Costco Members: 1-Year Instacart Express Membership eGift Card

armiva

Dec 25, 2021 10:33 PM

340 Posts

Joined Nov 2008

armivaDec 25, 2021 10:33 PM

340 Posts

Any suggestions for how much to tip an instacart shopper? Trying to see if this will be worth it with fees and tips all in. If we have to tip servers 20% just for being a couple of plates to the table (some places they don't even take orders and we order and pay on the tabletop menu), then how much do we tip shoppers for driving to the store, struggling for parking if it's Costco it can take a lot of time to just park, then going into the store, selecting each item, standing in line to check out, push cart back to car, drive to my home, carry heavy boxes from the street to my porch? What's a reasonable amount for all that? If we order $100 of food at a restaurant we are supposed to give $20 so for instacart is it like $50 or how much?

rly723

Dec 25, 2021 10:42 PM

10,948 Posts

Joined Jun 2004

rly723Dec 25, 2021 10:42 PM

10,948 Posts

Quote from supa2001

:

Well worth it if the store is like 25 min away. Save so much time and gas.
Does this code expire? I wanna until I exhaust all trial options.

I don't have any Walmart's in my area. Closest ones are 45 mins each way. So that would be 90 mins round trip. I could Instacart it but I feel bad for the shopper to drive so far, so I've never tried

elmikethemike

Dec 25, 2021 11:07 PM

534 Posts

Joined Dec 2008

elmikethemikeDec 25, 2021 11:07 PM

534 Posts

Quote from eisen.iitm

:

Does it also give you the free GrubHub membership that they are promoting

Not that I can tell. Who's promoting that? It's not on the Costco page.

eisen.iitm

Dec 25, 2021 11:25 PM

101 Posts

Joined Dec 2012

eisen.iitmDec 25, 2021 11:25 PM

101 Posts

Quote from elmikethemike

:

Not that I can tell. Who's promoting that? It's not on the Costco page.

It's on the Instacart app. "Upgrade to the annual plan and get a free year of GrubHub+ membership".... Guess you need to pay with your credit card and not redeem codes

milk_12

Dec 25, 2021 11:34 PM

453 Posts

Joined Dec 2010

milk_12Dec 25, 2021 11:34 PM

453 Posts

Quote from ilikemoneys

:

They pay the shoppers like $6 or $7 dollars per customer. There is no way anyone would go back to a store for that kind of money. I don't think that even factors in gas or anything like that. It's not even minimum wage without tips. It's crazy how exploitative both Instacart and Instacart customers are of the shoppers. I've looked into this just out of curiosity and it's wild. You ought to just pay an individual you know $25 to $50 per shopping trip. Chances are you will spend way less money than you would buying through instacart and that person would actually have enough pay to make sure everything is correct and to your liking.

There's so much I disagree with here but I will just say one thing.

This is unskilled labor, picking up groceries. Anyone who is doing this job and doesn't like the pay structure are free to find another job if they can. Key words: if they can.

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texst

Dec 26, 2021 12:14 AM

9,273 Posts

Joined May 2015

texstDec 26, 2021 12:14 AM

9,273 Posts

Why isn't it just free?

supa2001

Dec 26, 2021 01:56 AM

1,806 Posts

Joined Dec 2006

supa2001Dec 26, 2021 01:56 AM

1,806 Posts

Quote from rly723

:

I don't have any Walmart's in my area. Closest ones are 45 mins each way. So that would be 90 mins round trip. I could Instacart it but I feel bad for the shopper to drive so far, so I've never tried

I believe they don't have to accept anything they don't find worthwhile.

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1

gobblygook

Dec 26, 2021 02:09 AM

2,598 Posts

Joined Jan 2007

gobblygookDec 26, 2021 02:09 AM

2,598 Posts

Quote from unclelobsterman

:

And this is the problem with all of it in a nutshell...Instacart, Doordash, Uber, Lyft...whatever. It is not a sustainable model or way for drivers/shoppers, etc. to make an actual living. And yet they continue to exist because there has been, so far, an endless supply of replacement people to take the place of those who come to this realization on their own.

During the height of Covid fears, Uber and Lyft were EXTREMELY unreliable, most often no drivers were available. I had hoped that all of these companies would have gone bankrupt. Heck, even listening to people in this thread, it's about making some schlup take the Covid risk in their place. I hope the consumers all appreciate what these poor suckers do for them.

3

gobblygook

Dec 26, 2021 02:11 AM

2,598 Posts

Joined Jan 2007

gobblygookDec 26, 2021 02:11 AM

2,598 Posts

Quote from milk_12

:

There's so much I disagree with here but I will just say one thing.

This is unskilled labor, picking up groceries. Anyone who is doing this job and doesn't like the pay structure are free to find another job if they can. Key words: if they can.

Yes, the fact that the drivers are being exploited by these nasty companies is fine by you. We get it. Now piss off.

