivery with different regional markets. Not to mention the cost of cyber security to keep your information private and prevent harmful third parties from taking their service offline.

            I think it’s a way to split the operating costs so the customer isn’t paying for the retailer to participate, and the retailer isn’t paying for the customer to use IC. UberEats, for example, suffers from this. Identical restaurants on UberEats tends to be heavily inflated in cost in comparison to their GrubHub or DoorDash pricing.

            IC is saying the retailer sets the price when they opt in. The retailer doesn’t have to mark up the pricing, and pass it onto the customer. They are, theoretically, increasing their revenues just by participating due to more people having access to the store when they may not use them due to life circumstances, or even distance from the store. They are reaching more people than their standard advertising possibly would, and overall benefitting from opting in.

            Customers benefit when a store opts in because they have a full listing of that store’s products, up to date pricing and sales, and a moderately accurate idea of availability of products (you can never completely be accurate as people shopping the stores may have the items you want to buy in their carts, hence substitution options).

            I think it’s IC putting costs of their service on the bill of who that service applies to. The stores are passing that onto customers, which is indirectly IC’s fault, but not entirely. I also don’t see it as double dipping because they’re charging customers for the overhead for the customer facing services they use, and they’re charging stores for the services that facilitate their ability to participate and theoretically make more money by reaching more customers with the service.

            As far as IC implementing their own upcharges, I would only see this as acceptable with a non-participating retailer where the price IC had available didn’t match with in-store pricing due to outdated pricing or sales information. They are still providing the customer with access to the store that is not a direct opt-in participant. At that point the upcharge makes sense to match the in-store price. But not as an “additional service fee.” That should be part of the base fee to begin with. Only for price discrepancies should upcharges be applied in this case.

            I know I rambled and repeated things a few times but I just wanted to make my viewpoints clear of how I think the company may operate. They are providing one portfolio of services to the customer, and another portfolio of services to the retailer. I could be completely off base as to whether this is actually how they are doing business. But it would make sense to me completely if this is how they were doing things.

            1. Customers do not have access to “full listings” of what is in a store. When I go to my grocery store myself, I have a lot more brands and a wider variety of items to choose from. A lot isn’t available through Instacart. 
              When retailers up-charge so customers are paying more for groceries than they’d pay if they shopped for the same items themselves, customers *are* paying for the retailer to participate. Customers are paying twice, to cover the retailers’ cost of doing business with Instacart and to cover paying for the shopping and deliveries. 

    1. Tell you what Raymond, you use your superior skills and smarts to write one and I’ll publish it with an introduction stating as much 😉

  10. Hi,
    I just started using Instacart because I can never get to Wholefoods and I like their selection of fresh seafood over my normal store. I haven’t noticed a price increase but I also haven’t compared my receipt to physical in store prices so I’d be interested to see if that happens in my case. An interesting note, I’m doing a free trial of express which is free/unlimites deliveries but I noticed you have to physically waive the fee before you finalize your order…I find that shady.

    That said, I’m commenting to respond to your descriptions of dragging kids around and screaming kids. I’ll probably come off as a crazy mom, but I don’t see taking my kids places as “dragging them around.” We actually go to the store and pharmacy to get out of the house sometimes, no screaming involved. I appreciate the article but it’s fairly annoying when people without kids talk about them as if they we parents look for a world in which we never have to leave our house with our kids.

    1. Thanks for the comment Ashley!

      Speaking to the need to waive the fee, it can be viewed as shady but it isn’t unique to Instacart. There are a lot of “trials” that require you to physically cancel before the trial period in order to avoid being charged on a monthly basis. Some even add an additional layer of difficulty by requiring you to call and be faced with salespeople trying to keep you. On that point, I do agree.

      As for the “screaming kids” issue, I’m specifically speaking of and referencing my own friends’ stories, which is explicitly stated in the opening. You aren’t coming off as the “crazy mom” for your views, but I will say that your annoyance at that stereotype is met with equal annoyance by people like me who want to tell people “guess what, your kids aren’t as cute and perfect as you think” lol. It’s just one of those things where you have to take some things with a grain of salt meant for descriptive purposes and emphasis and not a literal meaning.

      1. Waiving the fee is not unique to express members. Anyone who orders through Instacart can waive the fee and it has to be manually waived before completing the order every time. Express just gives you unlimited free deliveries for orders over $35 and has nothing to do with the service fee.

      2. You used to be a kid yourself, so get over it. Children are people, not pets, so they belong out in the world amongst us. Retail stores are not fine dining, movie, or theater establishments so children belong there. Sometimes children act out because they’re children. It’s normal and anyone who has an expectation of being in public spaces without having to be subjected to the various behaviors and needs of other people’s children need to work on their own narcissism. Children have the excuse of being still-developing little organisms. What’s a narcissistic adult’s excuse? 

  11. Eric,
    There are two points in your article I would like to contest so that people are not being lead to prejudge services like this one.

    Disclaimer: I run a small startup that provides an Instacart like service for construction materials.

    “Unfortunately, I had to create an account first, which I also find to be a pain in the ass and don’t really trust sites that don’t let you see how they work without giving over your personal info.”

    I find this to be an unreasonable statement. Prices are determined by location. A service that will give you prices in your local stores requires a location to determine the local prices.

    My second concern is with your aversion to ‘markup’. As a small business owner yourself, I am sure you can empathize with a company wanting to expand its business through profit. Allowing them to expand and offer a valuable service to those that need it.

    A company that provides you a service such as a personal shopper needs to pay them, and themselves. I feel that your opinion does not take the value of the service into account.

    Thank you,
    Jeffrey R. Garand

    1. I appreciate the response and your viewpoint Jeffrey!

      Unfortunately, creating an account shouldn’t be a prerequesite to seeing what’s available. Many (if not most) businesses can present those features just by having the zip code entered. I don’t think having all of my information is necessary to allowing me to assess what I can do with a service that I’m paying for.

      I’m not sure you are understanding my complaint about the markup. I’m not against it IF that is what is paying for the shopper/driver. However, if they are charging a fee–or if you pay a membership fee to get free delivery–then there shouldn’t be a markup. It should be one or the other and not a double-dipping issue.

      I’m all for a business making a profit, but the terms need to be clearly communicated and not hidden in an FAQ page that’s hard to find or sprung on people when they get the bill.

  12. I was about to hit send on my apple pay when I noticed my charge was $70 instead of the $58 listed on the total. I knew there would be a price increase on each item and that was evident. I know my store and their prices. I shrugged it off as you’re paying for the service. Fine. It’s the final tally that made me start looking for more articles and information on this service. Out of that $70 they wanted to charge I had already qualified for free shipping and I hadn’t included tip because I tip in cash. The extras charges totaled up to about $30 dollars extra. Again minus the delivery charge and tip. That’s seriously misleading.
    Thank you for the article. It’s good to know I’m not the only one finding this to be sketchy.

    1. Thanks for reading Kris!

      The problem I see isn’t the premise of the markup itself but the fact that they try to tack it on in addition to the delivery/membership fee. I mean if the company is trying to sell the markup as a way to cover the delivery costs then don’t charge a “delivery fee”, you know?

      Especially in your case it’s a crazy increase!

  13. We use Instacart. I am aware that some items are more expensive than in-store. However, not dragging a two year old and four year old to the store after mommy has been at work all day and they’ve been in child care is worth it! If I worked or stayed at home, I may have a different opinion. I thought your article explained why it wasn’t right for you, which is cool. Not every product is right for everyone. Life would be so boring without diversity! Lately, I’ve been comparing Instacart to Walmart grocery and having two orders. Of course, Walmart requires me to pick it up, but at least we don’t have to get out of the car.

  14. Thanks for the article! I just used Instacart for the first time and loved it. It isn’t going to replace grocery shopping— I’ll still be in the store most weeks— but once in a while, it’s a great service. This week I’m swamped with schoolwork, my husband is swamped at work, we have a little kid, and I just don’t want to spend our last remanining precious hour before bedtime at the store. So I did Instacart from my couch. It was definitely more expensive (by a lot, especially because I gave a generous tip) but it was so, so worth it. I do get my meat from somewhere else, but I am not picky about produce so I didn’t mind what the shopper got me.

    1. That’s great Heather!

      Like I stated a few times, just because it isn’t for me doesn’t mean that it won’t be for everyone, and you are proof of that. Honestly if I was you I’d do that exact same thing in that situation 🙂

  15. Even though I have been using Instacart for Frys for several months, I’m still confused on things. I get the feeling that I should get the same discount sale prices through Instacart that I was getting when I physically shopped. I’m quite sure I’m not getting the same coupons off. What do I do to get those same deals at home. I do think I’m getting a bad deal, price wise, but can’t put my finger in it. I paid for a years worth of delivery, but there are still so many other charges, not easily understood. I’m a disabled senior and don’t have extra charges to pay. I don’t have extra money to be screwed over.

    1. Instacart does not alway honor in store pricing, including specials and sale prices. You can also waive the service fee to save you some money.

      1. Do you get as good a service if you wave the fee? I’m still learning about this. If you waive the fee, but pay the markup, delivery (unless you have a free delivery item) and tip well, are you paying enough to keep the service viable? We’re going to need it a lot in the future.

    2. Sorry to hear that Barbara 🙁

      That pricing issue is something which bugs the heck out of me as well. Unfortunately, it seems to be part-and-parcel with the use of the service.

    1. I live twenty minutes from the stores. So in my case, I think it is a fair cost for the help it is to me.

  16. Very honest article.
    I use instacart. I mainly started using it because Amazon Fresh stopped delivery to my zip code 🙁

    It’s not bad, but sometimes I do not like it.
    I understand they have to charge mroe for serives, but some items are way to high and not worth it unless I need it. It bothers me when I look at items that are on sale, but notice after the shopped picks the items, they were not on sale and more then the price. For example, oreos were on sale, $2 for $6. When the shopper picked those items, they were $5.39 each. Way too high for me. Another issue is if a shopper picks something that is about to expire. For example, I wanted a 4 pack activia yogurt. The shopper picked one that was expiring, priced at a $1.39, and I was charged almost $4. If it was not about to expire, I would not be so upset. Some items are just too much for me to pay for. It also sucks about many of the coupons are not even usable. 🙁

    Now, I use Jet and Google express more often. Occasionally Safeway delivery. They are much cheaper, but take two days. Sometimes Google takes 1 day. I will still use insta cart, It helps when I do not feel well and need something fast. I always tip and communicate with the shoppers. They seem good. Somethings not the best though. Instacart is a good option when you need something fast.

    1. Hi I’m a shopper for Instacart and what I have to say is that I do check expiration dates, it takes me time to pick produce because if you don’t get the fresh ones you’ll get a review as damaged. I’ve seen that in the app when I’m scanning it shows a price that probably is in offer and once I scan it and head to the check out it will show the discount and not the price that originally shows in the app that I’m pretty sure is the one the is shown when the costumer buys soo the costumer at the final will be charged for what you paid for. In your example for the Oreos you said 2 for 6, but you asked for one soo that is problem of the store how they do the offer not an Instacart issue clearly most stores for example say 2 for 6$ one 5$ it depends on each persons what are your needs.

  17. I am currently unable to walk very well, and look at all the delivery options. I live in the greater Chicago area, so have many options. All of the delivery services change extra, or have a large free added in, and from what I saw instacart seems to be on the LOW end of the extra prices. Yes, you need to watch for good offers, but if you are like me, and the fridge is empty and every step results in extreme pain, I feel like that they are a good compromise. Most of the other want a large monthly or yearly fee. I’ve not received a incorrect item, and the few changes they’ve made were either fine with me, or I suggested something else.

  18. The “Service Fee” is basically a way for IC to dip yet a third time. In some areas it is now a mandatory 5-10% and zero of that goes to the shopper. In my opinion, it masquerades as gratuity. IC lost a law suit in 2017 and since that time they have been looking for ways to make more $$ by secretly charging customers more.

    Additionally, IC has put the words, “Do not waive” next to the service fee, however, it can still be waived in some areas if you click the drop down and set to zero. This is on top of the Express or delivery fee and does not include gratuity for your shopper. Very shady indeed! Especially to elderly home bound clients.

    1. Thanks for the input Gina!

      I’m a big detractor of those kinds of fees. Aside from my personal distaste for them, that’s the biggest reason I won’t order pizza from the national chains–I refuse to pay a $3-5 fee just to order online for delivery when none of that is going to the driver and is just another way to squeeze money from the consumer.

      Trust me, I’m all for businesses making as big a profit as they can, but within reason. Don’t try to disguise fees that are pure profit as “necessary” or anything other than what they are. And if you’re having people do a service for which the company is just the go-between, then be stand-up about it and put those fees directly into the drivers’ and shoppers’ pockets.

  19. I’ve used Instacart approximately 5 times in the last year only because I was sick & could not shop myself. But every time I saw that service fee I would cringe. I finally noticed that you could waive it, which is what I have been doing, until they sent an email announcing that it can no longer be waived but has gone down from 10% to 5% for our benefit! Big Deal! I will not be using their service anymore. I’ve read many employees on Yelp who complain that they don’t actually get all of their tips, that’s shameful> I can’t wait for someone else to come up with a better way to deliver groceries, especially to those who really need the service, because sometimes they have to use it.

    I don’t expect Instacart to be around for that much longer because of the way they do business.

    1. Sorry to hear that Mary.

      I know there are a lot of people on both sides but what it all comes down to are your needs and sensibilities. Have a look at the end of the article–I’ve got a few different alternative services you can try if they’re in your area.

      You never know, one of those might be your new go-to service!

  20. I just discovered your blog after having a bad Instacart experience—I used to use them weekly and loved it, when I had a broken foot. I simply could not get groceries simply, and having delivery was a necessity. However, you are absolutely correct that the shoppers can’t pick groceries —milk, eggs, bread have arrived expired. Moldy strawberries, gross spinach. You’re best bet is ordering canned goods, cereals, but as you pointed out even those expire. my latest delivery (and the last) had every single item expired, was an hour late, and had a rude delivery person. Customer service was a nightmare where I couldn’t get them to waive the fees. Not worth it!

    1. That really sucks, Julie!

      Unfortunately, there are people who experience the same thing as you. The good thing is that there are options that you can try in place of IC.

      Check out the yellow box at the end of the article for just a small selection of alternatives and see if any will work for you 🙂

  21. Just FYI, prices are at least $0.40 more on Instacart because the shopper is paid a commission on every item picked of $0.40 (as low as $0.20 in some markets).

    The majority of Instacart’s “profit” is from selling shopping trends and advertising space on their app. They actually have not make a net profit yet though, even after receiving almost a billion dollars in VC funding.

    1. I wouldn’t worry about the profits so much Bob. There are a lot of companies out there with negative or marginally positive profits which have huge valuations and positive outlooks. You can’t really make a direct correlation there because you’re wading into irrational waters 😉

      1. Amazon ran with negative profits for years. It was criticized and pressured by Wall Street for its various customer perks, like free deliveries and keeping its prices lower, because it lost money every year for years. But it was an intentional strategy from the beginning when Amazon was just selling books.

        Amazon (Bezos) refused to cave to the pressure and the strategy worked. Now Amazon is another evil empire (like Microsoft became and then Google), conquering the world, giving Netflix a run for its money, making its own TV shows and movies, even starting it’s own pharmaceutical service, all while allowing so many unscrupulous retailers to sell counterfeit, damaged, flawed seconds, and used-sold-as-new goods on its website that customers must be very careful about shopping on its site. Amazon even ruined its customer reviews model so it isn’t as useful anymore. The website is just a clearinghouse site now between retailers of all kinds and customers, but, doing nothing to ensure only legit sellers are on its site, it’s a major cash cow as the company keeps spreading out into other horizons.

        I’ve been an Amazon customer since its inception, but recently I’ve increasingly been shopping with its competitors or directly with brand websites more often than with Amazon because of all the shady retailers using its site. So many really useful and customer-friendly business models are ruined because of corporate greed, one after the other. It took many years before Amazon was, but the new ones like Uber, Air BnB, and Instacart are ruined at warp speed as soon as they’ve caught on with the public. 

  22. Thanks for your article. So very helpful. I agree with everything! I actually got a lot out of what you shared and i did read the whole thing:). I have been an instacart express member for probably 6 months and really loved it at first. However there has been multiple issues with it. I have had damaged items (and yes they aren’t great at picking produce!), wrong items given to me,been given items i never ordered or have had missing items, many times they are out of items and twice now they said my groceries were delivered when they weren’t. Once i later found out they were delivered to my neighbors and just left on their porch. I guess thats what i get for being too lazy to do my own shopping when there is no reason not to 😉 i will say they have amazing customers service and have always made it right immediately. I don’t like the service charge when im already paying the delivery or express membership and a tip on top of that . I have to always remember to waive it. Now they are making it mandatory so i have decided to cancel. A little sad but i will get over it.. eventually:)

    1. Thank you Cindy!

      As great as the customer service may be (I don’t have any firsthand experience), my preference would be to never have the need to find out in the first place, let alone multiple times lol.

      Don’t be too sad, though…I’ve got a couple alternatives you can try out right before the end of the article in the yellow box. You may very well find your “perfect fit” service 🙂

  23. I spent at least 30 minutes on Instacart’s site attempting to find out what they charge for an Express subscription. It was a futile attempt. I decided to Google the cost. Then before wasting any more time I googled reviews.

    I agree with you about sites that require signing up for an account just to receive information when a zip code alone should be sufficient. I also agree about the double dipping aspect.

    It is unfortunate that it is so hard for people that have a need for this type of service to find one that doesn’t break the bank. I am one of those that is elderly and disabled who finds that going grocery shopping some days is cumbersome. So I will keep looking.

    I hope you will keep writing. 🙂 You saved me a hassle. And for those that take umbrage…ignore them.

    1. Thank you Jacqueline!

      I don’t really mind people having dissenting opinions, as long as they are presented in a way that provides context and benefits others–not just simply saying “you’re wrong” and that’s it hahaha.

      It really does suck that there is such a lack of transparency when it comes to the fees, terms and pricing. heck, even banks give you all of that info up from once you select the region you’re looking at!

      You don’t have to look too hard–there’s a yellow box at the end of the article with a few select possible alternative choices. you may very well find one that is much more to your liking and needs!

  24. I loved Instacart until I got the $149/year membership for FREE delivery, FREE??? I could waive the extra, somewhat hidden service fee on checkout until I bought the membership!!! Now, the service fee is MANDATORY on top of the membership fee. What the heck is the difference! Screw the members!! If I order $100/week at oh a great bonus 5% vs 10% service fee (which really could be 0% before membership) then I’m paying an extra $260/year for FREE delivery annual membership!!!!!! They won’t last unless they change their practices of screwing good customers,

    1. I totally understand your frustration Lori 🙁

      Not only is it difficult to even find that membership information, the company even make it *mandatory* for certain “Express Only” locations however those locations aren’t spelled out.

      Unfortunately, I doubt the company will have any worry about existing going forward. Some people just don’t care, and I’m sure many of the investors won’t care unless revenues start reversing direction!

      The good thing is that there are plenty of other options depending on your particular needs and I’m sure more will start popping up too.

  25. I work for a different delivery service. I can’t speak for all shoppers because I’m sure there are a lot of terrible ones, but I do check dates and freshness. Honestly, a majority of the time all the stuff on the shelf is from the same case and has the same date. Dairy is a little different. As for the pricing: They are a business providing a convenience. They have to pay the shoppers an amount that makes people willing to work for them and also make a profit as a company. You’re insane if you think a delivery fee or subscription fee will cover that. Why are milk and eggs expensive at a convenience store or gas station? You don’t have to make another trip if your willing to pay. It’s almost the same concept. It’s a luxury for most, not a necessity, and it’s priced accordingly

    1. Appreciate the insights J, but I think you’re missing the point.

      Yes, everyone deserves to make a living, and I have absolutely zero problems with any business making a profit…as long as it’s ethical and transparent. And that’s one of the big issues–the company is taking money from all aspects and in many instances not making the info available to research prior to using the service or burying it.

      Charge a fee? Fine. But only do that.

      Increase pricing per item? Fine. But make it a flat or at least by category and announce it.

      Make it a subscription-only mandate? Sure. Just TELL PEOPLE plainly.

      None of these are being done which is what pisses people off–the surprises and add-ons.

      As for the shopping aspect, I’m glad you do, because it really does make a difference. Perfect example: I saw someone shopping for eggs and they didn’t open the carton. I asked if they were going to check to see that they weren’t broken. The person simply opened the cover and nodded before walking away. Didn’t spin them to see if they were cracked and “glued” to the carton nor did they check the bottoms for integrity. Seemingly minute details can make a huge difference with food items.

      And in reality, stores like Walgreens & CVS are even cheaper for milk & eggs many weeks 😉

      1. I have had a mostly positive experience with Instacart. It took me a while to completely understand why there was this fee or why what I paid was higher than the actual receipt. I agree with you that ALL of that should be upfront and available to the customer so they can make as informed a decision about using the service and not be surprised later. Don’t companies realize that they piss people off when they behave in what is perceived to be an underhanded way?? I really dislike not having all that information at my fingertips when I first checked out Instacart. What I have learned to do is communicate clearly with my shopper and tell them exactly what I expect from them and to not make any changes without my express permission by phone or on my computer at the Instacart website. I have had a few bad experiences with one shopper personally and with produce a few times but I have always been fully or even more than reimbursed when I tell customer service. I have also told them that I do not want certain shoppers shopping for me if they were not professional in their job and they have honored my requests. Even tho Instacart costs me more than I would like to pay, I still use it because of a disability that keeps me from leaving home as much as I would like to. Fortunately, I can afford to do so. This is a valuable service for us elderly and infirm and I wish it was more affordable for those on a limited income. We do not live in a fair society, tho. 🙁

  26. I just tried IC for the first time. Ordering was very convenient, much preferred to traipsing through the store, with or without kids. I set a convenient delivery time, which was very prompt. I was a bit surprised that I needed to interact with the shopper via text while she was shopping; this kind of defeats the purpose if you are using the service because you are busy. But substitutions and refunds went well. Delivery was prompt and the eggs were in good shape. I didn’t order produce or meat; didn’t trust shopper judgement. The store receipt was included; the store had a $200 discount on one item that was not honored, but otherwise prices looked OK. On an $80 store receipt, IC charged a little over $90; about $5 for the service charge and $5 for the tip. Shipping was free b/c it was my first time. I didn’t realize the issue about pricing from the website, nor did I realize the service fee could be waived. So bottom line, with shipping, about a 15% surcharge (on a $100 order) for the convenience if you accept the service fee. Worth it in a pinch, marginal otherwise.

    1. I love that description of “traipsing” Chip ?

      Like I said, everyone is going to have their own needs & perceptions. I’m glad you had a fairly positive experience with IC. Thanks for leaving a clear and balanced assessment!

  27. Hi here my reply for the author I’m a shopper for Instacart and I do Chex expiration and produce because that’s the way I would like it to be done for me and I’m like that. Why do we have to change chat sometimes with the costumer because as for ex. Past week a costumer asked for organic pepper I didn’t like them and asked the guy that worked there if there where some more and he said no the truck hasn’t comes yet but there are the other tipe and I said ok then I’ll take these and what happens the costumer said they were damaged and that drips my points. Yesterday I had anther costumer that wanted a box of mix pastry from Costco but they don’t have mix pastry so I had to msj him and ask what 2 of the 3 flavor he wanted. Prices vary from what
    Appears in the app and at the store but when I go and pay you will pay for the offer that is on that product so only after you do the check out is when you ass costumer are going to be charged for. And remember if you want services you have to pay nothing is for free in this country. Every single person has a different need.

  28. interesting your article was written just a day before I started using instacart… wouldn’t have mattered if I saw this but I gotta say the experience is great the price is absolutely horrible and a fricken shocker… I mean I’m paying nearly double my grand total when you add in the heavy markup and the service fee and tips (I’m trying to tip but I can’t tip because they rip so much money from you!)

    I’m not as mobile, so instacart is awesome but c’mon $24.99 for a case of batteries at Costco when costco sells it for $20 you have got to be flipping kidding me… that’s FOUR DOLLARS MORE! That’s a HUGE markup! Or how about some food products I know that cost me about $1-$2 less at the store, when you add all this up it amounts to the delivery fee already! So I’m paying the service/delivery fee TWICE? Heck no! But I don’t have much of a choice or do I? When compared to Uber/Lyft getting me to and from the store and my goods from the store it almost evens out I guess.

    My very first instacart order for 31 items at Safeway cost me $159 with everything, fees, tip and their horrendous markup… c’mon eliminate all of that and it would probably be closer to $75-$80; honestly they need to revamp their delivery/service fee. Instacart is not a store, instacart is a shopping+delivery service they should not be selling on top of the store selling! If they want to sell, get the stores to cut them a deal don’t take it out on the consumers! I’m not paying instacart to RESELL to me! I’m paying them to SHOP and DELIVER… that’s what they advertise!

    I noticed that you can’t use store coupons on instacart but instacart can and does pass the savings to you perhaps I don’t know; but those coupons that you can use in the store do work at the store’s website usually unless it is for walk in only and again I think that is WRONG but these guys are making a killing (a seriously high profit); imagine if Uber/Lyft could make that kind of money (they already do!) they charge a booking fee, and they set their rates accordingly and sometimes they add a little extra if they legally can for a particular area and then they take a pretty hefty portion from the driver.

    Oh well.. woe to me, I’ll continue using it because I don’t have to use Uber/Lyft to achieve the same thing and my $451 order costs me almost $23 in fees alone and I shop several times a month but the markup alone they probably raked in probably $60ish and if you factor in how much it would cost me to ride Uber in two round trips for each store visits (my order contains items from two stores in one order) it actually still costs me more than getting a rideshare for hire if you factor in all the markup but delivery/service fee by itself is actually less expensive than using Uber/Lyft.

    I should also note I’m on my 14 day trial of instacart express so they are waiving the $7.99 fee which I would be happy to pay if they weren’t price gouging but I am not going to pay them $15/month in a membership fee just to get free delivery because they already rake in more than the cow gives.

    1. Hi there Shannon!

      I totally understand your frustration, and it’s something that a lot of people are complaining about.

      Yes, it’s a great service when you consider the hassles that it eliminates for single or stay-at-home parent, the mobile-challenged, those who don’t drive and others…but that’s only as long as it remains affordable.

      Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and it’s only getting worse in some areas. You might want to try out a competing delivery service and see if you can get the same service at a more affordable rate. It couldn’t hurt to try, and I have a few great options listed in the article!

  29. I have used a Instacart several times due to illness. I waved the service fee, until the last time, as it was a “fixed” $11+ and I could not waive it. I called and the service rep informed me it was fixed in my area, and would soon be a fixed amount in all areas soon, as well as a fixed delivery fee, and a fixed minimum tip amount that could be increased.

    1. That seems to be a common issue, Ann.

      Unfortunately, with this service, in particular, the fees and/or commitments are well-hidden and difficult to find without spending plenty of time on the website searching every corner for info.

  30. I’ve been using Instacart since February but have used them for the last time today.
    I shop at Safeway and I have a Safeway card I also use it when I shop in store to get the Club Savings discounts. I’ve even gone so far as to add my phone number to my order page under instructions for the personal shopper.

    They almost never leave a receipt and there’s a good reason for that as I have found out today in fact the shoppers are told implicitly not to leave the receipt.
    Okay so for the details, they charge a flat $5.99 delivery fee which is reasonable, recently they started forcing the service fee which in the past you could waive ( Iwould leave a tip instead for the driver) so today those fees totaled about $16.00.
    The Safeway discounts I lost out on today because they wont use my card totaled $40.00 so combined with the fees I paid over $57.00 more than if I had shopped it myself!
    Here’s the kicker, the shopper “used” the Club Card savings to Instacart’s advantage!!
    So they made a profit of well over $70.00 not to mention they also raise the prices over the in store prices!! Total scam and here in Arizona they even stopped delivering alcohol since the state Attorney General passed a bill in April that doesn’t allow alcohol delivery.
    That was my last time using their service today.

  31. I was one button away from trying IC for the first time today when I noticed that the service fee in my area could be waived. That seemed strange that I could waive my service fee, I can’t waive my delivery fee on pizza, so I searched Publix and IC for information regarding this fee and found several informational paragraphs regarding quite a few different subjects. All of them seemed to be vague. I decided to google an article to read encompassing the reviews on IC and found yours. I read all of it and agree with parts. Consider my thoughts as a recently disabled forever non-driving young adult. Publix to IC was my first attempt at delivery foods.

    1) Agreed. I won’t trust anyone to shop for me whether it’s IC, Amazon or my mother. It’s only when it arrives and I can vouch for its true date/value/price that I can feel comfortable. Those eggs better have been rolled over to determine if they were cracked or broken!!
    2) Agree and Disagree. I expected prices to be significantly higher the moment I was on the Publix website and was sent to IC for my order. Go from company one to company two and double up. It wouldn’t matter if one was a sub-company of the other, I would expect to see $.20 to $2 more for an item from Publix and then the same again from IC. I didn’t like it but I was ok with it as this was my first attempt at home delivery. However, it wasn’t until I started reading comments that I found the service charge was required in some area’s and it appears required when you are a premium yearly member. The hell with that. Now, on to my disagreement. You didn’t expect the price on some items to be more but “on sale”? Any and all chains, regardless of type, will now say something is on sale only when they’ve increased the price of the item. My local has had canned soups on sale for 2 years now. They’ve increased the price and it’s even more expensive then when I first started shopping there. To be expected.
    3) You’re right. This is minor. I’m not surprised at all that stores around me will have different quality of X,Y and Z items. Of course. A few months later items X may change to something else as stores attempt to draw in new customers.

    After reading your entire article, and every person’s comment, I’m skeptical about trying IC or any chain that delivers to my household of any item requiring cold temperatures (milk, meats, deli, etc). Or any item that can mold. Not even pop-tarts because they crumble easily. But perhaps I’ll try IC anyway for the first time and get my free delivery with the ability to cancel service charge and see what happens. A tip will be given in cash to give the delivery person a chance to deny they received it.

    Going back to your #2. Have to create an account first? Well let’s see, why do I *have* to include my email to post on your article? Touche.

    1. I appreciate the thoughtful response, James!

      You are wrong, however about the very last point! The email address is used for several purposes including spam protection and communicating with the commenter. With a service such as IC or anything else that is location-based, simply using a zip code is sufficient…just look at banks and restaurant sites that ask for your state/zip. It’s not necessary to create an entire account with address and such just to browse, and I skip those sites that require it as a marketing ploy!

      But other than that, ?

  32. These comments are so interesting. It’s clear that many negative commenters did not read the entire article. I suspect a lot of them are instacart employees given that they seem to have taken the author’s criticism of instacart personally. I kind of get that as I worked in the recent past as an overnight grocery stocker and took pride in my work. However, the artcle’s content is clearly reasonable and the pricing and cost info is factual. In my area (and most areas in fact) we just pay a small fee and have the grocery store shop for us. They nearly always get the order right and we have had no problems with produce or meat. We have to drive by the store and wait a few minutes while they load our groceries into our car but we are charged the same as they charge in store shoppers and get the same sales discounts. I think instacart will die unless they can compete on individual item price, especially as Amazon and Walmart start invading their space with free or nearly free home delivery.

    1. That is the nature of the internet, Fred.

      Most people are quick to react and throw their “opinions” out there without fully reading or understanding the source material. Context is something many people simply don’t understand, but it’s ok as it only reflects back on them!

      As far as the curbside pickup, I’ve heard about it but can’t say that I have anyplace near me to try it. I would imagine it’s a similar experience to restaurant pick-up which I have tried a few times in the past with pretty positive results.

  33. I have a heart condition and therefore am not allowed to drive. I am 67 years old and live in a 55+ apartment complex. I could easily take an Uber to the grocery store, but lugging all the bags up to the second floor and making the long walk from the elevator to my apartment at the far end is impossible for me (and Uber drivers don’t assist with that sort of thing). So I use the Instacart service, and I am beyond satisfied with it. The shoppers/drivers communicate with me if necessary while they’re shopping, and they bring the bags inside my apartment and place them on the counter for me. They are all very friendly and helpful. I don’t mind paying extra for the convenience of Instacart at all. I probably would not use Instacart if not for my medical issue. But under the circumstances, it is a Godsend.

  34. I’m glad you brought up pricing. Grubhub, door dash, eat24, ubereats all do the same thing. They raise the menu price of everything. We compared multiple menus at work and this is a thing. Its how they get a little more off the top.

    1. Hey Melissa!

      I’ve looked into that and haven’t found it to be the case in my area. In fact, there’s a Pizza place I like and not only did GrubHub have the same delivery fee as the restaurant but the Monday pizza special was on there as well as coupons that I didn’t even see on the restaurant’s own online ordering system.

      Of course, this was just one instance and it may vary by area as well as by restaurant but at least that was a positive experience for me relative to what kept me from using Instacart 🙂

  35. I had been using instacart for at least 6 months now, maybe longer. I had noticed I never got a paper receipt from the delivery person.

    Some of them were nice and others didn’t seem to care, they just wanted the tip. I always gave a good sized tip on top of delivery fee etc.

    My last delivery the guy was really nice and he gave me the paper receipt. I sat down and compared prices and was shocked. Instacart did charge anything from 10c to $1.00 over the Publix in store price. I double checked it again and yes my groceries had cost me nearly $45.00 more than if I’d got off my fat arse and got in my car and shopped for them myself!!!!!

    So I called customer service and questioned the young lady that answered she didn’t seem to understand what I was trying to tell her. She finally said let me get my supervisor. I was put on hold for about 5 minutes then a lady came on and I had to explain again what I had found. And she said well it’s written in our website that our fees maybe a little higher than in-store. I was like you have to be shitting me, where and she pointed out that just below the Publix sign it is posted. I looked and low and behold there in teeny tiny letters it states prices may be higher. I said to her do you not think it would be nicer to actually publish this larger font? There’s a gigantic font for the coupon about $10 off when you get a friend interested in instacart. But there in small letters like a little mouse just squeaking “prices may be higher”. I kicked up a fuss and demanded they only charge my debit card the $146.05 total but the supervisor ( who kept her cool, I’ll give her that) kept repeating I’m sorry madam but you were not supposed to have the paper receipt. And it does state our policy.

    So I called my bank and said the charge was fraudulant and I had to get a new debit card and I’m still working on getting my $170.65 back. Totally inconvenience to me. But I have rights and I feel totally violated and taken advantage of by instacart. They need to have that policy in bright glowing letters on thier website so no other suckers get pulled into this false hope of groceries at a reasonable price without the hassle of actually physically shopping for them.

    I am never using instacart again and am bad mouthing them as much as possible, warning people about how much more they are charging for intems from Publix. I wonder if Publix knows they are doing this? Isn’t there a resale tax? Anyhow peace people, I’m off to Publix to do my own shopping.

    1. Thanks for the feedback Ann!

      I totally understand your frustration and that is exactly why I wrote this–because I was frustrated at the idea that I would have to pay more than the in-store price ON TOP OF the service fee and tip.

      The whole receipt issue is something that keeps coming up in the comments and I still can’t get over the fact that they keep the actual invoice as a way of hiding the fees that are being charged.

      Have you looked at any of the options I mentioned above in the yellow boxes? Just because IC sucks doesn’t mean that you have to go back to doing all of your own shopping!

      1. Just wanted to join in and echo you both! Tried Instacart for the second time today, got charged $25 for a roast when the sticker from the grocery is on the package, $11!

        That’s more than 100% marked up, and in all the charge was quite a bit higher than I know the bill would have cost.

        As Eric mentions, I wouldn’t mind the upcharge if that was the only way they made their money, but don’t throw a 10$ service fee on top!

  36. I see your advertising Amazon instead of Instacart. Check those same items above and calculate your shipping costs, subscription fee, and product total and tell me how you feel after, yah? I calculate my cost versus time too. I’m good with Smart n Final versus Costco anyday. I only visit the Amazon website to find sellers nearby. I ask to purchase direct to save the 15% they would have lost in Amazon selling fees.

    1. You can call it advertising Ath, I call it giving alternative options since it’s not the only one I mentions nor do I say that it will be “better”.

      Additionally, you just proved my–and many people’s–point. With practically every other service, including Amazon, you will know exactly what the cost will be and you will get the actual receipts. No need to be surprised when the transaction is completed like so many people seem to find out too late. Plus, Amazon is pretty much up front about fees and such whereas IC requires you to be a sleuth to find everything related to terms and fees.

      But thanks for the comment!

  37. disabled,been using the services for several years now. No major issues or complaints. I actually am just commenting to suggest you do a review of POSTMATES if you really want to see some extreme markups, extra taxes and fees, plus a delivery fee and horrible service to boot.

    1. Sorry Taz, but this isn’t a review. It’s simply my findings and feeling after doing research into the Instaacrt program.

  38. Love Instacart. I am retired and convenience forces me to cook healthy meals. If I have a holiday meal, I will shop at two stores. One of them uses Instagram. Since 1/2017, I reduce my weight my 40 lbs. so paying a little more doesn’t really bother me. Everyone’s time is worth something.

    1. I love instacart, also. I might be paying a mark up but I spend a lot less money every week by not impulse buying! Publix also lists all its BOGO that I would normally miss in the store.

  39. I am a recent addition to the Instacart shopper group. I am doing it to make ends meet during the summer. I have only been doing this a short time and I work with Instacart so you can take what I say with a grain of salt.

    I have a great deal to complain about Instacart’s policies as it relates to the “shopper’s side” of the story. I could go on and on about that. However, I also have some things to say about SOME, not all, customers. Instacart shoppers, for the most part, start off trying to really do a good job. By that, I mean shoppers do their best to get the best looking produce they can. Sometimes, certain produce items just aren’t that good that day. For instance, I’ve gone to stores where the majority of the bananas are green. Now, in these cases, most shoppers will notify the customer.

    What you probably don’t know or take into consideration – you didn’t mention this at all – is that every customer is different. They have different tastes/wants/needs. Some customers have said they want green bananas while others want the ripest bananas. There is an easy way to solve this problem before it starts. On every item, like produce or meats, that might be subject to a particular person’s tastes, the customer can write a note and say things like, “I would prefer ripe bananas” or “two ripe bananas and the rest green”. Some customers prefer to only have organic produce and won’t accept “regular” produce. However, they don’t always make this known. Thus, this makes for a potential misunderstanding that the shopper certainly didn’t intend. Making notes, for items like produce, is important and necessary for ANYONE to get the produce that meets the customer’s needs. This should be obvious. However, you and others on here, have said things similar to the shopper needs to be taught how to pick produce or that they just don’t know how to pick produce. This is demonstrably false (most of the time) as evidenced by the aforementioned reasons in my comment here.

    While you and others have said this, that, and the other thing as reasons for not using the service it really sounds like the major concern is the overall cost. Well, if they got rid of the service fee or whatever and just made one fee that combined the others into one and it was too high then you would complain about that. Uber Eats, Postmates, etc. are incomparable because those services are mainly dependent on the restaurant, fast food place’s expertise in getting the order right. There is very little service that the delivery person themselves are actually providing. Going to the store and picking out produce, making substitutions, communicating with the customer on individual items, and trying to hurry through the store are things that delivery services like Instacart provide while Uber Eats and the rest of them don’t (nowhere near this extent). Hence, the reason they are incomparable.

    When it comes to price of the items yes you have a point to some extent. But, since everything is relative, a lot of businesses operate this way. For the most part, most customers just feel like they don’t want to pay anything or very little for anything. I mean in all industries. However, the mortgage industry is a great example. How often do you hear or see signs saying, “We’ll pay your closing costs!” or “you won’t pay a dime!”. How do you think this is possible? All companies have to make money. How do these companies make money? They pay YOUR fees by charging you a higher interest rate than the par rate. Par rate means the broker would get paid nothing for giving you that rate. Anything above that par rate the broker sells you means the broker would get paid a commission which is a percentage of the loan amount. Brokers have to disclose this amount on the final loan documents. WHOLESALE LENDERS, DIRECT LENDERS, BIG BANKS, ETC. DON’T HAVE TO DISCLOSE THIS “YIELD SPREAD PREMIUM”. Customers, on the whole, have shown that they prefer this type of transaction. THEY DON’T KNOW THAT THEY ARE PAYING ABOVE THE PAR RATE (BECAUSE BANKS DON’T HAVE TO DISCLOSE THIS). This type of business model is similar to what Instacart is doing. Does that make it moral or ethical? Depends.

    As far as pricing overall, from what you have mentioned, especially the pizza delivery case, you just plain don’t understand pricing or business. Some people like to have the convenience of having pizza delivered. You have to pay for that. The business usually employs delivery drivers. That employment is an expense. Some days those delivery drivers are utilized and others not. Some times the pizza company makes a profit and other days it doesn’t because of the cost of an hourly wage which is a semi-fixed cost (relative to it being per delivery to a sub-contractor). So, when customers want pizza delivered they have to pay for that convenience and part of the cost to employ the driver. Hence, they charge a delivery fee. The people who don’t want delivery don’t pay that cost and don’t pay the delivery fee. In your scenario you mentioned you said something to the effect of the pizza company gouging the customer for a three or four dollar delivery fee even though you got a coupon for the pizza. You said you wanted transparency AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE PIZZA COMPANY GAVE YOU and yet you still weren’t happy. Your own scenario reflects what I said above which is that ultimately you don’t want to pay for anything you just want it for free. You care very little if any about actual transparency. Your own scenario demonstrates this. This further highlights of my earlier point about customers not caring about transparency they just want to feel like they didn’t pay for anything or paid very, very little.

    1. Yeah, you nailed me, I know nothing of transparency or business. That’s why my clients always recommend me and never have a bad thing to say because they always know what they are getting from me and at what price BEFORE we start working together. And for further proof of the lack of transparency, I’m certainly not alone–https://newfoodeconomy.org/a-reddit-user-calculated-instacarts-markup-its-pretty-high/. This is the real reason the receipts aren’t allowed to go to customers, to hide the details.

      And it also sounds like you’re a bit confused on a bunch of issues. No one spoke of customers with special requests or preferences when it comes to the shoppers. It was a general statement about people in general not knowing how to shop. How many do you think know about white stripes in chicken breasts? How about knowing how to tell if a pineapple or melon is ripe (smelling the bottom and shaking it, respectively)? Or the classic checking eggs for cracks?

      Sure, there are problem customers but that isn’t the issue.

      Then you go on a rant about the pizza delivery saying I don’t know anything…but apparently, you don’t pay attention. The pizza chains don’t pay those “delivery fees” to the drivers, instead keeping the money with the drivers still relying on tips (and drivers have sued over it https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/30/pizza-delivery-charge_n_4694554.html. Again, it’s the same case–charge a fee that pays for the service or make customers tip, but don’t make them do both where the fees and tips combined come out to be upwards of 50% of the actual bill.

      And no, in the coupon situation, that WASN’T transparency–free is free, meaning it should not cost a single cent for the person to get the item, period. If someone has to incur a fee to get something then it isn’t free, delivery or not. Transparency would be “Please accept a free pizza…just pay the delivery fee”. Hell, even those scam infomercials tell you up front that you will have to pay for the processing to get the free samples!

      People, for the most part, don’t mind paying for services…they just don’t want to feel like they’re getting hit from every angle and being surprised at the final cost.

  40. I agree with you for the most part. I’ve been a shopper for Instacart for a few months. I will not buy groceries through Instacart, unless I was unable to physically buy them myself.

    I didn’t know until this week that I wasn’t supposed to give the customer the actual receipt. I’m going to give them the receipts anyway. Customers deserve to know actual prices, and returning items in store if necessary should be as easy as possible for them.

    Note: Prices at Publix are routinely cheaper in store than on the app. However, at other stores, pricing matches exactly most of the time. That being said, customers should be charged the exact price for each product. As you wrote, service fees should be separate and transparent. It seems as if Instacart should be able to do this. Their policy states that they will charge the customer for the exact amount of produce the customer receives. For example, if they order 2 lbs. of bananas and only receive 1.5 lbs., the charge will be adjusted and they will pay only for 1.5 lbs. If Instacart can do this, then they should be able to charge the correct amount for each product.

    1. Thanks for the insight Matt!

      I didn’t know about the receipt issue either. I’ve been seeing some talk about the shoppers actually using the real receipt to claim the rewards on rebate apps like Ibotta! If that is the case or the other side where IC doesn’t want the customer to see what the actual costs were, then there is certainly something shady going on.

      This is why the receipts aren’t allowed to go out: https://newfoodeconomy.org/a-reddit-user-calculated-instacarts-markup-its-pretty-high/

  41. I used it while sick twice, and it was a life saver. But like take out food, it’s an excess, not a necessity. Having fresh home cooked food when sick without a shopping trip, was wonderful.

    1. I’m very glad this information is being put out there. I didn’t read through all responses, but a few caught my attention. One specifically where they were supporting Instacart employees not having time to provide a service when they should. They also indicated they do not make an hourly wage. Hmmm, I spoke to those that work for Instacart in Houston & they told me that they receive a hourly wage during their allotted time to work, whether they get a shopping/delivery order or not. I used Instacart for about a year and then stopped. I was receiving items that I did not request to be substituted and/or a comparable products that I agreed could be substituted. If I order chicken, don’t give me turkey!! Also had issues where items were not cold. Instacart did provide great customer service when i complained. It was convenient at times, but really affected my budget and turned out not to be worth it for me. When the 1 year membership rolled around, I was charged the $149. I do have to say that when I called and let them know I no longer wanted to utilize their service, my money was refunded right away.

  42. I just started experimenting with Instacart and after using it 3 times in the past 2 weeks, I determined it’s not for me. I hate shopping in general so the concept was highly appealing. While I used the “1st delivery is free” offer plus the 2 week free trial for the express service, I don’t consider any of it free since I paid the “service fee.” Not a deal breaker but it still rubs me the wrong way; especially if I had opted for the $149 annual service.

    My biggest problem is with the inconsistency of the shoppers. I don’t believe they all care about handling my food properly and I never did figure out exactly how a random independent contractor can control the temperature surrounding my food. I’m picky about how I handle my food and the last delivery I got clinched my decision to stop using this service.

    This shopper finished buying everything on my list but didn’t actually start the delivery phase until I texted her to remind her that I’m home and ready for my food. She started way earlier than the estimated delivery time so I wondered if she shopped and killed time in her car before leaving.

    I shopped from a store that has many locations with one being 5 minutes away. As I tracked my shopper, the map showed she was in another city driving down the freeway! I thought about my perishables sitting in her car and cringed. When she arrived, I noticed she had my large gallon drinks bagged up and in California, each bag is $.10 out of my pocket. She left abruptly like the previous shoppers did but this time, I was missing an item. A $7 item that my daughter was looking forward to. With each of the 3 deliveries, I was not given the opportunity to check the bags before they left and this last one proved costly.

    Of course I report the missing item and request a refund and instead, receive credit towards my account. This annoys me because not only did I not plan on using the service anymore, but how fair is it that I’d have to pay another service fee and meet a minimum for free delivery just to make use of their $7 mistake?

    This was a case of trial and error and I hope my review helps someone. I totally understand some people need a service like this and if I was ever in a tough position, I might use it occasionally but these past 2 weeks have proven this is not a reliable service for someone like me.

  43. Publix is not my store of choice to start with — everything is 50 cents to 2 dollars more than the same thing at Kroger and Aldi (i primarily buy fresh produce, seafood and meat and store brand everything else). But today I have pneumonia! and we are out of everything. Soooo… I decided since Instacart’s 1st time delivery is free, I’d try it out. I was very surprised to see a service charge of $13.21 added to my total! Delivery would have been $8.55 it said on top of the service charge. Am I expected to tip too? I can’t imagine who would pay $20 to $25 or more each week to have groceries delivered. Plus I paid more than I normally would have for the groceries since it was Publix. Sigh. The condition of the items remains to be seen. I’m certain I will never ever do this again.

  44. Just popping in here. Once i ordered something and not only did not get the correct amount in pounds (though was charged for it) i noticed the huge upcharge on the receipt they left at that time. When i called to confirm, i was told that the shopper is NOT supposed to give me the receipt. If that’s not shady, i dont know what is. I already knew there were some upcharges, so why hide it from me. The smallest things are extremely overpriced, so I’ll just try to find time to get to a store around my schedule. Grocery store is overpriced as is. Might as well get my steps in, i guess.

    Also many shoppers fail to read my notes about where to pull in (under the carport) for their safety and ease of access. People park across or down the street from my house which is not convenient at all. I’ve also had a shopper on her phone while delivering, drop my items when she didnt know i was watching and then when she realized i was she didn’t bother apologising.

    But of course, since im so “lazy” aka working i guess i “deserve” that. I guess some of those saying this also believe you deserve people dropping your food or spitting in your drink when you go to a restaurant because you were too “lazy” to cook, right? And charge you extra for your “laziness”? Funny. Thanks for this article Eric.

  45. How much is Amazon paying you to post this “review”? It’s obviously an Amazon ad. I don’t think this is a real review. Just my opinion. You never used the service either.

    1. Aw, aren’t you cute?

      Truth is, I was actually paid by WalMart but I can see your confusion 😉 But you’re totally right I never used the service–then again, I never tried cocaine either and I can come up with a bunch of reasons for why I wouldn’t do that either.

      Thanks for stopping by though!

      1. The worst. THE WORST. I was a loyal Instacart shopper from their earliest days. I accepted the mark up for the convienence. Now that they have built up clientele, the service is consistently terrible. Pick a window for delivery? It’s never met. Home screen on the app? Always says one to two hour delivery, and once you finish ordering and check out? The “pick a time” option is five hours out or not until the next day. And the one that makes me most incensed? Delivery people who refuse to park their car and insist I come outside despite my tip and delivery fee. And one more as a bonus – shoppers often don’t have common sense. E.g. just b/c I say replace with closest item doesnt mean you can substitute ground coffee with coffee beans. I don’t have a grinder moron. They’ll be replaced with better options.

        1. I definitely understand the frustration, M A.

          You would think that as time goes on and the company gains experience, things would IMPROVE and possibly get cheaper as it becomes more efficient. Instead, it and the shoppers learned that they have you at their mercy once you get used to the convenience.

          Hopefully, you find a service more suited to your needs.

  46. I did want to say I agree that the pricing differences are a bit shady. Other companies do it but are very upfront about it. I was just checking to see if the buy one get one deals at my local store where buy one get one on instacart and they are not. They are also more expensive. I used instacart service and I was kind of wondering how they made their money and I feel like this is a big part of it. I can still understand how some people may think that the service is worth it. I just feel instacart the company should be more upfront about the fact that the prices they have are not the prices at the store.
    Another thing I want to mention is I agree that it is the responsibility of the shopper to make sure that they pick out good produce that is not expired. it is the normal thing that most people do or should do when they go shopping for themselves and if expect the same from the shopper. That’s regardless of if it is an instacart Shopper or a stores owned pickup service shopper.
    I used instacart and when I used it I found it to be beneficial and was pleased with the service I received.

    1. Thanks Andrew!

      I have absolutely no problem with people using the service if it gives them back some time or if they can afford it and don’t mind the price differences. But, like you said, the transparency in the fees and costs is a big problem for me (and a lot of others apparently).

      Like you, there are a lot of others I know who love the service when they use it and I think that’s the best anyone can hope for 😀

  47. I’m using Instacart for what will most likely be the only time. I’ve filled my cart with $35 of Publix BOGO deals and I’m using a $20/off promo code.

    After comparing the in-store prices and factoring in the fees/tip, I’ll still be $10 ahead. Works for me.

    Hopefully, they’ll send more discounts in the future…

  48. I just tried Instacart and the markups for Costco was a pretty clear 20% across the board. This included a $5 markup on the TP. When I complained to Instacart their first response was that well I wasn’t supposed to receive the receipt. Then they go into a long spiel about how they attempt to negotiate with stores to get the same prices. Which is ridiculous and irrelevant since I have the receipt and know how much they paid ($15 less than I did for 9 items). There is nothing wrong with what they’re doing, but they need to be upfront and honest about it.

  49. I’ve found basically every item on Instacart with Publix is .50 more. So it’s s$6 for delivery + maybe $15 more for the actual groceries plus a $10 tip. That’s about $30 extra cost to use Instacart for a $150 – $200 worth of groceries. But it’s saving me almost an hour and a half. My time is worth way more than $30 so I still think it’s worth it.

  50. Man, this Instacart is malarkey. The rip off their help with low pay and make it hard for customers to tip. Thanks for the post.

  51. I would probably only use the service if I was really sick and no one else could get anything for me. Personally, I’d rather hire one of my friends who might be able to use some extra cash. The other day, I had a friend pick something up for me at Costco. I gave her a little extra cash and it worked out great. It saved me a very long time consuming trip for one item. Instacart is a great idea, but sounds like a total rip off!

    1. Hi Erin!

      Some people find great value in the service depending on their specific situation. Others, not so much. It’s like anything in life, you have to judge for yourself based on your own needs and individual situation.

  52. Seriously… You’re paying for the convenience. If you’re cheap, nothing helps. It’s as if you expect a company to provide a service for free. Wake up. It does not work like that.

    1. True, but my wife order a few things like oranges(4 of them in a bag) they charge her 37.50, then order some peaches(1 pound) several of them came half bad and on top charged her ($40.70) for it. A simple order that would cost $40.00 or $50.00, ended up costing $117.45. She realized that, contacted them and they said “I am sorry, it was a mistake, we will refund your excess money; but, it will take about 2 weeks. My wife noticed the charges, what if she did not? To how many people this occurs?

  53. I just received delivery where expensive steak cut was substituted instead of the two 1.25 lbs on sale bone in rib eyes I specifically instructed.Also stew meat was substituted at a $1 more per lb than the on sale sirlion tips I ordered While I got a notification of replacement of sodas which were replaced by quantities not on sale and even a different brand all together. I did not get a notification of the steak replacement .
    I also suspected that some of the normal priced items I requested were priced higher than normal

    It is like the cable company charging a dvr service fee and a dvr equipment fee. They are building in extra fees by marking up the groceries and then the employees they hired to pick and deliver my order did a poor job of getting the most expensive parts of the order right.

    I feel I was defrauded by Publix and Insta cart as these price increases are not disclosed up front.

    This service is a bait and switch at the worst or a poorly chosen labor force to fulfill the orders. Publix should be correctly picking the advertised items on sale to maintain any resemblance of propriety .

  54. I’ve been an IC shopper for about 4 months now, I average about $20/hr each week, gross, before taxes and gas and wear on my car are considered. That money has to come from somewhere, so stuff gets marked up. It should be obvious to anyone who has ever done their own shopping that the prices on IC are at least little bit higher than if they went themselves to the store. IC itself wants to make money too, so they have the fee for shopping, and they keep the extra extra if you order multiple of the same item (eg, if you order 10 different kinds of potato chip and each costs an extra $0.40 I am paid that, but if you order 10 of 1 kind of chip I get $0.40 and IC gets $3.60 to keep, which has long been a point of contention between shoppers and IC, particularly when it comes to moving a quarter ton of water up to a third floor apartment for $0.40 and maybe tips if lucky).

    I do have some concern about your issue with the receipts, as I doubt you’ve ever requested the invoice papers from a car dealer, the electronics store, the clothier, or the grocer, and then demanded to pay what they paid for the product you are buying. It is *extremely* common for you, the consumer, to pay more for a product or service than the middle-man you are buying from paid for it. Even if you went to a farm to collect milk from the farmers themselves would you demand to pay only what it cost them in grass to feed the cow? Every step between you and the extraction of raw materials from the earth adds to the cost of the final product, this is how an economy works. The reason IC has us keep the receipts isn’t to be deceptive, its because the average person doesn’t understand any of this and would, like you, be upset about paying more for stuff and demand refunds and such, somehow expecting it to be okay that we do all their shopping for $4 and maybe tips if lucky. Maybe you’d rather that each delivery had a $30 fee on it, but then I think it likely this post would be complaining about outrageously expensive delivery fees for something as simple as grocery shopping….oh….

    I wonder too, if you are aware of the ways you are paying more at the store already, even if you don’t go shopping yourself. For example, many items are getting smaller in recent days, due to tarrifs and inflation, so where a year ago you might have gotten 20 ice cream pops in box, now you get 18, or that face wash that was 10oz is now 9.5oz. I’ve seen this happening slowly with things for a long time (cadbury eggs anyone?) and shopping for IC has made it even more obvious just how widespread it is lately because the shopper app has weights and measures from back when the item was first added to the database. If you want to talk deceptive practices, go after the manufacturers of everything in the grocery store who are reducing how much of a good you get without changing the price or upc so that you don’t notice the actual effective price per unit has gone up, this is a far more insidious way to get changes past consumers than anything IC has done.

    I will definitely agree however that there are some shifty people who have become shoppers, who don’t care about the customer or the service they provide and just want to get in and out as fast as possible so they can maximize revenue even at the customer’s loss of quality. This is a problem that I feel will get worse over time, as IC is expanding their In-Store Shoppers to more places and those shoppers are paid minimum wage for a max of 29 hours per week and are under even tighter timing goals than Full-Service Shoppers. The ISS staff are under such pressure to meet the metrics that are set that they *can’t* take any time to consider quality or expiration dates, they will get fired for it. So even if they do care and want to make sure a customer gets the best, it simply isn’t possible because of corporate policy. ISS also means many FSS are making less because they are only making deliveries, not getting the boon of per-item fees while also losing tips due to poor shopping from an overworked and under-paid ISS staff. I expect IC will fail or be bought out as Amazon expands its operations and the quality workers at IC jump Shipt because they need to pay the bills.

    As far as what you as a customer can do to ensure a smooth experience, take advantage of the tools available! Every item you add allows you to select a preferred substitute as well as set it to simply refund if neither is available. You can add notes where needed so that you get items of the stage of ripeness you want or expiration date preferences, though honestly if you look at the average grocery store most items are going to either expire within a few days to a week of each other or long after you should have finished using them (besides, if an extra week on tuna that has an 8 month shelf life matters I have to wonder what apocalypse you’re planning for…). Grocery shopping is a highly personal experience, we all have our own tastes and preferences and you simply cannot expect every shopper to have psychic awareness of your particular wants and needs. Most of us do our best to get you good quality products, and if you want more than that then feel free to ask and we’ll do what we can to accommodate you.

    Your article has some valid points, but in too many ways it feels like Veruca Salt wanting everything to be her way with no effort and for nearly free.

    1. Thanks for the well-articulated comment!

      I think you missed the point that I, and many others, make regarding pricing. The issue isn’t necessarily the costs inherent in running a business, it’s the way in which IC decides to go about pricing/fees/tips. On the shopping pages, the reasons for the increased prices are “A markup is added to item prices at this retailer to cover the cost of the Instacart service” or “Prices may be higher than in-store prices to cover the cost of personal shopping”. Those are taken directly from store pricing policy pages. If, in fact, the reasons are true, then why tell people they have to tip if the cost of personal shoppers is being “covered” or if the markup is to “pay for the service” why charge a delivery fee? See, it’s the doubletalk, as well as the hidden fees like some people had mentioned about not knowing about the need to pay for an annual subscription up front.

      As far as the receipt goes–it’s more about shoppers using their own coupons, not getting advertised specials, and knowing exactly how much of a difference they are paying. The company gets the additional savings if the shoppers use coupons without passing that along to the customers (yeah, I know IC has its own “exclusive” coupons). Also, it’s stated that not all in-store offers are honored through IC. People want the receipt so they can see exactly what the difference is to make an informed decision for the future ie: just how much more is this costing me vs. if I just did it myself.

      Plus, your analogy is off because we aren’t talking about wholesaling. This isn’t about the final product costing more than the total price of the individual parts. Same as if a personal shopper goes to the store and buys clothes for someone: there’s a fee for the style advice and time and then the cost of the clothing which charged separately and passed along at cost.

      I’m all for people making money, but in a transparent way and one that gives the consumer the full picture in advance.

      1. All the couponing is done through IC, I’ve never used a paper or digital coupon because I wouldn’t see any boon from it. For Kroger stores the customer can supply a rewards card number and get extra savings that way, its the only store I’ve seen do it that way in my area, and costco requires the originating customer’s member number while sam’s club uses a global IC account for all IC shoppers, all the other stores use a single generic phone number for all IC orders for tracking, and that usually does activate the store’s “club savings”, though how much of that difference IC then gets to keep is unknown to me. The fees IC charges don’t get used to fully pay the shoppers, we depend on tips for a solid third or more of our income, without it we would fall below minimum wage and not have the protections real employees get to make up the shortfall, which is more an issue of historic American culture and the way the gig economy operates than anything. I understand why *you* want the receipt, but I’ve also seen enough stories of people complaining about the markups and calling support to get a refund (which then dings the shopper’s stats as the only way IC internal support can issue a refund is to mark an entire order damaged/missing) that I understand why both corporate and the shoppers don’t want to do it. Handing over that receipt is actually dangerous because…

        …When IC internal support does a refund on an order it lowers a shopper’s overall rating for the week because once an item is marked damaged/missing it automatically reduces the rating on the order below 5-stars, which many of us believe will affect the types of orders we receive (going from large-quantity orders to small orders that make us less over a day), and likely take us out of the running for the 5-star bonus they dangle as motivation to be extra perfect. A single 3-star review takes something like 35 perfect orders to balance out, a 1-star takes about 95 perfect orders, so once we get dinged, even for something totally outside of our control, we lose a lot of motivation to go above and beyond because we know for certain that a single order reduced our pay that week by $100. I’ll still do my best to make sure the customer gets everything and in good condition, but I may be less motivated to personally inspect a dozen milk cartons to find the one that has the furthest out expiration date. Other shoppers just flat out stop giving a damn once they get a ding and will just do the bare minimum, but wouldn’t you if you were punished so heavily for something outside your control? This is slowly changing, some areas are going to a system where a customer leaving a deliberate 5-star review instead of the system giving you an auto-five for no reported issues means you get an extra $3, in theory that means more consistent boons to your pay and no one customer or IC support rep can sink you for the week.

        There’s also the fact that we as shoppers are dealing with a buggy app that hampers us at least a little even at the best of times, and at the worst, well, last night the entire IC platform went down for several hours, customers couldn’t get orders or communicate with shoppers and shoppers couldn’t check out orders or get their customer’s addresses, the twitter and facebook comments on IC official accounts are pretty peeved. I personally ended up waiting for the entire outage in my car for service to resume while my cart chilled in the back cold storage so that I was able to make my delivery. Some other shoppers did the some, but many just called it a night and accepted that they were now out $50-100 for the day and by some accounts being harassed by IC support’s morning shift for failing to complete deliveries during the outage (did they not send out an internal memo about it, probably not knowing how well this ship seems to float…). But I doubt those of us who stuck it out for our customers will get any recognition for that extra effort from IC while we also risked getting dinged for the late delivery by the customers. A lot of shoppers this morning were very hesitant about taking orders for fear of upset customers getting day-late orders giving 1-star ratings and yelling at them and not tipping because they are mad at the company and don’t understand that we have no control or say over any of it and are suffering even more than they are when the system goes down.

        So, ya know, you don’t *have* to tip, no one does and some of my customers don’t even when I deliver excellent service, but keep in mind that unlike a delivery driver we aren’t getting a minimum amount of hourly wage and we have to pay more taxes on what we do earn than a retail worker and we don’t get paid by IC for our mileage/gas, so if you’re going to take advantage of services powered by gig-economy workers please keep in mind that we aren’t even cogs in the corporate machine, we are the ground it treads upon to move forward.

  55. I have used Instacart four or five times from various stores – mostly from Costco since Instacart will actually deliver fresh produce, refrigerated and frozen goods. Not the same selection as shopping inside a Costco itself, but sometimes it’s good enough for a desperate time 😀 I’m older, I don’t drive and it’s a wonderful option to have groceries delivered BUT it needs to be transparent in it’s fees. Today’s calculation provided that Instacart charged a 26% markup. I’d much rather pay a static delivery charge even if it’s $20 plus a tip.

    Unfortunately, the markups are applied unevenly. Whoever down there said someone else was complaining about a markup of 40 cents on an item is wrong. We wish it would only be 40 cents. In my case today, there was a markup that ranged from 24% on some items up to 39% on other items. Outrageous.

    One thing I’m curious about is sales tax. Instacart pays the actual sales tax to Costco based on the actual prices of items they pay to Costco. Instacart turns around and charges customers MORE SALES TAX because they base it on Instacart’s marked up prices. How does Instacart handle this with the State – eh?

    I use a variety of delivery services for fresh produce and Instacart is the most expensive and I use it the least.
    1) I use AmazonFresh for a monthly fee of $16.47 and minimum purchase of $50 per order to avoid a delivery fee. Totally worth it. There had been some hiccups in the beginning depending on who was picking my groceries (it’s a hazard of any grocery service!) but overall, I’ve been absolutely delighted with their customer service. They used to offer the greatest array of items just like any Ralphs or Vons, but they’re winnowing down to provide only Whole Foods and it sucks.
    2) GoogleExpress for an amazing selection of stores, goods and pantry items. No fresh, refrigerated or frozen.
    3) AmazonPrimeNow included in my AmazonPrime annual subscription is fine, but it’s extremely limited using only Whole Foods and Sprouts in my area.

    Bottom line: I’m thinking that in the future for regular groceries, it makes sense for me to Uber to the grocery store, do my own shopping – which I love to do – then Uber back home. Cheaper AND I’ll get exactly what I want.

    Ah! One more incredibly important (and big time misleading) thing about Instacart: they boast that “your items will be temperature controlled while shopping and handled with care for delivery”. Riiiiight….”temperature controlled in the store” just like any other shopper WHILE IN THE STORE. Other than that, you’re out of luck unless the random driver just happens to carry icepacks and insulated carriers in their car at all times “just in case”. I received $18.00 of melted ice cream in my first Instacart delivery because of the driver’s “handled with care while in transit” lack of proper equipment.

  56. I have been using Instacart for about six months as I am in a wheelchair and cannot drive or lug heavy stuff home on my own. Overall I am extremely dissatisfied. Most (not all) of the shoppers are ok, but the prices, the fees and the lack of customer service are TERRIBLE. I have used their online “help” tool about six times lately and have not received a single response. My resentment is obviously growing, and I am considering other options for sure. No one likes the feeling of being taken advantage of or ignored.

  57. I’ve used the service twice. Both times service has been good. However, today when I asked for the store receipt the young lady said it was their policy not to provide it. She gave it up and I seen the scanned prices on some items were LESS than Instacart pricing. I paid appr. 4 dollars more for two gallons of milk. I mentioned I was going to discuss this with Instacart CS and the young lady got nervous saying she could be disciplined for giving me the receipt. She also told me she gets paid .40 cents for each item they select. I did the math and the amount of items I purchased (22) X .40 was just about the difference between the store receipt price and the Instacart receipt. Apparently they pay their shoppers by increasing prices on items. So Instacart gets the entire amount of fees. Anyhow, bottom line is they do charge more on certain items. With fees, tip and increased pricing it cost me an additional 30 dollars. Is it worth it to me? Yes, however I do not appreciate the deception.

  58. My wife and I were going to try out instacart with Sam’s Club for the first time because they offered free delivery for your first order. We thought the prices seemed higher than we’re used to, so we went to the regular Sam’s Club website for our store. We found that just about everything for sale was 1-2 dollars more per item. We would have easily had to pay 50-100 dollars more for the total order than just buying the items through Sam’s club own website. We ended up purchasing through Sam’s club own website, Sam’s Club gathered all the items for us and we picked up the order at their store. So we still saved a ton of time, didn’t have to spend any extra money and just had to drive there to pick up the cart. I don’t think we will ever use instacart, if we hadn’t noticed the prices seemed higher we would have probably never been the wiser. To me it seems dishonest to not be more upfront that you are paying higher prices.

  59. I cannot speak for other shoppers. But I take great pride in what I do! That is how I earn tips and referrals and honestly…a GREAT experience means that person may use the service again which in turn means that I may get their order again. But what I can say as to how I do my job is this. 1) When it comes to fresh produce. I’m a stickler. If I wouldn’t take that onion, tomato, Bananas etc home then that’s not the one you are getting. I take my time to make sure I am not just grabbing anything and throwing it in the cart. 2) I NEVER take multiple orders at once. I want to make sure that I am focused on YOUR order. 3) I bag your items the same way I would my own. I take care of your items as I would my own. Your eggs are riding in my front seat so I can make sure they are safe. I also use insulated bags so your items stay cold on the drive over. 4) Your delivery your way. You want me to just unload everything at the front door? Sure! You want me to bring your bags inside and help u pack them? Sure! You want to do it all yourself? Sure! I’m not here to Invade or make you uncomfortable. I’m here to make your life easier. 5) I NEVER expect a tip. If you give me one then great! If not that’s okay too! I care more about making sure I did a good job handling your groceries!

    Again. I cant speak to other shoppers. But I know that there are some ofLex Park shopperd sus who are thorough and legitimately care about doing their job right.

    1. I don’t doubt your sincerity and focus on the quality of service you provide, and that’s commendable. And its an important thing you acknowledge–that you can’t speak for others–because while you and some people you personally know of do things as you describe many others don’t.

      It’s pretty much the same as the Golden Rule: if you are going to do something do it in the same manner in which you’d want/expect someone to do it for you. Unfortunately, as many of the people here and elsewhere online can attest to, the nature of the industry and perhaps the lack of actual shopping knowledge/skill can lead to shoppers taking shortcuts or choosing quantity over quality.

  60. OP’s sense of entitlement oozes from every pore.

    The service isn’t MEANT for perfectly able-bodied people like you, who work from home, and live
    within walking distance to a major grocery store.

    I have a sneaking suspicion you are the EXACTLY the type of customer who orders
    15 cases of water from Costco, has shoppers haul them up to your 3rd flood elevatorless
    apartment building,’ thanks’ them, doesn’t tip, then goes online to blog and whine about
    what an awful experience the whole thing was.

    You know the type… whiny, entitled and selfish.

    Yep. That’s exactly who you are. Great ‘article’ by the way!

    1. I guess I’m not allowed to order Uber Eats either, huh ?

      And for the record, I don’t have a Costco membership, and I have filtered water in my fridge which means I save money AND the planet at the same time, but nice try!

  61. I’ve used Instacart twice now and found that they make substitutions sometimes at the last minute so I get stuff I don’t want, and at higher prices.

    The selection of meat has been fine, but produce not so much. Then when I got the store receipt versus price charged and don’t forget the tip, huge difference. So to pay more and not even get what I want is huge bummer.

  62. I will not use Instacart because every time I’m at Wegmans and there is someone who is about to crash into me at an aisle intersection and acts like they own the store, it’s an Instacart shopper. They are inconsiderate to other shoppers around them and I don’t want to support a company who hires people who act that way.

    Your first reason is also right on – I don’t want complete strangers, untrained in food hygiene and with little accountability, handling my food. I just don’t feel comfortable with that.

  63. I am an Instacart Shopper. I am the best in my community. Well, I think I am. I spend on average at least an hour or more driving to the store, shopping for the customers, driving my own car and delivering the groceries. Instacart doesn’t pay us nearly enough for my efforts, but the have to pay us more than your fees would cover, or we could NEVER afford to keep doing this job. I am looking into better ways to shop for this amazing community I live in. I want to charge a flat shopping fee, no markups. I am looking into this now. However, please remember, those of us to know how to shop and are always 5 star rated, and are busting our butts for our customers (who also don’t always tip, but most do) deserve to be paid accordingly. If you don’t want to shop, then you have to pay me to do it. I do agree all the shoppers out there aren’t the best. And that is a shame because those of us who care like I do have to hope my customers hang in there until something better comes along.

  64. I was going to try it today for Costco because I need diapers. The diapers were marked up TEN dollars over Costco’s website price. That’s outrageous!

  65. Publix is 10 minutes away, but my daughter and I use Instacart 3 times a week. I communicate with the shoppers while they are shopping and I never have a problem with the meat or produce that they pick out, and I am a very fussy, meticulous Italian cook.
    There is no service fee and a small fee to join every year.
    No shopping, lugging bags to your car, lugging bags out of you car and carrying heavy bleach and detergent bottles or cases of water. Pricing is reasonable.
    Love the service.

  66. I tried IC for the first time today. Now, I tried it for several reasons: 1) I do not drive, and although my roommate goes to the store 5x a week and will take me, often she rushes me, and then I forget items. (we are both senior citizens) 2) I will be moving shortly into my own place, and I wanted to try this for future reference. 3) I had gotten a referral from a friend for $10 off my first order, plus the free delivery for the first order. 4) I needed ‘heavy’ items, and I have a ‘bum’ shoulder. I figured let some younger person deal with the heavy stuff.

    This was also a ‘test’. I had ‘purposely’ included fresh fruit, fresh meat, dairy, ice cream, some canned items and the heavy stuff… case of spring water, 2-liter bottles of pepsi, and a 12 pack of iced tea bottles.

    Now, I was having the groceries from my local ‘Lowes Foods’, so it asked for my ‘Loyalty #’, which I provided. I noticed that when I put that in, my yogurt, Klondike bars, and canned chiles, – my digital coupons automatically applied. This is good.

    According to the estimate, I was to pay approx $60, before $10.00 first order was applied. –
    The following items were over-charged based on my Lowes Foods sales circular:
    Diet Pepsi 4 X $2.19 – Lowes sale 4 X $1.89 = overcharge of $1.20 ;
    Texas Pete Sausage 1 LB – I was charged $6.79, sale price was $4.59 = overcharge of $2.20;
    Oui Yogurt – 2/$3.00 – 50 cents digital coupon= $2.50 / I was charged $3.38 – 50 cents digital coupon = $2.88 diff $0.38 overcharge
    Red Mill Barley – $2.79 / I was charged $3.29 = overcharge of $ 50 cents
    Rachel Ray Wet Cat food – 3 @ $1.00 ea = $3.00 / I was charged 3@ $1.29 = $3.87 – Over charge of $0.87
    Natures Own Perfectly Crafted Bread – $3.79 / I was charged $3.99 = $0.20 Overcharge
    Mission Spinach Wraps – $ 3.49 / I was charged $ 3.99 = Overcharge of $0.50
    Tropicana 50 OJ – $3.00 / I was charged $4.39 – Overcharge of $1.39
    Lipton 12pk Diet Green Tea – $4.99 / I was charged $7.59 = I was overcharged $2.60
    Klondike bars $3.39 – 50 cent digital coupon $2.89 / charged $3.59 – 50 cent coupon = $3.19 = overcharge $0.30
    Deer Park 24pk water – $ 4.39 – I was charged $ 4.79 = overcharge of $0.40
    El Paso Green Chiles – 2@ $1.75 = $3.50 – $1.00 dig cpn = $2.50 / Charged 2@ $1.89 = $3.78 -minus $1. cpn = $2.78
    Butterball Kielbassa – $2.99 – I was charged $3.79 = I was over charged $0.80
    Organic Bananas – charged 1cent more per lb. = over charge 1 cent total.

    Giving this approx $11.62 over charge.
    Now to be fair – I got $10 off my first order, and for some reason because of a combination of Lipton/Pepsi products IC gave me another $5.00 credit on the order.

    All in all – my order totaled almost $49.00 and their estimate was $60 before the $10 was applied.
    So, in reality, their discounts covered their over-charges. LOL

    The REAL PROBLEM I had was that I ordered at approx 3:30pm – with an estimated delivery time of 5:30pm. The shopper did my order, in communication with me… various things such as they didn’t have the flavor of yogurt I wanted, and asked about substitutes. That type of thing. She completed the order, but never delivered! Next thing I knew.. someone else was starting my order. Seems no one knows why. My order was delivered at 7:22pm. It wasn’t the fault of the 2nd shopper, however not a good first time experience.

    My Lowes Foods offers delivery for a $3.99 charge. Next time I will try that, and get the actual sales prices.

  67. I love having My groceries delivered. No catching a cold from the cart. No sweating like a dog in the Texas heat. No running into my neighbors who want to talk for five hours in the store.

  68. I shop at Aldi it costs $120. The same items through Instacart with a delivery fee, delivery tip, another “fee” and inflated prices costs $290.

    Yes, you read that right.

    Do NOT shop through instacart. The delivery person/shopper will substitute out with crap that you really don’t want because they are too lazy to look for the items, and will just claim everything was out of stock. (When I shop there 99% of the items are in stock.)

    Walmart delivers for free or nominal fee after first 3 deliveries, does not jack up rates, and is accountable to their own store.

    So, yeah, drive 3 minutes and shop at Publix. Though, they are renowned for just jacking up prices in store for the sake of it. If you value your money, I personally would shop elsewehre, unless you have a lot of coupons, or like truly fresh produce and truly good deli meat and fresh baked goods.

  69. You make absolutely zero sense or point here. Your mom taught you how to shop? We so did all the shoppers for InstaCart. They know better than to buy expired meat and items. That’s just a lazy insult to shoppers. You don’t like the markups? How do you think the company makes money?! You still get the BOGO, you still get savings, this argument is petty. Since you are so proud of working from home and all that jazz, you are right InstaCart is absolutely NOT designed for you. What a waste of an article.

  70. I ordered today for the 1st time and was extremely disappointed. The replacements were terrible (they substituted lactose free ice cream with regular – seriously? and environmentally friendly paper cups with red solo cups)! There were quite a few things I ordered because they were BOGO, and they were replaced with items not on sale. And if I had time to sit around and check for hours for updates in my cart, I would have gone to the store myself! One of the main reasons I ordered today is that I was super busy and wanted to get a cooked chicken for dinner for my family, Guess what didn’t come? The second important thing (and I checked for before placing the rest of my order) was computer paper that my daughter needed for tomorrow morning. You guessed it…no paper.

    And it honestly never occurred to me that the prices would be jacked up by Instacart, and I guess I missed whatever fine print there may have been. I suppose that may have been naive of me, but with all the charges and tip, I didn’t think that was a possibility, too. And I’m not complaining about the tip; I worked as a waitress for many years.

    In addition, I was not upset that my groceries came hours late, because the weather wasn’t great, but I wasn’t happy that they came with the ice cream I didn’t order melted all over everything. Unlike some others, I did not get a receipt, which seemed a little shady to me.

    Live and learn, but I will not recommend this service to anyone I know.

  71. I can appreciate your sentiments – I would also never use a service like this for similar reasons. However, I am really shocked by your tone throughout many of these comments and do feel as if you’ve overblown the issue on point #2. The website does state that there is a higher price for many of the stores – so to put them side by side with the sales flyers from the store and presenting it as some sort of suspicious activity is really sensationalism.

    I did read the entirety of the article – and many of the comments because I was curious about the negative experiences you referenced. A lot of people in the comments had positive experiences, too! (Somehow left out of the article, haha) But really, your tone in these comments is very condescending. You’re not the beacon of rationality and the picture you paint by your response to people who simply said they felt you were misrepresenting the company is not a pretty one.

    I’m sure you will tell me that I am also being irrational and respond with a sarcastic jab at something I said – but I really urge you to read through your responses and evaluate the tone you’ve used. I liked the article but after seeing how you treat readers who help drive your traffic – and I’m certain income – I would not read another one from your site.

    1. Thanks Rowan.

      I appreciate the response, and you’re entitled to feel how you do…I don’t control that.

      However, if people want to come to someone’s site and tell them that their opinions aren’t valid, or that they have no right to feel a certain way like some of the detractors I think you are referencing, then they need to be able to take what they dish out.

      I do disagree with you on two points–one being that I don’t mention the positive experiences. I’m not doing a review of the service, just my impressions of what I experienced as I browsed the site and my gut reactions to the services offered. And, I clearly state on multiple instances that these are my thoughts based on my individual situation and that everyone should form their own opinion. If I was really trying to bury the company, don’t you think I would delete all of the positive comments rather than thank them for their input wish them continued positive experiences?

      The second point you made which I disagree with is the tone. Are there some sarcastic responses? Absolutely! Are they directed at the people who made logical, fully explained objections to my issues? Absolutely not! They are directed toward those who specifically failed to read the entirety of the piece, or simply were attempting to attack a different viewpoint. I’m not going to apologize for that, but I will thank you for your time and wish you well in your endeavor to find people to read who fit your sensibilities.

  72. Just placed my third order and today was the first time the delivery person left the receipt in the bag. Instacart charged me $150 for just the groceries and the receipt showed the total being $118. I emailed Instacart to ask where the $40+ they plan to charge me for went. Positive note, I had the weekly sale circular and shopped primarily for items on sale. All sales matched up except the buy two, get three free chips. While I hate grocery shopping with three year old twins, $40+ bucks is a little much for my budget conscience family. I think I’ll try Walmart pickup next time depending on the response to my email.

  73. I see what your saying, but how do you think they make money? Also the shoppers and drivers are being paid crap. So you ranting and raving about this makes people tip less. Thanks.

    1. I doubt that my *giving opinions based on my specific situation* is going to deter people from tipping people who deserve it.

      How do I know?

      Because I tip 20% or more at restaurants when I see tons of people say that double the tax is more than enough if at all. And a lot of other people do the same even with a lot of negative thoughts out there.

  74. Oh grow up lady. You live in a box. There are handicap people and elderly that DEPEND on services like instacart. Instacart people are helping them. In return maybe the one who has to shop for instacart is struggling and not rich. So instacart benifits many in MY opinion. And im greatful we have them and everyone gets help. P.s. not every shopper is a idiot some have extensive knowledge of food and other products more so than you or the customer. Cheers

  75. Ok I have been using instacart and am very upset with the price. Let me say to begin with they are not suppose to leave the receipt in the bag I’m told because it confuses us, lol. No confusion here. My groceries are always taxed so while looking at the paper receipt and the receipt from instacart i noticed I was taxed twice. I called them and after talking with them told them I would no longer be using their services because they couldnt explain the discrepancy between the two other than to say that the store put it in there. The difference was almost $20.

  76. I have used Instacart and have been an Express Member for a year now. I WONT be renewing the membership after it ends this month. I use it basically because I’m a “lazy millennial”… ha but really- I HATE grocery shopping, I always put it off and end up spending too much eating out. I’m a single professional, I work night shift with long hours and work in long blocks of days on with long blocks of days off. It’s just hard to get into a routine. I like fresh salads and fruits, and in order to keep these types of foods in the fridge that means grocery trips a couple times a week. That being said, for me, it actually saves some money even with upcharges, and I eat a bit healthier using a grocery delivery service.

    I liked the different options of stores available on Instacart, how user friendly the app and site are and that most of the shoppers were decently friendly. I did not like the things already mentioned on this post in addition to, the delivery times always being messed up. Several times my order was wayyy earlier than the time slot I requested and I was either sleeping or totally not expecting anyone. Shoppers don’t generally leave things on your doorstep (even when I make a note for them to do so), and they have interrupted me sleeping or caught me in a bad time due to this issue. I understand that they don’t close or conceal bags, so it probably is best to hand them directly to the customer, however that isn’t best for me all the time.
    I also have had shoppers cancel items that are clearly always in store (ie Lawry’s seasoned salt) and I don’t know why. Maybe they didn’t think to substitute with another brand or package size? Instacart doesn’t have any real answers when I complain, they just say sorry and give me $5 towards my next order. What is the point of getting groceries delivered if items are always missing or substituted wrong? I end up going to the store myself and getting what was missed.
    Shoppers are inconsistent, some are very thorough and communicate (almost messaging too much) during their shopping and some don’t communicate or try to substitute well. I feel bad, I know these are regular people trying to work, I pretty much always give 5 star ratings, as many shoppers have expressed how bad a poor rating is for them -and I tip well, but this service could improve so much, especially for how much we are charged.

    I’m going to look into other services, including Amazon Prime since Amazon has great customer service and they conceal/close bags and drop them off at your door. Customer service and convenience have to be #1. Sorry for the rant lol.

  77. I am 76 and dont drive. I like delivery service. Dont buy meat though. It’s just grab and go. I am also having things shipped to me from Walgreens pharmacy. Great. Just not medications.

  78. I use it regularly and have no problems. You can put notes for the shoppers if you like. You would be foolish to think that there is no cost for this convenience, you are paying for convenience after all! The shoppers do not work for free, and it has helped when people are ill or elderly who don’t want to go out. Many people enjoy the service, and there is an easy solution for those who don’t: go yourself.

  79. Just went to Costco in person after reading this article. I am incredibly grateful for the service of instacart; however, read in the comments that it was probably not worth my reasons for going. I can now compare the prices in my instacart order with my receipt within 1 hour of each other. It was about $.50 to $1.20 more for each item. Plus some fees that I couldn’t quite see that made the order more and then the tip (well-deserved)…it would have been about $40 more for a $220 order that I paid in the store.

  80. You have EVERY reason to not use Instacart. Every time I use it something goes wrong. I’ve had shoppers forget items I ordered even though it says they purchased it and when I asked for a refund from Instacart they tried to give me a credit instead of just refunding my money. This last time the “shopper” never delivered my order and never even tried to contact me to tell me there was a problem. I talked to Instacart and they said they would refund my money, but a week later and I am still waiting on $6. I think that is how much the service fees and taxes, but if I’ve been told the full amount will be refunded, the full amount should be refunded. I will NEVER use Instacart AGAIN!

  81. I tried Instacart a few times. Prices on the site have markups I’m not crazy about. I can’t find an option for 1-hour deliveries. Some options are 2 hours or longer. Today no delivery is all I can see. Fee went down, but fee is mandatory, tips still optional. I have options to not replace, pick my own replacement, or let them choose it. I get texts from my shopper, and I get texts when the delivery is on the way. Can decide tips before or after delivery. I prefer the after option. I tried other delivery from my store and theirs was less user friendly than Instacart is. My store had late delivery drivers, no text options from my shopper, hard to do replacements with them. So I do get more service for my fees and mark-ups on Instacart than the same from the store delivery service. Their service, tip goes to driver and it only showed a tip before delivery option. I am going to try Burpy now. I really appreciate the Instacart website, ease of use with texting and with emails. I didn’t need to play phone tag at all. I walk, use the bus, rides with friends, sometimes taxi or Uber. No kids to deal with. I hate crowded stores and waiting in lines, or carrying extra bags on the bus. (Not much room on busses and it’s not cool to block the aisle with carts and bags full of shopping.)

  82. Added note…it is NOT usual to get the printed receipt the store gave the shopper, it is usual to receive the Instacart receipt, of mark-up prices, from Instacart. I can find it on the Instacart website, and they usually email it as well. One shopper handed me my groceries with the printed receipt from the store. If you shop from them expect only the non-printed one. The difference from the printed one and the Instacart one was about $10 in mark-ups overall.

  83. I used instacart several times after my husband had heart surgery. I cancelled when I had to ask the delivery girl for the receipt from Vons which I always checked against my instacart order. Orders which should not have been on my Vons receipt were there. I could not speak with someone from instacart, but I did speak with our local Vons, and they conformed the items which should not have been there which I believe the instacart shopper added to my order at a self service register (confirmed by Vons) and then kept for herself. This is something that I’m sure is happening with other buyers which they don’t catch unless they check their Vons’ or other stores’ receipts against their instacart orders.

    1. If anyone sees this, how does that work? How can the customer pay for something that does not show up on the Instacart receipt?

  84. Instacart is just a scumbag greedy company in general. They mark up all their items (I’ve seen fish & meats marked up almost double), charge a service & delivery fee on top of that… And then pay their drivers peanuts to deliver it. For example a driver who shops will get a job $13.49 for 2 in store shop/deliveries of 45 items ($8.00 from instacart & $5.49 tip from customer) & instacart expects you to drive 12mi to deliver to 2 different locations. So instacart pays this driver $8 for atleast 2 hours of work because it takes atleast an hour to shop and enter all those items & then (during rush hour) deliver to 2 locations in traffic for an hour. They pay their in store shoppers $10 an hour, but You’re offering me $8 for 2 shops/deliveries making it $4 an hour? Or for delivery only… 3 deliveries, 15+ bags, 18mi… $7.89 ($5 from instacart & $2.89 customer tip). So I have a 20% acceptance rate. Towards the end of the night when drivers are signing off and orders sitting on the shelves all day they start to offer much better pay because nobody will accept that delivery. Im sure there are idiots who will work for anything who take some of those jobs… Otherwise they would stop sending cheapskate jobs. They RAPE their drivers… but they wouldn’t have a business without them. Other issues… They make peoples orders 7 hours in advance to sit on delivery shelves where other drivers who are dumb shuffle things around & items get lost so if you correctly deliver you can still get penalized because items in your bags went missing. That also happens because some of the in store shoppers goof up but same result… It effects my tip. Thats also odd because I’ve had full service orders where Im asked to shop at a store with 4 in store shoppers & full shelves… Why aren’t they asking me to deliver anything already made up (that I’ve seen on shelf for hours now) because they want to get every penny they can with their stingy billions already. Don’t pay the people that make it run though. I hope drivers start leaving the actual receipts in the bag so they can see the crazy markup & switch to Amazon prime. They never have a good explanation of how they tally up how much to pay which is why Instacart is currently being sued for bad wages & stealing tips. They recently paid drivers for shorted tips in a bulk pay as damage control & said they made a better pay structure. Before the lowest I’d get offered was $10 now they’re offering $6 & $8 for shop/deliveries. Even worse… that was the end of my dealing with them. GREEDY SCUMBAGS. They rape their customers drivers alike… people need to quit their service altogether. They could still make money and be fair, they just want it all & now so they’re taking advantage of being one of the only grocery delivery companies. I can’t wait till Amazon partners with more grocery stores besides wholefoods. Instacart will go in to debt and everyone will be happy.

  85. I just tried Instacart shopping from Publix. It was a very nice experience. Every item was to my specifications. The website let’s you leave instructions and you can choose an alternative if your item is out of stock. Or you can just not choose one. The specials were great. First delivery was free. Online shopping was easy. Checkout was quick. The delivery guy was a nice young man. No cash passed hands. All online. Even the tip. The items were all fresh and nice. When you’re stuck at home…. This really helps. I live in Davie, FL. I can’t vouch for other areas.

    1. That’s awesome Gina!

      I’m happy you were able to have a positive experience using the service. Hopefully you keep on that way ?

  86. When you’re disabled, grocery delivery is crucial to your well-being. Instacart is also monopolistic. There are no other comparable services in my area. So they can have the crappiest service, and they don’t care. I have had many errors in deliveries, and worst of all, deliveries that never showed up. Then there’s no one you can call and talk to. It’s hard to access any information on their website or app regarding customer service. Meanwhile, your day is ruined because you planned things around getting those groceries. You have to send an email or comment in their app. They may or may not ever get back to you. Recently I had a no-show delivery, and had to send numerous emails before getting a response. It took even more emails to convince them that this was unacceptable and they should give me a refund and a credit.

  87. I wonder if the size of the upcharges is dependent upon your store and your area. ‘ve been doing Aldi Instacart often and yes there is an upcharge on many things – but not EVERYTHING. Aldi 85 cent loaf of bread is still 85 cents and$1.89 a pound chicken is still that – and there’s a few other regular items like that. Many Aldi items are marked up – but 10-20 cents a pop, not 40-50 cents. So, for me, it’s so much easier to have instacart shop for me while I work from home and my 2 year old naps. I had one Aldi shopper leave my receipt and I think in total, the upcharges were only $3 total – then with my $7 tip (and if we want to add $1-$2 of my monthly subscription to express, since i order multiple times per month) – it’s still much less than I make in an hour working at home.. and I get to continue working.

    As a side note – I order from Giant as well – the mark ups are a little more than Aldi – more like 20-30 cents a pop. Once I took advantage of a “spend 20, save $5” promotion Instacart had going on and the shopper accidentally left me the receipt which was actually more than my Instacart total (not including tip). And while that isn’t the norm, obviously, the upcharges aren’t as high for me as you mentioned. Again, not sure if this has to do with the store or my location or the fact that this article is a year old.

    As for quality – I haven’t really had any issues yet. Aldi’s produce is hit or miss and when it is a miss, my experience is that shopper don’t buy it. I’ve had two shoppers actually tell me that the produce was bad and that is why they refunded me.

    All that said, if I was in your shoes, I’d probably wouldn’t use it either. In my life, though, getting two things done at once (shopping and working; or shopping and taking my kids to evening activities, etc.) is amazing.

  88. With stores like Kroger, Walmart, Sam’s Club and more now having in-store pick up where you can order online and pick your groceries up I don’t see why a company hasn’t emerged that just picks up those orders and delivers them (unless one has and I’m not aware of it) . That way the stores employees are doing the shopping and saves the delivering agent the time and hassle of shopping and you (the purchaser) are in control of the pricing and if there are any issues it falls back on the store because their employees are the ones that did the shopping. All the deliverer has to worry about is picking up and delivering.