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UpbeatFaucet6722

Dec 26, 2021 02:37 AM

1 Posts

Joined Feb 2019

UpbeatFaucet6722Dec 26, 2021 02:37 AM

1 Posts

Quote from jtree1

:

I would be interested if Instacart didn't markup products in addition to their fee.

Instacart does not markup. Your store does.

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Blockanese

Dec 26, 2021 02:51 AM

199 Posts

Joined Nov 2014

BlockaneseDec 26, 2021 02:51 AM

199 Posts

Quote from UpbeatFaucet6722

:

Instacart does not markup. Your store does.

Exactly. Prices are the same for me either through instacart or in store. No difference

Mr-DealHunter

Dec 26, 2021 02:53 AM

53 Posts

Joined Sep 2017

Mr-DealHunterDec 26, 2021 02:53 AM

53 Posts

If you have a chase CC, you might be able to get 6 months of membership for free just FYI

ilikemoneys

Dec 26, 2021 03:28 AM

1,815 Posts

Joined Jan 2012

ilikemoneysDec 26, 2021 03:28 AM

1,815 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank ilikemoneys

Quote from supa2001

:

Well, there obviously are people doing it, else Instacart would've increased their pay or gone out of biz.
I don't know where to hire shoppers directly, any site for that?

That's not really how it works. Instacart, along with most of these 1099 employers doing deliveries or whatever else, intentionally operates at an extreme loss in order to overexpand and corner the marklet. Essentially, they secure funding from some very wealthy individual or from an investment firm. Use that for the initial outlay and over insane short term incentives to attract customers and "employees" and blow through the funding. They give customers insane deals that destroy competition that don't have a hundred million in cash to burn. Then, they get more funding stating that they need more because of all the new customers. At this point, they raise their prices a little and drastically cut pay to the "employees" which increases their own funds as a business which they present to the investors and ask if they want to reinvest so they can expand to more markets. They then take that money and just go ham with it in every market they can, again, in order to crush competitors that can't simply outlast them. Thus continuing the cycle until every market is theirs or the company is purchased. Once every market is theirs, they keep their prices just under the place where competition could actually form again and just ride it out on easy. Essentially, the "employees" get the bait and switch almost immediately and customers get the shaft long term since they are the only game in town by the end of it. I doubt most instacart employees do more than 5 or 6 deliveries before they decide not to do it anymore but that's exactly what instacart banks on. They want them to give it a shot, get hosed, and quit doing it because there is always someone else who needs money enough to give it a shot, get hosed, and quit.

As far as a site, taskrabbbit seems like it's a great option for something like this.

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ilikemoneys

Dec 26, 2021 03:49 AM

1,815 Posts

Joined Jan 2012

ilikemoneysDec 26, 2021 03:49 AM

1,815 Posts

Quote from armiva

:

Any suggestions for how much to tip an instacart shopper? Trying to see if this will be worth it with fees and tips all in. If we have to tip servers 20% just for being a couple of plates to the table (some places they don't even take orders and we order and pay on the tabletop menu), then how much do we tip shoppers for driving to the store, struggling for parking if it's Costco it can take a lot of time to just park, then going into the store, selecting each item, standing in line to check out, push cart back to car, drive to my home, carry heavy boxes from the street to my porch? What's a reasonable amount for all that? If we order $100 of food at a restaurant we are supposed to give $20 so for instacart is it like $50 or how much?

Over time I've picked up on the idea to tip people based on how they actually get paid and their workload vs the total amount I'm spending. For servers, that still tends to be based on the actual bill but not necessarily. I've had high bills that I tipped less than lower ones because the workload was significantly lower. For delivery drivers, I do it based on mileage and time since that's what they seem to care about more. I think for a grocery shopper, I'd do it based on number of items probably since the cost of those items is irrelevant to how long it might take to find each one. I think $.40 to $.50 per item, not including multiples of the same item, would probably be pretty fair. Maybe give a little bit more if you order a bunch or bottled water, sodas, pet food, etc. or if you are on a higher floor of an apartment or something.

4

rly723

Dec 26, 2021 04:57 AM

10,948 Posts

Joined Jun 2004

rly723Dec 26, 2021 04:57 AM

10,948 Posts

I usually buy delivery groceries between Costco same day service website, Amazon prime fresh, target or Instacart local grocery stories. Honestly the prices between all are pretty similar. Better to buy bulk frozen meats, appetizer foods through Instacart ( smart n final) or Costco. Although hard to buy stuff like fat free whipped cream, no sugar added syrups and sauces which Costco doesn't have. Fruits and veggies seem slightly more expensive like apples, romaine lettuce compare to other local grocery stores. I do wish Costco had same delivery/ Instacart of their $10 pizza. I'd probably order that at least once a week, although I'd gain weight from it , so probably not lol

Costco Members: 1-Year Instacart Express Membership eGift Card

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