  89. I have never used Instacart for grocery delivery, as it’s not available in my town yet, but I am a Shopper for Instacart and a friend of mine ordered something through IC and I shopped it for her. As Shoppers we are never allowed to give customers the receipts, we are required to keep them for our records, but I let me friend see the receipt and compare it to her order through IC. ?
    Yes, you pay a delivery charge and you also pay more per item, but that’s because (1) you are paying for the convenience of not having to go to the store, (2) you are paying for the Shoppers time and mileage in that delivery fee, and (3) IC Shoppers get paid for mileage and also per item that we have to pick, so an order with 70 items will pay more then an order with 20 items, but we also get paid extra if the item is heavy. We get a certain amount to pick a bag of lettuce but we get more to pick a case of bottled water.
    Of course the price for a delivery service is going to be more then going to the store yourself, convenience comes at a price. ?

  90. I wanted to return 3 items from my Instacart purchase (associated with Wegmans). I went to Wegmans to return the items. Wegmans would not help me and said I had to either install the app, call or talk to the Instacart people in the store. I did call. I also waited for the Instacart people in the store who could not help me. But they did stay with me while I waited on the phone for 40 minutes to get a refund. I will not be using Instacart again.

  91. Wow… your article is extremely biased and your continuous negative replies to dispute the commentors that are trying to correct you are purely confrontational. I will provide a review as a former customer and shopper.

    As a customer, I used to complain about the quality of items, early arrivals, late arrivals, and now I highly regret doing so. Now, that I think about it, I was probably a nightmare to shop for. As a Shopper, I wish I could go back and tip my Shoppers more!

    As a Shopper, we pretty much do this service for free or literally just dollars, when you account for gas, wear and tear, and the person’s time. Most batches are $9-$15 dollars and the order, from acceptance to finish, can take 30 mins to an hour plus! Don’t get me wrong, there are good days where the stars perfectly align: easy orders, easy checkout, no high-rise or secured apartments, no gated communities, customers assist with unloading their large 50+ items orders, etc.

    The quicker that shopper can close your job, the better their odds to get another and maximize their shift earnings. We don’t get a full que of orders and very rarely receive more than one small order at once. We literally get one at a time and will not receive another one until the groceries are in your hand and batch is closed out.

    You’re complaining about “double-dipping”, but you clearly DO NOT have a business background or mindset. The store/chain has to pay Instacart a small fee to partner with them, thus boosting their sales, and in doing so that price is reflected on to HOW THEY PRICE THEIR ONLINE ITEMS… not Instacart. Add up all of these pennies here, pennies there in combination with the service fee and the cost for Instacart to run a platform, refund customers for complaints about a dented box, or too ripe of a banana, THEN PAY ITS SHOPPERS… and you really think that is a fair wage for someone doing you a service???!!?? Oh, the entitlement! This is why Shoppers are not supposed to give customers the receipt…this is policy! Only a select few stores require us to scan the receipt for the customer, such as CVS or Safeway, because that store sucks up the fee to partner with Instacart.

    As far as bad items, depending on the time of day and the store YOU ARE… I repeat… YOU ARE GETTING THE BEST AVAILABLE ITEM! No one is purposefully picking bad items or that clueless in a grocery store… it is usually what is left. The poor shopper risks not receiving a tip and/or quality batch bonus and a bad review after driving to the store, shopping for your items, waiting in check out lines (if there is no self-checkout), driving to your home, unloading the car, WAITING FOR YOU TO COME TO THE DOOR, etc if the items are not selected or replaced properly! I try to tell customers about the quality of the items, but they’re either not responsive and/or it reduces my tip potential (some customers have it set based on a percentage of the final total or no tip at all) even though I still spent that time running around the store trying to get YOU the best of what YOU want! I used to just refund the items and let the customer know in the app, as I personally would not want bad produce, but a non-responsive customer complained on me because they weren’t received! The audacity… all because she couldn’t just check her phone here and there as I was shopping. Then, she chose a store that’s not even known to have the freshest selections, like Shoppers.

    Your comment somewhere saying that “shoppers should just know what to do” is highly laughable because your entire article is a case of someone that CANNOT be pleased… no matter what! This service is not for the everyday Joe… it… is… a.. luxury service! Not a service of entitlement! If you have to pinch pennies, this is not the service for you (except in cases of the elderly and disable). If you’re extremely fickle, THIS IS NOT FOR YOU! Those that are complaining about significantly different totals must be confused by the temporary hold, which accounts for items/quantities being more expensive (i.e.; due to weight) or if a customer decides to add-on (usually when you’re in the dag on checkout line). For example, if you ask for 1lb of bananas, but put in the comments six bananas… that averages to 2lbs and costs more money. (I’ve shopped enough produce to learn this trick).

    So, why do I even do Instacart? I am using Instacart with multiple delivery platforms (I personally don’t enjoy giving lyft/Uber rides for hours) to pay off debt to purchase a bigger home and continue my love for traveling. My heart absolutely breaks for those that need this to make a living and then be treated with such dehumanized indignity. I try to reach a goal daily so I can go home and enjoy my family. Not spend an hour in the grocery store and driving a long ways for only $15. Not every shift is bad. Some days I have really sweet shifts and customers that are absolutely heartwarming. Will I continue to use Instacart as a customer? Absolutely! But now that I know how it works I will:

    1. Make sure that “I” have set and specific replacements set for each item.
    2. Leave comments on my desired quality of specific items, such as produce (i.e., “no dented apples…refund if quality is not good… milk with an expiration at least a week out”).
    3. Leave clues for tricky organics and rare items.
    4. Tip 20% of my quoted total regardless of items being refunded or my final total. Just as, I would NEVER EVER punish my waitress at a restaurant because of hiccups in the kitchen.

    1. Hello Kay!

      I do appreciate responses of people with both positive and negative experiences as well as people who work for/with IC. At the risk of sounding “confrontational” your response is similar to so many of the other commenters who are “trying to correct me” in your own words.

      I’m only going state two things:

      1. This is not a review of the service, and nowhere do I use that word…and, it’s not that “I can’t be pleased” as you put it, since this is simply an opinion piece on why I will not use the service based on the factors I mentioned. It’s no different than people who say “this is why I won’t lease a car” or “why I don’t want to own a home”. Everyone has opinions one way or another.

      2. I’m not saying that–and I never say–that IC shoppers are bad. I said that I don’t trust people in general and that is based on my own observations while shopping. I even had a conversation at a local store when I stopped to thank the stocker for checking the eggs as he put them out and when the convo turned to the subject he said that as an employee even he notices people just grabbing items off the shelf with out inspecting them –meat, eggs, dairy it doesn’t matter.

      I wish you luck on the new home front ?

    2. You need to think about what is fair compensation for somebody driving to the grocery store and taking an hour out of their time to shop for you and use their own personal car to deliver to your house. I need to add here that some of you dont live that close to the store. Some atleast 10 miles away. Plus a company like instacart need to make a profit running the company on top of that. $5.00 dollars isnt fair compensation for that. Thats a joke. 20.00 to 25.00 dollars maybe fair compensation for that? The people here want something for nothing including the person that wrote this. Instacart is a business not a nonprofit organization. I’m ticked off that you think you should pay so little for this service. As an instacart shopper I feel like you think I should work for free.

  92. I’ve used instacart several times and it went OK but I cannot use it for Costco. The markup didn’t seem so bad with places like Publix but Costco is a different story. I pay for membership but it don’t count with instacart even though they try to pretend it does. Costco is farther away and would like to get it delivered sometimes. I put 5 packs of the chicken I normally buy and it was $40 more than inside the store.

    So, with a $40 increase on just 5 items I stopped even looking. Its kind of a insult to members, them claiming to have same day delivery so they can appear to be offer the service. So instacart is kind of useless overall in my opinion.

  93. I initially had the same reservations as you, but gave in since I recently had surgery. I was homebound and couldn’t go anywhere for a few weeks. Instacart has been amazing. I receive real time notifications and when there’s an item that’s not available, the representative will text me a picture with an alternative choice. Since I have the instacart express account, it allows me to deliver to multiple
    locations so that family members can piggy back off the account. The express account is a $99 yearly fee. It includes free unlimited deliveries up to $35 or more and you aren’t required to tip. If needed, they will even help you stock your fridge up. My groceries arrive within 2 hours and are in great condition. I’ve never had an old or wilted batch of veggies or fruits.

    1. I’m sorry, you’re not *required* to tip? Of course, no one is ever required to tip anywhere, but in this country, it is definitely part of utilizing the labor of someone in the service industry. Instacart shoppers are independent contractors. They pay for their own equipment, gas, car maintenance, and must cover their own employment taxes. You having a membership doesn’t affect the amount of money that shopper is paid by Instacart. They will be paid the same $7-$9 base pay. If they spend more than 45 minutes from store to door shopping for your food, they are making less than minimum wage. Absolutely none of your membership fee goes to shoppers. Please tip your shopper!

      P.S. Please don’t come at me with “If you want a living wage, get a different job.” What I hear when people say that is, “I recognize your job needs to be done, but I think whoever does that job deserves to live in poverty.”

  94. Instacart GLITCHES????!!!!!!!!! TOTAL UNDERSTATEMENT!!!! I have spent HOURS over last 3 days trying to successfully CREATE AN ACCT!!
    I get a page sayimg “Sorry, something was broken” I’ve TRIED a password reset over a dozen times and STILL can’t get past the login screen!!!!

  95. What I liked: 1) not having to be inside a crowded store with screaming kids, people moving around aimlessly. For *me*, it’s the most difficult aspect of grocery shopping. 2) live updates from my shopper. In fact, while updating my order after submission, i deleted the items but wasn’t able to add because the shopper started the process. We communicated via IM/texting on instacart page and she was able to pick up deli subs for me that weren’t on the order. 3) It asks for approval on substitutes unlike walmart grocery pick up.

    What i didn’t like: 1) prices are definitely higher than in-store. 2) shoppers don’t take the same care to pick out veggies. It’s not an issue so much with other items. I’d assume common sense dictates one doesn’t pick the biggest and softest english cuke or the most giant radishes. It clearly means they are over-grown and will lack in flavour. Also, one would also assume the firmest cuke is the goal. Nope. Got the biggest radishes and mushiest cuke in existence 3) after free trial, 99$ annual fee is too steep as much as I enjoy the convenience of it.

  96. I have used it recently due to surgery and not being able to drive. I appreciated being able to get food BUT it was expensive. I used it three times and out of the three shoppers two of them shopped perfectly for me… even doing a great job picking fruit and veggies. The one guy did horrible and brought me things I wouldn’t have picked… like seeds in the grapes, etc. One of the shoppers offered to put my food away which I thought was sweet since my arm was in a cast. All and all it is a great service for emergencies but I wouldn’t be able to afford it on a weekly basis. And yes you are right… the food is more expensive than in the store. For about 15 items my bill was over $50! Ridiculous but convenient.

  97. I have a comment not really related to Instacart, but the fact that you seem concerned with non-perishable goods expiration dates. Expiration dates are basically meaningless on non-perishables. They have nothing to do with the safety of the food, only potential effects on quality past that date. If you are throwing non-perishables out simply because they are beyond the expiration date, you’re wasting food.

    1. This is so true. I volunteered at a food pantry for the needy for several years. The man from the state who came to check us out said that the government guideline for pantries was to give out canned goods up to a year past the date. (Although I personally know they are often good much longer.) There was also a grace period allowed on dairy, but I forget how much (Again, I can vouch that they don’t instantly spoil when they reach the suggested date.) The only thing the government allowed no variance on was baby food. A lot of food is needlessly wasted. Nature gave us our senses for a reason. If you open something and it has any change in odor or appearance, pitch it. Rotate your stock as you store. If you see a can leaking, absolutely throw away. (This will usually be something acidic, like tomato products or pineapple, etc.)

  98. How difficult is shopping? Once you’ve been to a place a few times, don’t you pretty much know the layout? I’m in and out in 20 minutes when I shop, and I’m shopping for a family of five. Like others have said, I’d pay a delivery fee and a service fee, but an upcharge on every item?! Give me a break.

  99. I use it, and feel the exact same way as you. I have a newborn baby and it’s just so hard right now to have the time. And with measles where I live (don’t get me started), we can’t bring our baby out in public as he’s not old enough to get vaccinated. I look forward to not using it, but until then, I’ll bite the bullet.

  100. I have used Instacart three times and found it very good. Time and effort saver, also could get my groceries when needed. I have to wait for transportation otherwise. Also saves me from going to store, choosing items, checking out, loading car, driving home, lugging into house, whew!! Worth the charge.

  101. I found this because I just submitted my first instacart order 5 minutes ago and am looking around for more info. I immediately noticed higher prices, but I’m at home with a chronic illness making it impossible for me to currently leave the house and my husband is out of town so in order to get the basics I need (crackers, ginger ale, etc.) this was the best way to go. I found codes for free service fees, delivery, and a $5 off coupon so it may have balanced it out. It won’t be something I use often, but I definitely can see how in a pinch, or for those who can’t leave the house for situations like I’m currently in, it’s a blessing.

    I completely agree with you produce and meat reasons though – not sure I’d trust anyone to pick out my produce. Heck, I’m not always the best at picking them out but at least then I can blame myself when they don’t taste the greatest.

  102. With the price of gas, car insurance, car payments…you expect someone to do your shopping AND deliver your order without getting a decent reimbursement for their work? How is anyone supposed to make a living nowadays? Instacart shopppers don’t get any guaranteed pay or benefits, and pay all their expenses out of their own pocket. To assume their shoppers don’t care about doing a good job is very presumptuous. I have been grocery shopping with my mom since I was 4 years, so I have probably have more experience picking produce & meat than most people, as I’m 48 now. I take pride in doing a good job and making sure I get the freshest & accurate orders filled.

    1. Hi Karen.

      I’m sure you are an excellent shopper but you are taking something general personally. It’s like me getting upset when people say “you don’t need to pay for an accountant to prepare your tax return because it’s not worth the money”. They are general statements not speaking to any one specific person.

      Take care ?

      1. No…that’s not my point…my point is that if you require a service, whether it’s an accountant or a shopper, you should expect to pay for the person’s work

        1. Ok, point taken.

          But then you miss my point–I’m fine paying a fee, or a tip, or a membership cost, but not all three (on top of the jacked up prices). For me specifically it’s just not worth the costs.

          For context, I usually tip 20% at restaurants so it’s not an issue of me being “cheap”, just choosing what costs are worth it for me to incur.

  103. I have kids and live in the suburbs, a good 15 minutes away from at least one of my preferred stores (that Instacart coveres), so I guess I was easily suckered into signing up for Instacart last November. I have had such regret about it that I canceled my service about a month later. However, since you pay for a year, I can technically still get free grocery delivery (over $35) and sometimes still do, like tonight. I have had many bad experiences, mostly ranging from late delivery (they promised 1-2 hour delivery, sometimes it takes until the next day, and they’re NEVER within the window), rude and belligerent/lying drivers (lying about when they leave the store, where they drove before coming to my house, all of which is pointless because I’m tracking them via the app and KNOW they’re lying), rotten or poor quality food, replacements at a much higher price point than I’m willing to pay, replacements of a far different par or quality (e.g. conventional for a requested organic item), etc etc etc etc. Most of the drivers are men, a little too friendly…I’ve gotten to where I only order it when I know my husband will be home. When my subscription runs out in November I’m never renewing, nor will I be considering any other grocery delivery services. I’m moving into the city hopefully later this year, so that should take off some of the pressure I feel when organizing a shopping trip. And as the kids get older and my husband’s work hours get more regular, maybe I’ll be able to return to the joy of shopping myself and doing it correctly. Anyone who hasn’t yet signed up for Instacart, be warned. You may regret it.

    1. “sometimes it takes until the next day”
      Do you tip well? Or even at all? If you order a lot of groceries and don’t tip adequately, the shoppers will pass on the order. They’re independent contractors, not employees so they get paid per order. Instacart doesn’t pay them very well so like a server in a restaurant they’re reliant on tips. Your order will keep getting passed until Instacart will start adding a bonus as an incentive to take it. It will keep getting passed until it gets a high enough of a bonus to make it worth it. Keep on mind that they’re using their own cars, gas, and time to shop and deliver.

  104. had two deliveries. the first one was great–i was totally sold on the service. second one was subpar–the driver seemed offput, the produce was awful, and the bulk food bags were untied and spilled.

    third delivery just didn’t show up. no notification, no call, no apology when i called.

    terrible terrible terrible.

  105. Same experience, reciepts don’t match store to online, prices are inflated. Honestly there are occasions where i can justify the cost: crazy week of travel, returning from vacation, just don’t feel like it… whatever. My frustration is with the lack of transparency. I would not have signed up thinking that pricing was comparable And could have made a more informed decision. Duped!

  106. I’ve been using Instacart for about 6 months now and while I can’t say I LOVE it, I can say I like it and am fortunate to have this service. I have 4 kids, work almost 30 hours/week and don’t have the mental capacity to drive to the store, shop for the items, put them in my car, take them out, put them away…this is all after I put together a list. I’m HAPPY! to pay for this service. It’s one less thing I have to do, and it frees up my time to do other, more important things. Of course the markup is going to be expensive, it’s a service we are paying for…not just the groceries. Instacart needs to make money and the shoppers need to make money or it wouldn’t be cost effective from a business standpoint. I’m not saying I LIKE the markup (who does?!) BUT! I’m happy to give someone else a job and save my sanity. Money can always be made/replenished…time, once lost, cannot. I can see why/how this would turn ppl off from using this service, but I have had nothing but a positive experience w my shoppers and always tip well. So for me it’s worth it. I used to work in a service based industry and it’s NOT easy!

  107. We’re paid to shop and deliver. None of these companies would survive if the contractors didnt get paid. Dont like what you’re paying? Don’t use it. Go shop yourself. Why should contractors get paid any less because someone wants to be lazy then complain prices are higher to pay us and instacart?

    This is for the comments, not the OP. I respect his opinion on why he wouldnt use it.

    1. It’s unfair to all the people who cannot shop because they do not have the physical capability or they have no transportation to generalize and classify all Instacart customers as people just too lazy to do their own shopping. 

  108. I live in Rhode Island, and I’ve used Instacart multiple times by necessity.

    First, I want to mention when you open the Instacart app and choose a store, right below the circle with the store’s logo and name it says “View pricing policy – More info”. Clicking on that link explains the pricing policy for *that* store; not all stores add an upcharge for each item shipped by Instacart.

    Also, you can communicate with your shopper in real time while they are shopping your order, via text. I am in constant communication with whomever is shopping my order. If I order something that may be difficult to find, I tell them where it’s located. If I want to see and approve a piece of meat I’ve ordered, I ask them to send me a picture. The “instructions” field for each item which appears when you place it in the virtual cart in the app is invaluable. For example, if I’m ordering a value pack of boneless/skinless chicken breasts, I request they look for a package that contains the smallest breasts, NOT necessarily a package with the fewest breasts or the lowest total weight.

    By doing these things, I’ve been satisfied with the quality of the goods selected by my shoppers.

    However, the store I use is one that adds an upcharge for each item (not all do. Whole Foods offers in-store pricing through Instacart). That, combined with the Instacart delivery fee, Instacart service charge, AND a tip for the shopper means I’m paying around $130.00 for an order that would cost $100.00 if I were able to go to the store myself. That’s a HUGE difference.

    But…I use a manual wheelchair for mobility. And although I drive, getting out in the snow or heavy rain ranges from “difficult” to “impossible”. So there are times when I have to use Instacart, like it or not.

    But, products and services that enable independence for people with disabilities are often priced so those who would most benefit from them cannot afford them.

  109. I’m a flight attendant. I often fly 15 days in a row and would have to rent a car or uber to/from a grocery store to get fresh food for my trips. Instacart is totally a game changer for me and I love it. If I didn’t travel for a living, now way I would use the service tho.

  110. I used it for the first time this week. Went on the HEB website and saw up to a $2 difference in price on certain items. Never again! I’d much rather drag my kid along like I’ve been.

    1. Just a little perspective. The local market in my little town charges that much more for some items than the stores in the closest city—–with me driving to the store, doing my own shopping, and loading and unloading the car.

  111. So far the instacart service in NYC hasn’t been great. On two separate occasions the shoppers refused to go up 4 flights of stairs with groceries when the instructions in the app clearly said to do so. One of the shopper claimed a BS excuse that she is physically incapable of going up 4 flights of stairs and forced a mother with 2 small children to come down the stairs. My intuition tells me it was a racial hang up on the part of the shopper ( refusing to work hard while being black). She lied about the instructions not being there when the customer rep confirmed that they were. She also lied about the apartment number not given. How did she know which bell to ring then? If you are physically incapable of walking up 4 flights of stairs why are you working as a delivery person? She looked young and abled btw. Another delivery person did not speak a word of English and obviously could not provide a quality service because of a language barrier.He did not even attempt to go up the stairs. I don’t mind tipping, paying extra etc. I do mind rude, lazy, incompetent and unqualified shoppers.

    1. It’s actually not required that they bring it up. The service is actually just to the front door of a house or apartment complex. I never ask them to bring it up for this reason. So if someone does bring it up then it’s their choice to go above and beyond.

  112. I have used instacart twice.
    The first time it was great. The guy made sure he got exactly what I ordered. It was great!
    The second time was today. I would rate today as a flop or way below 1the lowest they had on the survey. I think the shopper had never purchased groceries before! The shopper sent me a text to say Kroger was out of two flavors of my pudding cups. I explained I needed 10 packs of the same Jello pudding cups from the aisle because the offer of 10 for $10. I digress she So she went to the dairy isle and chose four packs of $4.89 pudding. I told her not to get those because of the 10 for ten dollars and to get the get the fudge pudding or another flavor off of the shelf. She bought the dairy ones and Kroger gave me the ones on the aisle shelf at $1 but I paid 4.99 each for the other 4 dairy packs or $19.96. She bought the wrong produce as in organic instead of what I asked for.
    Then she and her friend added a case Coke and an entire box of microwave popcorn for and a snack for their personal groceries.
    My bill was $40 or more than my order. I called instacart and eventually got someone who could call Kroger about the extra costs and then Kroger would reimburse me? Sure! Plus the shopper and her friend used my debit card to buy a few items for themselves!!
    I called Instacart and they said they would investigate and prosecute if needed.
    Going back to Click List bc it is usually correct or they correct it on the spot. Done with instacart!!
    Sorry for the rant but there is nothing keeping the shoppers from buying their groceries with YOUR money!

    1. I would hope that one instance like this gets a shopper fired. Also, if you use a credit card, you can call the credit card company and let them handle it, too. They are very aggressive if anything is wrong. And no one has access to your bank account. So far, I’ve had no discrepancies that were due to weight of produce or due to a substitution. I’m usually more comfortable using PayPal, but there’s no way instacart could operate that way, as they wouldn’t be able to adjust the amount to settle the final order. Unfortunately, there is no other delivery service in this area.

    2. Just an FYI I work for Kroger and you do not have to buy 10 or even 10 of the same item for the 10 for $10. It can be any item in the store that is part of the 10 for $10 and most of the time you don’t even have to buy 10 of anything. The price is still $1.

  113. Instacart is pretty new to our area. They deliver from three stores, two of which I have shopped at a lot. I live in a town of about 2300 people twenty minutes from the nearest city. I was shocked when I found out they would deliver here. My husband has had Parkinson’s for at least 12 years and I can see the time coming when it will be very hard for me to leave him long enough to do serious shopping.
    I usually do a lot of grocery shopping on the way home from the city when we have appointments. Our market here in town doesn’t have reliable produce and doesn’t have all the things we like.
    I’ve used the service three times. The first time was just a test, as we didn’t need anything. I ordered some things that would keep well and some sale items.
    The second time, I ordered a lot of fresh produce and dairy and bakery. When the driver called about a substitution, I was worried that it was a man because not all men know how to buy produce. He did such a good job. Everything was as perfect as if I’d chosen it.
    Yesterday I ordered a BIG stock up from Sam’s. It was the same man and once again, it was a perfect order.
    You can type in any special instructions. I have and they have been followed. Both the drivers have been clean and polite. I love that the order and receipt are immediately available in my email.
    We are frankly using this service some now to try to insure it will be available when we need it worse. I’m 66 and tired. I look after a sick husband. I know I’m paying a little more. (And yes, I DO care about freshness and know how to shop.) I’m at a place in life where I can use a break. I’m willing to pay. I also read in an article today that you can disallow the service fee. The only time it’s been enough I minded was on the Sam’s order, which was over $300. I don’t know if I will ever disallow it. I certainly would never fail to tip the driver. I have always bought something non perishable that would get me free delivery. I would rather pay for merchandise than delivery.
    Some of you who are so critical of the service may feel differently at another stage of life.

  114. Thank you for this post. I’m late to the game, but just used the Instacart service for the first time yeasterday at a Publix. I prefer to shop for myself, but having entertained family all weekend followed by a really full schedule this week at work, I realized I had run out of both time to shop AND anything to eat in the house. I opted for the pick-up service since the store is on my way home and they would bring it to my car.

    My total bill was $88, and would have been $79 if I had shopped myself. However, considering that I didn’t end up doing take-out every night for the rest of the week, I would guess that I actually saved $30-40. The shopper was friendly, reached out to wish me a good week when she was done, and did a great job of selecting fresh produce and dairy (I didn’t have any meat on the order).

    I won’t use it every week, but it’s nice to have a back up plan when time is short.

  115. Yesterday I ordered groceries from Safeway via instacart. The delivery person came on time…super…the added tax, tip, fees etc added$21.00 to the bill! Added to that ugly realization was the actual receipt from the store listing instacart as the shopper. He paid $39.99 for a bottle of whiskey with his card savings. I was charged $45.00 and a higher tax, I live in California and I believe that means they are reselling alcohol. Is that legal??? Anyway, I won’t use them ever again…but a very nice man in customer service listed all the stores you can shop that give you actual store and sale prices. Sprouts is one so I might try that one but OMG the fees!!!

  116. The price difference between the store price and instacart price is what they use to pay their shoppers/delivery drivers.

  117. I wish I could post a photo. I have a prime example of the inflation of their prices. I was PISSED when the shopper “accidentally” left the Safeway receipt. I called and explained that they charged me $50 more than what they were charged at the checkout and Instcart said “He left the receipt?” Um, apparently they’re not supposed to? So frustrating.

  118. Just used it for the last nine! Produce selected was horrible, groceries smelled of menthol cigarettes and my “markup” was $25.23. The delivery person left the receipt in my bag! They paid $138.52 but charged me $163.75. Never again!!!!

  119. Try Dumpling! They have business owners who personally shop every clients order. No random shopper, no rotten produce or expired items. Why worry about what your order will be like with instacart when you can support a local business owner who will meet all your delivery needs! Plus, with Dumpling, customers can have their shopper order anywhere that takes card!

  120. I signed up yesterday and realized the price for raisins at Sam’s club was $2 higher through instacart. It negates any savings my Sam’s club membership gets me, so my reason for using it (to eliminate one of my stops) it’s no longer a reason. I can order grocery pickup at Walmart and save money all the way around.

    I don’t mind paying for a service. I just want to know exactly what that service is going to cost me.

    However, my friend uses it and her shoppers have been amazing! They pick fantastic produce and meats and keep in touch when the store is out of something to see if she wants a substitution.

    It just isn’t right for me.

    1. If you are a Sam’s member, there is a point in placing the order where you can type in your membership number and get the club price. I didn’t realize it the first time. Won’t make that mistake again. Like your friend, I’ve had wonderful shoppers who chose well and called about substitutions.

  121. Okay, all I can say: TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS!!! I used Insta Cart for the first time with Publix. I get a text saying that my order will be delivered at my scheduled time. Time rolls around no groceries. This is after they put a hold on your card for 15% above the cost of your order so I am 215 bucks that I CANNOT USE, And no groceries. No big deal right. I call the help center and they say oh so sorry we will refund the delivery fee and give you ten bucks off your next order. And they will schedule delivery for tomorrow. So, I make sure I am home for my delivery time the next day. Delivery time comes and goes, and they say the same thing so sorry you will not receive your order, there were too many shoppers today. and they were going to tell me this WHEN? So now I call, two days no groceries and still 215 on hold, to cancel. Okay we can cancel IT WILL BE 3-5 business DAYS BEFORE THE MONEY IS REFUNDED. Oh and they say that’s my banks fault. So now I had to go get my groceries (WASTING MY TIME) and I am 3-5 DAYS WITHOUT MONEY DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE. And my hope is Publix used someone who is more competent. Oh and I don’t live in a big city, so no idea what the problem with delivery was!!!

  122. I just now tried to order $16 + change but with tax & instacart “fees” it jumped up to $19 + change! AND they temporarily said they’d charge my card $30! This makes no sense especially since I told the shopper not to replace any items that were out of stock (except for 1 which was nearly a dollar less than the original item I ordered). Now when I first totaled my order, the small print said they’d temporarily charge my card $25 (wish I’d done a screen grab of that!). Next, the only pay option was ApplePay (which I don’t like to use because more than a few times my iPhone has brought up ApplePay when I’m not buying anything but accidentally double clicked the home button – so I don’t like to keep a card on file in there). Anyway, I figured I’d do this order & after I got it, I’d remove my card. BUT after I added my card & went back to the store site to finish my order, the “temporary” charge jumped to $30!! AND my “first order FREE delivery” suddenly became $9.99!! (Probably why the temp charge went up $5.)

    So, needless to say, I cancelled the whole order. I’ll just get in my Prius & drive 15 minutes to get the stuff myself.

    But on a side note: I googled if I could add a tip after delivery because I never tip prior to service & a discussion group said that any tip added before delivery that’s OVER .22 becomes part of the shoppers payment! Yet their website says the tip goes totally to the shopper. But they seem to have forgotten that it’s deducted from what instacart pays that shopper. It seems you are wise, Eric Grasshopper ?! I’m avoiding this scam service all together! Glad I found your blog. ????

  123. My main problem with Instacart is that the shoppers almost never read the instructions. They consistently ignore “Do not replace” and bring wrong food. They oftentimes ignore the request for slicing the bread.

    The shoppers either cannot read, or are short on time to do so. Instacart refunds these mistakes, but food goes to waste. Who is paying for this wasted food?

    I only use the service because one of the supermarkets has fresh food I am used to when I lived nearby, but I moved really far away now.

  124. It’s a luxury service.. the shoppers that haul all the groceries and spending time looking for it needs to get paid. That’s why it cost more than the actual store prices. I work for instacart sometimes and honestly it’s a hard work. especially when customers ordered heavy 20lb bags of ice and cases of water delivered to the 8th floor apartment, going to the stairs before entering the main door , going to elevator and carrying it with your hands. besides no parking spot. It sucks and 75% of customers doesn’t tip. it’s not worth it for shoppers too

  125. Instacart was a lifesaver for me during a year of mobile disability. They add on $30.00 additional dollars without accounting for it compared to the store costs. Since I was unable to get to a store and I needed groceries I had to pay it. Gratefully, I can walk now and save that $30.00. By the way the $30.00 was in addition to the tip paid. It is not fair at all, yet a necessary task for those unable to shop on their own.

  126. I just used Instacart for the first time I ordered 15 items and it was $105 what the Heck I even added my store card for savings it didn’t apply apparently and the service fee was the same about as the time I will never use again

  127. I get that some people don’t mind thy they’re paying more but some instacart shoppers don’t realize that they’re paying a higher price for their groceries, besides the tip they pay for deliveries and membership. Think about it, how does instacart make money?? It’s coming from the customers secretively!

  128. The upcharges on the items are so they can pay their shoppers. Of course it’s not going to be the same price as the store. You’re paying for a service.

  129. I’m with you. Tried it once when I didn’t have time to go to the store. Spent my lunch break ordering to have items replaced without my knowledge. Now I could grocery shop blind folded in Publix and get what I want. I was brought the wrong cheese mix so I drove down and took a photo of the cheese I requested right next to the wrong cheese. Now some things I wouldn’t care about but don’t mess with someone’s cheese blend. Never again.

  130. I have recently became an InstaCart shopper. Yes, they do have the requirements that you said to start working with them, but each shopper has to go through a background check prior to being approved. Yes, when you shop on-line it shows you one price, but when the shopper does the shopping it goes according to what the store is selling it for. If a person has something like a Kroger card, then they still get their discounts when they input the information into their computer. When you first start out shopping it actually trains you as you go along. If you answer the questions wrong, then it will not allow you to continue shopping until you have completed everything correctly. We are required to check the dates on items and are also required to make the best selections. You as a customer are able to make complaints about you shopper and if they do not receive the highest rating, then they do not receive any bonus money. I do not know what it’s like to be one of their customers, but I know what it’s like to be a shopper. To get good tips and high ratings I pick the best items and I get the best deals that I can. If there is a sale going on in the store, then I try my best to take advantage of it. An example would be that one of my customers wanted fresh donuts. They did not have fresh donuts, so I had to find a replacement. I was able to buy 2 different things of donuts for the price of one and my customer was tickled pink. I do agree with you on the stores part, though. If they were supported by more stores would be great! I’m not sure. but the store likely has some type of contract/agreement for each store that it services.

  131. I just got my cart from Costco today, I have the ticket with me and I’m shocked, about to cancel my membership. My Instacart bill was 121 with taxes and the ticket with taxes is 98.92 so I’m paying an overprice of 20% of my shopping? 22 dollars extra, plus the membership? That makes sense to anyone. I use this cause right now I don’t have a car, but looking at this prices I can easily skip the 9.99 monthly membership pay myself an uber to the store and back home with that and save the 22 extra dollars they are charging is way too much. And I complained already and they just tell you the stores mark the prices online… Hmmm but someone else goes to the store and buys everything at regular price so who’s getting the extra money? Plus the membership money? This is just too much for me I’ll cancel membership right away and search for other alternatives.

    1. In this part of the country, we have Sam’s Club, not Costco, but if you shop online with instacart for an order from Sam’s, there is an opportunity to type in your membership number so that you will get the regular member prices. If you check, you may find this is true with Costco. I didn’t realize it the first time myself.

  132. Correctomundo an all counts and points. I have all the same concerns. Who are these people? I’ve written Publix repeatedly, zzzzzz oooooommm, no response, they must be meditating.

  133. I should add, I consider myself a prime target-market Publix customer.

    I want the shopper/delivery person to get a fair shake. I’m happy to pay for that.

    I’m uh, older and I do have a minor mobility problem. I would be happy to pay a higher delivery charge and tip more if I were getting store prices or if I knew what the price would be. I use the online shopping list and specials website two or three times a week; i’d like to tick off a box which says “deliver” and pay however much more, just show me what I am paying for, and no, I don’t want to be subject to blind price increases.

  134. Hey! I just shopped & delivered for Instacart for the first time this week. It was an interesting experience, and by no means an easy job. I drove all over the county for not a whole lot mula (no worries, this is a trial side hustle). The food is definitely more with the service- not every store had every item marked up but some did. I do check each and every item because my pay depends on my customer’s satisfaction, it is how i shop for myself and how I expect someone to shop for my grandma. If you love the service, tip your shopper and leave 5 star ratings! And if not, no biggie, lots of places shop for you and have curb side pick up now. I do all my own shopping with 4 kids in tow and it is hard but worth it for the lessons, convos, and savings. Thanks for this customer insight!

    1. I consider you shoppers life savers. I just ordered from Sam’s using the service today. I like to use Sam’s because if you have a membership number, you don’t pay the upcharge. I was low on produce and the heat index is about 106. I have a disabled husband and sometimes going out is just hard. On a big order, I tip 20% and more on a small order. I live outside the city and I know they could be doing two or three orders in town in the time it takes to come here. I always offer them a can of soda to go. I would never give less than a five star review unless there were a serious problem, and there never has been. I know there is a bonus for good reviews. I visited online in real time about some substitutions and additions. He made one mistake, brought me a tub of on the vine full size tomatoes instead of a tray of campari tomatoes. He’s likely new to produce shopping. I consider this minor compared to how much trouble he saved me. We’ll use them just fine. I’m 67 and can’t tell you how glorious it is to now and then just stay home out of the weather and let someone else take care of this.

  135. I tried this for my home bound mother. The delivery person came in and put the bags on the table in the kitchen but wouldn’t leave afterwards. She told mom all of her woes (for a bigger tip?) and when mom tried to walk her to the front door, she blocked mom from going any further. Only when I called to see if the food arrived, did the Insta-cart person leave. It scared my mom and I won’t be using them again.

  136. I only use instacart when I’m desperate like when my illness kicks up so badly I can’t even drive 8 miles to the store and back to pick up up pre-order grocery order.
    I actually had an order set up at my usual store, then set up the same order through instacart.
    The order itself was 18% more than there was the $10 service fee and the $10 tip. It didn’t help that the only store it’s available at is the most expensive around as well.
    But the thing that really got me going was the constant texting saying what they substituted and blah blah.
    the last thing I want is a relationship with the person picking my groceries.
    I finally discovered you can just say stop and the texts go away…
    Anyway I won’t be doing this very often at all only in emergencieslike now when I can’t drive to the store and my husband is recovering from surgery.
    Otherwise it’s an utter ripoff.

  137. Some items are even higher than .30 to .50. I have been paying double for some items and one item recently was about $6 extra.
    I have had shoppers pick expired milk, eggs, meat etc. I remember I ordered two bags of pretzel sticks; one expired a few days prior and the other MONTHS. I like the convenience but I’m trying to shop less and go bulk shopping at the grocery store and use Amazon more. I feel like I’m paying more.

  138. Man you are PARANOID. Of course not everyone shops like this because it’s a little too much. Sure you want quality food but those “expiration dates” are just to save people from getting sued. They are very much NOT REAL. Every single instacart shopper I have every talked to or worked with is someone who has either lost their job or can’t seem to find a job any where else and this is all they have. They have a house to pay for and kids to feed. And just like they do for their own children, they talk about common decencies like not giving you bruised fruits or not bagging you meats with produce ( all first world problems by the way). You don’t have to shop with instacart. But putting down those who genuinely all they have going for then is grocery shopping and getting paid is even worse. This isn’t a game someone made up it’s a real job people depend on.

    1. You’re so right, Dasiola. About everything. The last young man who delivered to me from Sam’s Club was going to rush off to do deliveries for his other job, delivering for Grub Hub. Many of these people are desperately trying to piece together a living. Two of my other deliverers are a man and woman who are married to each other. I put notes on the form about what I want and I’ve been pleased with the quality of the shopping.

  139. I’ve ordered twice this week. First time, they forgot something.

    Second time, they gave me some of what I ordered, some of what I ordered two days before, and got whole milk confused with low fat. They did give me a credit for the stuff I had already received the day before.

    The shopper sent me a text saying they were out of the ice cream I ordered.

    I was near Publix not one hour later, and there were plenty of them.

    Not impressed. Too expensive, bordering on the incompetent.

    I will say this…I have a feeling I would still save money, even though we live close to the store. Why? Because when you go to the store to get ice cream, bread, and a few other things, you end up impulse buying 5 other things that you didn’t think of when you make a list at home on ONLY order what you need. Stores live by hoping you’ll do that.

    So there is that. Plus you save your time (what is your time worth?), and your gas.

  140. Not having a good experience using them. Like you said I am not trusting the shopper because depending on who you get you may wind up paying more for a replaced item. I am 71 and wanted to use delivery but I am finding that it may not be worth it unless they improve their shoppers

  141. I am an IC shopper and really dont agree with your perception of us Shoppers. Yes there are some sloppy shoppers only in it to make money with little respect for the quality of their overall service However, there are many more who go the extra mile to select excellent products to ensure our customers happiness with their order. Also, there are many individuals that show little appreciation for pur efforts when it comes to tipping. We are doing the shopping and the delivery; please be kind & show monetary appreciation for our efforts.

  142. Instacart is terrible! I was not given a receipt – the young driver/shopper said they are not allowed; I now know it’s because prices are inflamed. Plus, three rotten produce picks obviously beyond expiration, and wild substitutions (each with big price increases atop the .40 .50 per item more on 60% of shop, then delivery, tip – and only at checkout, a service fee showed up – only after paid. So, with store vs Instacart prices, and fees and tip, it was $42.00 more to have a delivery! In this case over 40% for the convenience. Rotten veggies as shopper had no clue (obviously grabbed 1st at shelf) replacements: Bannana Bread became Lemon Cake! Whole Walnuts became, mini packs of walnuts and almonds ($2 more too). Just awful. Never again.

    1. I don’t know what an inflamed price is, but if you’re a Sam’s Club member and Instacart delivers for them in your area, you can type in your membership number and get the regular club price. I’ve never had an unauthorized substitution. They either communicate in real time, or if I’m offline, they call me. I would complain about poor produce. My shoppers have been really great. Your receipt will be in your email.

  143. I am a full service personal shopper and use the Instacart platform to shop for customers. I can see how it may be confusing to general public. Basically, Instacart is a kiosk. It provides a shopping and delivery service. The shoppers, such as myself, are independent contractors and do not work for the store. Instacart is no different than a catalog. The payment made when ordering is to Instacart, not the store where the items are picked up. As a shopper, I receive the order and go shop it. At checkout I used an Instacart credit card. The receipt is for Instacart’s purchase of the items, not the customer’s purchase. In fact, the customer’s credit card is not charged until 3 days later after they have had time to review and report on their order and adjust the tip as well. The stores determine the pricing Instacart has listed. It is an agreed upon amount the retailer has chosen. Some prices are only available in store for sales because if inventory availability. If you order 10 bags of chips on sale and I get to the store and there are only 3 bags left, then I have to refund your money or replace with another type of chip. Those who shop in store are more likely to buy more than the at home customer. For this reason, in store only sales are driven to bring more customers into the store. Someone sitting st home is not going to get all those great deals. Ideally, the shoppers who sign up are expected to be knowledgable and experienced professional personal shoppers and are required to have background checks and know how to handle the shopping experience to a higher standard. Of course we know how to choose the best produce, meats and dairy products and are aware more than most of the expiration dates, package damage and quality of the food item. This is our job. I have been a personal shopper for 25 years and Instacart is a great tool for me to use. My customers love it. Totally worth 9.99 a month for unlimited delivery. Keep in mind, tips are very much appreciated for the hard work we do and make up most of our pay. Instacart has a minimum they can offer us to do a batch and it is $7 an hour and that includes the mileage pay. We use our own vehicles and gas. We shopping at a faster pace and are being timed. Our speed and accuracy and customer ratings determine whether or not we are even offered an order. It is a lot of work somedays so a $2 tip minimum is only $9 pay for doing all the shopping,selecting, scanning, waiting for deli orders, pushing heavy carts around all day, loading and unloading and carrying it all to your door or kitchen and driving wherever you live and then back to the store to start another one. Some orders pay well if they are larger or contain alcohol purchases or heavy items.
    Paying a little extra for your groceries is what covers our little pay for mileage and not much for our time and work. Everyone is getting paid from that minimum $35 order you placed. Instacart gets a cut, I am paid and the items are paid for of course. The more you order, the higher the shopper is paid and more likely to do a lot more for you than if only receiving $9 for it. We also have to pay our own income taxes, expenses, etc as we are self employed. Its not for lazy people. I have many seniors and disabled or moms with a newborn and toddler to haul around. It is a great service and please don’t give up on it. If you have a bad shopper experience you let Instacart know. This is how we keep our shoppers at their best level.

    1. Thanks for letting us know a bit more about how it works. I love having instacart available. It is a great help to me. I have a disabled husband to look after. I want it to KEEP being available, so I place BIG orders every three or four weeks, for anywhere from $100 to $350, never tip less than $20, more for the really big orders, and always offer the person a cold soda or tea to take with them. I want them to think it is worth the twenty minute drive from the stores to my house. I realize they could be doing another order in the time it takes to come to my house.

  144. I actually wish so much that I could use Instacart because it’s so convenient to have stuff delivered. I mean we all know how successful amazon is in getting our stuff to us on time and at a totally reasonable price (sometimes the best on the market). I thought Instacart was going to match their standards but not even close. The prices are ridiculously higher than at the store. I have one item that was 24.95 at the store at 28.50 through Instacart. What a rip off. After I noticed that I ended my trial.

  145. I’m a full service Instacart shopper. Every shopper is going to be different. I have met a few of us while shopping and I can tell some people just don’t seem to care. It’s unfortunate you can’t select the shopper you would like. I have had my customers state that they would rather I just be their shopper. I take pride in my work, even if it is “just grocery shopping.” I shop for my customers like I would shop for myself. I always check dates. I always get the best produce and meat available. I pay attention to small details like crushed boxes or dents in packages. It matters. When I have to substitute something because the store is out of stock of an item, I touch base with the customer through the app to make sure they will be happy with a replacement. My main goal is to make sure the customer is happy with what I bring them. I understand your reservations about putting trust into people you don’t know, but just know that some of us DO pay attention to all the details when we shop for you. Honestly, they should have quarterly reviews of their shoppers to make sure they are doing well and not getting very much negative feedback. Unlikely though.

    1. Hello Breanna!

      Trust me; I’m in no way, shape or form lumping all shoppers into the “bad” grouping. I do recognize that there are good shoppers who put a premium on their customers’ experience.

      And I totally agree with your suggestion–there should definitely be some sort of review process whereby people are cut from the program or given some kind of reward based on reviews. Although, to be honest that also gets a little iffy since people have skewed views and one little thing will cause them to give a bad review even if it was their own fault so what can we do ?

      I appreciate your input!

  146. My main complaints with Instacart are the little fees that they hide in your payment. Every single order has what they call an authorization fee. I call it an “up charge”. I was sick and needed food yesterday. That is the only way I will use them. I am like you in wanting to pick up and inspect my fresh food. So, I placed my order. OK. Then remembered I ended a few more items. You can add items until your delivery person is in the check out line. They did not notify me that they were checking out and that I could not add any additional items. About ten minutes later, a man was at my door with my groceries. It scared me a little because I live in a gated community and he did not call me for the code. I let him in and he put down my order. If he had called to let me know he was about to check out, I could have gotten my additional items. But, now I digress. When he left, I looked at my receipt for $58.57 and saw that I did not get my additional items. My bad. No harm done. I noticed that they upped my bill from $58.57 to $65.00. They call this their “authorization hold”. It is just in case one or more items are priced higher than expected. But, how can this be necessary when they go thru the check out line on their way out of the store? They are supposed to refund you this amount when they obtain the correct amount at the register. But, to my knowledge, they never, ever refund you this small difference. Just imagine what these rounded up amounts add up to in revenue for them? They always round up to to next $5.00. $45, $55, $65, etc. It must be in the millions! Pet peeve number one for me.
    Then, last night, I checked my account to see if I was charged for those few items I wanted to add but couldn’t because I had a lazy delivery person. It looked like my order was “in process”. What?
    I had just gotten my order. I emailed Instacart to tell them I thought my order was being sent twice. Surprise, surprise! Instacart has no phone number for customers. I then called my local grocery store. They said that they were not showing an order currently being shopped in my name. Very rude person. There was a knock at my door with a lady loaded down with my order. AGAIN! Of course, I refused to accept it and told her that I just received my order. I tried calling my local store again. A different person told me that only Instacart can tell if I got a duplicate order. I have been emailing Instacart last night and this morning. They did finally offer to credit me for the first, less expensive order less their up charge. The order that I refused to accept at my door was more expensive because she got the few extra items for me. So now I am out the higher charge for items I did not even get. Of course Instacart would only offer to refund me the cheaper price. This is so crazy. Now my checking account has charges for $65 and $75 for up charges. I get to pay the higher price for groceries I never even accepted. I am out about $18 and several hours of begging for my money to be refunded.

    What a scam these people are running! I will starve before I use Instacart again.

    Sorry for the rant but thanks

    1. They tell you right on the order form that they are TEMPORARILY authorizing an increased amount. This is a good thing, because I almost always end up adding items to my order. The correct charge for the actual order shows up quickly in my email after the order is delivered and I have never had an incorrect charge on my credit card statement.

    2. they screwed up the order, told me (sent me text that i could NOT respond to) it was going to be delayed a couple additional hours, which would be unacceptable as i had to leave for work. i was unable to reach shopper thru text or instacart app and order “accidentally”(?) got cancelled HOURS after i submitted it!!
      Shopper had ALREADY been at store, communicating with me via text about possible substitutions 1.5-2 HOURS BEFORE receiving text notice that delivery time delayed. i WASTED over half an hour on the phone trying to correct this situation and was just told “sorry”. I DO NOT HAVE MY GROCERIES, I WASTED PRECIOUS HOURS WAITING, was told shopper was going to have to return everything he bought over 2 hours earlier back to store ( ????) i have to go to work now and have never been more dissatisfied with an online shopping company!!
      this was extremely upsetting to be treated this way. I do not plan on EVER using this delivery service in the future and plan on letting everybody i know, including the over 150 residents (mostly seniors) in my mobile home community, about this horrible experience which was compounded by the inability of customer service to correct it.
      TOTAL SCAM

  147. I LOVE Instacart !!!! Before I saw this article I was actually adding ALL of my savings for the past/last 18 or so months. I can quote that # of total savings on my 49/50 orders ! I have gotten AMAZING results. I usually rate service 10/10 or 5/5 stars. I can save up to or OVER $100+ per order … Keep in mind I have a massive family and I order for all of us, religiously and have been. I also have 2 young boys and help with my niece, siblings etc. It’s so much easier to do this from my house, customize everything from my phone etc. ***will also add that I was injured 10 years ago and don’t drive*** That is one of the biggest reasons I started using Instacart. I use every single savings I can get from BOTH Publix & Instacart. I try to always get FREE delivery if I can. In short it works for myself and my family. My complaints have been minimal and far between. All in all I estimate that I’ve saved $850-$1,200 in the timeframe I quoted above (yes I could be way off too low or too high, I wont know until I calculate). I will also add that I’ve used multiple cards, half of the stores offered on Instacart and also have had it delivered to different locations (I’ve moved twice). This service is a LITERAL life saver for those like myself (multiple young children, don’t drive), those elderly and/or disabled. I will add a tiny complaint that there’s should be a legitimate running total of savings thus far, that would be AWESOME !!!!!!

    1. Rough numbers:
      • Delivery savings $168.65
      (18 FREE deliveries of $3.99, 12 FREE deliveries of $5.99 & 5 FREE deliveries I set a value of $4.99 on because I’m not sure when the prices switched. I assumed that was fair since it’s in the middle. I paid 14 deliveries)
      • Grocery savings $ $2,546.67 (I drastically underestimated how much I saved !)
      • Grand total of savings: $ 2,715.32 for 49 orders over about 18 months or a savings of $150.85 or so a month.

      ALL IN ALL AMAZING NUMBERS ! I can do better but usually I’m in a rush when I order and/or have children fighting over my phone. I did great considering and hope to do so much better in the following years. ***Note I stated free or paid deliveries because I only had a free trial*** In the next few months I will probably buy a subscription and test the difference of savings !

  148. You forgot about the tip! Rude drivers who demand tips are all over Reddit. And they post (Google, Reddit & YT) that if you can’t tip, don’t use the service. HELLO! I ALREADY PAID $22 in service charge, delivery fee! IT IS RUDE OF INSTACART TO AUTO-TIP. THEY SHOULD DELETE THE TIP BOX! It’s hugely embarrassing and impacting them negatively. My boss doesn’t pay me to drive to the office! Or to touch the office supplies. Or to go get them in the supplies room! WTF??? Instacart needs to pay the drivers their delivery fee. Hello they make $14 an hour, that’s more than my $5.60 an hour!

    Besides that I bought remedies. The 60 pills cost $28. The receipt the shopper gave me said $28 and instacart charged me $40 for them, HELLO! I called and got a refund for the difference. It’s a BIG RIP OFF! And I hate when I get an instore shopper plus a different driver. The instore shopper PUT MY HOT ROASTED CHICKEN in the fridge, even though I told her NO, KEEP IT HOT! How dumb do you have to be!??!?! I constantly get broken bottles/jars, items missing, chicken leg missing (the shopper opened my chicken!!! She stupidly opened it to send me a photo!) and the produce is bad. It’s a nightmare! The worst is those millennials ENTITLED attitude. NO, you are NOT entitled to a tip! PERIOD! Don’t like your job? Get a real job! That’s for all the rude F’s saying “if you can’t pay a tip, don’t shop instacart”. Right back atcha!

  149. I forgot: the worst are the men shoppers. They can’t pick produce, even with NOTES! And did I mention the shoppers who can’t bag?? They not only toss my yogurts around (HELLO, KEEP THEM UPRIGHT: a tossed yogurt breaks, when you open it, it’s ALL RUINED WITH WATER, tastes soggy/disgusting!) , they also put FRAGILE LETTUCE on TOP of my HOT ROASTED CHICKEN! WTF??? Who does that!??! Someone who hates shopping for other people. And don’t get me started on the guy who drove a pick up truck in 100F heat… and put my groceries in the back and came from 40 min away! :-/ I dread the day the disgruntled shopper will put drugs in my food.

  150. After 52 deliveries, I can say Instacart works for me.
    1) I’m 81, live alone, use Microwaveable food, will soon stop driving
    2) Snowbird in MN and FL, same account covers both
    3) You obviously don’t food shop here in MPLS when it is below zero
    and snowing with icy roads in January. Can be life saving

  151. So I use instacart once a week and I use Express. I frankly have checked a few items and they are the same price. For example 1 gallon spring water for $0.99. However we have different stores in my area. I use this for myself I am way too busy to shop or stand in line. I almost never used coupons before never had time to do that. I love the speed – within 1 hour food is at my door. I love the chat which I use to say “please make sure my avocados are ripe” etc. If the buyer messes up I can edit their tip after delivery and rate them lower. I don’t pay for delivery because of express membership which I got for free and so long as my order is $35 or more I don’t pay a penny. Most of my orders are in the $100 range and I don’t see much difference in my overall bill from.when I shopped myself. Some buyers are faster or more accurate than others that’s why I love the ratings. Also I have religious restrictions on my meat so i don’t buy it from instacart, however I have had good luck with fish. I also only buy a few fresh fruits and veggies j.e. apples, berries, onions etc. I haven’t had a picking problem. Listen if you’re like me or my elderly parents carrying groceries up the stairs is worth the $5 tip. This app saves me literally like 5-7 hrs a month which is so valuable to me! Don’t listen to naysayers if you’re busy and stressed this will literally save your life. Now I only shop meat once a month in bulk and freeze. I only ever have to go to the pharmacy and even for that I use mail order. Almost everything else I buy on prime and save so much time. Time is money so next time you calculate make sure to factor that in.

  152. 90% of all customers tip low to the shopper/driver. To all the low tippers, I grab items fast, dont care how it looks, and speed to finish. To good tippers, I make sure they have good items, substitute if necessary, and keep them updated. As a driver, I just want the ignorant people to know, decent tips are at least $10.

    1. Hello Mark.

      I don’t know if you’re trying to troll or are actually being serious. If you are serious, how do you know who is going to tip poorly before they even do so? And how did you come up with your “decent” tip amount–you do realize that different regions, even within a single state have different costs of living which includes tipping service providers.

    2. Mark, I always have a large order and live a fifteen or twenty minute drive from the stores. I am going to need this service more and more. I always tip a twenty. Maybe you can answer something I’ve wondered. When a driver is offered a run on their smart phone, do they see right then where/whom they will be delivering to, and how much the tip will be? I was raised working class and always tip well unless there is a serious reason not to. That said, if you’re not going to do the job well, you really shouldn’t do it at all.

  153. Charged twice for order and First contacted with customer service was wait 24 to 48 hours there will be automatically adjusted nope that didn’t happen. Second call to customer service amount will be used toward your next order as I was told the call center doesn’t refund. Emailed intracart twice no reply. So, I’m not using this application. Beware!

  154. I just used it for the 2nd time. They did not provide a receipt, which I thought was odd. I was mainly concerned because it was tied to my Kroger card and the majority of what I bought was on sale or i had a digital coupon. One of those coupons was free delivery. Anyway, I logged in after the seemingly nice lady dropped off my groceries, to find 9 items I not only didn’t get, I NEVER ordered them! That is right, she bought her own items and I paid for them. I am currently on hold for the 3rd phone call and still have no resolution besides a case number. I will come back with an update.

  155. Being disabled but still drive I have found Walmart grocery pickup a life saver, Instacart prices are insane, loved Publix but they have lost my business, they need a new business platform that follows Walmart.

  156. Instacart was a life saver for me and my family. I am the caregiver for my son. I hurt my back. Then my husband was in bed with gout. We were both on so much pain. Registering was very easy. Made my grocery list and it was delivered in two hours. Have done this several times. We appreciate the service. The delivery persons were so nice and friendly that I increased their tips. They brought my groceries inside and put my water in the garage. I like that I can select items that I have ordered regularly and meats within last price range. I have always had good fresh fruit. Love this service.

  157. I use insttacart often but my situation is different. I’m in a wheelchair and need assistance with getting in the car to go shopping. I get my cat food, cat litter, and water from them. It’s great because they bring it right to my door. I could never do that.

  158. I use Instacart due to health issues and cutting down on tasks to save my energy (long story not go there!). I use Instacart a lot but for Krogers. Heres things to note:
    1. You can specify a replacement if they run out of your item or you can say don’t replace and they will refund you
    2. You can add a note to each item (for example, my bananas i like more green) – they listen to that
    3. You can chat to your picker throughout the process of shopping and can request anything
    4. Using this daily i opted for the $99 a year option and now i don’t pay any delivery. I did the math and I save so much in this option due to the delivery times i pick which give higher delivery rates.
    5. With a Kroger card attached you get the same discounts/offers as you would in store
    6.No it may not cover al stores, we only just had this start at ours. Be patient and it will be available for your chosen store!

    Oh and recently I found you can also add notes to drivers like “Please use paper bags not plastic”!

  159. Instacart is a total RIP off!!! I ordered from them they are to embarrassed to give you the store receipt I bought groceries which should have came to about $80 with sale prices instead I was charged $175 no receipt? You have to look online so do they pocket your savings? F**k instacarte!!!!!!!
    This weekend I did Walmart grocery delivery (which they just started in my area) they charge you the store price and they give you a higher priced brand or larger package at the price of your picked item plus it only cost $9.95 to have it delivered plus they picked out better produce than I have ever seen in the store that was a win win situation for me. DON’T USE INSTACART TOTAL RIPOFF!!!!!!!

  160. I do use a delivery service, but not instacart. I have RA and heavy bags are a problem for me. I usually use the delivery service for my one “big” order every month. I prepare a shopping list on the grocery store web site. The store price, including sale prices, shows on my list. The delivery charge does change. This week the grocery store has an electronic coupon for 5.00 towards the delivery charge. I always get my store receipt. Its a life saver when I buy canned goods, bottled water, and heavier items. I do tip in cash so that adds to the cost.

  161. I’ve used Insta Cart quite often. I worked in the grocery industry and I know the prices that the store I worked in charged. I can no longer work and am going to have to have back surgery soon. I am under strict doctors orders not to Lift Anything!! So as a lot of these people have said, it’s not always about being lazy or not looking good. It’s about your circumstances. Insta cart has been a life saver for me right now. I have always gotten what I ordered and have never been charged more than I would have paid if I had gone myself. And I’ve always received my order in about an hour. When I first heard of instacart a few years ago, I swore I would never let anyone else do my grocery shopping, now I don’t know what I would do without them! So al of you who are saying never, be careful of what you saying.

  162. I had the experience where I actually got my grocery receipt also. When I saw the price differences I called instacart
    A female CSR told me that K. has a separate price list for delivery shoppers. But I am stuck because I am elderly and disabled and still need a way to get groceries. It is not fair though. Must be why people do not get their receipt.

  163. I shop thru Kroger’s website and Instacart delivers my groceries to me. I never shop thru Instacart. Thru Kroger’s, I can see my order and after they’re delivered I can see the receipt online. I joined Kroger’s VIP program for $120 a year which gives me FREE delivery and pick up for a year plus 10% off Kroger items and I earn $10 for every $300 I spend. I’ve had both good and bad Instacart shoppers – some are very diligent in picking out items, some will grab anything. If there was a problem with my order I called Kroger’s customer service and they would credit the errors to my shoppers card. I would NEVER shop thru Instacart! It’s better to shop thru the grocers website and have Instacart deliver it – you’ll get the advertised price with no mark up/extra fees.

  164. Why is anybody surprised the prices are higher than in the store? Do you really think Instacart could stay in business charging $4 for delivery? They have to pay the shoppers, and if they give them $2 of the fee, that wouldn’t even cover gas. Nobody would work fornthem.

    They are also pretty clear about the pricing:

    https://www.instacart.com/help/section/alcohol-free-delivery

    As for expired items, shoppers are supposed to check the dates. If you get something that’s expired or poor quality meat or produce, let Instacart know and they’ll take care of it.

    1. Hey Troy.

      One of the problems that people who make similar remarks miss is that the upcharge in itself isn’t the issue. It’s the fact that there are upcharges in addition to fees in addition to tips. If it was one or the other, the story would be different, but alas its not.

      And I’m old enough to remember a time when pizza & Chinese restaurants didn’t charge for delivery–we got $20 to cover gas at the beginning of the night and kept all of the tips. You know what? Every restaurant still had people lining up for a job because it was something and that’s what a lot of delivery people are looking for…somethingextra to supplement their income.

  165. I AM an InstaCart Shopper! The one thing you are totally leaving out of your piece is the customer rating system. As a customer YOU have the power to give feedback on Shoppers in four different areas, Communication, Replacing Items (when what you want is unavailable), Finding Items (getting everything you ordered), and QUALITY of Items. And an overall Star Rating of 1-5.
    Shoppers with low ratings do not get offered orders! Shoppers have food safety and time management to consider as well.
    Personally, I shop as though I were shopping for myself, maybe even better actually! Most of my clients are elderly or disabled and would have a difficult time staying in their own homes without services like InstaCart!! I love that I’m helping them!! Sure some of my clients are just wealthy and can afford to pay someone else to do, well, just about anything. If I had the money I would do the same thing. Why spend your time doing things you don’t like doing if you don’t have to?

    And…
    I know every one of their dogs by name and they remember me because I carry treats in my pocket!!

    There’s often more value to this service than meets the eye!

    1. I’m not saying the service doesn’t have its merits and benefits…all I’m pointing out are the things I view as problematic. Someone else can write their own piece about how they don’t care about the double-dipping or the significant increase in costs because they don’t have to lift a finger and they get their groceries brought right to them.

      It’s all subjective, which is the point I’d like to bring up about you mentioning the ratings system. Yes, it can be a useful tool if it isn’t abused. For example, you are sure to have people who will leave poor reviews because their perception of time is “different”–so they think the task should have been completed in 10 minutes but the shopper/driver faced long lines or a traffic accident.

      One case that was just brought to my attention is a friend of mine who wrote a very popular book. She was notified about a 1-star review on Amazon because the book arrived damaged. Now, is this a problem with the book itself? No, but the person felt that it warranted the connection anyway.

      All i’m saying that even with the best intentions, there are flaws with anything that is subjective in nature, particularly reviews so even those need to be taken with a grain of salt!

  166. If you consider the time making out your pick list and the time sitting in the parking lot waiting on the employee to bring out your order verses doing the shopping yourself, it may be more costly than $5.00 in the wasted time. Remember, time is money. You do the math and you make the decision. After all it’s your time and money.

    1. Hello Larry.

      Personally I abhor the comparison of time = money. At the same time I do get what you mean in the analogy and I agree. Sometimes getting it done now is more valuable than waiting on the person who is going to do it for you. And for others the opposite is true–they can use that time to accomplish other things which to them is more important.

      It’s all personal preference.

  167. I am a shopper in the North Conway NH area. I am grateful for the experience. I check dates and I do know how to choose fresh produce, if I have questions I will ask my client and usually move on until I get an answer. If you are using instacart you can contact your shopper with questions. I do not work for the store, I do this on my own along with my own business. Tips to anyone shopping for instacart, check where you are shopping, always get your in refrigerated goods first, then then outside walls … Dairy, meat, fish, fresh produce, deli, etc.. I f you are shopping at a store that does rewards/coupons ( Shaw’s) with a phone number, ask for their number and if they don’t have one ask if you can use yours ( I do anyway).

    1. Hi Lisa!

      I’m glad that you do all that but the problem is that there isn’t a guarantee I–or anyone who cares–will get someone like you. And, not all customers are even going to go through the effort to be good ones. There are bad apples (no pun intended) on both sides.

  168. This was a brilliant solution when my car was broken a few months ago. I was able to get my groceries delivered, mostly accurately.
    I will only use Instacart in similar situations for all the reasons mentioned, but specifically because of the “service fee” charged in addition to the “delivery fee” and the “tip for the driver.”
    I don’t begrudge the slight markup on prices, or the delivery fee (a business has to make a profit somehow), I especially don’t mind the driver tip.
    But the “service fee” (which seems to be around 3-5% of the total order) should be covered by the price markup or the delivery fee. I don’t like that it isn’t mentioned more prominently; that seems deliberately deceptive.

    1. I absolutely agree, William.

      The service does have its place, but it also has reasons to avoid it if possible/necessary.

      Glad you found it helpful in your time of need!

  169. Most of the Instacart shoppers are more picky than yourself. If you have a full service shopper then perhaps they rush a bit but again they are normally pretty good. You do have in store training UNLESS you are a full service shopper. That’s where the person gets your order goes to the store shops it and brings it to you. In store shoppers are trained over and over. These shoppers remain in the store and all they do is shop orders. They bag then then stage them for the delivery driver to come pick them up. Putting stuff in the freezer fridge or shelf or the hot oven.

    I’m sure shoppers are probably as picky as your mom and more so than yourself. They see these products daily they know the good from bad. Also Instacart is known for high quality. I work in a store where the quality was beyond poor. Guess what thanks to Instacart regional managers came in and gave the store an overhaul. Trust me shoppers are the least of your worries with Instacart. I can say our regulars are elderly, those who can’t get around easily and people with young children

  170. I work for Publix, I can say with certainty that your fears are legitimate. Instacarters have to meet time guidelines when delivering items, and they are always in a rush to grab whatever the customer ordered as fast as possible. Shelf life and quality are not things they are typically very mindful of.

  171. Did not even have to go through all the research you did. The manager of a major grocery store in my area that uses Instacart warned me to be careful about the pricing because you go through their website and they often increase prices. You have proven that!
    On a positive note: I have been using the pickup service at our local Fred Meyer which is owned by Kroger. At first, I bought only dry goods because, like you, I wondered about the ability of the pickers to choose good produce, quality meats, etc. Tested that beginning with tomatoes & potatoes. Graduated to fresh meats and have been satisfied. The website gives many specials that are pickup or delivery only and each item in the cart section has a box to issue special instructions, like “latest Use/Best By date, please”. Have yet to return an item and the very rare pricing errors I miss catching at pickup are immediately refunded to my credit card with a phone call. I even got a digital coupon waiving the $4.95 fee for 3 months. Before and after that promo, there was & is usually, a fee waiver for the purchase of some items that they obviously want to move or entice me to buy.
    I don’t even need to get out of the driver’s seat as they put all of the cold/frozen items in the cooler I bring and the rest in my vinyl-hard bottom, grocery “boxes” that are the same size as the shopping baskets inside the store (important for me as I move about on a power wheelchair and transport my order from van to kitchen on my lap).When you place your order, you choose an hour window for pickup and if you forget something you can modify the order up til midnight of the day before you pick up.
    All things considered, it’s a most viable alternative to the delivery service that I refuse to use.

  172. I see all you concerns, and I am curious enough to look into it, but I personally find instacart to be a godsend. I, too, have small children. I, too, work from home. My grocery store is truly a five minute drive. Here’s the kicker though, I don’t drive. I have no car. There is no public transportation. Instacart has saved my sanity, because I don’t have to burden anyone by begging for a ride and I can have formula delivered within an hour.

  173. The BOGO is correct, but the pricing is off

    This is the same as pretty much any delivery service including Doordash and Uber Eats…Postmates used to charge the actual in store prices but I believe they’ve changed to this model as well. I suppose you can look at it as inaccurate pricing, I think most people that use the service just see it as part of the fee for using the service.

  174. This is only touching on the “shopper” part …..
    I’ve been a shopper for Instacart and Shipt as my “side hustle” for about 6 months now and it amazes me how many people have had bad experiences with shoppers. I fully appreciate the fact that the author of this article stated that this was their opinion, so I’m not here to be on any kind of soapbox in defense of the shoppers.

    I, however, shop for other people as if I were shopping for myself because in the end, I make better tips when I communicate and pay attention to ripeness, expiration dates, etc. I will go the extra mile for customers by climbing like a monkey to the very top shelf or putting my cheek to the floor to get the last box from the bottom shelf on the very back. I even tell customers when avocados aren’t ripe yet because most people want to eat them right away. I do these things not only because I actually care about the service I give, but also because the ratings they give me determine my ability to get the better shifts. (Obviously, better shifts= more money!) Is it frustrating sometimes? You bet. Some customers are non-communicative. On Sundays and Mondays the stores run out of items regularly. This is just part of the job that I have to accept because many customers ARE nice, engaging, and help me give them the best experience I can.

    If you can afford the extra it costs for this service and you can’t (or just don’t want to) go the store, it can be a great experience. As both a shopper and a customer of a Instacart, it’s absolutely within your right to be as specific as you need/want to be for certain items (you can make notes on any item for the shopper). With Shipt, (I think Shipt is more in the southern states; I’m in Houston) if you have a bad experience with a shopper, Shipt takes note of that and you won’t have to deal with that particular shopper again.

    This is just my take; I completely understand and agree with the complaints people have about some of the idiot shoppers out there. Just know that there indeed are many shoppers like me who DO care!

    (**One more thing regarding the receipts; we are told NOT to give you the actual receipt from the store and to tell the customer that “You can see the receipt on the app….”. Rarely does anyone ask for it, but if they do, I’ll gladly give it to you. It’s no skin off my back. I understand from a business perspective why they do it, but I’m also a customer when I’m not shopping for other people so what do I care?!)

  175. Hi! I’m a stay-at-home mom, homeschool my kids, and work from home. I don’t mind paying the fee for instacart when I need groceries delivered. It saves me plenty of time, and I have no complaints so far. Also, I get vertigo easily so if I could use Instacart, or shop online and pick the groceries up curbside, I’m very grateful. Be blessed!

  176. I have been in a position to need delivery on a couple of occasions and have found the service to be horrible! I’ve not only been charged for things I didn’t even order but things I ordered and never received. Additionally they add a “tip” for the shopper that you can’t remove! I feel like they don’t provide the receipt so you don’t know. On one of the orders it was about $30 more than it should have been. I actually work for the store but was out sick and needed food for my family. I have nothing good to say about the way I had to fight to get back ‘some ‘ of the money I was over charged. It really makes me mad because some people are just unable to shop on their own. They may have to depend on this service and they are over charged and may not even know! Like elderly fixed income or handicapped people!

    1. You absolutely CAN remove the tip. You can make the amount more or less than the suggested amount that pops up. You also get an email after delivery that gives you an opportunity to change the amount of the tip. I always tip more than the suggested amount because I’m a good drive from the stores and want them to think it’s worthwhile to deliver to me. You need to look the check out page over more carefully.

  177. I’ve been shopping this way for a couple of years. Started when I broke my ankle, then just kept it up. I use Kroger (previously called Clicklist). While the service is not perfect, to me well worth any minor mistake. The shoppers do a great job! They pick up good meat and produce (there’s a place on the list process to put comments, eg. ripe bananas, smaller onion, etc). No issue on prices – everything on sale just like in the store. Overall, a 7 out of 10 experience.

  178. I also did the price comparison. They charge more at all stores. Even Aldi. I know the baby spinach at Aldi in my area is abput 1.20 a bag sometimes cheaper if on sale. Instacart wanted like over 2 bucks a bag. Hard pass. If I need to order I’ll stick with the pick up at walmart or target its just what you groceries cost. Also we have HEB delivery and their fee is worth it. I use it when kids are sick or I have been super busy all week. Normally I just like to grocery shop with my kids. Weird I know. I love to teach them. It helps with social, math,language (as we will look up what it is called in other languages), reading skill. For many diff grade levels also. It is what you make it.

  179. I use them all the time…

    Yes, the prices for online stuff is cheaper then what you pay if you go into the store, it’s the convince fee. (Get to my point in the end)

    I use all kinds of delivery (Walmart, sams club, and of course your food ines) and it’s about the same with all of them.

    Making this short… I have no car, I work from my home anyways, so I can order and have it delivered any time.. heck, it’s 3am now and I just placed a $200 order for Walmart for 8-9am this morning, so now it’s out of my way..

    I know th hat Walmart does the shopping for you, and when the delivery person gets there, the order is ready to go. Not sure if public does that or not but in either case, I have never had an issue with the shopper not having the “experience” or needing “training”. It’s been great for the past year and no issues.

    So, you might want to give it a shot.. you make a good point about the prices are a little higher but if you need that convenience, it’s worth it…

    Now, if I had a car, I would not use it as much.. it’s nice to go to the store yourself at times,

    Thanks

    You also have to pay a delivery fee, it’s broken down per hour, the busy hours are not,

    So like from

    8am-9am ($9.99 fee)

    11a-12p ($6.99 fee)

    And so on, so look for the delivery fees to.

    Once again, not that bad, if you need it

    As for Instacart, the only issues I have had is with there Corp office. The customer care reps suck bad.. I was trying to get help on an issue and they just stopped answering me, specially when I ask for a supervisor to contact me.. they never returned my emails anymore

  180. Of course there is an upcharge. How do you think shoppers get paid? From the upcharge and fees. It’s certainly not tips. People tip a pizza delivery guy more than most shoppers.

    Use a luxury service, tip accordingly. 5% isn’t acceptable. You tip a waitstaff person 15% or more and they don’t cook your meals nor make your drinks. They simply bring them to you. Why are you tipping someone less who is doing everything for you?

    And STOP ordering so much water. We aren’t a water delivery service. You wouldn’t put 6 cases of water in your own car, why expect us to? And there are companies who order 50 cases at a time! WTF?

    I agree, they aren’t strict enough when hiring. There are certainly really bad shoppers out there. But many of us shop like we were shopping for our own items.

    Don’t blame the shopper for a box of rice that is expired. That’s on the store. Do you look at the expiration date of every single item you buy? I bet you don’t.

    You don’t get the store receipt because you are NOT a customer of the store. You are a customer of Instacart. Every site you order thru states you agree to using a third party. We pay with a card that is associated with our personal names, not yours.

    1. I agree with most all you said. I hadn’t thought about the drink issue, although I’ve never ordered more than one case of drinks at a time from instacart. Perhaps the company needs to make some rules about that, or have certain people with larger vehicles handle those orders. I live a 15 to 20 minute drive from the stores instacart delivers from in my area. If I order delivery, I order enough to make it worth paying. I always tip twenty dollars because I want people to keep thinking it is worth their trouble to take my order.

  181. My main issues with Instacart are: 1) The actual stores vary a lot between specific locations. The two Safeways closest to my house are good-the products are fresh and the selection is good. There are others that are really, really crappy. It took me a while to figure out that the shoppers I was getting whenever I used Instacart (which is only occasionally) were going to a Safeway that is more like a gas station convenience store. There is no way to specify which specific store you want your shopper to use. It really shouldn’t be a problem since going to the one nearest your house wouldn’t be less convenient for the shopper. 2) They have no idea how to pick produce. 3) The replacements seem to be picked using the same algorithm Pandora uses to pick music I might like. They rarely have the qualities that made me choose the item in the first place. Once I had Diet Coke replaced with root beer. And everything bagels replaced with cinnamon bagels. Etc

    1. Fortunately in my area, I don’t have the issue with multiple stores. I know where they are going. When I’m expecting an order, I leave my computer open to the instacart page and check when I pass by to see if the shopper has a question, or if I need to get them to change a substitution they have already made. It is possible to “talk” with them in real time. Also, before you place the order, you have an opportunity to OK or reject the suggested substitution for each item, and to leave messages for the shopper about what you do and do not want.

  182. I am actually an instacart shopper and I’ve been with instacart the past six months. For me, seeing everyone’s faces (or most of everyone’s faces) when I deliver their groceries is priceless. Because I deliver a lot to elderly people (people in retirement homes) and moms with young children. So if you have kids or just don’t have the means to go get your grocery, instacart is perfect for you.

  183. I ordered through InstaCart four times after my accident. Every time there was some problem— missing items, incorrect pricing, late delivery, delivery time not what I requested, etc. Plus, it’s too expensive and I loathe the fact that there’s no receipt. Very grateful that I can do my own shopping again.

    1. WHY do people keep complaining about the receipt? You get a temporary approximate receipt in your email when you order and another one in your email when the transaction is completed. ALL the information is on there.

      1. Why do you seem so upset by this Paula?

        Are you an employee of Instacart or an obsessed fan?

        You seem to be following this article and the comments very closely coming here to reply to everyone’s comments like you have some sort of involvement.

        1. Wow, how insulting. If you don’t want people to follow a post, why do have the option? I’m 67 years old and retired. I have never worked for such a service. I just found it interesting. I will unsubscribe from your post right now. What a horribly rude man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

  184. I shop for Instacart, and I wasn’t given any training or directions when I began. I am an excellent shopper and depend on customers to communicate with me while I’m in the store to get the right items and quality they are looking for. That being said, it’s not the best application and I am often frustrated. But I need the job, so I keep going.

  185. I don’t mind the personal shopper. I use WalMart pickup and they do a great job. They also have a very good feedback system and customer service. The thing that really irks me about Publix pickup service is using Instacart and those price differentials – that’s a big problem for me. Your article is right on. Until Publix creates their own software and aligns pricing with the service I won’t use them. I won’t use Instacsrt.

  186. I am a busy working mom, with the screaming toddler, just moved and had right arm surgery (and need it on the left) making shopping and loading all those groceries very difficult. I am also leery about others picking my food so I dragged my feet, but finally decided to try Instacart at a friend’s suggestion to take advantage of the 2 week “free” trial during this challenging time. While it was nice to not have to go to the 4 stores I ordered from, and not to have to load all those groceries, I just don’t think I will use it again for the same reasons you mentioned. The lack of transparency is a biggie. I don’t mind paying more for the service, but I think you should be able to see HOW much more you are paying. If they must mark up items, make it a separate charge, percentage of total or something. I also had major issues with one of my orders, the shopper was terrible, missing items, wrong items without indicating substitutions were made, delivered an hour early and just left it on my front porch. As much as I wanted to love it I just didn’t have a great experience. I think I’ll stick with Dillons click-list if I need help shopping from now on.

  187. Instacart is a luxury, if you want someone to take an hour to do the job that you can do. You are paying for it. Upcharge,service and delivery fee or not. Dont get me wrong ai dont like Instacart for many different reasons.

  188. We use it regularly. Each store in our area discloses whether or not they offer retail pricing or up charge. I’ve had great selections with produce each time and always add notes specifying what I’m looking for in produce and it’s been spot on every time! I’m already gone 11-12 hours a day with work and kid commitments so it saves me a ton of time and travel.

  189. Are they “double dipping”, or doing what they have to to cover overhead? I wish private companies had to show their books if they offer a service to the public.

  190. I honestly think it can’t be worth it unless the 25 minute you need to do a super organized trip is literally worth the fees. If you live like a full 8.5 miles from the nearest store and you have a crazy deadline, and you have the barest cupboards on the planet, I’d say it’s still debatable.

  191. I used Instacart once from a grocery store that is a 20 min. walk from me. I placed my online order, applied coupons for items where I could and waited. I received immediate confirmation of my order, along with an area map of which store my order was received, which I knew already, estimate of when I’d get my delivery, who the person was making the delivery, and ongoing progress/tracking updates for my order, notification of when driver was on their way. Not too shabby. Time estimate from when I placed my order to my delivery at home, was about 1 hour. Granted I didn’t submit a very large order for several bags. Plus I’m close by had been taken into account. Like clockwork, my delivery arrived 50 mins after I placed my order, 2 full bags. True, not everyone has this convenience of being near their store that they can get such quick delivery from. My order was exactly what I had placed, with no substitutes either. Driver was pleasant and I complimented them for such speedy delivery. I had placed my order late afternoon after 5 pm to 6pm, when it’s a rush time. A good experience, but this is a large chain grocery store, so service is a priority for them. Not to mean a more independently owned store wouldn’t do same. Total cost was same as if I’d gone to the store myself for the same items. There was just the delivery fee applied. Haven’t tried Instacart for any other area store since though.

  192. I have to say Insta Cart is expensive , and I am needing to go to store today . I even tip $20.00 regardless thinking it saves time . But who can afford the fee and tipping like is expected with the prices high ? Wish you could use coupons also . I get the Sunday paper , it’d be nice to save .

  193. I’m disabled and haven’t been able to get to the grocery store for over 20 months. They have taken all of my father’s life insurance from me. I’m still unable to get my groceries but I’m on social security now so I got SNAP benefits. I don’t know how I’m going to get food. My daughter is driving 250 miles to help me this evening and taking me to physician appointments tomorrow but I’ve been so freaking hungry this past week and am now. I hate Instacart. They’ve robbed me of everything and now I’m in dire straits. I can’t pay bills I owe.

    1. You describe an unfortunate situation. Since you receive benefits, I recommend that you contact your caseworker, since you may qualify for an aide who can assist in shopping for you, and help in the house. Depending on your handicap, you could apply for special transportation. It is a bit harsh to target Instacart with “hate.” They do not offer free service. If you have an issue with their fees, I have made some suggestions of possible alternatives.

  194. I’m am instacart shopper. Full service. Meaning, I get the order, drive to the store, pick your items and deliver them. I can vouch for the fact that the training videos weren’t a requirement. They are helpful in guiding you on your journey. I would say any shopper that actually wants to make their money doing it, should absolutely do all of the training. I absolutely love shopping for people. It’s like you can almost get to know them through their groceries, ya know? I strive for that 5 star rating, and not just for the bonus in pay. Any job worth doing is worth doing right, and my ratings help make sure I am doing just that. If we receive a certain number of poor ratings they will coach you or eventually deactivate your account if you don’t seem to be improving. I can’t speak for all shoppers, but I like to think we help in the way that we are providing a service that some can’t do on their own. There are elderly people or people with disabilities who aren’t able to just hop in the car and drive to the store. Moms with newborns or worse, toddlers! Queue the instacart shopper. ?‍♀️
    Also, if it helps, we go through a pretty thorough background check before we can even start.

  195. I have used the Publix Instacart Service for over a year. I am retired, but my time is worth far more than the extra charges. They do state on their website that prices are higher than in the store. Prior to that, the store added a visible 10% to the regular store prices. For me, it is a convenience, and a necessity, to schedule large orders and delivery at a designated time. I am a senior citizen. I can’t carry heavy packages. I live in a condominium on the top floor, far from the elevator. I tip these fine young people $20; they’ve earned it. I have been very satisfied with the quality of products, as well as delivery to my door. On the (rare) occasion that an item is unsatisfactory, I report it promptly online, and the cost is cheerfully credited back to my account.

  196. doordash restaurant delivery does the same thing, higher prices than original receipt and charges for service and delivery
    This comment form is under antispam protection

  197. Instacart employs thousands of people. It’s a great way for a lot of stay at home moms, retired, veterans, and students to make money. How about suggesting improvements instead of totally turning people away. Shame on you!

    1. Hello Theresa.

      So I take it that you never read the multiple instances of me warning that this is just my opinion and that people should try the service for themselves to reach their own conclusion?

      And I’m guessing you’ve never said a bad thing about about Wal-Mart or Comcast or AT&T or any other company that provides jobs?

      But yeah, shame on me

  198. I used Instacart on Nov 6, 2019 and it was terrible, no receipt after being told it was in one of the bags. Got online a looked at the receipt to find items I didn’t order and didn’t receive. This caused a nightmare contacting the store that referred me to Instacart and back and forth until the problem was resolved to my satisfaction. Don’t think I. Want to use them again. Warning, check receipt after delivery.

  199. A Local grocery chain uses instacart. I o made a order an sheduled a delivery time. Thr order did’nt show up they refued to refind my money. I had to go to the store to get my money. back. Instacart is rip off.

  200. I use the Kroger click-it. It’s fantastic and I usually shop every 2 weeks. I decided to have the groceries delivered and they used Inst-cart. This was an order around 280.00 and took some time to put together. I started receiving texts re: the order. About 2 hours into their process I get a text telling me the order has been canceled and will not be delivered. Since it was transferred to Insta-cart I had to go back and put in the order at Kroger all over again. Couldn’t get it until the next day. Will never use Insta-cart again. We’ll go pick it up!

  201. I work for both of these companies. Do you realize that the shopper is an independent contractor that makes close to minimum wage including you tips to take an hour of their time to personally select items for you, put them in their personal car, drive them to your house including all gate codes and other BS, then carry them into your house and tell you about any issues that may pertain, Instacarrot gives a $7 fee that dosent usually even cover the cost of getting to the store in the 1st place…and then you give the $2 tip???? Either pay up or get to the store yourself!

    1. I got a $30 batch today for three deliveries…thought $21 would be Instacart payment, but since the tips were high, Instacart paid only $5 for the whole batch. They should be sued. How do we get together to get paid the right amount?

  202. I’ve shopped for instacart and I’m finally glad to hear from the consumer’s point of view. We were told not to give consumers the receipt because it caused confusion. On several occasions, I have given the receipt as it was placed inside the bag. No harm no foul because I’m always transparent. Now, I see not only has instacart made more money off consumers, but they took away additional earnings from us advising they are looking for other ways to compensate. In the Atlanta area, they were expecting us to shop for 24 items, travel over 13 miles and pay us approximately $21.00. Since they have changed their payment structure, I have not shopped for instacart in awhile. Honestly, I do not recommend using instacart from both standpoints.

  203. Hello. I am a Instacart Shopper and all of my customers I delivered to have had a great experience from fresh produce to fresh package products. I also make sure they online receipt matches mines..

  204. I used Instacart to order meat from Costco. One item I purchased was beef tenderloin at a price of $68 fir 3.5 lbs. The package I received had a price tag of $42 but instacart showed an adjusted price of $52. They basically ripped me off. All of the other items also had higher adjusted prices so the total haul was over $25 on top of the delivery and “donation” fees. Hey, we shouldn’t have to pay taxes on donations, right?

  205. Do NOT use instacart. They add whatever they want for delivery. When I called Kroger’s to complain about instacart over charging they told me we have nothing to do that. We only let them come into our store and shop. We as customers believe that kroger will make them stick to the price they advertise for delivery. Instacart told me they can add whatever extra charges are necessary. For what? The charge was 10.00 and they charged me 14.25. No thanks.

  206. I just tried it yesterday. I got off work and I didn’t feel like going shopping. Which I should have. Let me start be saying it was supposed to be free delivery. Yeah right. They hit you with so many fees they never tell you about. My total was $48. By the time the cost came out it was $53. Ok here is what got me. They charged my card $65! WHAT!!! In small print you had to look for it. It said we may change it in 7 business days. Really? As for my food well she picked out the smallest bunch of bananas she could find. And along with that I wanted a bag of apples. She picked out zip lock bag which had 6 apples in it. All I could really think was really really? That was not even the picture on the screen. You live and learn. Oh yeah. They picked publix for me. I wanted kroger

  207. As a former instacart shopper I took pride in shopping for each customer as I would shop for myself or my mom. I would also contact my customer to form a greater idea of what they needed. I picked the best produce as I would for myself. I was told that by doing this my speed had slowed. They want you to fill an order in 8 mins. Unless it’s an large order. There are pro and cons to everything and people only want a check. Their not taking pride in what they do. Those are my thpughts

  208. Ok, I work for Instacart & I just want to point out that, first, I have never used any delivery service & I live close enough to even go get my own pizza, I get the nonsense of extra fees when you can just do it yourself…

    The delivery fees, that barely covers my earnings… do you think I, or anyone, is going to spend about an hour to shop AND drive your food to you for $5?? Not a chance… we get paid GOOD money and if I’m going to make minimum wage I can do that at Mc Donald’s and not add miles to my car… I am extremely appreciative that this income option is not bottom of the barrel…

    And to further defend the store’s up charging, I know it sucks, I see the prices in the store as I’m shopping… but most stores had to create a website to make this happen and let me tell you, computer techies, they make SERIOUS buck! I’m thinking it takes no less than $20,000, probably way more, just to set the website up, and it’s going to be quite expensive to maintain…. not to mention they don’t use it for any other reason, as far as I am aware, only Walmart & Amazon grocery are open to the public, so the only return on investment they get is thru the 3rd party delivery company…

    So, not to knock you one bit but there’s a lot going on, many other hands in the pot, that contribute to their convenience pricing that you probably didn’t think about… so they’re not really trying to rip you off, it’s just the name of the game, anything that you don’t want or have time to do yourself is going to cost a pretty penny which is why I still have yet to try it & probably never will…

    Just some extra things to consider… there will always be people like you and me that don’t consider that a bargain for us & there’s nothing wrong with that, but there are reasons behind it & I’m just glad that It helps the company pay us, that are doing the hard work, amazing money ?

  209. Instacarts customer service is HORRID and the 4 times I’ve had to use them while under the impression I was ordering directly from Ralph’s/Kroger I was compelled to cease shopping at Ralph’s until they dropped Instacart as a third-party and I haven’t looked back. I took my business to Albertsons/Vons who deliver their own groceries and have better deals.

  210. Social security is my only income. I have been using Instarcart for 2 months but will no longer do so because the delivery fee is now $7.99. Then they ask for a tip for the shopper, sometimes saying there were two or three shoppers involved. Seriously? I will order once more because I have a $13 credit I want to use but I will not tip again.

  211. I just recv’d a box from Full-cart- I don’t know what this is and I didn’t order anything from them. I will not pay for anything I didn’t order

  212. I have a milk allergy and have to read labels throughly, I don’t trust just anyone to pick up my groceries.

  213. Ive used it 3 times now. I had questions and they have top-notch exceptional customer service and answered my question resolved the issue instantly and gave me a credit. but I’m big on customer service so that sold me. however I am incapacitated right now and unable to do my own shopping . once I’m able to do my own shopping I will. the fees are somewhat exorbitant if you don’t need the service but you pay for the convenience of saving time and gas.

  214. I’ve used them once, and I was 110% pleased. I needed to send a gift to my nephew for his birthday. My sister – on the receiving end – said the delivery was right on time, and the delivery gal was very pleasant. I upped her tip from $2 to $5 based on the opinion of my sister. I’ll definitely use them again on a far-away situation!

  215. I started using Safeway grocery delivery which I found to be more expensive than Luckys but it was the only way then. I started using Instacart because Luckys was added to instecard.
    I had MANY complaints against the Safeway delivery for many reasons- wrong items, late delivery, missing items and other things but they did have a good customer service tho it got far too frustrating so I only shopped for heavy items.
    I did like the Instacart buyers option because I was able to chat with the buyer at the time of shopping and my complaints went down to almost none.
    The one issue was I had NO idea I was paying for the service. Although it was not much ($199 for 2 years) so I stopped using it and once in a while I use them and for the most part the fee is waved.
    When shopping at this service the store has a tab for the items that are on sale and those who will grant you the free delivery. One must pay attention to it.
    The reason for using this service for me was my disability and the fact that I live on the second floor and heavy items are hard for me to bring upstairs
    I, like you, use mostly a store that is not offering delivery services.
    A store that offers lower prices on most items I usually buy. I hope one day they will.
    Bottom line is- Instacart is not so bad especially if you’re unable to go to the grocery stores.
    In the light of all the things you mentioned which I know of and I heard stories about like shoppers add items for themselves, not deliver the items and more I do encourage the customers that will continue using the service which is not at all bad if you have small kids, you’re disabled or just don’t like going to the grocery store to pay close attention to what they get and their prices, what’s on sale and ask for itemized receipts which is your right to get which I got.
    There are options on the website for remarks, specific requests and replacement options and one more option which I found great is to add an item you know the store has or if you want a specific item, you can add it as a “special item ” the price and even a PICTURE of the item if you bought it but can’t see it as an option to choose- pretty cool.
    As many other things and services, us, the consumers, must know how to work around the “system” to maximize the usage and benefits that are not readily accessible but with a little snooping around the app they can be found and used to avoid being overcharged or deceived by the store or the buyers.
    I wish you all luck with the Instacart website and services.
    Happy holidays to you all!

  216. Well that 5 dollars you’re paying someone to bring you groceries is a joke.If you want good service try tipping.Its not a damn pizza outlet.

  217. You might be confused about how the pricing works. Just because the Instacart price shows an amount, doesn’t mean you are going to get charged that. It’s just an estimate. You will only get charged for what the total in the store is after the shopper picks up your items.

  218. I’ve used instacart and had a positive experience. I thought the quality of the produce and the meat was fine.

    However, I don’t think it’s right to upcharge the cost of individual items in addition to a service fee and a delivery fee. That’s double dipping.

  219. I just used it today. Ordered on my lunch hour and had it delivered to my work. Loved the convenience! Haven’t really done a price comparison yet. I will probably do it again.

  220. I’m a Instacart shopper and even was a shift Lead for the in-store positions. You claim Instacart isn’t transparent about the markup in prices apparently you haven’t read well cause the app clearly states there are mark up in prices just because Instacart is providing you a service. It’s really sad because when people write articles like this they don’t even think of how they are playing with shoppers tips and pay cause you get on people’s heads and put a wrong idea out there. Then all the shoppers are cut with the same blade and members stop giving tips cause of people like you! To each their own but It’s really hard when people have to work the gig economy because let’s face it someone has to do it! These are jobs that are growing by the minute, now days everyone wants convenience and practical services that can take tasks and duties off their hands. But having these services come with a cost. You want to talk about not being transparent how about the thousands of shoppers that go above and beyond for the customer and customers initially post they will give the shopper an appropriate tip but then remove it after the task is done? Just to lure and use the tip as bait so a shopper picks up their order? Isn’t that deshonest? You want to talk about wrong? How about having a shopper do your order run around and even go to not one but 2 stores to try to get your whole order and not do replacements or leave you without an item that you might be needing for tonight’s dinner perhaps, and you still don’t tip the shopper or just give them $2.00. Some people have to work in the gig economy because they don’t have any options for me this is the case even though I have my bachelor’s degree and vast experience I’m in a point in my life where my health conditions won’t allow me to work a 40 hr job and I still have children to feed and take care. So daily I expose my self to the elements, shop while it’s raining, when it’s dark, spend money in gas, maintaining my car just to provide a 5star service to the customers! And at the end of a 80 item shop after I have gone above and beyond for a customer sometimes I don’t even receive a Thank You or tips for doing it. It has been advertised that Instacart shoppers make $25x hr just to put this out there that information is false!!! We can get from $6 to $10 base pay for an order depending on the area and what the metro pays! Learn a little bit more about the people who are doing this type of job before you put an article out there like this that can fill people’s heads and cause them to not be content with the service they are receiving just because they are now unhappy with Instacart and then taking it out on their shopper by not giving them a tip! I’m not saying Instacart is perfect no company is! But everyone try to be aware of the fact that someone is out there doing your order taking that task off your hands for whatever reason you didn’t do it be it you didn’t have time or it was raining, or it was cold. Someone not only used their time but exposed their selves to whatever element just to to ensure you were satisfied with your order because shoppers are measured for their quality and bad quality could affect them and result on receiving less orders or even losing their job. And they don’t get paid enough by the company to cover all of the expenses generated by doing such jobs. So next time you use a service like such tip the person that does the delivery, think about how big was your order and how they got paid between 6 to 10 to do it for you!

  221. I am an in store instacart shopper at sprouts…. this company is the most Orwellian and proficient in confusing the issue and mincing words that I have ever worked for…. there’s a reason why instacart keeps getting successfully sued time and again for unfair and illegal business practices… now you don’t think that the companies just going to eat all of that loss to you? Of course the employees and the customers will pay for all of these lawsuits

  222. I’ve used Instacart a few times due to a broken wrist among other hardships. It is higher than in store prices. But my real beef is that I placed an order and immediately cancelled it because I couldn’t add something I had forgotten. So I canceled within 5-7 min. of placing the order.
    My total was around 153.00. Instacart put a pending charge on my card of $185.00!!
    It took 10 days for me to finally get to speak with a person about this. 4 phone calls,( plus threats to never use the company again and also tell everyone I know not to use it or to watch their payment method carefully),later they finally had the pending charge removed. I asked what country the person I was talking to was in? He said South America. Columbia. He was very nice but that experience sent me over the edge!!

  223. What a rip off!!! I am new to this service. A delivery fee, a service fee, an alcohol fee AND a tip.

    I was never told about these fees and I am not happy. I wanted to start using your service and now I find this out. I want all my service fees refunded.

    I was taken advantage of when you did not tell me about all the fees I would be charged.

    AND I had nothing but trouble getting the account signed up. I tried your service one time before and the delivery never showed up and I had to ask for a refund.

    TOTALLY DISSATISFIED

    Monica and Bruce Landfield

  224. I use Instacart often. Time saver for me and also much needed after I had a knee replacement. Used it before and after surgery. Lifting and carrying heavy bags are not my thing so lying a little extra verses having a friend or relative so it for me. I have had a few bad experiences such as moldy blackberries and bad substations but Instacart quickly remedy the situation by refunding immediately. One delivery person refused to bring a case of water and my groceries inside my door. But I have met some very nice people. I also add an additional cash tip because they delivery people don’t make much and with the cost of gas in CA I am sure they appreciate it. I will however be trying out some of the other delivery options before I renewal my annual subscription as there are more choices.

  225. I strongly agree.I purchae The Tidy clump cat litter that was 18.00 .I purchase two. By the checkout it was 42.00. Instacart charged me 50.00 . Therefore not true to their advertisement.
    Never again! Don’t ,it is noy eorth it!!@@

  226. I will also add am some salt to this wound. I am an instacart shopper and I will tell you a few things. I am told NOT to give the receipt to the customer, to throw it in the store trash. Instacart told me that the customer gets the receipt online. However, I had a suspicion that the prices were altered in some way.

    Not only does instacart take money from its customer, it also screws over the workers. I honestly believe that Instacart also keeps the majority of our tips. I deliver to some very rich, upper class areas and these people don’t tip and if they do, it is almost always $2 (at times fluctuating to as much as $10 on a rare occasion). However, what are these tips based on? Definitely not the cost of the order. How is it that about $75 of all tip amounts are $2? We get a delivery fee that is usually $7 and we are supposed to get paid for miles driven and weight but if that is paid, it is only a couple of dollars. Most delivery drivers get between $7 and $12 per delivery, regardless of the order size, weight and distance driven. (The majority of the deliveries are between $7-$9) and the distances driven are crazy most of the time. No regards is given to weather conditions. Regardless if weather, deliveries have to be completed in an hour. This includes driving to store, shopping, check out and drive to customer home. It’s bullshit. Imagine trying to do this with 10 inches of snow on the ground. What a joke. Anyhow, back to tips. I just find it hard to believe that these rich, upper class people only pay $2 for a tip for this service. I think instacart is stealing tips. How can all my customers in one day pay the same amount?

    I’m an instacart shopper and I would not recommend it.

  227. I use Instacart because I am disabled and it cheaper than spending 20-30 bucks on uber going and coming. Before I got disabled I would love going grocery store and getting exactly what I wanted. Shopping at Chinese stores for cheap fresh veggies. I just can’t do that anymore.

  228. Love, love, love my Instacart!!! I love being able to order from several different stores to get the things I like best from each store. More often than not I’m very satisfied with the quality of selections made by my shopper. When I’ve had a problem, it’s always handled to my complete satisfaction. The prices are set by the store and they tend to be slightly higher but they often have really great sales!!! I recently bought several 10 lb chubs of ground beef from Smart & Final for $9.99 each!!! Since I have a paid subscription, I don’t have any fees and can order from as many stores as I choose as often as I want.

  229. I have been using instacart since my latest injury 4/2019. I cannot manage on my own. I am 63 disabled and my grown kids are out of the house, it is very well worth the $9.95 fee. My time and energy are best conserved by them doing the shopping. My stores and Organics are available as are sales from the flyers, plus 100% of the tip goes to the shopper.

  230. This is a tOtal waste of space and time.. if you don’t like the service don’t use it. I have used it ever since my store offered it. I am not able to do my own shopping. I love it. The store sets the prices. Yes, they are a little higher but the shopper has to get paid somehow. Anyway, as I said, if you don’t like it don’t use it and shut up..

    1. Hello Anna.

      So you’re saying no one should ever voice a concern or bring up (potential) problems with a service or product?

      I’d hate to live in a world where that belief was the rule!

  231. My credit card was hacked by Instacart. The credit card comoany told me they were having alot if trouble with them.

  232. Anybody ever tried to reach Insstacart to resolve a problem?
    I have… And have never received a callback or email response… There is no published phone number or chat help line.. Nothing
    ..

  233. I worked under instacart recently, for a short time. At first it looked fair and they seemed like they “cared” about the employee. But it didn’t take long before I was experiencing a different take on the way Instacart treats workers. To summarize quickly, I was constantly given deliveries in which the customer lived very far from the store, and I wasted much gas, that I wasn’t paid for. Many orders were very low payment for the shopping and the mileage, even delivery only. I can’t see taking 3 deliveries to 3 different customers, because the customer who is last gets late delivery. Sometimes there would be , Ice cream, frozen items, and the traffic can mess up your timing, as well as the GPS. Then, there’s the issue with tips being manipulated. But what really was the last straw for me, was when I was given an order that was very far to the store, and I found out from the customer that it was already a LATE order, at a store I wasn’t familiar with, Aldi. Then, when I started shopping, the first 2 items were out of stock. The customer decided to cancel, Instacart popped up a quick message, I almost didn’t see, saying order cancelled. I called Instacart support to be sure I was still getting paid for this, as I traveled far and it wasn’t my fault they gave me a LATE order. At first it sounded like I wasn’t getting paid, then I was told I would get pay,,,,,,but I saw, later I was owed $26 + change,,, from other deliveries combined,,, only to find out that my app showed $17.00 the next day. They ripped me off. But there is a lot more I could share about issues with the way things negatively affect the way I delivered.

  234. Hi,
    I use Instacart all the time, but only because Aldi’s is one of the choices around here.
    Everything Eric said is true, but by using Aldi’s I save money. I have compared prices with receipts and find I pay less then $5.00 extra.
    I am okay with that. I am disabled and having this service is great. I only buy items that the shopper does not need to compare. Again, using Aldi’s I do not have to worry as everything is prebagged and their items, like fruits and veggies, are great!
    We also get to communicate with the shopper, by text, and get to leave instructions. So far I have only met two shoppers who did not follow my instructions, but did after I texted them… I follow the shopper until they are done. So Instacart is NOT quicker. First you need to select your items over the Internet, then wait till the shopper starts shopping, and watch carefully for errors.
    The other store, Shaw’s has gone up in prices and if I need anything not found at Aldi’s, I either have to go myself, or order at Amazon as a Prime Member. I would not use Amazon to shop. They are not local and I have received cat food that may have been left in a hot truck for too long and was spoiled.
    Anyway, I am very happy for this service, they bring your groceries to your door. Maybe I do save more time then I did.
    Debby

  235. My last 2 times I used instacart, the pricing was correct to the current weekly flyer, have no issues with pricing. I am on their promotion of $10off and free delivery for 1st 3 times with Aldi’s. 1st time I used they were late delivery over an hour, but, it was day or 2 before Thanksgiving and service just started with my Aldi’s. I was not upset, I was doing other things at home. But, they were very apologetic and gave me a free delivery. Customer service was very good, I was impressed. I’m dealing with mobility issues due to a foot and low back issues so it was great not having to get out and do alot of walking, carrying heavy bags in misty weather. My place has elevator, but must walk full length of building then half way around just from car to my door. This was such a help, I’ll use again. But, I’m on limited income being older, going back to college, physical therapy 2x a week and working. I’m exhausted and any help I can get is greatly appreciated. Free delivery and some savings whoo hoo, I might get a luxury item, like a candle or something hahaha!

  236. Shopping on BJ’s thru instacart has become almost impossible in my location they are asking for $3-$4 more than the in store price for each item 8+ dollars for orange juice $10 for cranberry juice these people are insane and i have stopped using them

  237. I don’t have a car so I want a delivery service. I once had Home Grocer and they did not have a delivery fee or ask for a tip. They just had a warehouse with stuff to deliver. The food cost more and that’s how they made their money. They were the best. Then Webvan bought them out and charged me $10 for delivery but Webvan went out of business. Next I used Albertsons and Safeway where I paid a $10 delivery charge and that was it. When I moved there was no Safeway so I used Albertson’s and had th $10 delivery charge but they quit delivering. Next I had Daily Goods but they went out of business. I tried Instacart once. I ordered $80 worth of groceries and was charged $110. I had to pay a service fee and a delivery fee and gas surcharge and a tip. Then there were products that were unavailable so the shopper had to substitute products and I was often charged a higher price. I’ve used Rosie but recently I had an order than ended up costing $78.24 over the estimated price. That’s unacceptable. I am going to take my shopping cart and ride the bus to the store. I can understand a $10 charge or even a $15 charge but when I have to pay all these charges, plus a mark up on the food and then I’m expected to tip, we’re talking about $20 or $30 before I even get the groceries.

  238. I agree and I am an Amazon Personal Shopper. However, I shop for customers like I would for myself. I believe what goes around comes around. I am 39 years old and was taught to treat others like I want to be treated. I wear gloves while shopping other shoppers don’t.. I wear a new pair daily. I see shoppers touching those nasty carts and bags just gross then will touch their body parts and pick their nose. I shop for myself.

  239. Here’s the REAL reason to not use it. I’m a shopper for instacart. I can tell you that we hardly see any of the money. I have to work really hard and take large orders to make decent money. Instacart hardly pays and that means we have to rely heavily on customer tips. Also, I recently had my shopper card deactivated out of the blue for no reason. No one can tell me why that happened, only that they will escalate the issue and send me a new card. They will not compensate for the work and money I’m missing out on. This is my main source of income, so that’s a problem. I work hard to be a good shopper. I have a 5 star rating and never get my customers food I wouldn’t eat myself (I check everything for dates, freshness, etc). This is the thanks I get from instacart.

  240. Just used it this evening. Having used it before, I understand it costs more and being on a fixed income , this is not my 1st choice. Have medical issues, involving walking and being a senior citizen, the day before Christmas Eve, didn’t have much choice. I was late to decide and they were available for a 2, hr. delivery. So now I have enough groceries for close to a week. In this case, it was worth it for me. When I can, I do my own shopping and sale and bargain hunt. So try it if you need someone else to do your shopping. They gave me the receipt and it’s less then the actual charge.

  241. I use walmart delivery. Their employees do the shopping and door dash just picks up an delivers. Im partially disabled an sometimes it’s just easier to pay the delivery fee.. now you have me wondering if walmart raises the prices their employees shop.

  242. I am an Instacart shopper.. I ALWAYS give my customers the original receipt that the store gives me and I take a pic of it…
    Also since I am a “grown” woman and a mother if someone orders meat I DO look for the best product and with produce also. I communicate the ENTIRE time with my customer so They know what is going on and yes I have repeat customers because I shop for people in my neighborhood.

  243. I am a tech savvy senior citizen. I’ve used it for approximately 8 months now. I order once every week. None of your reasons compare to my experience with Instacart. I have never experienced expired items, my meat, produce and dairy have always been of good quality. My prices are either below or comparable with local stores. I can clip and apply coupons before I order. If I have concerns with quality I can discuss it with my shopper in real time. Your concerns can be overcome by the options available by the site’s platform.

    1. That’s great Frank, I’m happy for you!

      So you’re saying that because you have no problems that everyone else is doing it wrong? Got it, sounds perfectly sensible!

      1. Wow, Eric, I can tell you are quite the exceptionally gifted person for other people’s gab. Must be the water. What is sensible is that it works for me. Couldn’t care less if you were doing wrong or not. If you ever want to take me on in a FPS online, let me know.

          1. (Laughing) : D I understand completely. Working for a living must be hard on personal quality time. Myself, I build gaming towers for a hobby. Gave up working a couple years back and haven’t missed it. Selling home soon to buy a boat and a sweet beach studio down south. Hope your health and business stay on the sunny side of the highway. Take care.

  244. My biggest problem with your opinion is that you have the nerve to assume that someone is lazy for using this service! How dare you! I had back surgery last year and for 4 months Instacart provided sn invaluable service for me!
    Also, during the Christmas holiday I found myself just not willing to waste valuable time standing in 10-cart deep checkout lines! Once again, watch what you say about people you do not know and please don’t compare our needs to yours. It is obvious we have nothing in common.

    1. Nowhere do I insinuate that users are lazy–the only time I even use the word is in my opening where I joke about me using it.

      Then again, I guess some people just have to find something to complain about in everything.

      Hope you feel some release after that ?

  245. I’ve used several times. At first it was great. Then they started charging whatever they wanted for delivery. After ordering they would give you a total including delivery and then they would charge more. Employees having trouble getting tips. I dont trust them.

  246. This is totally true. I tried this experiment after a shopping trip to Costco once. The Instacart total was *$70* more! All I compared were food prices, nothing else. What a ripoff. And that didn’t count delivery fees and tip.

  247. You should shop Kroger. Same brands and packaging, just cheaper and you get gas points. I have compared Kroger and Publix and Kroger is way better. They deliver: I don’t know who they use…..also have curbside pickup.

  248. I run an inhome daycare and between shopping for myself personally and having to buy snacks and lunch for a 5 day work week I feel as though I spend a tremendous amount of tume in the grocery store. On top of that issue Im 63 yrs old so dragging bag after bag after bags of stuff into the house is a bit much for me. For those reasons I’d rather place an order online for my daycare needs and have it all delivered before lunch on Monday. Honestly its worth it to me. I have an Aldi close by and buy all of my supplies from them. Yogurt, hot dogs, chips, cookies ect ect and I get my organic fruit and honey from them. Its a time saver and a relief to have it delivered to my door. So in my case its definitely worth the price of delivery. We all have different lives and needs. I just happen to be one that benefits from and appreciates what the service offers.

  249. I joined instacart and it’s been a huge stress reliever for me. I can’t say one bad thing. They go to all the stores I shop at. I can compare prices from store to store. I don’t buy anything extra. I make a list and that’s what I order. We buy our meat from a meat market anyway so that’s not a big deal. I have always been given my original store receipt. I can communicate with my shopper the whole time and I can put instructions on each item and put replacement items if I want. If I forget something I can text them and they grab it for me. My produce they pick is always excellent. I’m not lazy. Not even close. The grocery store is one of those places I hate going to like the dentist so I was thrilled when this became available to us. Our shoppers have been great. Friendly, knowledgeable and if they don’t know about something they usually call me. It’s worth every penny to us. I pay $9.99 a month plus I tip the driver each time. I’m money ahead after 2 instacart purchases. Gas alone is a huge savings. I don’t have to go alone and risk someone mugging me. (I know that’s far fetched but it’s true). So I say it definitely is a great thing for some and for others maybe not. My ONLY ISSUE is I wish they had a feature where I could scan my coupons. Hopefully that will be something they will add. The 2 times the shopper brought the wrong item, instacart refunded my money n put a credit on my account and told us to keep the wrong item. This was done within 1 hour of me contacting them. That was just a cluck away too. You hit the “I have an issue button” and they call you within an hour. I like it and I like the flexibility. I’ll continue to use instacart and refer my friends to use it as well.

  250. My daughter introduced me to Instacart and I thought It was a lazy way to do things at first then one day I was very sick with the flu and it was snowing out and I don’t drive So I tried it. The food came in an hour and it was all very high-quality and fresh however I ordered from a quality grocery store. Under the stores logo of your list of nearby stores there’s a link and it will tell you if they charge more than other stores or the same and you get free delivery for orders $35 and over. I used a two week free trial and then the membership is $8 dollars a month after that. I thought the service was excellent and so was the food. A couple of things were out of stock and they replaced it with excellent substitutes for the same amount of money. I think your experience will depend on which grocery store you order from. If the better ones are further out than this works well instead of having to walk to a closer store with less quality and not as many options.

  251. I shop for Instacart and always get a receipt from the store, which I always give to the customer. And, I always pick their groceries as if I was shopping for myself. I obviously can’t speak for all shoppers. This is just my experience. To each his own.

  252. I absolutely LOVE using Instacart! I usually buy most of my items from their buy 1 get 1 free Section. Although I am well educated, I am still mentally and partially physically disabled, I dont drive anymore or could afford to keep up on car expenses, and what it costs to take a Lyft taxi to and from the grocery store is much much more than the small service fees charged by Instacart. I also live on the second floor and just do not have the strength to carry up alot of groceries so they help me for free with that right to my door, whereas, it takes up to having to offer a $7.00 tip to persuade a Lyft driver to do the same. No tip is required with Instacart. I have mine set on None until after the delivery of my groceries and the attitude and helpfulness of the driver. My last in store shopper was AMAZING!!!! Great customer service over the phone, too. I do order from Thrive online, as well, but people steal in my complex so all my packages go to another town to my daughter’s place and then I give her gas money plus a little extra to bring it over which sometimes is weeks. THEN you have the almost $80.00 annual membership fee just to shop Thrive and their extremely small portions and very high prices even though much of their items are very high quality.
    Sooooo, YES!! I RECOMMEND USING INSTACART, especially for those without a vehicle and on SSDI like I am now or SSI.

  253. I’ve used it on occasion. Great when you’re sick and don’t want to lug groceries up flights of stairs. Anyway, I don’t order thru instacart. I use my grocery store’s site (Kroger) and at checkout, choose the delivery option, which happens to be via instacart. I get the Kroger prices and deals, pay an extra $5ish for delivery plus whatever I feel like tipping.

    It has its place for sure – you just have to choose what you’re going to trust their shoppers for (i.e. I would never use them to buy bacon – I have to find the streakiest pack myself, for example). Honestly, I love using them for heavy stuff that I’m simply too lazy to haul upstairs LOL. And I have trust in Kroger thru experience that I won’t end up with expired goods.

  254. I tried insta cart with Kroger. When they brought the groceries I asked them to set them by the back door and I would take them in. After I put them away I looked for receipt but didn’t find it so I looked back on the app to find 70$ of groceries on my bill that I didn’t order. I called Kroger and after talking to a couple different people I got it straightened out. But when I went around to the front of the house they had backed over my lamppost in the front yard and left without telling me. I contacted Kroger and they said I would have to deal with Insta cart. What a joke that place is. So far I’ve spent about 4 hours on the phone, s dozen emails and I haven’t heard from them since they told me they were sending a check for the estimated damages . You can’t contact the Trust & Security department that handles that part of the business. The phone number connects you with people some place , not in the US. They tell you they will forward the info to the appropriate people but they can’t directly contact them and let you talk to them. I don’t know how yet but I’m going to fina a way to get the 800$ back it cost me to replace light. Whatever you do don’t use Insta cart.

  255. First, you don’t have the facts straight. Groceries are a commodity just like stock’s and bonds. Prices fluctuates weekly or even more often depending on the market, and I don’t mean the grocery market. Secondly, the store is inventoried . The product is checked througly several times before an audit and then again by the auditors.That is a huge part of the inventory score. As a manager I sweated that part out 2-3 times a year for fifteen years , I have forety years in the business. As for delivery, your paying for an employee to pick your items ,load them deli
    ver them and wear and tear on a company vehicle with special insurance. There’s no money to be made in delivery. Just pleasing mostley ungrateful customers. So think of this when your debating going to the store or having them delivered from five minutes away.

  256. InstaCart Shopper. Hi, I read your feedback on InstaCart. I noticed that you said that there is a fee. My understanding is there is a waiver fee if you don’t want to pay it. Alot of people think paying it goes towards our tip, unfortunately it does not. Some people don’t add a tip while others do. I myself would not receive a batch if I notice the pay is 7.00 with no tip. Gas is paid out of my pocket, my time is worth more than $7.00. I, myself pick the best quality of groceries for customers as I was shopping for myself. My ratings are excellent, except I had a customer report that her food came “damaged”. I wasn’t too happy with that. First of all , how could ” masa” which is dough be damaged?? Then she said several meat packages were damaged. How in the world could meat be damaged when it was packaged by the butcher. To me, it seems that one customer just wanted “free items” claiming to be damaged. I would NEVER deliver to her ever again.

  257. Tried it once cause I was sick. Charge on store receipt was higher than on line, probably due to different items picked. Was texted several times by shopper cause item on line was not available in store. Charge card bill was $45.00 higher than receipt and was on two separate lines of invoice. No recourse. Shows I approved charge at Wegmans. Don’t trust it. Won’t use again.

  258. Thank you for this! I hav been using Instacart for 1.5 years now and I love it. I work, go to school, pay the bills, maintain the house, cook dinner, and have a husband, 8 year old and a dog on top of generalized anxiety. This has saved me so much stress over time and life has improved not having to go to the store.

    However, I’m not on board with Instacart hiding the fact that they inflate prices. My Costco order tonight was $165 but in store it was $120 (original receipt was with my items). I’d like to know that this inflation is there. We as customers have a right to know. That is just bad business.

    Thanks again for writing this article for those of us that don’t necessarily have that extra time tondo all the research. <3

  259. So from what you said above about paying above the actual in store cost, is explained on the website when I signed up. It is misleading when you say they aren’t being transparent. Also, the driver does not receive this markup directly. Tips are integral, because as many said above, their vehicles, cell data, time, etc. If the shopper/driver does a good job, then why not? I feel like if I order takeout, it is equivalent – amd yes, even if they charge a delivery fee as you covered in your article.

    Now my thoughts. I work two jobs. Hospital shifts, so generally 12 hour shifts, but not always. Sometimes I go to both jobs in a single day. My husband is a stay at home dad and we only have one vehicle in the winter months. He generally prepares the meals, but if I am at work, he is stuck at home. No, he can’t just drop me off as we live rural (which has been a challenge for me anyway because I am a city girl and used to convenience) and it is usually a 45 minute drive at ungodly hours and that is if the weather is great. There’s no one readily available that drives for uber or lyft in my area and the cost is roughly $60-$80 *each direction*, if and when available. Also, ordering takeout is a no-go, as there is exactly zero options in my area. Lastly, working such long shifts during days, evenings, or nights makes it quite a challenge to go to the store when they are actually open, yes that is an issue in tiny towns – super limited hours. All of this often leaves me to stop after work when I am exhausted and cut into either my sleep time or to go during the little precious time off I could be spending with my family. I was pleasantly surprised this service was offered in my area so wanted to try it. Yes, theres is a small mark up, no I don’t pay the membership fees as there is often plenty of days that they offer free delivery as incentive to get their services utilized, yes I am a most generous tipper because I believe in paying people well and they will continue to offer fantastic customer service, and I am a realistic customer and know the shopper’s do their best to get the best and will be more apt to get what you want if you are picky *if you tell them* there are so many ways to communicate what you want prior to and during when the shopper shops for you. For me, this is of course not an absolute necessity, but a much appreciated convenience for my family to maximize our time together and assure they have food, aren’t constantly waiting for when I’m available to finally go, and I like to be able to eat at work too because eating at a hospital can be very expensive if even available during my shifts.

    In summary, this is my opinion. I am not trying to totally correct yours, but they are transparent that the store sets the prices and may not be the same, the membership fee is not a requirement, the delivery fee can potentially be free, and tipping is expected in most delivery/driving services anyways. So I don’t see any of this as a ploy or them trying to dupe you into quad charges, as you have stated (which is actually more like 3 seperate areas of expense *at most*, not 4). Since you live 3 minutes from a store, I could see why you likely don’t *need* this service, but then why even mention it or review it if you haven’t even used it? It just seems like you are unnecessarily badgering the company when you literally have no actual experience with it. You have written up a whole article based on surmising and little more research than a couple screen shots of pricing to make it look like “oh boy, I found the hidden scam”, when it actually was spelled out. We all have opinions and should all do our due diligence researching how we decide to spend our money on service such as this, but is there need to write an article that explicity leads one to believe they are being taken advantage of. It almost reads as a testimonial.

    Take care ?

  260. I’m a shopper for Instacart….I do check all expiration dates, pick the best produce and am very professional….it feels good to help others who can’t get out & some are disabled. Yes, the service is not free. I feel many find it very helpful & I like my job as a shopper with Instacart

  261. I used instacart and hated my experience. First of all, there are hidden fees, they charge much more than the store does where I purchase groceries. Also, I dont know if they do a background on the drivers who deliver groceries but I got a message my driver was enroute. A picture of the driver in a sleeveless tshirt popped up on my phone and I knew when groceries arrived, I would have him leave groceries outside my door instead of bringing them indoors. He had no identification to identify himself with being associated with instacart. Unlike Uber who sends photo and name of driver along with snapshot of driver’s car and license tag, instacart does not. I was overcharged for groceries. Just dont like them double dipping in my account and had to dispute charges.

  262. Yes I have used it and the first 2 times delivery guy (same guy both times) was awesome. Last time girl couldn’t find items then just disappeared mid shopping come to find out she bought her things and mine on my account and stole $200 dollars with of groceries from me.

  263. I just received my first Instacart order from Instacart /Publix. I am disappointed because on Google search I saw Amy’s Gluten Free Three Cheese Kale Bowl advertised at Instacart for $3.99 YET I was charged $5.29! What recourse do I have? Any suggestions? I can NOT find a tel # for Instacart!

  264. I used the service on December the 18th 2019 an never received my grocery. When I called they told me the driver delivered to the house. I asked if the driver was having trouble why did she not call. They didn’t have an answer. I had ovef $ 100 worth of groceries stolen by the drive and all they could offer me was $ 15 dollars off my next order like I would every use them again. They didn’t offer to send another shopper to replace my groceries that were stolen and all they kept telling me they will make sure that shopper never shops for me again, which led me to believe they condone emoyees who steal clients orders. This company is a disaster with no ethics. If your smart never trust them because they also make it so you can’t see the original reciept and make up their prices. They should be put out of business, they are crooks.

  265. I am a 63 yo female and I was a shopper/ delivery driver for Instacart for about 3 months. It helped with finances when I needed it. I quit because of all the times I had to deliver up 3 stories of steps and the distance of delivery was ridiculous, even though you specify how far you will go. As a shopper I tried hard to get the best product for the customer. But your hands are tied on most products. You have to get the exact product unless you notify the customer first. And you are on a time restriction. You are rated on how much time you take to shop and deliver. If you take longer you get a low score. I loved doing it but the restrictions were just too much for me to handle. And I could never figure out what they based your pay on. It seemed to constantly change. But there are a lot of people out there that need this service and I am glad it is available. We just need more competition so prices won’t be so high.

  266. I’ve had a one time experience with Insta cart by way of a delivery order from Tom Thumb. It was a pretty neat deal. I was charged actually less than what was originally quoted online due to the fact that I used my rewards card. Over all it was an awesome experience. I still do the bulk of my grocery shopping online due to the fact that I’m caring for an elderly parent who cannot be left alone for long periods of time. So I find it to be very convenient and depending on what you buy, very affordable. It may seem kind of crazy being on a fixed income, but it beats trying to lug bags of groceries and cases of water by oneself..

  267. I tried InstaCart three times and all three times there were problems. Missing items; wrong items; late deliveries, etc. I also dislike the “no receipt” policy. Now when I need groceries delivered, I use Safeway. If you accept a four-hour delivery window, delivery is free — after a $3.95 service charge. Way cheaper — and more reliable — than InstaCart.

  268. I use their service because of medical situations. We don’t drive and we don’t have public transportation. So until something better come our way we appreciate their service. We usually pay a person about $15 -$25 to take us out to help with chores.

  269. Um, you know they have to pay the workers. 40 cents or so over an item goes to the company to pay people for your service. Not much to complain about. Front door service. People can’t relye on just tips.

  270. I just placed an order. My total was $316.41 total with all fees (service fees, delivery fees, tax, tips). My account was charged 2 different amounts probably because I ordered from 2 different stores. The charged amounts were $215 and $155 which totaled $370. That was $53.59 above my total!!! I knew they keep around $20 for price discrepancies and if nothing
    changes it gets refunded. But $53 above my total that is completely insane. I cancel immediately and will never use their services again.

  271. As a shopper I respect your opinion but what you aren’t mentioning is the fact that these people are not just delivering your pizza/lunch, they are providing a FULL SERVICE for you. If you do not want to pay them for their effort of finding your very specifically detailed order in a big store , then lugging it to their car (sometimes heavy items) and then using up their mileage in their car with their gas that they have to provide themselves and sometimes traveling 10 miles or more from a store to your house, then yes instacart isn’t for you . This job requires effort and if you’re not willing to pay that person for their effort it is common sense not to use the app. It never talks about being cheap. It is a service being done for you. You should expect to pay for that.

  272. I think that for many of us who are getting out of work so late, go through traffic, and still have to cook dinner, what we are really paying for is the convenience and time savings. We tend to shop around too, look at the weekly ad for stores and compare the Instacart prices with the ad. If they are not close, then I don’t usually order it. But for the most part, I find the online grocery shopping very helpful because if time is already so crunched up, while I’m sitting in traffic getting home, someone is shopping and getting that errand done for me. Also, I haven’t had any issues so far with bad quality produce. My avocados were delivered green and the meat arrived fresh. We had dinner 30 minutes after I arrived from work.

  273. I just used the free 2 week delivery. The prices are about 50 cents higher on each item. I live upstairs and water is heavy. I ordered 6 cases of water and 2 diet soda. Even though there wasn’t a service fee or delivery fee I tipped the guy 20 bucks cause he had to go up stairs. I wouldn’t use the service for everyday items that aren’t heavy. I can use Walmart grocery pickup that’s free. But if you use Walmart grocery pickup they might not have the items you want since they don’t pick them to far in advance of your pick up time. I will use Walmart grocery pick up instead of Instacart. The prices are the same as in store shopping

  274. I dont use instacart but I have had a lot of luck with HEB and Kroger Curbside. Im single, no kids (but one on the way), work from home, store not too far, picky about produce, and actually do not typically mind grocery shopping but curbside actually saves me loads of time and money. I can place things in my cart as I make my list and meal plan for the week. No impulse buying. It literally saves me hours.

  275. I am a 5 Star Shopper in Denver and I see your points. I just want to say thank you for the part of not all shoppers are this way but this is on a average. I see bad shoppers shopping all the time and wish they would just quit or at least gain a bit of effort for there job. I’m a culinary major so food is second nature witch I think helps my shopping.

    1. Thanks Travis!

      At least one person can read and understands that a generalization isn’t a personal attack or comment on the specific person reading ?

  276. That’s upsetting experience. But I can tell u this to make some things make more sense. I work at a supermarket. And I can always point out who the instacart shoppers are. There the ones wandering around staring at there phones back and forth. Because they clearly have no clue what they are looking for or how to navigate the store they are in. It’s embarrassing to watch. So yes they will hire anyone.

  277. I have been using it for awhile due to the fact that I need both of my knees replaced it is a godsend. I have used the service at least 40 times and only had 2 issues. I did explain to one girl that replacing diet coke with regular coke does not work for a diet pop drinker. Another time I had a woman that got lost trying to find my place which I explained to her several times on the phone she was in the wrong complex. When she finally found my place she yelled at me and said it was my fault she was going to be late for church.

  278. Full transparency. I’m an Instacart Shopper. Let me address the issues.
    Quality of the Shopper: Like you said…there’s good and bad everywhere. I know most shoppers in the many groups I belong to are just what you should expect; proffesionals. We take pride in selecting the best produce, meats, and all products within a reasonable expiration date. I’ve even messaged customers if there were no selections within a reasonable date. Also, you can put notes on every item..such as “please make sure milk expiration date is at least 2 weeks”. So your level of detail and communication ensures a better customer experience. Finally, you not only can rate your shopper after delivery, but if you’re so unsatisfied, not only will Instacart gladly refund you, but you can deny that particular shopper from having access to your future orders.
    Now, price. Yes…there is a mark-up. Even though you pay a fee. You do realize the shopper needs to be paid. Do you honestly think a $10 fee and a 5% tip on your order that takes an hour plus the drivers wear and tear and gas covers it? Its a “luxury” service. So at .40 and item average…for a 50 item order…that’s a $20 markup. You’re 5% tip on that $200 order is $10. So with the $10 fee…that’s $40 total of which the shopper will see $20 of. Is that not worth the luxury of not driving to and from the store, not having to deal with traffic, the gas savings, the shopping, dealing with a packed store, waiting in line? Do you really expect to pay the same you would if you shopped yourself? And how much does a professional shopper deserve to be paid? Because quite frankly, even the best of us struggle to maintain profitability due to low tips. So…I would love to write an article for your page from the shopper’s point of view. (I am a Communication/Journal Major).

  279. I’ll be honest I was a little hesitant at first because I do most of the shopping and fitting it in with my work schedule, coupled with the fact that I am currently a non-driver shopping can be a gigantic pain.

    I really wished I’d seen this article sooner or experimented the way you did. My mom actually got me set up because a friend of ours told us about instacart and thought it would be useful.

    The issues I had were that I had to subscribe which isn’t horrible just mildly inconvenient, what my mother found out was that we had the option of signing up for a monthly subscription or yearly which sounded good because money varies for us sometimes.

    So we tried it out, enter issue number two. We didn’t get everything we ordered and didn’t get a satisfactory explanation as to why.

    Issue three was that once they took money out of my account it took some time to show up, which can be hard for many reasons.

    Other issues include getting a surprise amount that seemed much higher than originally thought and their was no contact regarding the end of my free subscription so it was really inconvenient when it came time for the fee.

    I just really think they should get their act together before I consider ordering groceries through them again.

    I appreciate this article and I hope it helps someone else.

  280. Eric,

    I realize this is an older post, but I’m working on a project that does things more honestly than Instacart. I’m curious what yours and others opinions would be on ordering the food and getting charged for only the food plus a fee for the delivery?

    The problem of course is, we would only be able to give an estimate of the total cost until the actual receipt is entered into our system. I live in Austin, and we have a few other delivery services that do this similarly (i.e., favor), they give an estimate while you’re compiling the list of goods, but don’t give a total until the items have been picked up at the store/restaurant.

    I think this gives a certain level of transparency to the service being provided.

  281. They’re also kind of terrible to work for. I’ve been a shopper for them. Thought it would be a fun way to make extra cash, as I actually enjoy grocery shopping.

    They make shoppers send “proof” that they have “approved” insulated shipping bags, or you have to pay $40 for them to send you some insulated bags. (These bags are NOT worth $40.)

    Then there’s the sitting around (or driving around) between shops, waiting for a shop to be offered. This decreases the hourly rate, and, if you’re driving to find an area with more shops, it uses up more gas while you’re off the clock.

    Tips tend to be terrible, probably because of Instacart’s already high prices & fees. (I was a great shopper— like Eric, I know how to select quality items, and I was quick at finding them. So the low tips didn’t jive with my level of service. I think people are just already doing gouged by the time they choose a tip amount— which they do BEFORE they know how well you’re going to do!)

    So, even with tips, I ended up making below mínimum wage, especially when you figure in my gas costs of driving all over the city. Grocery shopping is fun, but not fun enough to do for virtually free. I feel really sorry for people who do this as their main gig.

    1. Hi Katrina.

      Sadly, there are always going to be people who want something for nothing and won’t consider the fact that someone actually spent time and effort to do a task for them.

      Of course, that can change depending on where you live/shop, but it’s always going to be a crapshoot ?

  282. Instacart is charging extra on pricing to pay their shoppers. Even though they are gagging their shoppers. So anyone that doesn’t tip at all or tip between 1 and 5 dollars are selfish because the shoppers are out there lifting 42 lbs of water 3 to 20 cases at a time for customers and then don’t get a tip or a 1 to 5 dollars tip makes them not want to go shopping for anyone.
    Some of these shoppers don’t get minimum wages from insta cart. Please be mindful that most of the time that you shop on Instacart is because you don’t want to go shopping yourself. So it won’t hurt to give a shopper at least a ten dollar tip. Instacart has changed their way of paying drastically. If they go back to the way of paying 40 cents per item and paying for the miles to the store and paying for the miles after 8 miles to the customer house/business then maybe half of these shoppers will be able to make minimum wages or even make ends meet

    1. Hello Brian.

      Nowhere do I say that shoppers aren’t doing a service and shouldn’t get tipped appropriately.

      But at the same time, you cannot say that a $5 tip isn’t enough because in some areas that would be great. While in other, more affluent areas it might seem like a pittance.

      Arguments like that are always slippery slopes because you cannot compare a rural Kentucky area with Downtown Los Angeles for tipping practices. And then you have the disabled or elderly who are on a fixed income that relies on this service because they cannot physically do it themselves but cannot afford to tip $10 per order either.

      The tipping issue is totally separate and needs to be looked at on a case-by-case basis whereas the pricing structure and hiding the facts in the FAQ section of the website and general issues I bring up are widespread and common to each store and locale.

  283. I work for king soopers in Co, and we get insta cart people come thru our lines all day everyday, and honestly it’s for those who are lazy, and don’t want to go to the market. I totally get the senior citizens that it’s hard for them, but the mothers, and single people, it’s a luxury for being too lazy to go grocery shopping.

    1. Hey Sue.

      I wouldn’t say that people are lazy, it’s just that they would prefer to spend their time doing other things. Maybe it’s actually spending time with their family or earning more money. Everyone places a different value on the things in life we have to do.

      Yes, it’s a luxury service for sure due to the added costs involved, that’s a given, but for many people, it’s worth the cost just like paying someone to mow your lawn or clean your house.

  284. I can understand how the concept of Instacart appeals to a broad demographic. Working parents, busy executives, elderly, those not fond of driving/unable to drive, young urban professionals who don’t want to do the search for the secret on-street parking space when they get back to their apartment…no doubt there’s a lot of people out there who’d love to save some time…if it pencils out. Or, to be more accurate when it comes to Instacart, if they could garner any idea whatsoever whether it might pencil out.

    You’d think with that kind of vast potential market, a company would consider doing things a bit more on the up & up, maybe even making it possible for customers to know how much they’re paying for that convenience.

    But apparently that’s not the Instacart way.

    Instead, Instacart :

    – inflates the cost of goods without prior notice

    – adds fees that aren’t explained

    – tacks a fat hold on your credit card, for unknown reasons not disclosed. In my case the hold amount was more than the amount of goods ordered. Is that standard treatment for first-time Instacart customers? Maybe something determined by the shopper’s geographic location? Did they somehow know how absent-minded I am? Hard to imagine a reason other than it somehow reduces the store’s share of your payment by a tiny smidgen, a little sliver of revenue that adds up at scale.

    – provides no easily located/understood information about what goes into the charge on your credit card, which is a helluva lot more than it would be if instead you did your own shopping and paid with your credit card at the store, the way people bought groceries in olden times. If you have the time to explore the website (which seems unlikely given that you are using this time-saving “service” in the first place), you might find several pages of dense legal gobbledygook that doesn’t translate readily to comprehensible English, unless you happen to be trained in contract law. And if you happen to be an ESL customer? Fuggedaboutit.

    So, one and done for me.

  285. Instacart is TERRIBLE… However, have you tried shipt????? It’s amazing, especially if u like target. Shoppers are smart and reliable, communicate with you as they shop, even sending pics of the options available of what’s in stock. Tipping is done AFTER they deliver to you, and 100% goes to the shopper. I don’t work for the company just use it a lot, and am also childless, but when 10lb bags of cat food and bottled water etc is delivered to your doorstep it’s the best.

  286. I love instacart and I use that at least once a week. the Shoppers are very diligent you have choices if the item that you are wanting to order is not in stock you can choose an alternate item or just cancel that item. If there are any questions The Shopper will communicate with you via text message and take a picture even if needed. They always choose the quality items and if you have anything specific you can always make a notation next to the item if you are concerned about expiration date or anything. I am disabled and I love the service I love being able to shop from Publix I have also shop from Aldi’s and other stores too. Don’t knock it until you tried it. If there are any issues they fix it instantly the best customer service on the planet if you ask me.

  287. I recently started working from home. Previously Began using Instacart when I Was working in an office with an hour commute each way.
    Today my order arrived, with a significant markup on each item: example salmon $24.58 listed -charged $29.99 (!). Same with each item I checked that had price labels. Shocked & seduced by a $15 coupon that was eaten up by overages. ?. Appreciative of the wake up call & agree with your article.

  288. I use Instacart every time to pick up groceries you don’t have to get them delivered. I’ve never paid full price on groceries because I’ve created about 5 accounts and every single one has at least a 10 dollar coupon each time, sometimes 20. You’re out of your mind if you don’t take advantage of this. No fees for pickup.

  289. Hello, I just have to speak on this. We live in Maine where you can go to the store and they will bring your groceries and put them in your car. We do not have Instacart and I can’t wait for the day we do. We spend our winters on Hilton Head and when I found this feature I couldn’t wait to use it. I have not been disappointed. When you are placing your order on every item you can say exactly what you want. Ask for the best dates, yellow bananas with no green. I write everything and because my husband is disabled and can’t be left alone I get a delivery every single week. I love how my shopper will text me and I see what is going on in real time. They show me if something is out do I want a replacement. I am so impressed with this service. It doesn’t cost anymore than at home where I still have to carry my groceries in the house myself. This is fantastic! My order has never been wrong all of my food has been top quality. I am sharing this when I get home in hopes our stores agree. Love this service!

  290. Instacart stole my money.
    These two incidents happened this month, February 2020.
    I ordered from Instacart. An hour after the delivery I called Instacart because the shopper substituted an item that had been refunded. The item was not something that my family ate. While I was on the phone with them, the shopper showed up banging on my door saying she knew she left her wallet in the boxes (Costco boxes that I left out in my front porch for later recycling.) This shopper came by an hour after she delivered to tell at me through my door because she lost her wallet. Thankfully I was on the phone with Instacart, and they heard the whole thing. She threatened me and yelled so my entire neighborhood could hear her accusations, saying I was evil and that I was going to Hell. Meanwhile my child is upset and crying. She left to go look for her wallet. I was not going to have anything to do with Instacart, but they called me back to insure me that I was safe, and they put credit onto my account so that I would continue to use Instacart.

    Fast forward two weeks ahead, the Instacart website measured my squash purchases in pounds. I checked my order when it said the shopper was on his way, and my receipt had shot up over $20! I called them again, and sure enough, when the shopper showed up, he showed me that the app translated the purchase from lbs to actual squash. Those were big squash. While inwas waiting to talk to someone elae, my receipt jumped up another $20! That’s $40 overcharge because of a mistake from the Instacart app/ website.

    It gets worse.

    Instacart assured me that they were going to reimburse me for the mistake on their part. Instead of a refund, a few days later they charged me AGAIN for the original bill of $42. They went into my account even though I did not buy anything, and instead of refunding me the money they owed, they took more money out! They duplicated the original bill which I had already paid. So they owe me over $80. What kind of company does this? This is theft. I have never experienced anything like this in my life.
    Stay away from this company. I have been an Instacart customer for years. They have become a criminal enterprise.

  291. I figure I really save even with all the additional cost because I’m not buying impulse items which can add up to way more than the fees do.

  292. I like the convenience ,I just had Total Knee Replacement and I am lazy. My first time using Instacart and I had ordered some flowers ( you pick which ones you have). It says if the product i not aviable they will pick another similar product. They can also call you and ask you. I didn’t receive any flowers..? They do charge higher for each product plus delivery but sometimes they give delivery free. It really isn’t worth it.

  293. I was a customer for a couple years then became an employee a couple years later. There is most definitely training and the in-store shoppers and delivered are monitored through an app. If Customers have a complaint about any items they get a refund. Keep in mind that sometimes customers corder hundreds of dollars worth of groceries, pet food and other household supplies. The shoppers AND the delivery drivers have to be paid. That is the reason for the price increase in addition to the service fee. Instacart is a MAJORA convience, that saves a lot of people time and stress of traffic, kids, the elderly, disabled, etc. There are also team leads and managers that come behind you doing audits and making sure you’re choosing quality products, it’s being bagged appropriately, and timely.

  294. Hi, I’ve used the instacart and mostly agree with you Eric. I’m aware of the price mark up, and since I’m sometimes unable to go shopping myself due to cancer, I don’t mind it much. My experiences have been good and the items of good quality. The only thing I would love is to get the original receipt even if the price is different which I’m already aware. So I can use it on my ibotta and fetch rewards. Of course when I’m able I love to go grocery shopping myself. Thank you for sharing your opinion. ❤

  295. I’m a shopper who works for an Instacart competitor, Shipt. I don’t know the ins and outs of Instacart but I do know many shoppers work both platforms and some basics are the same.

    1) These are concierges style services so yes, you will pay for the convenience. That’s how concierge services work. It is what it is. If that doesn’t work for you, that’s completely ok! But do you remember the days when you were sick, or worked long hours, or had kids you would have to lug to the store with you and you thought “man I would pay $20 for someone to bring me a pint of ice cream or everything I need for dinner right now” ? Well, here we are! If you aren’t prepared to pay for the convenience of the service AND tip the person spending an hour shopping, dealing with checkout lines, keeping your frozen items packed in coolers, and driving up to 20 miles to deliver your groceries/ cases of soda/ TVs from Target/ etc (using our own cars and gas), then this service just isn’t for you. If you’re a serious bargain/ coupon shopper, yeah, this probably isn’t for you either. Again, it is what it is and complaining that not everyone can afford it is ridiculous. I can’t afford a lot of things but I don’t go off complaining that a specialty service should be available and affordable to all. That’s childish.

    2) You have NO idea the kind of hell and runaround some of our customers put us through. And yet, we pick up the next order and keep going with a smile because this job CAN be fun, it’s flexible and, if you bust your butt, you can make decent money… as long as people tip! We also have the opportunity to meet and help some really wonderful people we shop for. The elderly folks who can’t get out and do their own shopping and enjoy a little social interaction they don’t get enough of; The new moms who haven’t showered in 3 days but need diapers and deodorant or a tube of mascara because hubs found a last minute babysitter for her first night out in months; Or the kid whose face lights up because you went the extra mile to track down a stocker at 9:30pm to check the back for the dino nuggets he wanted because he’s been sick all week. Sooo….

    3) …when you say you don’t trust the “shoppers”, that hurts. Yeah, there some people who don’t know what they’re doing and they quickly realize this job isn’t for them. But most of us really enjoy shopping and do it with the same care (or even more so!) than we do for ourselves. We enjoy seeing our regular customers..some I can shop for almost without even looking at their list!

    4) Neither platform provides the customer the store receipt. That’s the company’s receipt. Yours is sent via email from Shipt or IC. Both platforms are buying from the store and reselling to the customer. I have a small business where I have retail items for sale. I don’t provide my clients with a receipt from my supplier so they can compare prices or see what my markup is. If that bugs you, go to the store yourself. Many times both IC and Shipt have sales that are better than store prices and you can get credits for future purchases with special weekly deals. If you aren’t happy with an item both companies will gladly refund your money or provide a credit on your next order.

    Bottom line, all businesses from delivery services to your gym membership, have costs and markups to keep them running. It’s laid out pretty plainly when you sign up. If you can’t justify the costs that’s ok! But to pick apart a business because they’re acting like a business is naive and uninformed.

    1. Hello Kelly.

      Speaking about naive and uninformed and childish, etc–did you actually read what I wrote?

      I specifically said that my “distrust” of shoppers is a generality and not to be taken personally. It’s like people who say they don’t trust lawyers–does that mean every single lawyer is a bad person or bad at their job? No.

      Secondly, I also specifically said that my pricing issue is that people are paying multiple times and that the disclosures are hidden. I never said that the shoppers don’t deserve to be paid or tipped. I never said that the company shouldn’t make a profit. I said that that it needs to be more clear and up-front. My issue with the specific pricing is that it should be one or the other, a higher price or a fee, but not both because that’s just my opinion on the subject.

      If having an opinion and laying out a case for it is crying, then I hope you never left a review of a product or company on Amazon or Google, because you are a complainer in your own terms but that’s cool ?

  296. Hi Eric. Honesty and Integrity matters. So changing the prices to double dip is dishonest. They could simply tell you DIRECTLY what the cost is for using the service, as you said. Anyone here who doesn’t recognize this fact is enabling the DECEPTION. Hence you are would be supporting dishonesty/lying. So obviously we all know why they do it, to make more money. Money based on deception should be illegal. I hope/expect there to be legislation to address this.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if their legal argument is that there are plenty of businesses that buy and sell goods again, which I am sure it happens all the time. Even still, in this case, in a delivery service, it should be transparant. Just like how AMAZON abused the hell out of not taking taxes for years because they weren’t brick and mortar establishment in states, or how AIR BNB abused the hell out of not paying for the hotel tax rate and other fees associated to being a hotel… until now of course for both businesses that has changed.

    So its these loopholes that have been enabling all of these online and app businesses.

    Thank you for your perspectives Eric

  297. Hi Eric!
    I tried the trial to order for my daughter who had just moved out into her own apartment to help her out from time to time as parents do then forgot to cancel, ugh, my bad. So stuck with a subscription I started using it to buy groceries for our house too when we were ill and couldn’t get to the store, which worked out well and have already surpassed what I paid for the year in a short time. I also noticed, like you, the price hikes, it’s not on all items and I try to stay away from ordering those items or save by using the coupons they offer on the site to make it up. I haven’t used the service since before the holidays but just had to use it today due to us being ill & to my surprise they are now charging a heavy item fee!! What the what, what!? I’m sorry instacart you’ve already overreached your fee limit. I will definitely not be using this service again or recommending this service to anyone. I don’t just call bullshit, I call it greed.

  298. I find the additional charges are ok with me. If I went shopping myself I’d spend that extra funds on items that I really don’t need. Impulse shopping. This doesn’t occur when I don’t shop. So the fees are far less than the stuff I really don’t need. I’m also somewhat disabled and having them drag everything over my patio and into my home is a great help. I do mostly my own shopping but with this coronavirus looming and me with issues that make me right now wanting to stay away from crowds.

  299. Diet Coke 2 ltr on sale for .99 but instacart still has it for $1.99 thats over a 100% MARKUP OVER THE IN STORE PRICE. No in store sale prices are reflected, there is a mark up on the regular price plus fees. $149.00 a year and then get an added service fee because its a busy time. if convenience outweighs money then go ahead. But money matters…..watch out!

  300. I used it yesterday and after 16 items at Aldi mind you $60.05 that sound about right ! My bank account on the other hand took out $113.00!!!! Really for 16 items ??? Something went wrong and now I will never use Instacart again for pulling that sneaky stunt !!!!

  301. Use it all the time. If the item is on sale you are credited the difference. Always groceries within 2 hours. Any questions, shopper calls you from the store. From every comment I read, people have not familiarize themselves with how Instacart works or have not used it, but have made a decision Instacart is scamming them. Sad. It is a great service. Not one problem with items, shoppers or money. I highly recommend them which I have to my family, friends and neighbors.??

  302. I tried for convenience and also I cannot carry heavy items. I also made sure that the items ordered consisted of water bottles, raisin bread. Etc. Items that did not warrant shoppers personal selection such as vegetables

  303. Don’t ever try insta cart they continue to charge my account even though had never actually used this service. for over the past month and half I have Had to call to get credits for charges that we’re debited from my account the first time I had called bank and I had to cancel my card. now I was Just charged on 3/5 AGAIN called instacart to get credit for most current charge they told me they are going to escalate to investigate wait for 24hrs for response!

  304. I used Instacart to order from Aldi and discovered the shoppers receipt in with my groceries. I was appalled when I realized the total Instacart charged me was $9 more than what the cost of the groceries actually were. I contacted Instacart right away and their comment was “the shoppers are not supposed to let you see that receipt” ?. I compared my Aldi Instacart receipt in the app with the paper copy and each item was close to 10% more expensive. The Instacart rep tried to say that it was Aldi’s fault and that Aldi was getting that Money. I’m canceling my membership. What a scam !!! I’d add the pic of the receipts if I knew how . I will never use this service again!!!!!! Not happy! I figured out that I paid $22 to have $97 worth of groceries delivered. Not worth it !!!!

  305. Ordered for the first time last week and they brought the wrong Ramen Noodles. There is a certain kind that is hard to find but I found them on instacart. Well they delivered 20 pouches of the wrong thing. I called to let them know that and they were very helpful and apologetic. They told me they were out of stock, would be refunding my money and I can still keep the order. Wow!! And if that wasn’t enough (because a couple days later they still couldn’t locate this certain flavor) the representative gave me a $10 credit towards my next order. I won’t have someone do my whole grocery shopping order, but for hard to find things this company is great and would absolutely use them again.

  306. I work for InstaCart. Things go wrong people buy the wrong fruit or vegtebal, and some of us can’t spell to save are lives. We are just trying to make a living for are sleds just like you. If you don’t like the service don’t use it. Funny though how at the bottom of this article there are links to various on demand servoces, and I would be surprised if you weren’t profiting off those.
    So wrote a article bashing a service you use, get people to talked about it try it click the links and get paid. Pretty clever of that’s what your doing. I’m just saying. ???

  307. I just recently used instacart for my large family due to the Coronovirus outbreak I’m old and have health issues and wasn’t trying to risk getting the virus and that is why I used this service. I also live in a small town and we don’t have a Costco or Walmart in town and as far as free I was actually charged but immediately made a complaint and got reimbursed and the shopper gets paid accordingly to how big your purchase is and mine was pretty big. Be aware that you maybe charged a larger price in the beginning and it says it in small print below the page when you go to check out and they place a hold on that amount for seven days. Positives were that the shopper had the chance to talk to you if an item was out of stock and suggests a replacement and you could approve or disapprove and at the time of my order I had quite a few out of stock items but we’re easily replaced with my approval. Also shopper followed my instructions as far as dropping off and messaging me when he was done.Overall I think the service was worth the money considering the circumstances and my unability to be able to go to the store much less being able to carry such a purchase but definitely going to do my own shopping I’m the future once the flu season is over but just not big purchases

  308. My use of the “Instacart“ service has been both a blessing and curse. While my husband was a hospice patient here at home, I could not leave the house very often… And Instacart was a blessing during those days. However, what I have found lately is that they are in a great hurry to leave. They start start setting the groceries down on the front step outside the front door and are ready to walk away before you’ve managed to get all your groceries pulled inside the door… As soon as I open the door I let them know that I depend on a cane to walk and that I need them to help push the groceries inside the front door. They don’t wanna do that. And then when they dump and leave you have to use your phone record of the grocery list that went through check out to try to verify whether you got everything… And sometimes they have shopped two orders in the same trip. And then delivered in the same sweep and I’ve gotten items I didn’t purchase and was missing items that I paid for and when they dump and run you can’t pin them down. So now I go to the grocery store and I sit in an electric cart and I go around and do my grocery shopping and then they help me to the car and put my groceries in the car and then I come home and I pay my neighbors teenage son a few dollars to help me get my groceries in. Because I cannot rely on the shoppers to be professional and know what they’re doing. On one occasion it was a young Hispanic man who did not speak English and his sister was helping him but neither one of them bothered to notice that the meat that they brought me had expired and when I try to explain it to them they could not understand and I had to notify Instacart so that I could be credited and then I had to go the next day to get the items that I needed because of that.

  309. So you are not the target audience. Why feel a need to rain on others’ lovely parade? A month ago, while recovering from surgery, I was delighted to discover Instacart and have deliveries from Aldi, Mariano’s, and Costco. In each case, it was fast and efficient. The handful of substitutions were outstanding and submitted to me for approval. The cost of the service strikes me as completely reasonable. I have enthusiastically been recommending the app to friends who are now reluctant to leave the house to engage in shopping that now seems like an ordeal.

  310. I hv used instacart a couple of times. 1st time the delivery person didnt even knock on the door.
    Instead he left it in the back. I ealk with a cain and was very difficult to bring groceries wbere i wanted
    them. 2bd delivery 2 hours late. Not impressive so far
    To instacarts credit i did get $15 in credit for delivery
    Service and am item i didn’t get. Overall c-

  311. This isn’t half the problem, and when I lived 3 minutes from a Publix I didn’t use a delivery service, either. As you say, there isn’t quality control with shoppers. Some are fantastic, some are clueless and in the end you have to watch the app for an hour as they shop. Otherwise, your order is a mess when a shopper who just doesn’t care tells you everything is out of stock when it isn’t and makes random substitutions with foods you don’t like. Or that was Instacart 2 years ago. I saw a post from a shopper about how she gives customers a copy of a receipt every time. I’ve used this service since spring of 2016 and have never seen an actual receipt. It leads to a lot of confusion.

    Then they started using separate shoppers and drivers, storing your food, supposedly, in appropriately cold rooms while waiting for the driver. This made a 1 or 2 hour process turn into 4 or 5 hours.

    When they took tips away from the drivers and employees went on strike or many quit – my local groceries used to be packed with Instacart shoppers, but when I saw one the other day at Publix it was the first time in many months – suddenly you might not get your order shopped without calling support and having them find a new shopper because the assigned one didn’t show up. Or the driver might be hours late because they didn’t have enough of them, and they might have an old car with no AC and you might be their third delivery in an hour and get melted frozen food and questionably safe perishables.

    I actually quite using them, but was going to start again today to help self-isolate during the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m over 60, I have asthma, I don’t need to be in public indoor spaces. So I filled my cart with $200 worth of groceries – and yes, they mark things way up, which is part of how they make money, that and underpaying workers. I’m willing to pay to have a better chance of staying alive in the current situation.

    But when I went to check out, where you’d usually choose a delivery time in 2 or 3 hours, deliveries are now 2 days from the time you place your order. Instacart support is going to get back to me and either let me know why or make something up, but I needed groceries on Sunday, not on Tuesday night. It’s supposed to be a same-day delivery service, and the 4 and 5 hour waits were getting to be bad enough.

    Maybe they are overwhelmed with new customers all of a sudden with people scared to grocery shop, but I don’t think so – I was in this Publix last week and there were no Instacart shoppers in it. Not a lot has happened in the last several days in terms of COVID-19 or people being frightened to grocery shop. The stores are full of people. My best guess is that at least in my city, they have finally lost enough workers to be on the verge of going out of business.

    But whatever the reason, a 2-day wait for a grocery order is not worth my $12/month subscription. I don’t mind paying for a luxury, but there’s nothing luxurious about it anymore.

  312. I recently used Instacart. This was my experience. Since the first order is supposed to be free delivery they instead charged a $13.00 “service charge” Delivery time was arranged and confirmed. Texted that they were shopping. That was the last communication and the order never arrived. Customer Services did not respond to emails

  313. I just used instacart for the first time today and I had a great experience. The prices were good and it was very easy. The shopper alerted me when she was on her way and when she had arrived. I double checked my order and everything was fine. Maybe it has gotten better since this article was published. I very much hope my comment will be allowed even though I disagree with the author on this one.

    1. Of course I’m going to allow your comment Deb–just as long as you respect others and not trying to be a troll.

      I’ve even congratulated people on having positive experiences.

      However, I can assure you that it has certainly not been the case for everyone as even people who have left comments recently have had problems of varying degrees. Sure, that’s the nature of the service industry and everyone’s expectations are going to be different and be subjective based on life experiences.

      Glad you had a great introduction to the service ?

  314. I’m a shopper and I know I take my time to check dates and quality 1 thing I dont agree with instacart with is they time us and want us to be fast well let’s say I’m not winning that because I contact my customers introduce my self and let them know I’m starting there order and to keep an eye on any reviews that might come up and I do know that there are good and bad workers in every field that why we have the reviews but I love my job and have delivered to many people that are just so thankful for this service. To the person that wrote this article it sounds like you have trust issues do you ever go out to eat you know how many story’s of workers at restaurants or fast food places do thing to food you get bk what you put out in this world if your rude and hateful to a waitress then your probally going to get a little extra in your soup one day but if your polite and tip respectfully then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about and that’s just my opinion have a good day

    1. Hello Mike.

      No trust issues here, just observational conclusions–how many people do you see shopping who just grab a carton of eggs or the meat/produce from the bins without even hesitating? So if people don’t check quality for themselves, it’s logical to assume they won’t do it for others.

      Actually, I tip in excess of 20% when I eat out and always say please/thank you to the servers to thanks for that analysis and it’s strike two on trying to “read too much into someone” ⚾⚾

      Take this for what it is, a simple opinion piece.

      But thanks for stopping by and stay safe out there, Mike!

  315. We have only had one bad shopper, and you need to know regular prices. Some items are higher than they should be, but others only 10 cents difference. Some shoppers have to drive a good way and they should get a tip – and I mean the company needs to make sure they do get it.

  316. I use Instacart regularly…. i work 40-50 hours a week and commute long hours, so it’s convenient to our family. To be clear, Instacart does not set the pricing, the market you shop with provides that info and they mark up to cover their costs/loss of margins based on those costs. I liked reading your perspective; i don’t believe you can be a user of Instacart if you are very particular about dates/product quality. Your point about shoppers not being knowledgeable about certain products can clearly be a problem if you are trying to make a particular recipe and the sub a product or veer from your request. These people are just regular peeps, trying to work and make a paycheck… it’s tough for them as well.

  317. I totally agree with you. The fees add up, you get random substitutions and the shopper forgets a major item. House bound due to the virus but will not use them if we ever get out of this situation.

  318. I’ve used Instacart occasionally. I also use Shipt from time to time. I get that the prices are greater, and sometimes they may actually be less when something is on special through the shopping app. It actually does happen, especially with Shipt. That being said, you are paying a premium for a shopping and delivery service. I that’s not something you feel a need for, then you don’t need to be concerned about the difference. You might shop at Aldi because it’s the absolute cheapest in your area or may choose Publix because you have a loyalty card, but you’re giving up something for shopping at either one, whether that’s variety or best prices. There is always a cost in choosing one over the other–you’re either spending your time shopping around at every store looking for the best price or you’re using your time for something else and paying someone to do it for you. If you’re not happy with the quality of anything you get, complain to the company and get credit for that item. It’s not a perfect system–it’s simply an option that offers people choices they may not get otherwise, especially those with transportation or health issues.

  319. Geez. It’s simple. There was a demand for a service like that. Instacart filled it. Do you have to use it?-no! It was not created for penny pinchers and coupon clippers. It’s a convenience service for people who just ran out of time to do it themselves, elderly, etc,etc. just like some people prefer to have a car to get to work and some people can’t afford it so they take a bus AND save bunch of $$ doing that.

    1. Hello Tanya,

      So let me ask you something: do you think that every service in the world is perfect the way it is and there is nothing that any of them can do differently, better or to be more consumer-friendly?

      If you do then, by all means, stand by your “statement”…but if you don’t agree with my questioning then it just negates your entire comment, no?

    2. They won’t ever give me a delivery time. Been trying for 10 days. Always says they’re busy

  320. I use it. I have bad knees and walking around any grocery store is a literal pain. And they shop at the Aldi’s where i’ve shopped for a long time. Prices are not higher through Instacart than if I hauled myself there. And I’ve had ok, good and fantastic shoppers. The fantastic and good ones both texted me in the app to ask if I REALLY wanted the produce I’d ordered, since it didn’t look fresh to them. I thanked them and said to take it off the order.

    I know you’ll find it hard to believe, but a lot of us have shopped for a long time and actually know how to shop. We don’t have to be trained for it. Since all the shoppers I’ve had have come from a common cultural background, I wonder at the origin of your concern in this matter.

    1. So which is it Nannia: are you a customer or a shopper because your two paragraphs have two opposite views.

      To answer your question, the origin of my concern is observation. I observe others and when I’m at a store, I notice when people simply grab items rather than inspect them. So, if they aren’t discerning when shopping for themselves, why would they be if shopping for someone else?

  321. So I just received an order and thought it seemed a little expensive. In total on an order of $114 the ‘fees and upticks’ added to $44.50 or about 30%.

    Now I realize we are in dire times – my wife and I especially because of being immunocompromised from chemotherapy, but to uplift the prices versus the real receipt on top of the ‘service fee’, ‘delivery fee’, ‘top’ (which i do agree the driver deserves) and ‘alcohol service fee’ is really double dipping and sounds like the landline telephone company bills with fees on top of fees etc…. When things return to normal this will cost Instacart dearly

    There was a chance to offer a service, employ some people and make a REASONABLE profit – unfortunately as usual corporate greed got in the way of what could have been a very good business model.

    Almost 40% uplift on a bill is unsustainable… AND what happens to the increased sales tax? Presumably the store remits a sales tax return for the true amount? Does Instacart add in the difference?

  322. I love instacart i had past 6 months couple of surgery i signed up for instacart Express which cost 9.99 and my groceries gets delivered every week no problems you can talk thru app with your shoper and i had good quality food delivered

  323. I just had my first and last experience with Instacart. Everything you said was true in my case. The picker did okay except I ordered lettuce..did I get a firm head of lettuce? No. It was not firm in any sense of the word. I’m pretty pissed about it too. I asked for 1 rib-eye steak @$8 per lb. What did I get? A nearly 2-lb ribeye that was the size of a roast! Prices were higher through Instacart, and I told them to put the groceries on my porch, knock on the door, then leave, but the delivery guy used his personal shopping bags so I had to go outside and remove all the groceries from his bags and put them into mine so I could take them in the house. The whole point to getting grocery delivery was for the social distancing we are going through right now. I’ll never ever use or recommend Instacart again.

    1. Hey Michael…

      Actually, no, my opinion hasn’t changed one bit. The underlying issues haven’t changed so my concerns, in turn, wouldn’t either. I just got back from my local supermarket and it was quite easy to get my shopping done.

  324. I will never yse instaca again. On Friday, Mzrch 20 I place and order at 7:45 and divery times kept changing. None of my groceries ever came although the delivery peronrson stated he deliveredat 11:45. I have been trying now for a week to contact instart by phone and email with no response. I called my bank and they are fully aware of what occurred. I will get a refund even if I wrIte DO NOT USE INSTACART EVERYDAY so people will not order.

  325. These are all valid criticisms you have, however, we live in Queens, NY, about 1.5 miles from Elmhurst Hospital, aka the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic. So we really have no choice other than to order online, less we risk being infected by making contact with other people on busy Jamaica Ave. Yes, we clean and sterilize the best we can all products that are delivered, and I dislike the store we order from uses plastic bags, but right now it’s the only food delivery service that works at the moment. Fresh Direct is booked until sometime in late April. Call it use of Instacart by force, but nevertheless, I have to say it has been quite literally a life saver during these times.

  326. I’m an EBT user, so I am not able to access INSTACART! Its a shame that people who are not able to get out to the grocery store have to use what little cash they have in order to get groceries. I live alone, am high risk and disabled. I’m not going into any grocery store!

  327. Items on the list as shopped, not delivered. This has happened to me twice. Publix says it is an Instacart issue, after they do check to see if any bags were forgotten. No receipt to prove anything and digital list no longer comes up after checkout!

  328. I ordered from Instacart once. After ordering on a Sunday, the date of delivery was about a week from then, on Monday. We instructed them to leave everything on the back porch and to call when it was delivered. We’re not using our front door because of COVID-19. I get a call from my upstairs neighbor on Friday asking me if the bags on the porch are mine, that they’ve been there FOR TWO DAYS! Everything frozen had melted, the vegetables were wilted and the fruits were so unripe, it’s clear they just grabbed them without even looking at them. And the 4 boxes of Corn Flakes I ordered were instead replaced by 3 boxes of Strawberry Rice Krispies and a box of Cocoa Pebbles. I thought that someone else’s order was mistakenly sent to us, but it wasn’t.

    Instacart sucks, full stop.

  329. Oh yes, did I ever have an experience! I only used them because I wanted to test them out for my 90 yr. old ex-mother-in-law who fell & injured herself. Normally I would have done her shopping for her but since we are in lock down due to Covid-19 I didn’t want to risk it. When my daugbter mentioned that they were still delivering I decided to go ahead and order a few things, seven to be exact. Everything went well because my store, Safeway, is on their list of store options. I signed up as instructed and chose my items. I got a message via their website that a few of my items were not available, and did I want any alternatives. I did not so that brought my order down to four items, (2 boxes of cereal, a jar of Chopped garlic, and a can of Old Bay) totalling $19 and some change. Once the shopping was completed I got a message that the delivery person (Yannick, with a picture) was heading my way. Let me add that my order was placed approx. 3:30ish, and it was then close to 8pm. They had mentioned that due to their abundance of calls and orders there may be a delay in delivery, as much as 5 and up to 7 hours. So I was happy that I didn’t have to wait up until 10pm or later. So when I see that they are in transit I decided to go out to the living room and sit in my rocker and wait for the knock at the door. I live in an apartment on the 3rd floor so I could hear voices in the stairwell which is not unusual. So I waited, and waited then I get a text message on my phone that said, “parking.” So I waited to hear sounds in the stairwell again but no sound came even after 10 minutes had passed. I open the door and said, “hello are you there?” No answer, no sound, so I sat back down to wait. I need to add here that I am crippled to some extent, meaning I can walk but it’s very painful. That’s another reason why I was hoping that this was going to work out. Well 15 more minutes went by and I thought I’ll just text them to see what the problem is. When I texted a robo message came back saying they could not respond to text messages and that I had to reach out to them via their website. I could not find any place to message them since the message board that they were using to correspond with me had disappeared, completely…gone. I went back to the door, still no sound in the stairwell. By 10:00pm I decided to drag my pain racked body down the steps to see if maybe he had left my groceries inside (or outside) the door to the stairwell. Nope! If he did then someone else was enjoying them. I found a phone number via Google that I called but to no avail. I called the next day after checking my bank account to see if they had actually charged me, (yep they sure did) and sat on hold for two solid hours (no exaggeration) before the phone just mysteriously disconnected. Of course there was the usual recording telling me that they appreciated my call but due to the high call volume it would be X amount of minute in turn. I called the next three days, same thing. I have emailed numerous (6) times and each time I get a robo email stating that my email was received and someone would be in touch with me shortly. This all began on March 25th. Tomorrow I will call my back to make sure no further charges can be made from Instacart… Period. I’m very bummed out that I allowed myself to be sucked in and scammed like that. I have ordered food from Whole Foods through Amazon before but they have been out of a lot of things I need and want and I don’t care for Whole Foods prices, or most of their brands. But ironically I just paid for food and never got it from Instacart. Needless to say, but I’m saying it anyway, I DO NOT RECOMMEND INSTACART.

  330. I just used instacart for the 2nd time and was surprised (and angry) to see the physical receipt in my grocery bag didn’t match the amount on my instacart receipt. Instacart added a total of $13 to the cost of my items. Increasing the prices, plus delivery fee, plus tip – I’m on a budget and it was very expensive to use instacart. The only positive thing is that I didn’t have to leave my house (COVID-19 pandemic going on). But I swear I will never use instacart again. I feel like they were not upfront and honest about what they charge, sneaking in extra costs on every single grocery item I purchased. Instacart just lost a customer and I’m going to tell all my friends about it.

    Thanks for the blog post that confirmed my suspicions. 🙂

  331. These are dumb reasons! If you’re cheap then don’t order! I’ve ordered from various stores! Aldhi, Kroger everything was fresh, and just like I would buy myself! They tell you the prices may be alittle higher! Gurl Stop ?

  332. I agree with your statement on intracart. I tried the service for the first time last Tuesday. I was very hesitant to use it but did anyway. I ordered bogo seagrams 12 pack of gingerale 3 packs, grapes, papaya 2lbs, 2 packs of ravioli frozen, family pack of chips and bag of pretzels and coffee creamer. They arrived and rang my bell. By the time I came to door they were gone. I only received 3 12npacks of ginerale the pret?ele and chips. No grapes papaya and creamer. I was still charged for the items. I called tje number and waited 2 hours on hold and then the phone hung up. They have a page that asked what was missing which I stated. I have not heard from them. Was charged the high amount. I will never use them again

  333. I used Instacart for the first time during Coronavirus, and was outraged by the prices. Basically with all the fees plus a 10% tip added in, using Instacart added about 33%. I know, because I entered every item from my previous $200 Publix receipt into Instacart — and the Instacart total was 33% higher. Some sale items etc were slightly different but overall it was roughly 33% more for the order! Instacart employees are asking for better pay during Coronavirus, and they do deserve it — how about sharing some of these price increases, service fees, delivery fees, heavy order fees, etc. with the shoppers? The customers are already overpaying, before we even get to the tip portion.

  334. I tried Instacart for the first yesterday—complying with the “stay a home” mandate. It was available at my local Sprouts store. I had no trouble as far as the ordering went. I received the order within a couple of hours—they had noted it would be Friday, which was a pleasant surprise. I ordered several non organic bell peppers: red, green, orange and onions because they were on sale. My young shopper (he didn’t look any older than 20) instead bought everything organic which cost me $22 more . I didn’t notice until a I looked at the receipt and the produce. I’m sure it’s way healthier for me, but that’s not the point. He also, bless his heart, had notified me earlier that the bread I wanted was not available. I replied to have the amount refunded with no substitute. I got a different bread which is more expensive and I do not like. I’m relieved I didn’t order my favorite wine—who knows what would I had gotten if it wasn’t available. I reported the problem to Instacart but have not received a reply. I want to believe that this young man did his best, and will do better next time.

  335. hey everything cost money I’m sure instacart shoppers aren’t doing it for their health spread the wealth and make someones life a little better

  336. Bill herel again I used it yesterday and a really old lady that could barely walk delivered my groceries and if at the moment I had had it I would have given her a $100.00.because it seemed so wrong

  337. I just signed up to be an instacart shopper. I appreciate this article, so I know how I can improve upon myself, and how I shop and pick groceries. Unfortunately, I’m just a shopper, so I can’t change the prices. However, I will think of this article, Everytime I shop. Thank you!

  338. Instacart is a luxury service. You are paying a fee for someone else to do the work FOR you. If you can’t afford the extra cost, don’t like what they pick out and find little things that annoy you for a luxury service— then go yourself. It’s quite simple. I hate how Instacart gives the customer three days to take the tip away from the shopper. What other service where you tip are you allowed to do that. It’s disgusting and people take away the tip to save themselves money after you deliver.

  339. Yep – just learned that lesson the hard way myself. Love Aldi, thought this would be a great option to protect myself, placed my order… But upon comparing the actual paper receipt to what I paid online, I discovered the $2.25 raspberries were $3.95, and most everything else was marked up at least 20%. Which wouldn’t have shocked me if it had been clarified up front and I had understood what I was agreeing to. The driver was great, and I tipped him accordingly, so no complaint there at all. But it’s a bit disconcerting to know I paid $40 more than I would have if I shopped myself. Hopefully I dodged the virus with that money!

  340. I totally agree with all your reasoning above, but then came COVID-19. So as much as I hate it, am forced to use them for the first time this week (over 60 household and mate has respiratory issues). But I will have them set everything at the door and disinfect each item before we bring it in. Haven’t decided how to handle meat, veggies & fruit when the time comes that we need those. Prior to this week we were going out once a week to shop. But I often leave without buying any meat/veggies/fruit once I see what they look like in the store.

  341. This is a terrible article to publish right now! Instacart shoppers are placing their lives on the line to earn a living during this pandemic. Really poor timing.

    1. You do realize this wasn’t just published, right Kel?

      Also, just because these people are providing a valuable service does that mean we shouldn’t be wary of the company?

  342. My first experience was terrific, shopping,packing,and delivery. Shopper was A+. Second time. Order on target for delivery today. Had to order some items from a different store. Was given tomorrow as delivery date..fine. All of a sudden it changed to Tuesday evening..no notice.. cancelled that order..It’s a very hectic time in the world of Instacart. Not giving up on it..just being very watchful

  343. I agree with all of your research! I live on a boat and can not always walk to the market as it is too far from where we have docked at that time. I was unhappy with the way things were priced out! Also my experience on my second try with insta cart and my last try was, a 4.00 service fee for a bottle of wine, on top of the other service fees and delivery fee! I would not have purchased the wine if I knew. Also, my food costs were around 156.00and then fees brought it to around 182.00 but they said they would temporarily run my card for 315.00! Why?
    No I will not use them again, it feels and smells too much of a scam.

  344. I’m joining in here insta fart is owned by a giant Corporation it takes two days to get them to answer the phone and you have to hold that long the prices are outrageous an order may take 10 days to get delivered you have to sit on line for hours/days to get a delivery time/date I think it’s what we used to call a klusterfuk- not recommended -no periods in this sentence Cuz I’m really pissed off AND now they add a fee a monthly fee because they have your credit card information even if you don’t shop they’re still going to charge you a monthly fee. This is not in the spirit of a National Emergency this is Corporate greed at its worst. F*** you Loblaws!

  345. I used instacart 4.2.20 I being not good health didn’t want to walk through grocery store right now, shopper did great job, I know I was paying more per item than in store! I knew I have discount delivery ch. 3.99, but now I see another 12 $ ducted from account! This I was NOT aware of till looking at checking act. I tipped shopper all I could afford as said she did great job, 3 dollars on website 3 $ when she delivered. So I now pay 12$ more than informed cannot find reason. I cannot afford that, on disability. 72 $ for 50$ of grocery! B.S. to that. Hidden charge.

  346. I don’t mind paying a little bit more, but based on my experience this week with Instacart, I would call it price gouging. However, I did receive my order which is more than I can say for my Shipt order from Costco which is now 2 days old and they still have no delivery times available.

  347. I believe Instacart is a scam. I’ve stayed up all night trying to get groceries delivered for elderly in NY suburb area, during social distancing. Not only it cannot process a credit card, but resulted in Costco shutting down my account for concerns of fraud. BJ’s website can’t process it either. I was willing to play stupid to (in some instances) appalling price gouging AND on top of that pay $30 or even $60 delivery (I am still not sure what the cost of the delivery was estimated to be). I have used Amazon fresh and had no problem with things like quality of product or expiration dates (I can be fanatical about these things). Peapod has delivered (in past, I haven’t used them recently) produce I felt like I should immediately past onto the compost.
    I have never used Instacart, never tried before and I can’t imagine I ever will. In this extraordinary circumstances we are today, I was willing to pay whatever the price was, more because I have great respect for Costco then for any faith in Instacart.

  348. Like you said there are are good and bad employees just like there are good and bad people. I personally work for instacart. I can personally say that when I take a batch, I shop for it like it was my own. My mother taught me the same about shopping as you were taught. Not everyone does this and it is frustrating. I also don’t like the fee. It isn’t double dipping though. They charge the store a fee for the store using them as a service. They charge the customer to use the service. If they didn’t charge any fees at all they can’t make a profit and wouldn’t be in service for anyone to use. The customer pays what the store charges. The upcharge of .40 to .50 you see is a safety net so to speak so if the product happens to be higher in the store the customer is covered. It’s like a overdraft protection, if you will. Aldi is a super cheap store that is not a good example to use ever in my opinion not only for that fact but because they are not a wide used store like Kroger, Smith’s, Albertson’s, or Sprouts. The service is tailored more for people that have families, jobs outside of the home, elderly, home-bound, lots going on in their lives. A single person that works from home and has no family would not benefit from what the service was designed for. I’m not taking shots at anyone just saying if you can go to the store for yourself do it especially if you are picky and don’t think someone else is capable of doing the job. If you can do it better by all means do it better ?

    1. Thank you Danielle for being an instacart shopper. I am elderly with health problems and cannot afford to go to a store as I could catch the virus and if I do it could kill me. I wish I could go as it is easier but I cannot risk it. To the young people who hate instacart, go ahead and take a chance with your life. I give the shoppers a 10% tip through instacart and then another $10 or $20 when they get here. It also seems to have a 20 item limit on the order (not quantity but items)

      1. For me, it is an honor to serve those in your capacity. That is the whole reason I do this job in the first place, is to help people like you. I pray that you stay safe and healthy as can be in these troubled times. If there is a limit, I would imagine it is not for the item because I have seen some orders with less than 10 items. Maybe the order has to cost a minimum amount to qualify, for example, the orders must be a minimum of $10.

        1. We appreciate all the instacart shoppers. there is a $10 minimum order size and $35 for free delivery, what I noticed is when I tried to add the 21st item to the cart (there were multiple quantities so that is not the issue, as you try to add the 21st item it say you are maxed out, maybe to not make it a 1 hour shopping trip for the shoppers. I will test it some more with another order. But people can work with max limits.

  349. I ordered $100 worth of food and they left it at the wrong house. I called immediately and they never got back to me.

  350. Your entire argument may be valid, but it’s currently invalidated completely by covid. You no longer have any excuse to go manually shop yourself, or you are actively vectoring this virus, regardless of cost. It literally wouldn’t matter if the grocery store is right next door: if you, personally, are entering it, you are increasing the risk of fatality for every single human in your community. We have now observed this demonstrably, and ignoring it is irresponsible.

    Please use some form of grocery delivery until the pandemic is over. You no longer get to avoid it because your immune system is not compromised.

  351. Btw, my comment was a response to your 2020 update, which I think was three days ago and still did not say you were using any delivery, and that those who are compromised should use it.

    This was not a valid outlook even a week ago. We need to start accounting for our own actions or more will die.

  352. I did it once. I didn’t know they charged more per item…did realize as I was shopping. Went ahead anyway. I was pleased with the quality of what the shopper chose for me. Waited about 20 minutes after I got to the pickup line and called in while multiple cars around me were delivered even tho I was there several minutes before they were. They must be pros and know not to wait until you actually get there to call in that you are there as instructed. After waiting 20 minutes, I received a text telling me I needed to come in and pick mine up because they didn’t have anyone available to bring my groceries out…even tho they were bringing carts to people who arrived long after I did. I got out to go in and met the delivery person on the way to my car – it was a Publix employee – not the instacart person. She apologized and said for some reason, my text kept getting pushed down and not pulled. Left a tip which the delivery person could not take but said she’d take it to the shopper. Understand that these are difficult times – but I will wrap myself in plastic wrap and wear a mask , gloves and safety goggles and shop myself from now own.

  353. I placed an order through Instacart on 4/2/20. Today is 4/6/20. Confirmation email says order will arrive this evening 4/6/20. However, when I go to look at the actual order (view order status) within the order is an “Order Information” button. If you click on that, it says, “Thursday April 9”. Okay?! So I tried calling Instacart and they are not answering. I’ve been trying for 2 days. So I tried chat. Currently have been waiting for a response for 2.5 hours and nothing. I’m beginning to doubt that there is any chance of getting any clarity from them.

  354. Used it 3 times – it is a very valuable service to me. Given the coronavirus issue, I am thankful that someone else is doing the shopping for me, and taking the risk. My 3 experiences were excellent to very good and yes I could afford paying more but what money can not buy for me and my husband is not getting sick. While checking expiration etc. is important, I imagine the pickings are slim out there, so I learn to be grateful for what I can get. I am not arguing with you re your reasons for not using Instacart, it is just basically different strokes for different folks. For me, I am grateful Instacart exists.

  355. I waited home all day. My order was never delivered. I was charged for the order and have been trying for almost 2 weeks by phone and email to get my money back. Nobody answers the phone and nobody responds to emails.

  356. Always great service until the virus causing shortages. Instacart offers a $9.99 monthly fee all orders for free delivery if you order $35.

  357. Just tried instacart for the second time. Both times a received a smaller size item than that which I ordered, but I was charged for the larger size. I’ve reported the issue both times to instacart and it hasn’t been fixed yet. Not sure what else to try.

  358. I’m an Instacart shopper and I 100% do NOT disagree with you. I tell family and friends all the time if you need a few things right now, send me your list and I’ll drop off and save you a boatload!!! It’s really only worth it when you need a full cart of groceries delivered.

    I also think screening needs to be better. I’m a teacher and this is my side hustle; I actually ENJOY shopping and being alone doing it. However, I’ve seen many shoppers in the store with their kids, friends, etc. and just acting like it’s social hour. We are handling people’s food and money…I can’t tell you how many times I’ve delivered groceries and a customer is surprised that I am “normal” and “have manners.” I think that ties into HOW they shop as well. If they have a lazy attitude, they’re going to be lazy with your items.

    I hope my second job stays in business after this is all over. But I do fear that it won’t, or tips/payments will decline because other shoppers think it’s easy money (if you’re doing the job right, it’s a lot of work and demanding).

    Good customer perspective. I hope other shoppers read this!

  359. The App is a life saver during this time of woe. It’s not perfect and the produce is only as fresh as the Market that shelves it. The shoppers must be taken care interns of salary, health care and paid medical leave. I’m happy to pay more to assure these requirements. The article is too cute.

  360. Just do some research before putting a bad rep on someone’s income. If it’s not a partnered store, they charge more per item. They never hid this. Also, being an instacart shopper during this time of chaos, yes, I shop as if I’m shopping for my own groceries. That’s why I took on this job and opportunity because I enjoy grocery shopping so why not get paid for it? I can assure you the many shoppers around me work diligently to make sure our customers are more than happy.

    https://thegrocerystoreguy.com/why-does-instacart-charge-more-than-the-store/

  361. I was charged $50 over what the cost on the actual receipt showed. After $20 in delivery fees & a tip I paid $70 to have 13 items from Costco delivered. I have emailed them twice with no response. I will never use this service again!

  362. The price increases on top of the fees always bothered me too. I’ve discovered a way to get in store prices and only pay the 9.95 delivery fee. I shop Kroger. I never go through the instacart site. I go directly to Kroger and pick the delivery option.

    1. A month ago I started shopping online at Harris Teeter, owned by Kroger. Until then, I had always done my own shopping but because of the virus and being 81 years old, I decided to switch to online for the time being. Although I’ve had numerous problems using the Harris Teeter app to place my order, the shopping, itself, has been top notch. The store uses it own employees as shoppers and charges $5 to fill the order, bring it to the customer’s vehicle, and place it in the trunk. By paying online there’s no contact with any employee. Currently, the $5 fee is waived for customers at least 60 years old. Home delivery using Shippt is offered but it seems impossible to get an available time slot. It’s even difficult to set up a time for store pick up. The cost for delivery is about $12 plus the $5 shopping fee. Prices for goods are the same paid by in-store customers. Suggest anyone living the area of a Kroger, Harris Teeter or other Kroger owned store look into online shopping at one of them.

  363. I use it because I can’t leave the house. It cost 30 % more with tip. Delivery fee. And higher prices. The people are very nice.

  364. I am a instacart shopper. We are the one’s who are risking our lives for you. You don’t need help, don’t bash the helper.
    We are all in this together.

  365. I have used their service and feel like I’ve been robbed. They have increased the price of the products I have ordered by as much as 50%. And that’s just one item. Even though it’s a convenience right now because I’m elderly with a compromised immune system, there are other delivery options that are much cheaper and I’ll be investigating that. I think Instacart uses deceptive practices and takes advantage of people. I won’t be using them again.

  366. This whole article is bull. So you expect them not to make a profit? You generally pay a bit more for the groceries to be able to utilize this service. How do you think the shoppers get paid? Not by your measly monthly or yearly fee. They would go out of business. Most places do this. Next, the shoppers are required to shop as though they were shopping for themselves. If they get complaints, their contracts are terminated. So picking last week’s old produce or inadequate meat is not allowed. Lastly, I can’t believe you have the audacity to think every platform ought to have contracts with every store. That’s just absurd. Of course they aren’t. You sound very misinformed, cheap and arrogant. Not to mention, this is a service that’s very necessary right now. But hey, let’s hope you never need it because I’m sure none of the shoppers will deliver to you anyway.

    1. I think the biggest point wasn’t about the delivery charge, but the complete lack of transparency with actual product costs–the whole “$2 off” part is a lie.
      I wouldn’t mind so much if Instacart raised the delivery charge but kept it separate from the product cost.

  367. Absolutely the worst 5 hour experience I have had in a long time. My husband and i would rather glove and mask up and get through the store than experience insta cart ever again!
    Shopped on website and got instantly picked. It said if I wanted it the same day it would be at least 5 hours. So being picked quickly and then questions and photos of what to replace with items not available started right away. I dont eat meat and buy a lot of organic. This person shopping for me took the entire 5 hours but called me in between to tell me he was having a hard time due to never shopping at the store I picked. He also have up on many items that were not sold out just cause he couldn’t figure it out. Some items he found as I told him where they were in the store hmmm. I was sweet the entire time even made a goody bag with an additional tip and will not send a review about how bad it was as its obvious he was an older man who probably needs a job during this time. What I will do is delete the app and never do it again.

  368. CNN had an article today about customer “bait and switch” by offering $50 tips then taking them back after delivery. While this is not cool, what this really shows is that some (most?) Instacart shoppers are taking advantage of the current situation by only going for big tip orders. Don’t tell me about InstaCart “doing a service” for elderly or sick customers. You have to be Bill Gates now to get some groceries.

    Some comments here whine about those of us that do not “understand” that Instacart is a profit business and that shoppers are low paid and need to make money. But most of us customers also want to pay the least possible. If shoppers “game” the system by only going for the big tip orders, then customers, seeing this predatory behavior, can also game it by using the tools InstaCart provided: Cancel your tip.

    Having tips declared up front is the cause of this abuse. Do you tip up front at a restaurant, hair salon or anywhere else? Imagine if you had to show your tip up front at a restaurant, and they never gave you a table because they only gave tables to customers with higher tips.

    Thank you very much for confirming my decision to NEVER USE INSTACART.

  369. I hate the hidden fees. Disgusting. I could have spent 266.00 but after their higher prices I paid 315.00. 15.00 tip. I won’t use them again. I only used for Costco. No money saved going to a big box store. Since I’m elderly I didn’t want to go myself but most seniors can’t afford to pay their markups.

  370. I wasn’t given a chance to use my rewards card. though one was used at check out. it wasn’t mine, and i paid an extra $32.05 because of that. The extra money either went to the shopper, or to the company. Shady.

  371. Also, late comment, thanks for the clear points!
    Just wanted to add a 2020 PSA about point 1, shopping for quality–I suggest going to a store and buying whatever item we touch first, without choosing like usual (imagine buying an apple that 50 people already touched…) Simple acts like that can help further slow the spread of the virus.

  372. I came so close to using Instacart. I had tried to order food from a local grocer and couldn’t get a delivery date. I was within 5 hours of Instacart shopping when I thought of checking the ratings. It was not good and then they mentioned that the Customer service telephone number was no longer being answered. That did it for me and yes I did call the telephone number to be sure it wasn’t being answered. I cancelled my order, I am a senior citizen and I need to be careful with my dollars. I tried to local grocer again and they finally had some delivery dates and the additional charges of Instacart are something I can add to a nice tip for the person delivering.

  373. So happy to tell you that I have had nothing but bad experiences with instacart ? They delivered my order twice,,and charged me for both orders. I could not reach instacart to speak with anyone about the situation. Spoke with thg he manager of Publics and he couldn’t help me . Instacart is the most un organized company I have ever deal with and I am 89 years old. Now I have to try to get a refund and deal with my credit card. Awful and I really need my food delivered!,

  374. So I am a new shopper in this whole mess, but the one thing sticks out to me is the Receipt issue. All my batches/orders get their original receipt from the store, usually placed in their egg bag (everyone gets eggs). Trust me I wish I could keep it because I would use Ibotta and skim a little more off of the order, but that’s their receipt so they are entitled to it.

    Mayne I’m just weird.

  375. Instacart is high on my list for NOT EVER USING AGAIN‼️ They have rescheduled my delivery 3 times… I’ve been in my home waiting for 3 days ‼️ Hopefully they haven’t shopped yet… but, if so, where are the groceries held❓They don’t text or email the delivery delays ~ they post it on their website ‼️Just by a fluke I checked the website… And, good luck maneuvering the website… They need to call Amazon and learn customer service skills… I’ve canceled my order…

  376. I will not order again because it’s a scam. You put things in the cart and pay for it and they tell you at the last minute right before pickup time they don’t have it. That is not right or fair. Walmart is on point with orders. Everything that I order there they get it out to me or it will say out of stock.

  377. I use Instacart because I am 77 years old, have Rheumatoid Arthritis , am a diabetic etc. I have children who can occasionally get items for me so, yes I have used this service. The order was good and they even called me to see if I needed anything before they left the store. The one thing I don’t like is that I don’t get a receipt. I feel it’s my money that is being spent and I would like to see a receipt.

  378. Everyone wants something for nothing, companies start up so they can make money not to do charity work. I dont think instacart grossly overcharges for the items. If you dont want to go shopping and have someone shop for you so you dont have to lug it all back home,then the service is worth every penny. If anything the shoppers should earn more money. Trips up and down apt stairs , finding replacements, using their own transportation, wear n tear on their vehicle, sometimes with no tip because grocery was out of too many items like.it was their fault? People feel they are so entitled to perfection. If you have to worry about budget then you better just shop like the rest of us , single or with kids like the good old days where we did our own shopping.

  379. I have been using Intacart for more than two years and been very satified. Let me explain why
    1. Who would grocery shop for free? Of course there is an up charge (more about this later)
    2. I have had “slow” shoppers and incredibly “fast” shoppers. Stores have busy times, sometimes they are shopping for more than one order at a time. Any of you who have shopped for a family member along with your own order knows this takes more time. Also shopping can be at peak shopping hours.
    3. Yes, I have on occasion had a “bad” produce choice. The app allows me to report anything not to my liking and they immediately refund the cost. And on that note…on eve of Christmas Eve I place my order and a bag must have been left behind. This has only happened twice in the 2 years I have relied on Instacart. Well, as I said it was the eve of Christmas Eve and I was expecting company Christmas eve. The bag that was left behind contained a jar of horseradish and mini kimelwick rolls. I immediately contacted Instacart that I didn’t get my horseradish (yes, I hadn’t noticed that the rolls were also missing) . Within 20 mins (at 10 pm)a driver brought me the horseradish. And when I reported the rolls, the same driver brought those too! That is a commitment to customer service!
    Yes, you are taking a chance with total strangers doing your shopping but my experience has been very satisfying. 4. On that note let me explaine that I am a senior, 68 yr old, no car, have a store whose quality I like not within walking distance so I NEED Instacart. I live in upstate NY so winters are hard and long. In my experience, the shoppers are very qualified (who wants to grocery shop unless you enjoy it?) More and more my shopper is also the person that delivers my order, this I like because my choice of tip goes to them.
    5. I choose to pay the $149 annual membership because for a minimum order of $35 there no delivery charge. I can order as my times a week as I want! Thats $2.86 a week!
    6. Regarding the mark up, my sister was coming for a week long visit so my stock up order was close to $200. I decided to have a friend take me to the store to save the “mark up”. Well, after 1.5 hrs in store, waiting in line to check out, taking and loading gorceries in the car and then unloading and carrying inside, I was aggravated and pooped! When I checked my receipt against the Instacart cost the difference was $21.00. I would have willingly paid $21.00 for someone to do all that for me!
    So in closing, yes, I’m old, no I don’t like crowds, or traffic and I really hate waiting in line to check out, so for me INSTACART IS A GOD SEND! And I am helping someone who wants to work!
    P.S. I tip well, 15% or more because I really appreciate it!

  380. I became an Instacart shopper recently. I would have to agree that you may have a poor shopper who doesn’t pick the freshest or the best items. But you CAN complain if there are issues. I don’t know how Instacart or the stores handle complaints, I personally haven’t gotten a poor review. LOL. I, myself, work very hard to complete the order. I don’t just skim a shelf and if I don’t readily see it, I mark it off as unavailable. From my observations, my fellow shoppers also work hard. This job IS physically demanding. Yes, you do pay for convenience. And anyone who has a busy schedule, I feel this service is a godsend. And please tip better. The automatic tip is just a small percentage of the total bill. Generosity is appreciated. I think some of the users don’t realize how little the tip is calculated. I’m a bit discouraged when I just spent an hour shopping and delivering for a $2.00 tip. I accept that some can’t afford to do more (on top paying more for food). I’m mainly bringing up the matter because I really feel some people don’t realize how low the percentage is calculated when they click DONE.

  381. With this pandemic I wanted/needed a delivery service but I do not like the not knowing. I decided to get the Instacart app and place an order but before doing so I needed to do research.

    I need to know the ins and outs. I need to know how I’m going to be charged for items, delivery fees and service fees.

    From my research I felt very uneasy. I felt there were to many unknowns. The receipt thing bothered me. Would that shopper pick out products as I would? I could tell their costs for products were a bit higher.

    I never did place that order. I couldn’t. I felt a bit ripped off. The not getting receipt was major, what are you hiding? All the extra fees.

    So, the next I read a story about a women who was asking for a refund from Instacart because she never received her order. It was promised within a window time frame. They kept pushing it back. She waited and waited. It was close to midnight and nothing. The next day she was told it was delivered. Obviously not to her.

    I was so happy I never placed the order. Listen to your gut, it never fails you. Nothing about Instacart was sitting well with me.

  382. Great point! Feel the same way, people has gotten lazy so the pay more and don’t get to look at there fresh or better buy. Im with you girl all they way.

  383. I tried to use instacart..i ordered on Sunday morning (as did my daughter within 10 minutes of each other, and 2 houses apart ). She got her order within 4 hrs. I was told my order would be deserved on Wed. I was ok with that. They placed hold on my card for a certain amount..ok…Got text on Monday..my order would be ready Tuesday morning between 4/6 pm..a hold had been placed on my card for another amount !!???!! Now I begin to get nervous. One Monday (same day) got another text, said my order would be delivered between 11:00AM/1:00PM Another amount placed on my card…..I tried calling Instacart..can’t get them (high volume) I canceled my order. That went ok. Last 2 holds on my card was credited immediately but the first one took 2 days. THEN.. I had the $3.99 delivery fee plus the tip. Im ok with that. Then they charged another fee for “SHIPPING” and another fee for” HEAVY LOAD”… NO disclosure of those last 2 fees ?

  384. We have found Instacart to be a lifesaver, with 2 fulltime working parents in the house, and 5 children to feed and manage schedules for, it has become a staple of our family for about 1.5 years now.
    With the recommendation for us to shelter in place and the uncertainty of being in public with people who’s hygiene is unknown (virus related), Instacart has been a great help in keeping our family sheltered in place and healthy.

  385. I completely agree with you on a lot of points. I shop & deliver for Instacart. I’m obsessive compulsive, germaphobic, and a mother… So I shop the way you would be shopping yourself. I check all those things you mentioned & more. If you ask for 2 apples… I looked at 8-12 to pick your two. I was always in the top 5 fastest in my area (back when they showed you we had 600 shoppers in Atlanta… Since removed that information) So I’m that amazing shopper who gets a raise in tip after I deliver… pretty often. I agree there should be even more screening for shoppers. Since corona… Instacart has hired almost everyone. Everyone I see in the stores are new shoppers who are completely clueless (never thought supermarket shopping was that hard) asking me questions about simple items anyone with a brain should be able to find and goofing up people’s shopping lists in a major way because they can barely read. One woman asked me how to check out… And she was on the “practice runs” page which clearly states its practice (and if she could read on the start page it said wait for the store c.card in mail & then you can get started). One asked “ginger tea… never heard of it in my life!” Like its that strange of an idea. I looked at the shelf… Saw 4 different brands and said “Me neither!” Why? because Instacart needs to fire her. There are straight up crack head looking guys shopping for people and… I wouldn’t want them touching my food OR knowing where I lived. Wait until one of these crack heads comes back because he didn’t like his tip or likes your home! My friend in Nyc signed up for it last night and shopped today. Meanwhile when I started over a year ago I had to wait a week for background/dmv checks and meet up in person screening. Since this flood of people (who don’t care about your food) have been hired… I get 1 maybe 2 jobs a day (from 5-8 before) while these morons are annihilating your shopping lists.

    I always thought it was foul they charge you a list of fees, membership, delivery, heavy order, and on top of that a charge on top of each item… And expect you to make up most of OUR pay in tip because they pay us one small base pay no matter how big an order. Sometimes maybe its heavy enough they give you $5-20 extra heavy pay. On the other side… They pay us one fee for shopping… And it stays the same even if we shop for multiple people. For ex… $8 base pay for shopping 1 persons list + their tip. But if I shop for 3 orders… Still $8+ 3 people’s tip… But you charged all three people a delivery fee & heavy order??? Who is delivering & carrying this heavy order? Instacart used to jobs sent out based on your ratings… My perfect 5.0 meant I see good customers with good tips and trickled lesser jobs to people by ratings so the non tippers jobs get shopped by lower rated shoppers. Now, your crack head guy (using him because I see him shopping for you often) can get your nice house good tipper job because recently they removed the ratings system & everything is up for grabs as soon as it’s posted. Also they have “ratings forgiveness” now so that lower ratings under 5 stars won’t effect you (meaning mr crack guy can consistently get 2 stars but its forgiven to a 5 for the time being. Knowing this a lot of newer shoppers are scanning whatever so that they get paid because they bought you anything and your bad rating won’t effect them. Because of this system it’s creating a loophole for bad shoppers to scam on your list & get paid!! I’m pissed because I loved my job and the customers I shop for loved my shopping & this company is adding to it’s previous problems but in a way that may just ruin it entirely. They could have used this opportunity to carefully grow a decent team and get people their food in good quality but all they seem to care about is the growth in their pockets… As usual. Hopefully, if you’re lucky you can get an honest shopper like me who’s aware we’re all neighbors so look out for each other.

    1. Gem, wow! I literally just placed a first time order just to see if I’d like it and I’m mortified to know the truth. I simply don’t have enough energy or time to cancel the order now so I will see what I get and pray to God at least have my order arrives and is decent! Thank YOU for your commitment as a great shopper! Wish more people like you were in my area.

  386. So I am an instacart full service shopper and I know very well how to check expiration dates, check all eggs before putting them in the cart, and quality and freshness of produce. That being said, instacart does not charge the grocery stores because it’s literally making them money as it is. They’re only upcharging in the amount of cents and not dollars which is to make their money because your upfront delivery fee is to make sure the cost for paying the delivery driver/shopper is fully covered. My question to you is how much is someone else’s or your own life worth? An extra 20-30 dollars for groceries is well worth it in my eyes. So sad that you don’t see it that way. I understand if someone just cant afford it but there are also other delivery options like safeway, postmates and roadie

  387. Instacart SUCKS. Timor will be 3 weeks , that I ordered food, paid for it on line , haven’t received it yet. Sll instacart wants is large tips. That will get my order here fast. I’m a Senior an I hope there Parents an Grsnd Parents fo not experience this.. I happened food in my home, so I didn’t need groceries right awsy , I would have starved. I order twice just to see if that would mak a difference, no orders received yet, it takes forever to find there phone number. They should be put out of business because, when a person pays for a order that could be all the money they have.. I would never refer them to a rich person because, a Company is only as good as there word,, They should know, one should never play with people’s money.. The good news is, I made sure they cannot get the money that I paid them. THEY SUCK.

  388. I work for a grocery store and instacart shoppers are the worst. I fully understand the convenience of the service with the climate going on now Covid-19 and people out of work and doing instacart for $ but these shoppers are super annoying. They wonder the store not knowing where anything is, i get not knowing where 2-4 items but i not showing you where everything on your list is. Am i making a commission off your check? nope, go fourth and find your items. They don’t check produce properly, take on several orders at a time, wonder the store aimlessly only to come back and hour later look for more items they can’t find. @instacart should allow shoppers to browse stores 10min before processing order to get a layout of stores it helps them out as well as the employees and other customers.

  389. I just used instacart thru BJS. I can honestly say I will never use them again. I had checked couple times a day to see what was available and not. 3 items were no longer available as per bjs website by the time shopper got my order. So out of 15 items 12 were still available. Well shopper could only find 4. Told me only Chicken available was not what I wanted ,so no thank you. Before he left store I told him I was still being charged for chicken that they didn’t have. Don’t worry I have receipt not it. Well my charge has it on it. Instacart not accepting phone calls. So I have emailed them at least 5 times regarding this all I get is computer generated response. I am now contacting my credit card company to dispute charge.
    I did contact BJS they were so sorry and I wasn’t the only person to call that day regarding Instacart but it is totally separate from BJS wishes she could do something for me.

  390. My experience was over priced. Only received 2 cases of water from Costco and paid $24.37. Costco water ( Kirkland) is $2.99. I am s disabled elderly.

  391. GREED GREED GREED, is the driving engine behind INSTACART

    Like most people, I didn’t research, I just wanted to have delivery, particularly during our current pandemic and therefore I submitted my trust. My first delivery had me stumped. The cost! I let it go. My second delivery, the delivery person who worked hard, left the checkout receipt in one of the bags. That gave me pause and ignited my curiosity. I perused each item and discovered clearly why I was charged $60.00 over the original store (PUBLIX) checkout receipt. I understood the SERVICE FEE and the TIP FEE, the delivery FEE $3.99 all good, but in the end, it cost me overall, $60.00 EXTRA to use the service. Gobsmacked, I researched other options and found WALMART does not gouge up the shelf price. If it weren’t for our fears and our precautions, I’d say … well, every now and then I could handle this service. But, NO! Never again! There are other options.

  392. Where they really screw you over is on sodas. I will see that a store has a sale, 2 liter sodas for $1. So I check Instacart or Shipt, and their prices are listed at $1.66 or as much as $2. As much as 100% mark-up on top of a delivery fee? That’s what I call nice work — if you can get it.

  393. You people are cheap. You want someone to drive to the store, shop for you, and deliver it to your door for the same price as if you did all the work. Personally it takes 1.5 to 2 hrs for me to grocery shop. I love to have someone else do that for me, my time is well worth the added expense. Also, tip your driver like you would tip a waitress, they are both bringing you food.

  394. I work for insta cart. I am older so I take the time to check the food. I don’t just grab and go. I send pictures to the customer to confirm it is ok. You just don’t know who you are going get. There are good people that work for them. If people order organic food I will not replace it with non organic unless I have there permission. Some of the people don’t care what they buy, l do.

  395. It worked for me. I care for my elderly mom. Our experience was a good one. I didn’t appreciate the “lazy” word used. I don’t put a price tag on health. Didn’t we talk about keeping business alive, and now this is a problem?
    Then let’s cook at home and never go to the restaurants because they overcharge.

  396. We actually checked the prices last weekend. We had recently done a large Costco run, so we had the receipt readily available. There was an Instagram surcharge for every single product. But it was a ridiculous amount for some products, $2-$3 dollars extra. We ended up saving about $25 by going to Costco ourselves, and that is not even counting the Instagram delivery fee.

  397. Hate it! The fact they seldom get the actual items correct; the incorrect assumed substitutions, ALWAYS inferior in quality BUT higher in cost. Hate all the added fees and it never falls, drivers have issues ‘finding house’. Its a good concept, extremely poorly executed; with little recall or responsiblity in current conditions. THEN on top of all that, you are asked ‘to support the shoppers’. Infuriating! Anywhere else in reality their horrific performance would be deplorable but for some reason, because we PAY for this service during ‘a difficult time’, incompetency is rewarded.

  398. I wish I could post a copy of my chat with the instacart representative here… when I shared with friends they were shocked about the “service”.

    This was my final review of Instacart, I wish I had another outlet to post it everywhere:

    Zero customer service. As a first-time user of this service, I found it to be non-transparent, non-responsive to my concern, insulting and impersonal. All around stupid – which is apparently a “bad word” and your representative felt the need to chastise and shame me over it. Your policies are BS and I’m sorry Publix is associated with you.

  399. Your points are well taken. I arrived at same conclusions in practically every instance. Too many irregularities.

  400. I absolutely agree with you. Wish I researched before I used this service first time yesterday (ALDI). I’m the person to use all the discounts, rewards and coupons to minimize my spendings. After I made my grocery list and put the items on my online shopping cart, I thought the total was reasonable even with included service charge ($8-9), I added a little extra for a tip. Looked like my convenience up change was around $20. With a couple of hundred dollars worth of groceries, fine.
    A few things on my list were out of stock. My groceries were delivered to the wrong house, I had to find them and drive them home. Some of my fruit and veggies had a few casualties. There was a paper receipt for my groceries and online instacart receipt on my emails with a difference of $40. After adding the tip, the service charge and a new charge, not listed when I was submitting my credit card, delivery charge (I’m assuming bags).
    I asked instacart regarding additional $18 charge, and the reply was “because of the price difference from ALDI to Instacart. Why are those prices not reflected in my final bill when I’m ready to submit my order? This would absolutely be a deal breaker for me! I wouldn’t have spend $40 (a 36% increase to my original bill). Will not use again.

  401. I just used it last week. With corona almost everywhere now, I simply won’t go into the stores. I have been having moderate success ordering via delivery through Walmart.com, but not everything is available, like pasta and many perishables. Then, I found out about Instacart and decided to give it a try. True, prices are higher, but my first delivery was free and I did tip the shopper a bit more than the calculated amount. However, definitely for peace of mind during this time, I will probably use it again although I’m going to try grocery pickup this week where the store will bring the groceries out and put them in your trunk so no contact. This will probably be how I do it in the future for now on, but they only will do this on certain days and times. Nice to know the Instacart option is available for emergencies though, at least for now.

  402. I work for insta and like you said you have some bad and good shoppers. I personally shop how I would want someone to shop for my elderly parents. Especially right now. In between every customer I immediately sanitize, when I get to the store I wash, sanitize, wear my mask and gloves. I take a produce bag turn it inside out so I’m grabbing w the bag and not my gloved hand. We are rated on many factors and insta only gives jobs to the 5 star shoppers. We are rated on the quality of items we pick, did we keep in communication w the customer, and many other categories. But like every business they have to make money to pay their employees and let me tell you we have to hustle, work hard, and sometimes take a beating from customers to make $10 hr. Sometimes we get lucky and have a generous customers who tip well and we make more. Sometimes we have customers put a huge tip so they get their delivery sooner, rate us 5 stars, tell us how great we did, and then change that $50 tip to $5….sometimes less. Yesterday a customer ordered a 100 units…6 12 pks of soda, 2 24 pks of water, 3 cases of beer…tip $0. I order aromatherapy lotions through Bath and Body works and pay a certain price or I can go through Amazon order same product and pay more. Businesses have to make money to keep a staff. Or people write article with links and when you click on that link the person writing the article gets paid because you clicked the link off their page…not saying you just saying. Every business has good and bad…every business has good and bad employees. I don’t agree with a lot of things insta does like sending all the work to the newbies so they get the practice shopping while us 5 star vets will sit here days with no work. And I agree what works for you might not work for me and vice versa but I will tell you 50% of my customers are thrilled they don’t have to leave the house right now even if it cost them a little more. And I would highly encourage anyone using insta to rate their shopper…rate them on the quality of items they picked, expire dates etc. so the bad are weeded out and the good can work because like any business a customer deserves the best service possible. I can’t tell you how many times I have gone out of my way for a custom especially in the past 30 days…stopping at multiple stores trying to find them toilet paper, a job that should take an hour take 2 hours because I want to make the customer happy, for less than minimum wage or a $2 tip because I personally believe in customer service. Yesterday I had a customer completely take my tip away because the store didn’t have toilet paper. She rated me 5 stars said I did a great job but was pissed the stores website said it had tp and it didn’t…nothing to do w insta nor me but took my tip away. I even stopped at 2 stores along the way to see if they had tp, they did not, and she told me appreciative she was, but still took my tip away because she was mad at Publix. I made $8 for 2 hrs of work. But then you have the customers who not onmy tip you on the app but tip you extra in person because they appreciate how seriously I take the job or other shoppers do. So yeah insta has its good and bad but so do the customers. I have 3 kids to support and I’m doing what I have to in order to support them right now and although I don’t agree with all the things insta does it does give me a job right now and they are able to do that because of customers who use their service and for that I am grateful. At the end of the day everyone is just trying to make money so they can live…whether you own a business and charge more than it cost to make a product so you can employ people to run your business/work for you or you work for a company so you can put a roof over your head…Nothing in life is free. To anyone who uses insta or any delivery service I highly recommend rating your shopper or delivery person so only the best service is provided. Some people don’t trust insta and some don’t trust people who write articles and tell people to click the link off their article so they get paid every time we click on that link. Again not saying you just saying. You have to wonder when someone rights a review of lets say cellphone cases and they tell you the top 5 best cases and click on this link to purchase the case…well do they really like the case, did they really purchase the case to review it, or are they just writing the article w the link attached so they get paid every time we as consumers click that link??? Yes insta charges more for a service…if they didn’t then you are asking people to shop for you, do what you don’t want to or can’t do, for free??? Because I will tell you we as the shoppers have to also trust the customer and let me also tell you how many times we as shoppers trust the customers tip, do a great job, have all 5 stars as shoppers, get that great review, to have the customer change the tip to lower than originally offered and sometimes even to 0! And right now all shoppers are risking their lives so people don’t have to and we do this sometimes for less than minimum wage. Why do so many people think others should work for free. They want something but don’t want to pay for it…doesn’t make sense. A person wants an employee to go to the store for them, put miles on their vehicle wear and tear, spend at least a hour shopping for them, take the time to check the eggs, expire dates, quality of the items, deliver said groceries to them but they don’t want to pay the service fee or the upcharges it takes to employee people in order to use this service??? And yes I personally shop for myself because that’s what I prefer but that doesn’t work for everyone. So insta shouldn’t charge a fee, or upcharge items, so they can employ people in order to provide this service to the people who do need it or use it for convenience???? And they don’t just pay shoppers they also have customer care employees they have to pay and other staff. With all that being said I’m just sharing my opinion as you did. I personally take my job serious and shop for a customer as I would want someone to shop for me or my elderly parents. No not everyone is like that but that is why insta has the rating system so they can weed out the bad and I highly recommend if you use insta to rate your shopper on all categories, write a review, so insta can only provide the best service possible. But I also highly recommend remember we as shoppers are trying to make a living also and if we do a great job don’t tip bate us…that isn’t right either.

    1. Yours is another example of why the USA should stop being the world’s biggest dupes and do away with tipping, forcing companies to pay a livable wage their employees can depend on like the rest of the first world does. 

  403. Instacart always charges alot more in total price, incase of any exvhanges et . Then they say you’ll get the difference in about a week to check bank statements. I have not seen any credits to my account. I use them be cause I take care of my mom and cant get out. Now with covid 19, really cannot get out. It’s a lot. Cheaper to shop yourself. And, they dont want you to have the receipt. One of the delivery persons told me. What they took out of my account in beginning and what total is what I cannot find ? Sucks how people take advantage of those in need of sincere help. I tip well. But, the trust level and explanation of my inquiries and concerns has not been reciprocated. No answer back. ?? But I need help, so what to do ? . Sincerely, Desperate caregiver.

  404. During this whole lockdown things are becoming extremely difficult and Instacart is adding to the stress and aggravation. I’ve used their service ONCE and I’m being forced to use it again because I literally can not get groceries from anywhere. I’m homebound, I order things offline, every single store in my city has a full schedule for delivery every single week, not a single time slot is available for me so I’m forced to use Instacart. When I first used it my total came out to $230 on the website, I didn’t mind that they raised prices of items because I understand they need to make a profit for their company. But on top of the 50 cents extra on items, they charged me $6 delivery fee, $10 taxes and fees, $10 heavy order fee, and $10 service fee. On top of that they charge an extra $30 to the order just in case they need to substitute in items of a higher price. So using instacart alone added an extra $66 to my initial $230 order making it $266 plus the $20 tip I gave that I will never be doing again. AND on top of THAT when I got my receipt from the delivery lady it said she only paid $128, and I’m guessing that’s because she used a ton of coupons and discounts. And no, I did not get back a single dime that I spend in total.
    So in conclusion, I, a homebound disabled veteran, paid $266 for an order that the Instacart delivery woman only paid $128 for. So I essentially paid an extra $136 (plus tip) simply for using this service.
    Once again I have no issue with items being priced higher and having to pay delivery fees, but the amount of fees on top of the employees using coupons and discounts just makes Instacart seem like a giant scam, and that’s not what people need in a time like this.
    If I had legs to stand on I would say this company is bending me over.

    -SGT. J.C.

  405. I too agree. II don’t mind paying delivery. I don’t mind paying a $3.00 fee but to up the prices (one was $4.00 more) is disgusting and I dont get my credit at Costco. WHere iShop to save purposely and I don’t get the original receipt. Unfortunatelyi have a compromised immune system so I have tried to stay away from the stores. It is sort of like taking advantage of those that really need the help. That’s my opinion it’s like people over charging when they should be doing the opposite I guess I’ll just go to Kroger‘s and I can pick up an order in a few days. I will be canceling my membership especially when my family member only pays $3.99 in Florida to get an Insta cart order delivered No membership fee why they difference?

  406. I started to use instacart awhile back. I am a disabled veteran and I do not drive so it was a problem for me to get to the store to shop. I did not like the price increases on the products. The last time I used instacart was a big disappointment. After all the extra charges my $151.00 grocery bill was $170.00, And my delivery was 4 hours past the delivery time. There were items that were substituted that I did not ask for. The produce they delivered was ready for the trash can. The delivery driver had 2 other people in his car and a baby in a car seat. Not vary professional at all. A call to the store was a waste of my time, There answer to this problem was to bring the items back. Sense I do not drive that would not work. Customer service did not help at all. I for sure will not be using this service again. I will go back to paying a neighbor to do my shopping for my.

  407. We tried Instacart once. We are both in our seventies and decided not to expose ourselves to the virus that is seriously affecting our state. Our address is trivial to find. It is in a well-known housing association one turn off of the major highway running through our town. The delivery was somewhat late but that mattered little since we are in a state-wide shutdown. We received a text message on my phone saying that the delivery had arrived. We looked outside for it, but could not find it. We then walked within a block from our house searching for a possible delivery. We asked our neighbors who were outside if they had seen anyone deliver groceries. No luck! We tried to contact Instacart, but this was impossible. No text message, no email worked. The company was not accepting phone calls. The bill for our delivery showed up the next day on our credit card statement. l also went shopping the next day because we were seriously out of fresh food (We had to wait over a week for our delivery).

    Two days later, one of our neighbors was talking about a food delivery in our association that had not been picked up and that had been greatly enjoyed by the raccoons. We went over to check on this delivery. It was ours. We cleaned up the mess and apologized to the neighbors in the area. This was unreal. Why was our address not attached to the delivery? Why not our names? Why not a phone number? This is a housing association. The addresses are very large and clear and just above the door of each unit. There is a large sign at the entrance to each courtyard listing the addresses found therein. Is it possible that the person hired to do the delivery could not read and understand numbers or did he type in the wrong number on his gps system and not notice. Maybe he likes raccoons. Whatever the reason for the wrong delivery, we have to pay for it. We are seniors living on Social Security so this affects us. Instacart should be vetting the people it hires more carefully. There are lots of people looking for part time work in these rough times. Instacart needs to be run better and to train its help better. It also needs to identify the owner of the delivery in some way. In the meantime, we will chance shopping with masks and gloves on plus a personal sanitizer in our pockets.

  408. Horrible customer service‼️You can not get through ~ phone service is always down~no doubt taking too many complaints; they don’t respond to text or email ~ again, too many complaints… after they postponed my delivery 3 times without a notification by text or email, I canceled my order… It’s assumed you will check their website ‼️ then they had the audacity to send me a questionnaire about their service ‼️TWICE‼️

  409. I love Instacart! I know I’m paying more but the convenience is well worth it. Right now with covid19 going on I love not going in a store. The two times I’ve used it so far my shoppers communicated with me on all purchases that I wanted to make but a substitution needed to be made. They made sure I had the option to agree or disagree. They let me know when they were checking out and when they were on the way to my home. I love this service!

  410. I think Instacart does not have ethics, integrity, and transparency with pricing. They basically steal money secretly from customers.
    I have used their service and only felt strange the price was that high for so few items.

    Last time, I realized that they charged $50 extra from one single store and $13 from one single item. So I tried to talk to them, please let customers know how much they charge the markup price… they said they did not, the price was the store price. Okay, I have the receipt left in bag, it was 200 something, but Instacart charged me 300 something plus extra $30 delivery fee, service charge and tip. I left cash tip but Instacart charged it again.

    Be aware, this company sucks people especially elders money away because most people do not pay attention because Instacart charges your creditcard in two separate amount who knows why and Instacart never let shoppers to give/show customers receipts, you can try! This is my actual experience. Never trust them again!

  411. Works far better than Prime Now which is now useless because delivery windows are never available and iPrime Now tells me to ‘check back later’. I am able to get a delivery each and every time with Instacart. So I get my groceries and don’t have to deal with the current face covering nonsense.

  412. No way to know ahead of time what the fee will be. I’m an express member and sometimes it’s about $1.50 extra but today it was $14!!!They charged something called a “heavy order” extra fee.This is in addition to the monthly membership and my 10% tips.

  413. I’ve used Instacart for the first time, and the Service was appreciated, but it didn’t work like it said. And I did not get a first-time discount. No one told me, nor in the App did it say that. When the shopper couldn’t find my Jif Peanut Butter ($3.49), but found same size but Skippy Brand, in which the price was $7.99 higher, but Ralph’s advertised it as $3.49. I text in the “chat box” to shopper to not buy if that expensive. The shopper refused to chat and bought it anyway, in which I was charged. Then the App indicated it will show you which items you requested are found or not available. That wasn’t true either, as they only confirmed 3 out of 9 items. They didn’t get my yogurt, and brought me a package of bacon that I did not order. Then they never give you a receipt or a completed breakdown of what each item did cost.
    So the service needs improvement. I do appreciate the concept of helping people and having such service, but it should be accurate like advertised.

  414. Thanks for the well written post. I am all for saving money when it comes to groceries. Coupons, rewards, BOGO, etc. I have tried my local Walmart pickup over the last year and have been satisfied. This service was much needed due to the convenience it provided for my crazy work/family schedule. Now that Covid has hit, I am unable to work as I am self employed. No money is coming in. No SBA loan for me. I have to make money to support my family. I had to find a side hustle to get us through these times until I can work again. I signed up to be a Instacart shopper. I have completed 10 orders. I live in a rural part of my state. Not the greatest of tippers here. I’m still trying to weigh out if this gig pays off as I will also be paying taxes on these earnings next year. I would agree with you that the Instacart biz is not perfect. It’s a service and a convenience. That’s what you are paying for…service and convenience. Not all shoppers are perfect. I try my best as I was taught a good work ethic. As the consumer, if you choose to use Instacart, please be kind, tip well if you can, and don’t forget to leave a review for your shopper. You are supporting my family during these times and I love to provide this service for YOU!

  415. I TRIED to use it because my son’s don’t want me in the stores. Downloaded the App and made my account with my address. It took me three days to get my order tweaked because I was buying for my mother as well. I was so excited! When I tried to submit my order there was a message, they don’t deliver to my address. Could have told me that before I wasted three days. At least I had the satisfaction of telling my kids to F- off and went shopping in person anyway.

  416. There are just too many smarmy things going on with Instacart. The employees are saying that the product markup is supposed to “trickle down” them, but they are paid $3.xx an hour, and now people aren’t even tipping. Employees were asking people to tip only the minimum 22 cents and give the rest in cash, because of how Instacart is screwing them on tips, taking part of the assigned tip for the company. My son wants me to use them, and says he will pay for it, but I just can’t. I don’t use Uber either, because of how they screw their drivers. Of course, I’m single and semi-retired, so I have plenty of time to shop. Like you, I can understand if it’s worth it not to have to haul the kids to the store, but it seems to me paying for a sitter would be cheaper when you consider all the extra costs.

  417. So as a shopper,
    They upcharge the prices of items. That is how they make money.
    The app tells me to keep the receipt but I always put it in the bag. I don’t want people thinking I bought something I shouldn’t have.
    If a store is out of an item the app puts up alternatives…they don’t always match. If you can’t find a replacement…the app tells us “Customers prefer replacements” but that isn’t always true and keep you running back and forth in the store thereby taking a lot longer to shop. I don’t know who I am shopping for and their likes/dislikes…so I like to ask….the app is usually very delayed…leaving you waiting.
    They try to pay the shoppers the cheapest amount…in my area they say that is $7 and .60 a mile. But they are shady AF. And will just try to pay you $7 ….now who do you think is going to shop for you (in my experience, even the smallest orders take a bare minimum of a half hour, most orders take about an hour, larger orders take longer) for an hour and then bring it to your door for $7 plus the minimum $2 tip?? We are considered self employed.
    Oh we can see the tip before we accept the order also. Now if the store is out of an item ..they take that amount from the shoppers tip…ALWAYS… Instacart doesn’t eat that.
    If an order sits long enough the price starts to go up…so as a shopper I choose the ones with higher Instacart shopping fees (fixed) and higher tips and I take screenshots of every one I do. So please stop ordering 4 gigantic packages of toilet paper as most stores have a limit of 1.
    These apps (I was an Uber/Lyft driver but not driving now because of the current situation), are all alike. The price is relative depending on demand. There generally isn’t much help available if you have a problem. I tried contacting support through their IM the other day and I was 165 in line…on the shoppers app. There are no numbers to call to
    get help or complain.
    They are providing a service…that is it. How good the service is depends on whom you get. Like the other day my order said (10) key lime Chobani Greek yogurt…I texted the customer and asked “Do you really want 10 key lime yogurts (no other yogurt was ordered) or is that an error”? She replied: Yes!!! If they have it! ? But someone else may not do that.
    But I do check expiration dates, eggs, put things like bread together so they don’t get smashed.
    Instacart is doing this to make money. But the app definitely needs works, it is very buggy and slow, and often when shopping a pop up message appears and says “Internal Server Error”…..which is extremely frustrating to say the least.

    1. You sound like a very responsible shopper. I gave no complaints regarding the 2 shoppers I had. But what I find most revealing is that INSTACART told you NOT TO GIVE THE CUSTOMER THE RECEIPT. Now why would they say that?….hmmm, I wonder if it’s so the customer doesn’t see the actual prices paid. I would not have see the average 22% markup at Costco and Albertsons if my two shoppers hadn’t left the receipts with me.

    2. I am confused about Instacart dinging the shoppers’ tips for items they don’t even buy for customers because They’re not available or they’re about to expire or whatever. Instacart isn’t the retailer and customers haven’t already made a purchase from them. All Instacart is is the go-between for shoppers/deliverers and customers.  Shoppers are in the retail store using Customers’ shopping/order lists to shop for them. It’s not a contract, just an order. So why and how does Instacart get away with charging shoppers for items customers did not purchase?

  418. Good read. I agree with you. I happen to be on of the people that this service benefits. I wish it was easier, and cheaper, for me to get to the grocery store, but this is the easiest, and cheaper option for me. I will admit I’ve felt almost guilty, for seeming ‘lazy’ and I run out and help unpack, as well as tip (under normal circumstances).
    Thank you for some new points I was unaware of also! I don’t have children, but taking the bus limits my shopping, and Uber there and back adds up way more. Please keep sharing, you are a thoughtful writer.

  419. I wasn’t pleased with instacart service. It may work for some, but I used the service only once. It’s expensive to me & I know each state services may be different. My bill total is below… it does Account for price markup on each item…. after comparing prices on store website, I actually paid about $85 dollars more than if I had went to the store. The shopper replaced at least 6 of my items that were out of stock (here’s 2 examples): syrup that was on sale for $5 with another syrup that cost $11, Country Crock Original Spread (5 lb) $5.48
    for member’s Mark Salted Sweet Cream Butter Sticks $11.18. That’s already added $10 to my bill.

    TOTALS
    Items Subtotal $256.28
    Delivery Fee $8.99
    Sales Tax $15.18
    Tip $12.81
    Service Fee $12.81

    I agree with Eric….
    Everyone take care & be safe!

  420. Instacart is a service….like any other you pay for. And its a great service for those who need or want it. And yes you pay more because someone is doing all the work for you. It sounds like you’re ocd and cheap and clearly dont need this service but its a lifesaver…literally…for some.

    1. I agree with Brian, and I am neither cheap nor OCD. Charge what you like but don’t try to hide it. Be transparent. If you read their pricing policies it’s extremely vague and no where does or say they routinely will charge you more per item than they pay, yet that is what they do.

  421. Great article! Last week the shopper From Instacart made the mistake of leaving the original store receipt in one of the bags. He paid $139 for the groceries and Instacart charged me an additional $40 for the items plus their service fee. When I contacted their helpdesk they tried shoving the pricing terms and conditions down my throat. I sent them images of the receipts. Then They tried telling me the price that I paid was the price they paid to the store. I think price gouging during a pandemic is something that should get more airtime. Be honest and tell me you’re going to charge me a 25% fee.

  422. I used it this month due to staying home for fear of bringing the virus home. First of all, I actually live about 25 minutes from Aldi’s and was surprised they would deliver to me. The shopper texted me throughout her going thru the store telling me when something was not available, asking if a replacement was ok. I ordered a lot of produce, she made good choices on everything. She notified me when she left the store and left groceries on the porch. As far as the prices, I am not sure if they were higher, I threw away receipt before checking but the total did not seem out of line. All in all I was very satisfied with the service, the choices she made and the delivery.

  423. I’ve been getting Instacart deliveries for well over a year now, and I’ve NEVER had any of the issues in the article. I have also done the price comparisons, and in my town the prices at the largest grocer are exactly the same as in the store. Does it cost a little bit more? You bet. But its well worth it. Most of my shoppers are actually better shoppers than I am. Therefore, I personally could not relate to the writers views in this articles.

  424. One order I was charged $40.00 over by Instacart, then the store receipt showed. On top of tip and service fee. Not to mention the $99.00 a year to join. I would pay my neighbor the $40.00 if I knew how they over price your food items. And then give you a service fee and expect you to tip. I tried a different store and the same thing. Receipt From the store was substantially lower then what Instacart charged for the food. I canceled my membership. I would rather pay a friend or neighbor to go shopping for me and then all the money goes directly to them. I truely feel this is awful how much they charge per item over the org. Price.

  425. I used Instacart last month for the 1st time. Only half of the order was received but I was charged for all of it. I asked my delivery driver for the receipt and he told me that he wasn’t allowed to give it to me or tell me what the actual amount came to, but he did. He also told me that I would not be charged for all of the items that were out of stock. I waited for the final charges to hit my bank account and they ended up being higher than I expected. I immediately noticed Instacart and explained to them that 1/2 of my items were unavailable. They never responded back. A couple days later we received another email from Instacart and we replied back regarding the issues of being overcharged and 1/2 of our items being unavailable, I even told them which ones. I asked that they get back to us ASAP because this was urgent and I was going to notify my bank.. We received a email back from them telling us due to the extremely high volume, they would get back to us as soon as possible. That was on March 20th and we have not heard anything back from them since. I was charged an alcohol fee (after reading all of their Terms very clearly, I did not see any mention of that type of charge), I was charged a $7.54 service fee & a $3.99 delivery fee (both of which were not mentioned in their Terms due to the fact that my order was over $100), a bottle deposit recovery fee of
    $0.70 (on a non CRV item) & a $2.00 Alcohol Service Fee, a $3.33 sales tax for a bottle of liquor (when the sales tax on liquor in California is 6%, so I should have only been charged $1.05), I was also charged for every item I ordered that was unavailable or out of stock. Needless to say, my total came to $114.01 and they charged me $193.20. I’ve tried to call several times but the hold waits were over an hour long each time and my calls kept getting disconnected or I was hung up on.
    I’ve found that it’s much easier to order directly through the stores. It’s alittle cheaper also. Instacart is a scam by up pricing food items which is an unethical procedure. They should be shut down for good. Personal shoppers can still advertise their services. It would be better for most of us to know our personal shoppers before they went out for us. This would give people like me a voice to let them know exactly what I’m looking for before they spend my disability money on brand name groceries. An example of a situation that happens when you shop with Instacart.

    1. The first time I used Instacart, I was charged an alcohol delivery fee but I did not order or receive any alcohol. 

  426. The biggest problem is Seniors with fixed income can not afford to pay the extremely high tips the Instacart shoppers demand to get their orders delivered. These same Instacrat Shoppers brag on Reddit of make 3-4 K a week and refusing to consider any order without a huge tip. Some customer service reps have told seniors to raise their tips and lower them after delivery, so now the Instacart Shoppers are crying “Foul” and “unfair” and many suggesting doing illegal acts toward the seniors that take away the big tips

  427. I love instacart. I only have to shop for me and my husband but I hate having to spend precious weekend time at the store so even after COVID-19 concerns subside, I will continue to use the service. I split my orders between Prime Now (whole foods) and instacart, since Prime Now does not have delivery fees if you order more than $35 worth of items or service fees. I then try to keep my instacart total around $50-60 so the service fee isn’t too bad and combined with the delivery fee it’s basically the same price as peapod delivery. I have found the price increases will vary by store, and there is a section within instacart that is pretty transparent about which stores increase prices and which ones don’t , or try not to. I use it for Big Y purchases and have found that prices are the same as in store for many items and when items are increased it’s not by that much. I’ve also found my grocery bills have gone down because I do way less impulse shopping at home than when I’m cruising the aisles, even with a list in hand. For me, the fees are worth the convenience of having what I need show up at my doorstep instead of having to spend 1.5-2hrs on a weekend day every week driving to the store, shopping, checking out, driving home, and unloading groceries.

  428. I just came to your site after typing on Google, why is Instacart prices different than stores? Funny enough, I just did the same thing you did before doing the search. I am a Costco member and I just checked what I would normally buy in a month supply trough Instacart by parting ways with Costco so I would not pay the membership. I was shocked to realize that it would be almost $100+ dollars just by using Instacart pricing without the fees, tips, ect. Costco membership costs $60 dollars a year!!!! So that means if I use Instacart, I would spend enough to give 7-8 memberships away. It is totally a rip off. I use Amazon Whole Foods, and the prices are exactly the same as the store. Thank you for writing this article and I hope more people stumble upon it to steer them away from INSTACART!!!!!

  429. I made an order with Costco and somehow got the original receipt for all the items purchased which ended up being around $530. However, what I actually paid because of Instacart was around $630 plus additional fees + tip which ended up making my final cost around $700. Instacart is grossly upcharging

  430. This must have been written pre-pandemic. When you are quarantined because you are the highest risk and you don’t have friends or family willing to risk getting the virus and you are hungry…Instacart is a lifeline.

  431. I use it once a month in MD. I am a 70 year old grandma with a compromised immune system. I live with my daughter and granddaughter right now and I help with the groceries. I use a walker so this convenience works for both of us. In 6 months I have had great shoppers who sometimes go to more than one store. They call during shopping with questions and always pick the best quality items. Even substitutions are great. So far so good for me. I send groceries to my other kids sometimes and like that I can keep a running total and make changes up till the shopping starts. We love it.

  432. As you say to each his own. Some find it necessary. It also may depend in which store you are shopping at. I had a horrible experience with shopper at Wegmans. You may spend an hour or more searching, choosing, substituting and then staying on phone with shopper. Between the telephone text and link to Instacart site I was in tears. Ex: half gallon whole milk..they only have quart…can you get 2..limit is 1..can you get 2%..shopper is gone from area..plus from Aldi’s. ..service fee, delivery fee and of course tip. And not everything in the store is online. But for those who really need it, then it’s necessary. PS. I never really minded dragging my 3 kids with me. Now I’ll go with 5 grandkids!

    1. I always took my children grocery shopping. It was an outing for us and they learned how to behave in stores and how to shop. 

  433. My experience beginning of April resulted in Instacart owing me 114.00+ credit for items that were not delivered to me or purchased on my credit card for someone else. Decided to try it again from a different store on 05/01 which resulted in an overcharge of approx 35.00. Charged for items that were not delivered to me. And this time I received a package of chicken drumsticks that I did not order (not on bill either and not charged for it). I do not trust Instacart any longer. I spent over 7 hours + on the phone in April trying to resolve the issue. The latest issue has not been resolved yet.

  434. I LOVE instacart and I am not lazy . I am a mother who works full time, I do my own shopping after work before going home and cooking, cleaning, bathing and bed. Since the Pandemic I have been stuck at home, I am out of my personal vehicle and I can’t use the company car if I am not working so Instacart has been a great pleasure. I habe used it twice and the first lady brought all my items, the second lady was so good and telling me what Items were not avaiable and sending me options closest to the item that wasn’t available. The price is well worth it being that you are having someone else shop for you and drop your items off. I would not have used this before being that everyone is not clean and their car may not be clean, but giving it a go from time to time is not bad. Also whatever money is temporarily taken out, is deposited back in. Idk why that happens, butbthey gove you your refund back, just like everything else, you have to be sharp and pay attention.

  435. I just got my order from Aldis/Instacart and it is a nightmare. I have a broken hip and need delivery. So many of these items are smashed, leaking, UNUSABLE. With so many people panic buying it’s VERY hard to get what I need, much less to get this many products destroyed by not having a CLUE how to bag groceries !!!! I have looked all over the instacart site and Aldis site and cannot address this specific issue. They put 5 lbs of meat of top of tortilla chips, which of course are now crumbs. All 4 loaves of bread smashed, raspberries smashed and leaking on the bag. Zucchini with mold/fungus growing on it. And the list goes on. Pathetic !! I have taken pics of this all but cannot find how to let Aldis/Instacart know about this. Before the pandemic I could call instacart but not anymore, so what do I do?? I live on SSDI and I have a strict food budget, they need to replace AND deliver the destroyed items. I’ve never had a grocery delivery order that was this careless

  436. I’m a instacart Shopper. I dont agree with this bull. I know what I’m doing as a shopper. We do receive training. We even where gloves and masks when shopping for customers.
    Shoppers have apps with pictures of the products customers order. It is a price and weight located on everything item purchased. I pick out the best because I want a 5 star rating from the customers I am shopping for. We use our own cars and gas money to deliver to customers. So, a tip for gas will help out alot.

    1. Hello Juan.

      Just because you do doesn’t mean that all shoppers do. Remember, you are speaking for you and I am speaking based on my own experiences.

      Hope you don’t ever have a negative opinion of any kind of product or service and have someone try to trivialize your vies & experiences ✌️

  437. I was I we charged now trying to get Instacart to refund the difference has been like pulling teeth! My receipt total was $243 plus the charges should of been around $275 I was charged $305 and that’s the final adjusted charge! Going back and forth with apparently csr in India and nothing is getting resolved! On top of that my shopper was new and very young and had no idea how to shop! We are stuck doing this because of the virus or I think I would never use them again! Will report to BBB if they don’t fix this today!!

  438. I just used Instacart for the first time to shop at Costco. Aside from the $8.99 delivery fee, 5% service fee and 5% tip (a total of over $40) I was charged an average of 22% (yes, that’s not a typo) over what the receipt from Costco said. My $400 bill (including tax), had I shopped myself, ended up costing over $530!
    While it’s a nice convenience, the lack of transparency on their website regarding mark-ups makes it unlikely I will ever use them again, unless I’m desperate. Buyer beware.

    1. The delivery fee might not even cover the cost to operate the drivers vehicle. REmember he had to drive to Costco on his own time and use his own fuel. If you drove your car to Costco, it would likely cost you the same or more take that out of your story. You have obviously shopped at Costco and know that you are in there for the better part of an hour even on a small order so I am sure that you can understand that the person doing the shopping wants to be paid for their work–so your 5% tip was fair-after all they had to hand le the items 4 times. Putting on the cart, running through the checkout, loading in vehicle and delivering them to you. They drove them to you, used their car and gasoline. Instacart has to maintain their platform and cover the credit card fee so you can use your card and get the cash back for yourself…don’t forget to take that off. $430 sounds like a lot of items–how long was he in the store and how long was the check out line. If he was there 2 hours he got paid $20 an hour. I bet you think your time is worth more than that…Just saying. By the way..how much do you tip your hair dresser?

      1. Lou, siYour saying it’s okay for Instacart to be nontransparent about a consistent 20-25% markup on all products? I’m not complaining about the tip, in fact, he shouldn’t be relying on tips, the driver should get paid more.
        Or, increase the delivery fee to cover his/her expenses and time, which would be much more transparent than raising all the prices without explicitly stating that this is part of their profit model.
        Instacart is exploiting both their customers and their shoppers my marking up all prices, not clearly explaining that on their site, and not sharing those profits with their shoppers.

        1. Thanks for responding. I agree that Instacart needs to pay their shoppers more for the work that they are doing. They need to raise their prices to their customers to realistically reflect the cost of driving to the store, pulling the items, delivering them to the customer and operating a vehicle. They are also entitled to make a profit so they can maintain their platform and pay their employees. I’m not defending Instacart’s business ethics but customers need to realize that they need more than $3.99 or $8.99 per delivery or $149.99 a year for unlimited deliveries to operate. If I were paying one of my employees to go to Costco It would cost me this: 60 minutes to get there and back: $25.00, 1.5 hr shopping $37.50, Vehicle expense: 25 miles @.60=15. =112.50. Instacart charged you $8.99 plus $20+$20+$88=136.50. (Sales tax doesn’t matter in your case..you pay it if you shop or Instacart is shopping for you–aka Red Herring) If I would have had my employee go shopping it would have cost me $112.50. So you paid an extra $24 for their platform, finding someone to go shopping, you didn’t have to worry about your employee using your credit card or getting into a wreck with a company vehicle vehicle, and a potential workmans comp claim if they got hurt while out shopping. Though you think that they really took advantage of you as a customer, they didn’t. They provided you with a convenient way to order your items, they found someone to do the work quickly and who had a way to get them to you, and they took care of the payment arrangements. I’m not sure what line of work you are in but I bet your customers call you to do things that they can’t or don’t want to do. That’s why you called them. Unfortunately, Instacart did take advantage of their shopper who likely got paid $25-35 including your generous $20 tip to do work that would have cost any other business over $100. So did you get taken advantage of, not really. Did the shopper, definitely. Again, I am not defending Instacart’s ethics. I think their fees should be a lot higher for shopping and delivery–and more clearly disclosed when it comes to marking up items. I also think that you need to learn the value of people’s time. If you think that you can do it cheaper or better than they do..by all means go spend 3 hours on a Costco run.

      2. He did not drive to Costco “on his own time.” He drove to Costco as part of his job that he signed up for. 

    2. Today, I used Instacart for the first time to shop at Costco. My experience was fine with regard to the shopper. HOWEVER, the cost of this service is prohibitive: The total bill of Costco was $ 102, Instacart charged me $ 149. I did complain to Instacart and received a pretty obscure answer which does not change the fact that nearly 50% was added to my grocery bill in form of service, delivery, and tip fees PLUS added cost to each item bought, the latter of which one does not learn till the actual bill of the store is in front of the recipient. I will definitely not use this service again, and I will educate the folks in my family, clubs, church, neighborhood, and, of course, you, the reader, about this company’s billing routine.

  439. I’ve shopped for both Instacart and shipt. They both mark up products. It’s not a secretive policy. The stores (Publix etc) set the markups. I get where that may be a turnoff. How do you think the shoppers get paid? Shoppers are not hourly. They get paid per order. And it’s a % of the order total. Service fees and subscription fees alone won’t cover all the operations costs and shopper pay.

    You don’t get the store receipt when you use these services. Those stay with your shopper. They go in our files and are used for tax purposes if needed. They’re also needed by us if we have to do a store return. The service provider gets a photocopy if those receipts. The customer receipt comes from who you used to buy your order. If you went through Instacart, your final receipt is in your app or emailed to you. Shipt does the same. Because you did purchase your items through their platforms and that’s the setup and agreement with retailers who are partners with them. You didn’t purchase direct from Aldi or Publix. When you do, you will get the receipt.

  440. Been using Instacart for Publix twice a week since it started.  Phenomenal service!  The shoppers are excellent and you chat with them during the shopping process.
    If something goes wrong, you report it on your review of the order and they fix it the next day with a credit, no questions asked.
    I use the service for myself and to deliver food to family members and friends in need all over the country.  
    This is a convenience service that is paid for, just like a cleaning person for your home or car or a restaurant that cooks for you.
    Besides the cost, none of the negatives are valid.  As far as the cost, my time is worth more to me that the spent money on instacart, or a housecleaner, or eating in a restaurant.
    The service provides many jobs just like these other services do.  Tip your service people! and use Instacart to send a needy family member or friend some food!

  441. I have used it multiple times for the past 2 years.  At first I felt the shoppers were on it.  They would communicate with me over replacements.  Sometimes even talking pics of items.  They were helpful and kind and yes mostly women.  Fast forward Covid, the shoppers I’m assigned seem to be mostly young  men.  Not a problem but communication is non existent.  They shop very fast.  Replacements are made and yes I have a chance to approve or not, but it has happened often lately that they have rung up and are out the door before I get the choice to approve or not.  I get time is money, but I sure miss the communicating.  Also,  I would never trust my twenty something son to do my grocery shopping.  Just saying.  The prices are higher and that sucks.  But All and all it’s better than having to go to the store. I’ve only had 1 time that I was compelled to give a bad review. The shopper was male, sounded like he spoke no English, and refused to set my groceries inside garage, which was a shorter distance for him than my porch.  

  442. Since this crises happened both my husband and I have to stay home bc we both have serious medical issues which put us at risk. We started using instacart for delivery and the only 2 places we can order from in our area are Publix and Aldi. We normally shop at Publix anyway so we know the pricing. Immediately we noticed the difference in cost. We started to spend an easy $50-$100 additional per shopping trip due to using instacart. I couldn’t figure out a rhyme or reason either. Some items would only be a quarter or so more expensive but then a frozen pizza was $2-3 dollars more. It was insane. Then I noticed if you ordered anything heavy you incurred a heavy items fee which I believe was an additional $3. Just ordering a 12 pack of soda would do it. Then you’ve got the service fee. On top of the delivery fee or none if you’re a member, you’ve got to pay a service fee which they don’t tell you what its for. My last order was a little over $10 service fee tacked on. Between tip, heavy item fee and tip fee i paid a lot of extras. Until this thing is gone we will have to shop this way. They have continually brought us excellent produce, meat and everything else. It helps that Publix, unlike Walmart doesn’t put anything nasty on the shelves and cares for the customer. If you do a pickup or delivery order thru walmart you won’t be able to eat half of what you get and don’t even bother getting eggs that way. They NEVER check them and half are always broken bc Walmart puts them on the shelf that way.

  443. There’s a new grocery option called Dumpling grocery that is available now in many towns. It’s a lot better than instacart in my opinion. There’s no mark up of prices at Costco, you can get in-store prices and deals at stores, and there are more store options.

    1. Please anyone using the service if you get a bad shopper, have a bad shopping experience, please I can’t stress this enough please rate them. You have 5 star shoppers not working because the work goes to newbies first so they can practice, we have people hiring illegal 3rd party bots to get batches for them and they don’t even work for Insta…so please if u have a bad experience please inform IC. It is the only way to get rid of the bad and keep good service going. Now I’m just a shopper risking my health to help support my fam and I do it a lot for less than minimum wage but part of the reason is because the customer doesn’t report or rate these bad shoppers and a lot of them don’t even work for IC legally, so when it’s not reported or rated they keep getting the work while your 5 star shoppers aren’t. So plz plz plz report these bad experiences.

  444. My guess is that, unfortunately, instacart steals our money, we pay the fees and the food is not chosen correctly. Does instacart not require the delivery person to provide us with a receipt for purchases? Isn’t that strange? I already had my purchases delivered to another address because of instacart. All my frozen food arrived at my house, melted, why doesn’t instacart ask intregators to use thermal bags?

    1. I personally work for insta and I’m sorry you got a shitty shopper. I hope u reviewed them and gave them 1 star or 0 if u can…because that’s how IC gets rid of shoppers who aren’t doing the job they should. So to answer your question yes we are supposed to purchase, send in pics, and use thermal bags. I personally use them whether needed or not. I can fit a lot more in them and it’s less I have to carry up 4 flights of stairs…that was yesterday. I’m not going to list all I do that your shopper should of done but please rate him or her so we can get rid of the bad shoppers, the illegal shoppers, and give the customer the best service possible.

  445. Be really careful when shopping at Costco via Instacart. Instacart marks up the price by 15%. That is why you never got Costco store receipt. For example, beef steak is $34.60 at Costco but Instacart charges you $42.39, Avocado Oil is $18.79 at Costos and on Instacart is $22.99. I had to find out this dirty trap because the recent shopper left the receipt in the box by accident. In this round, the original Costco bill was $165 while the final Instacart bill was $213! $48 dollars, on top of the service fee + tip + membership free I am already paying. Not mentioned the tax was calculated based on the final markup bill. When I confronted their representatives, all I got was scripted boilerplate-text response, saying the price is determined by Costo not them. So I challenged them: who got the markup dollars, Costo or Instacart? The agent dodged the question again, saying something like they need money to pay for infrastructure etc. NO Instacart at Costco. If you are that rich to toss away $50 dollars per shopping trip, you can send your butler to do it!

    1. Yes doll exactly,
      Instacart is a convenience-based service. Most convenience-based services are more expensive. Hint: you are paying for the convenience of somebody else performing a service for you. Personally, I work for IC, as a necessary, temporary stop-gap. The most shameful part of this, is that the workers are getting totally screwed. (I work in the Daytona area, btw.). It is so gross to me, the amount of work people expect, vs the amount of tip they leave. I work hard, an I am obsessive about expiration dates, non-cracked eggs, & choosing the freshest produce, meat, & dairy. Also, I communicate with my customers regularly. & Never replace anything without asking approval from them. I only do the same as I would expect anybody else to do. I only wish more people would tip appropriately. If you can’t afford to tip up to current area standards, then you Cannot Afford this Service, & should not utilize it. Just like when going out to eat, if you can’t afford to leave an appropriate tip, then you should not be going out to eat. My financial & living situation have been greatly reduced, as of late, so please understand I know what it’s like to live on more, & now less. Either way,
      one must always consider ahead if they can afford the tip & include it with cost of service. I know this is a bit different than what op wrote in article, but I appreciate him letting me leave my Lil .02 cents here
      .

  446. Use your brain. Even if you’ve never heard of Instacart, or a similar service, it’s a painfully obvious no Brainer that they will mark it up.

    2 obvious and perfectly reasonable reasons.

    1. If you live in the middle of nowhere OR it’s just getting started in your area, it isn’t financially viable for them unless they make a certain margin.

    2. People are infinitely cheap and lazy, how is the service supposed to benefit anyone except the buyer if there aren’t fees and up charges?

    It’s a premium service, how about this? You could always get your butt up and get your own stuff, like we’ve done since the beginning of time. That way you don’t have to feel ripped off when someone does your lazy work for you.

    Before anyone says anything about disabled or the elderly, whatever did they do before Instacart? Maybe they had a loving nephew, brother or otherwise do them the favor. If you’ve alienated anyone willing to take you to the grocery store, that is a personal dilemma.

    Instacart is a business, it’s expensive, I use it and I see the total and I exercise subjective judgement and critical thinking and decide if it’s too much for me that week.

  447. Every delivery service charges more then what it would cost if you bought it yourself. Your paying more for the service. How else would they make a profit and pay the workers. Instacart shoppers are not allowed to give the customer the reciept for that reason. They get in trouble if they do. 

  448. Great article. 
    I just discontinued my membership with them after finding out they are charging at least $0.40 to over a dollar difference for nearly every item on your shopping list!
    But the convenience of having someone bring groceries to your door cannot be beat even when they mostly, and I do mean mostly, do not pick out the best produce. Much of the produce chosen seems to be consistently not fresh or bruised or the expiration dates do not seem to be best choice. 
    Now with Wholefoods, Target, Safeway and many more food delivery companies popping up, I have opted to go with them since the prices Seem not to be inflated vs Instacart, where their prices are much higher than what is listed on the original grocery store’s own website listings, if this makes sense.
    Thanks for being honest and speaking up. It’s a great service to stand up and share this important information. 

  449. I have a service, I call it “ let mom do it” I told my daughter she needed to stop using those delivery services for groceries, or I would just stop taking care of my grandchildren. It was for all the reasons you mentioned. Although it is an exclusive for my daughter, perhaps the neighbors might consider joining in…

  450. I used it once. Although instacart promised my groceries in one hour, they arrived 6 hours later. This was after I called both the store and instacart. When my groceries arrived, two little girls about 8 or 9 years of age brought all my groceries INSIDE MY HOUSE, while their mother sat in the car (I work in social services). I was not given a receipt of any kind. I called instacart again to inform them that children delivered my groceries and a receipt was not provided. I don’t know if anything happened to that delivery driver but the lady I talked to did not seem at all concerned about children walking inside a stranger’s house. Won’t ever use that service again.

  451. I agree! I finally caved and used it a couple of weeks ago and the fees were a manageable $3. That plus a tip made it worth the convenience. Today I tried to do the same and after adding all the crap to my cart I finally go to checkout and I’m met with $3.99 dees for all the available delivery windows. Ok fine. I got this far. Then after choosing one I see that I’m being overcharged on all of my items, I have a $4 delivery fee, a $10 service fee, and of course I have to tip the poor soul being exploited by this trash company – thats $20 minimum just for the delivery!!! Outrageous.

  452. Well I can’t speak for every shopper, however my mother taught me how to shop as well. She taught me to check the same things you listed above. I am an instacart shopper. I pride myself on delivering the highest quality food I can. I have insulated bags to keep cold/frozen food cold and hot food hot. I pride myself on delivering the same quality of service I would expect if I we’re ordering the food for me and my family. I know a lot of other shoppers that do the same thing as I do.

  453. I can use a calculator and bypass an accountant too but I don’t mind paying the account because the service is worth it to me. Hopefully they are not a terrible account but you never know, maybe they are not careful with my money like some are not careful about checking eggs. Also, how much am I being charged by said accountant, it doesn’t feel transparent to me. What if they don’t have to update the income statements as much as last year? Do I get money back? I’m clearly being tongue and cheek but my point is services cost money. Lots of delivery services have popped up over the last decade and most have failed due to the fact they couldn’t sustain a financial model…Instacart abs Shipt are pulling it off, and shockingly yes it costs money. I know, difficult for an accountant I’m sure 😉 I think what people forget is this isn’t pizza delivery. A annual $100 fee isn’t going to cover a years worth of shopping for someone who does the shopping AND delivery. The shopping part is intensive. And you have to know that whether you know it or not the pizza costs more because they have delivery drivers. It may be that all the pizzas cost more so it’s harder to distinguish. In a way, instacart is actually just a more honest look at how services impact prices and I doubt many go into the service being so naive. It’s a fact that a definitive way to impact ones happiness in a measurable way is by using services and this is one of those that saves people time and aggravation. I don’t know many people who love grocery shopping to be honest. So for those who can afford it and plan it out it’s a great convenience but also had a cost. I mean you have to pay a similar annual fee for Costco and Sams Club. Doesn’t mean you get anything else besides being allowed to walk in that door. Anyways I appreciate the interesting topic and I get that it’s your personal take but also your personal take is a very narrow perspective and tonally came off angry about it. You make some good points about shoppers taking care of you, but I’ve seen on my camera Amazon and other delivery people on occasion toss stuff onto my porch. It’s the risk you take when you don’t do everything yourself and there has to be some trust that the majority of food items in a grocery store are good and I like to assume the same with shopper 🙂

  454. I was suspicious after I ordered from Meijer’s and my bill was higher than I expected. I went online and entered the exact same items from Meijers pick up and while I wascharged$70 on Instacart, had I used the pick up service my total would have been under $50! This is a huge mark up a d does not include the tip and service charge. I will be canceling my membership.

  455. I just ordered from Instacart last night… they did leave the receipt in the bag… but online and in an email it showed $443.20 as my subtotal… but it was actually $401.23 on the receipt. But then I was charged $1.34 for tax (strange)
    $22.16 for a tip
    $22.16 for a service fee (coincidence?)
    $6.68 for a heavy order fee (I had two gallons of milk)
    And somehow ended up with a $10.00 coupon.
    All in all.. I spent $80 extra with $20 missing somehow…
    no one contacted me about replacements (they usually do) because all of my gluten free or vegan products were replaced with non vegan or full gluten products.
    I have picky kids and this was awful service.

  456. Actually, you might be happy to know that you are wrong. Take me for instance. My car is being repaired (and we are in a pandemic), so i can’t go to the grocery store (Wegmans). I use(d) instacart to deliver my order, which i placed through my local Wegmans website. Now, I am fine paying Instacart delivery fee of only $3.99 but “Wegmans” added a “shopper fee” to my bill total which they verbally advised that it’s not a fee that is paid to Instacart… it covers liability insurance, back ground checks, etc…) and this i’m fine with as well… it’s only when the prices on the “Wegmans website” for product that i buy regularly, was more than that regular price. Example. A round loaf of Tuscan Garlic Rosemary presliced which i buy weekly, costs me $4.50 – however on the grocery store website (not instacart) shows same bread cost $5.25. I found this with almost all my items… that the online price and the actual labeled price, is different. So I spoke to both Instacart and Wegmans at great length (actually today), and this is Wegmans doing, not Instacart. Wegmans on the phone and then again in writing told me their prices are higher online on their website vs in store pricing for the very same item, in order to cover the cost of “shopping the order) – they advised to expect each item to be roughly 15% higher per item – they then gave me an example. A $100 order purchased in store will be $115 when purchased through their website. And in writing it says this charge is collected by the grocery store and not paid to Instacart. Instacart makes their money on the subscriptions and delivery fees… not the product price difference.
    I called Instacart and confirmed exactly the same. Instacart also said that I could see a list of stores which do not upcharge online products to identical in store items, on their website. I’m going to go that route now. Again, i don’t mind paying a company to do a job, to do a service… delivery fee and subscription fee is fine – they have to make money and then we tip the delivery driver on top of that… (same if you order a pizza or chinese for delivery) – My beef is paying $.70-$1.25 more for an item because i ordered it online as part of my instagram order, only to see a lesser labeled sticker price when i take it out of the bag. In my opinion, that’s borderline stealing. #wegmansshouldbeashamed

  457. I literally just got my delivery and have been using instacart for about 3 years now. My problem when I was living in Florida wasn’t with them but with Publix. At the very beginning it states that prices may be higher than in the store…this was only with Publix. I live in Pa. now and use Aldi and Shop and Save through instacart and prices have been exactly what was in the ads specials included. Then I get my receipts through my email. Once accidentally the shopper left it in the bag and it was exactly what I was charged. I use the month by month subscription for 9.99 if I think I might use it 2 or more times which allows me to save on the 3.99 delivery fee.

  458. I occasionally do use instacart. With this COVID business I have to use a mask to get in the store and they make me extremely anxious. I can only stay in the store a short time before I feel like I am going to have a panic attack . Not many people seem to understand that not everyone can “just wear the damn mask”

    The think that gets me with Instacart is the fees. It is ridiculous to have to pay a service fee AND a delivery fee, plus you have to give a tio also. All this on top of the groceries themselves being upcharged at least .50 an item. That adds

  459. I am an Instacart shopper…..I always give my customers the store receipt, Instacart doesn’t tell us not to give the store receipt….so I don’t know where you got the info that we don’t give the store receipt to the customer!!! You are paying for a service, shopping and delivering! Of course there are fees. If you don’t want or like to shop, we do it for you!!!  With the pandemic, people don’t want to go out in public. I pick a customer’s groceries like I would my own and I have had GREAT customer comments about how I pick meat and produce!!!! All the info in your article is available for a customer to read before using INSTACART…..I found it before I ever signed on as a shopper…..all your article does is SCARE the public from using INSTACART AND OTHER SHOPPING SERVICES OUT THERE!!!!!
    Great journalism!!!

  460. I found the delivery from Aldi drivers to be very unprofessional, I live in an apartment building on the 6th floor. The driver left my bags downstairs without even notifying me that they were there.

  461. I tried Instacart three times. The first time went beautifully and smoothly. I purchased items that were very simplistic and easy to find. No one asked me any questions and Michaela had absolutely no problems finding absolutely everything I ordered. I ordered, I got a text saying my order was ready for pick up. I went to the store, the items were brought out to me and I was THRILLED.
    Second time: Lots and lots of texts from a very reliable shopper who told me that items were not available and asked me if a replacement was okay. Her communications skills were amazing and she went out of her way to find items that were suitable and send lots of pictures of items. She asked me at the end if I wanted anything else. She was kind enough to send picture of new items I asked for and asked me if the new items were okay. She was great. Pick up was perfect. A bit annoyed at the inconvenience. But still felt okay about the service.
    Third time: ABSOLUTE #%(#*)+$ TRAINWRECK!!! (Major understatement) This new shopper was completely clueless as of where to find items that weren’t really that hard to find if you shopped Shaw’s on a regular basis. She actually asked me if my order was for frozen or fresh organic Kale. Are you frickin’ kidding me?!!! Can’t follow instructions by looking at a picture. WTF! I ordered an item that the other shoppers had no problem getting. The person said she couldn’t find it and it would need to be refunded. Did she offer me a replacement?? NO. She didn’t ask me. This item was crucial to my order. I finally receive a message that my order was done. ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!??? Did she ask me if I wanted anything else? NO. Did she ask me if there was anything else I wanted? NO. The kicker was when I went to the store. I clicked on I am on my way when I was on my way. I clicked on the “I’m at the store button”. I get a message that reads. “No one is available to bring your items out to you. Please come into the Store.” WHAT????!!! To say I was livid was an understatement.
    I was PISSED!!! I went into the store and looked for the important item that she said was not in. Found it! Right where it was supposed to be. I asked for the Instacart person. They said she left early. WHAT????!!! More pissed off!! My pickup time was scheduled! Did I get a text saying she went home? NO.
    The worst part is that since my order never showed as being completed, I couldn’t leave feedback. That left me more pissed off.
    My relationship with Instacart has been severed for all eternity. I started my service so that I wouldn’t have to come to the store in a pandemic. WTF.

  462. I have been using them a little in the last couple of months, but the quality of groceries I get is very poor. I am done with insta cart.

  463. OMG the attitudes here!!! This is a SERVICE. If you don’t want it don’t use it. We don’t need to know all the details about your out of stock items.
    This was heaven sent to me with the pandemic last year. I was able to browse aisles sitting in living room AND I was able to shop at stores I don’t have local to me and get some different items to try. To go to the store it costs me 5.00 bridge fare..gas and my time. For a SMALL fee and a tip I didn’t have to do anything. I shop at Wegmans and the meats are pre packaged and individually sealed and honestly..i’ve NEVER purchased anything bad at Wegmans so i took my chances.
    I couldn’t have been happier!!!!
    If something was out of stock i was given a choice by my shopper to substitute or not to substitute. My shopper looked at all the dates on items because i confirmed by messaging him to please check the dates.
    No one is perfect and I myself have bought outdated things when in a hurry so sxxx DOES happen and it doesn’t make it the rule.
    I think this is a great service that provides many choices for many different people and shouldn’t be shot down because a few people have had some issues with them…i mean really..if that were the case there wouldn’t be ANY grocery stores left open because we all at one time have had a customer service or product issue at a “REAL” store ourselves.
    Cut instacart a break and don’t use it if you choose not to but don’t ruin it for the rest of us.

  464. Oh gosh I have pages of inside information about this company and actually scared for my life. They are very sinister and they are data mining their shoppers and their customers as well as their parent companies. This is no different than Amazon and the privacy you have to say yes to is unreal. Never again for me. It is smarter to have a personal assistant

  465. I have been a shopper for instacart for 3 years. I can affirm that there is no technical training and no, since we are paid low by the job and not per hour, we definitely don’t care about expiration dates unless they are within a couple days and easily visible. I’ll double check if there is a note on the item but since 1 bad rating can tank your income by over 30%, i would drop any order that had excessive notes or problematic and abusive communication, yes we get all caps yelled at sometimes because the store is out of a specific apple juice but the app didn’t say so. I check all produce for standard quality and unripe over ripe if not requested, especially avocados. I do check all eggs fairly but I’m not gonna take them out, just a quick roll to see anything obvious and that they aren’t sticking and no staining on box. I don’t check meat except for the correct barcode because the inventory is so deeply innaccurate that it’s easy for a customer to order 1lb of something that only comes in a 4+lb package. Or order a value pack because it’s cheaper per pound but not knowing what weight it’ll be. It is easy to accidentally mix items between orders as we do up to 3 simultaneously so those personal items they’re buying on your dime are most likely a different customer’s. Again though, the rating system is so insanely unforgiving that many shoppers either overwork slowly and thus reduce their own pay or become completely reckless rushing through orders without caring about the impact, which is honestly the most fiscally sound tactic despite it’s ethical concern. This balance combined with a complete lack of psychic abilities of whether you needed that generic no salt diced tomato can for dinner tonight or you were just stocking up on low cost items, can make replacement choices difficult. Here’s my advice. Keep your phone on you and communicate with the shopper, but don’t be a prick, I’ve left customer’s orders in a cart and walked away knowing full well it was too late for someone else to finish that day and we take virtually no penalty for doing so as long as to isn’t too frequent or for good reason. Make your replacement or refund choices clear and if something is wrong like a damaged item or bad date you can get a refund credit without lowering their rating. The customer service really is overly corrective for the customer in fact I’ve had people regularly say that I didn’t deliver whole bags of groceries or expensive items and they got the refund without challenge, we also seem to get no penalty so far since it is hearsay which is the best that they can do considering. The prices are definitely the trick of trade though. Expect to pay 20% more or worse because they also don’t honor in store sales like bogos if it isn’t already applied by you when you order. Please use the service if you need it as it is huge for the gig economy. Don’t be a dick about it. And honestly expect it to be the same as giving your neighbor your grocery list, something is gonna be different when you get the order almost guaranteed. And if you’re wondering considering my reactive attitude, I do very well (over 30k a year easily with a lot of time off up to a potential 100k if i was masochistic working 90+ hr/wk) and consistently have a very good rating and a great relationship with all the employees and customers in my city.

  466. In the UK, unless you go out of your way to use Deliveroo or Speedy Shopper or something for groceries, most are delivered directly by the supermarket, for a delivery fee between £0 and £7 (£4 is very typical) and no other mark-up.

  467. After reading your article, I can certainly respect your reasonings as to why you choose not to use Instacart. In a perfect world, I wouldn’t use them either, but in some cases, there isn’t always an option.

    Regarding what you said about Instacart not providing the original printed receipt to the customer, the issue goes far deeper than simply an issue of whether or not Instacart is charging marked up prices. Around 75% of the time when I have to utilize this service, I do not receive my receipt, despite explicitly stating in the purchase instructions that the receipt is to be delivered to me. I have received all manor of excuses from drivers, a few of which I’ll outline below, along with explanations on why their statements are false.

    1. There is no printed receipt — this is an outright lie. The fact that an Instacart shopper is physically picking and checking out the order instead of doing it myself does not change the fact whether I go to a human-operated till or a self-check, the register prints a receipt.
    2. It’s in your app — this is a copout, and an extreme failure to follow basic instructions.
    3. Any citation of how they were trained to handle receipts — I have had variances between “we’re told not to, but I still provide it”, to “we’re told not to, so I’m not going to give it to you”, to “there isn’t a formal guideline on how to handle customer receipts”

    I have had a situation where I had to file a complaint over a shopper buying themselves a little treat on my bill, but there is are two much greater problems stemming out of the lack of providing original receipts than an inflated price or an item being purchased but not delivered, and I will lay out the problem based on where I normally order from: Kroger.

    When I place an order through my Kroger account, to be shopped by Instacart, my information from my account data is logged in the sale. This logging of data includes the last 4 digits of whichever financial card I used to pay, as well as the last 4 digits of my Kroger Plus card number. These numbers are printed on the original cash register receipt at the time of checkout. If the receipt is not being given to me, I have no idea where my personal information is … is it ending up in the hands of a hacker, who can reverse-engineer an identity theft from this information? Can I trust the driver, who now has my name, address, phone number etc. as well from the information on my card?

    Further to that, people who are budget minded or financially strapped often utilize cash back / reward apps such as Fetch Rewards or iBotta in order to recover some of what they’re spending. These apps require that you scan the original receipt. Depending on the number of offers you’re capitalizing on, or the number of points you should otherwise receive, this can amount to several dollars at a time … if the customer is not able to get those rewards because they weren’t given something that belongs to them in the first place, then Instacart, through its policies, is quite literally stealing money from the customers utilizing its service.

    Between failing to protect the customer’s personal information and literal theft of rewards by not providing receipts, one would have to question if this “policy” by Instacart to not give customers the receipt that is their property is potentially class-actionable …

  468. I’ve used Instacart throughout the pandemic, but now I’m using them less and less because I can easily go to the store and make sure I get what I want.

    Usually. However:

    When I’m busy with work or other things after 5pm, it’s nice that I can fall back on Instacart to get something I need so I’m effectively doing 2-4 things at a time and don’t have to work late because of it.

    If I find I’m out of something I had to have for dinner, I can use them to buy a few things including the thing or two I need for dinner. No missed gaming time and no rush to the car to buy 1 or 2 things at the store, then we eat late.

    I can get stuff delivered to my office during the day, store in the office refrigerator if necessary, and I have what I need that day (lunch, because I eat salad most lunches) or that night. All while doing my job, again, doing 2-3 things at a time, so I don’t have to work late.

    There are lots of reasons I see value in using Instacart. With all that being said, like I said, I’m still using them less now because I like shopping for things sometimes and now I can since I’m fully vaccinated.

    All the times I’ve used them over the last 15 months, about 110 times total, maybe 5% of the time I get the completely wrong item or I have missing items, so we do have to “receive” and check the stuff according to what I ordered. And, that wastes my time, plus the time if I have to report a problem and get a refund. But, the small number is really insignificant. And I’ve always received the store receipt to check, so I don’t know when that ever happened to anyone.

    What I’ve noticed more and more, including an order I got today, is that I often get stuff for free that I never ordered — completely off the wall items, like 5 small jars of tomato paste not even close to anything I ordered. Or today I got a 12-pack of root beer, and we ordered beer, but no soda. In all cases, the free items were not on the receipts, and I did not pay for them.

    Today’s order was odd, because the prices didn’t match on meats, but it was completely in my favor. I paid $91 for the order, $71 plus tip and fees, but the receipt shows Instacart paid $98 for what I got — plus the soda, at about $4-$5. I bought hamburger and pork ribs, but effectively got an extra 50% off because of the mistake.

    So, I’m guessing Instacart averages it out over all orders from all customers and makes money in the end. Or they’re going out of business soon. And/or these items were for other customers and those customers are reporting problems and getting refunds, and Instacart is going out of business.

    I don’t know, but it reminds me of the dot-com boom when pets.com would ship a 50 pound bag of dog food for a price that’s lower than any retailer would sell locally, and with free shipping. We know how that ended, they went bankrupt. Someone else today ships dog food, but it’s not common because of the obvious problem with weight and free shipping.

    Anyway, I’ll use them as long as they are around and I find them useful sometimes. They’re downright essential if you get injured like I am now with my sprained ankle and you need someone to help shop groceries for you.

  469. I’ve been using Instacart since about March 2020 (guess why…). I don’t have a car and have medical issues, can’t even get vaccinated until later this year so am staying in hermit mode (which I actually prefer).

    My days of walking several miles to get to Kroger’s are long gone, so I’ve been stuck with higher prices and less variety in the one grocery store within walking distance. COVID made that too risky for me. I have never been able to get friends to pick things up for me, even waving money in their face. I am not made of money, haven’t had paying work since COVID hit and can’t work full time anyway.

    I hate not getting most of the in-store sales and the delivery fees (they charge about $8-$9 per month on annual plus mysterious $1 or $2 delivery fee per order (my orders are small but several times a month for perishables). When comparing with online food sources such as frozen, I figure on prices for a Instacart food being 12%-15% higher total due to the fees and tip. But I need it for fresh produce and regular frozen fruit and veg and nowadays it even does let me buy some nonallergenic frozen processed food (vegetarian allergic to dairy and egg). And frozen vegan food has always cost about that much extra for shipping.

    But if you want to know how you are charged, just look for the info in the list of stores in the Instacart app. Some like Kroger’s charge same as in-store except you don’t usually get sale prices unless Instacart gives you similar coupons (they do have Instacart sales in the app). You can double-check by downloading the individual store’s app and just checking their in-store prices that way. But they seem pretty upfront now about how you are charged.

    Also check out rebate coupons for Instacart from outfits that let you link to the stores directly (no need to have a physical receipt to photograph and submit). Ibotta does this for Instacart and Shipt, so all their stores for delivery should be covered. I just check off all possible items I might buy in the Ibotta app, stuff on the list is automatically rebated once Instacart reports to them, and the rebates are put in my Ibotta account for retrieval once I meet the minimum. I think the minimum is about $20. You can send it to a bank or PayPal but I usually just get an Amazon gift card as easiest for me. There are other gift card options, I think.

    If you need a receipt for a non-linking rebate app, maybe you could just ask the shopper to include it. Just use the chat with shopper option. They have accidentally left one sometimes. They don’t need it themselves.

    Those rebates really help me, even though I don’t have as much mainstream items to buy as most people. Can even cover the tip sometimes. And lets me soothe my child-of-the-triple-coupon-day-queen soul.

  470. About the shoppers – I’ve had a lot of different shoppers and most do quite well. I put detailed instructions about ok substitutions (have allergies and rebate requirements so they often can’t just use their own judgment) and tell them to check for instructions via chat. Shoppers are not mind readers. They just ask me questions via chat if they find something else that might work and send me a picture if needed.

    Maybe once or twice I’ve had some sad soul who obviously never shopped for produce in their short life, but most do as well in picking good stuff as I would. One sad soul did fine when I got her several months later, so she just needed experience.

    It’s not the shopper’s fault if things are out of stock or hidden in odd places. Quite a few have gone the extra mile trying to find things for me, but I don’t expect it. The store and Instacart need to do a better job of updating in-stock and out-of-stock and putting things in a rational place.

    Don’t play games with the rating. Just give them five stars and thank them. Really. They’re doing an important job.

  471. My driver left my receipt from Costco. I literally paid $50 more using instacart. Then I tipped $20. So I paid $70 not to drive 3 miles. Ridiculous

  472. well, i am handicapped and usually still shop, which causes more pains, so since i look at the frys website and see a coupon for delivery and have not been enjoying my shopping in person experience due top pain. first off i think fry’s should make it clear that they are outsourcing their delivery service. My other gripe at frys is the check yourself out only after 9 p.m. Without digressing too much, let us just say this is difficult depending on the handicap or if I have had anything done recently like surgery. I was finally going to take the advice of so many people and order and have my groceries delivered. I guess I could get used to not going to pick out my own stuff, maybe, and what a wonderful bonus, they would bring to the front door. No struggling with getting groceries from car to house. Then as I was starting to think it wasn’t gonna be a horrible experience, I noticed what I thought was a price increase on peanut butter, hmm, then I was surprised when grapes on sale for seventy fice cents a pound popped up online at $2.38 a pound. I grabbed my phone went to the app and looked and they were correct on my phone app. So, that was the point when I figured out they jack the prices up for delivery. Next I looked online and found this article. So bummed out. I understand that instagram has to make money, obviously, I really don’t understand how a nationwide company as large as kroeger , doesn’t have their own delivery service. I really only want to deal with one company, no pointing fingers or excuses that way. So charge a fee is you have to but it is rather confusing to do digital coupons and study the ads, then the prices are not even close. I would rather know okay add whatever amount at the end. It would just keep it simpler ub my opinion.

  473. Instacart charges $9.95 service fee and you pay a % of the grocery total for tip, so $100 in groceries is around $20 to get them delivered to you.

    So, there’s that. Not very cost effective, but if you can’t go get your groceries…or if you just don’t want to…at least that is a known item.

    Now, the Instacart shoppers. That is always a downside you don’t know until you get the groceries. I’ve gotten totally spoiled produce (completely unusable), expired food, and have had missing items. They’re on the eReciept, so the item must have been rung up…so where are they?

    Not to mention, the availability issue that started when Covid did. If you’re on any sort of restrictive diet, this poses a real issue. Even when you click “no substitutions” the shopper still chooses items to replace unavailable items that most times are not ones within your diet. I’ve even had them sub regular cheese for non-dairy cheese. That seems like a lack of common sense, but that’s a whole other story. And, even when they don’t decide to substitute against your wishes, I’ve seen ss much as 10+ items unavailable, which in some cases may be 25% of your groceries, so you have to go out and get groceries because you needed those items…. And paid $20 extra to get $100 in groceries for no reason.

    For those reasons, I feel Instacart is not a viable option and is nothing more than extra cost.

  474. Instacart…… Sucks. Both as a driver and customer. The customer never ever gets sale prices. They send us to stores that don’t even stock an item at times. The guide that tells us what row and shelf is a lot of the times inaccurate. Navigation is up to Google maps and an app called beans which I use. The company is just using people. Now they want to build warehouses so that they can step into Amazon’s realm. Probably looking to cash out eventually buy being bought out by Amazon. They don’t care about you or their drivers. Stop supporting them.

  475. On Halloween morning 2021 I was taken by ambulance to the hospital and spent a week in ICU with Covid related pneumonia. What followed were several months of recovery at home on oxygen and no going outside period (I was to weak to walk very far anyhow). I used Instacart and Walmart Plus. Both started out great but by my 3rd or 4th week of orders I noticed a decline in service quality. I was getting expired foods, items I hadn’t ordered, compromised packages (leaking milk, juice, etc). One female shopper refused to deliver my case of water because I live in an upstairs apartment and just drove away with it still in her car. It began taking longer and longer to receive deliveries. A Walmart Plus driver stole my entire $120 Christmas Eve order (never delivered it but said he did) and Walmart refused to refund my money. That was it for both of them. I’ll never use that type of service again.

  476. When I search for a stores’ weekly ad by their name, the first thing at the top of the page is often instacart, which I always seem to click on accidently. I guess all that price gouging they do allows them to pay google and microsoft to be placed first in a search. i would NEVER consider using this rip-off of a company!

  477. I have to say it was a God-send when my kids were at college and got sick and were stuck in their dorms. I felt bad that I wasn’t there to take care of them. Instacart made me able to send them exactly what they needed to take care of themselves and even some Mom added touches. I will be forever thankful to instacart employees for helping me care for my babies long distance.

  478. Thanks for your informative review! I use ic weekly at least. I also work from my home office. (I am a long time bookkeeper slash accountant, so if you need any help with small biz clients, give me a shout) I personally find the cost to be well worth the time it saves me, plus the aggravation. Since they partnered with my favorite local chain, Market Basket/Demoulas, I can’t even justify NOT using them. For me to get to the nearest location of my favorite store, it would take me through three towns and onto the expressway. We have one vehicle, and my s/o takes the car when he goes to the office -I prefer not to have to coordinate that with him. I like the convenience of being able to get a few things on the fly without the getting dressed, etc. In my late teens and early 20s I was the go fetch girl for a few older relatives (all of whom are small biz owners) and know all about shopping. I worked in the meat room at Market Basket in high school, so I know my meat. (Lol) I have received one carton of eggs with 1 broken egg since I opened my account three years ago. They always credit me immediately and so far I have not been challenged on why I need a refund. Recently I started using them for dollar store runs. It’s all dependent on how you value your time. I’ve found it much better than using Amaz Fresh, so many times I made a huge order up only to find out the item I most needed was not available, rendering my plan to cook A, useless unless I run to the store for the missing item. Missing the entire point of the exercise. I’m really interested in reading more comments about peoples experiences with ic. Thanks for making a forum for the grown ups amongst us.

  479. Instacart customer service has demonstrated itself to be incompetent at best and fraudulent at worst. I have never had so many problems with a company in my entire life. You get a different response every time you contact them, and ultimately they mess up your account and put your private data at risk. Very troubling company. There are other options out there, many stores do direct delivery now and there are other third-party services. I urge anyone considering Instacart to steer clear of this shady company.

  480. I have used them in the past during COVID lockdown and when I was home recovering from surgery. It was actually a godsend knowing that this was available. I had a good experience and would do it again as a last resort. However, the pricing is all over the place and I notice that they don’t feature the specials. There is a delivery fee and you need to tip, so yes, it’s pricey and not something to do because you’re craving a snack and don’t want to leave the house. The drivers are not store employees and are independent contractors who need to purchase fuel and pay insurance on their vehicles. Someone has to pay for the convenience of grocery delivery, and those costs are passed along to the customers.

  481. I reallly try not to use Instacart for reasons mentioned above…mostly, I get frustrated when I am given moldy items that I can’t use. What is the point in paying all the fees if you are sent moldy items?! Instacarts customer service has been okay in the past, but recently I requested a refund or (something !) after receiving stale rock hard sourdough bread, bad avocados and slimy mini cucumbers, and my request was denied. Dont use them unless youre desperate!

  482. Instacart worked seamlessly for me for a while. Then one day for some reason the delivery person arrived 30 minutes early and dumped my items outside my door, strewn all over the place, no bags. I was there but he did not knock.

    This local Walmart is huge and has ample selection of everything (I don’t drive at this time). But he cancelled several of my items and give me so/so replacements for others. Never asked me.

  483. Today, I ordered one item from Instacart for $17.99 before taxes. I was charged $37.00. I immediately canceled my order and called Instacart to cancel recurring membership fees. I am disabled and thought this was a convenient service. How wrong I was! Never again.

  484. I stopped using Instacart in 2020 after I placed an order from a local grocery store that cost me roughly $300. After I received the order I noticed that several item were missing or replaced with other items that I had not asked for. I then went to the grocery stores’ website–after reading articles online complaining about Instacart–and added the items to my cart and found that the total cost would have been roughly $100 less than I paid through Instacart. I decided never to use them again.

    Today I made an exception, because I am sick and didn’t want to leave my house, and ordered from Instacart. I didn’t check the price this time, so I don’t know how much more I spent, but when the order arrived it was missing multiple items (that I was charged for) and included several broken items. I reached out to Instacart and was given a refund but, when overpaying for products, I expect to receive what I ordered.

    I am extremely disappointed in this company and will NEVER use their services again.