In my area the main stores that are the bulk of the gigs are Stater Bros, Walmart, Costco, Sprouts, Aldi and the chain groceries.
All else being equal my favorite is Aldi, because they are small and there aren't a lot of options, so it is easy and fast to find items. And the lines aren't too long most of the time. If you are doing a Costco or Sams club order at a busy time, you can spend 15+ minutes going through line, which is again money.
How much time do you spend in the store vs in the car? Is there any mechanism where a customer can ask for a certain person if they've had them before? Or more simply, is there any way you can get repeat business, either within, or outside of, the app?
Most of the time the person's house is close to the market so not much time driving. Occasionally there is a long drive, normally if the person orders some alcohol from a specialty alcohol store.Originally Posted by Crowe Diddly
AFAIK there is no mechanism to ask for a specific person. Most of the time I just go to the store, pick up the order, drop the package off on the porch and have no interaction with the person at all. I don't really know of any method to get repeat business, short of trying to hustle some myself by talking to the person and exchanging info. I know this is something some Uber drivers do a lot, but obviously when someone is sitting in your car for an extended period there is a lot more opportunity for interaction than when you are dropping off groceries on someone's porch.
Most of the time the person's house is close to the market so not much time driving. Occasionally there is a long drive, normally if the person orders some alcohol from a specialty alcohol store.
AFAIK there is no mechanism to ask for a specific person. Most of the time I just go to the store, pick up the order, drop the package off on the porch and have no interaction with the person at all. I don't really know of any method to get repeat business, short of trying to hustle some myself by talking to the person and exchanging info. I know this is something some Uber drivers do a lot, but obviously when someone is sitting in your car for an extended period there is a lot more opportunity for interaction than when you are dropping off groceries on someone's porch.
This is very interesting and everything you’ve contributed thus far does positively impact my attitude and the way I use / will use Instacart. Thank you.
Scumbag company going public.
The press release for their IPO is hilariously vague.
This company is faker than the news.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/1826530...e-catch-covid/
Looks like you all better hide in your homes and order groceries. Seriously, the last couple weeks I have been doing Instacart pretty much exclusively. The traffic has picked up massively, so it is just a matter of picking off the good tipping orders. The only problem is that a lot of people do tips as a % of their total bill, and everyone is ordering massive rolls of toilet paper and paper towels that they dont get because these are out, so the tips are always significantly smaller than advertised.
If the market really is the most likely place to get Covid, with the amount of time I have spent in indoor markets the last few months, I really do wonder if I got Covid at some point and never noticed. But I have 5 people in my immediate household and none of them has gotten sick either (knock on wood), so seems unlikely we would all be asymptomatic, so probably just never got it.
Kalam, I'm still confused about something.
You said you don't know what people pay. Again, my last Costco order came with a receipt! Obviously the driver had this and gave it to us (or at least left it in one of the boxes).
When you go to the cashier at Costco and check out, how does it work? Do they charge some Instacart account? If so, how would you (or any driver) end up with my receipt? This has happened a bunch of times. Not every time, but a bunch of times. They also have the real Costco prices on the receipt, not the awful markup prices I must pay through Instacart.
Also, I agree with you that the percentage tip is idiotic. I realized that pretty quickly. This isn't a restaurant. If I order a few light, expensive items which cost $200, it's far easier for the shopper to carry than $100 worth of bulky cheap items.
I tip a flat rate based upon the difficulty of the order. However, I've decided to always tip $15 minimum, and usually $18-$20, because I don't live all that close to Costco.
For non-Costco shopping, I want to URGE everyone to check if your store has its own delivery service. The prices won't be marked up, and there's no tipping (because you're getting the delivery from union employees). Way cheaper that way. Costco has no such service, and they just contract with Instacart.
However, if you're a Costco member, never order through Instacart directory. You'll get the same Instacart experience but CHEAPER at sameday.costco.com (but this does require a Costco membership login).
Also regarding that Sun article, I realized this shit back in April. I knew the supermarket had to be dangerous, and I quit going permanently. Anyway, GL Kalam, hope you and your family stays COVID-free.
One of my little cousins does instacart as she was a waitress making half what she used to over by blake. I asked her all about it one day and she said she could basically get fired for giving the receipt. She gets the receipt, takes a pic of it and sends it to instacart as she has like a company credit card with which she pays, and then tosses the receipt. Like giving the customer the receipt is a cardinal sin according to her. At in least in eastern Pa.
I downloaded it at the beginning of the pandemic so my dad wouldn’t go to store. Around me, literally the only grocery store affiliated was aldis, which he hates, so I just got him hooked up with curbside pickup.
So I’d guess Kalam could look at the receipt if he wanted? He probably doesn’t know what you pay instacart for groceries, but he gets a total and runs the credit card, takes a pic of receipt, and then tosses it. So he could hypothetically see what the normal prices are, just not what you’re paying on markup from my understanding. He can clarify. He knows what instacart is paying which is the same as anyone off the street. Not what you’re paying on your app when you order.
Yes. What BCR said. I pay for everything with a Instacart credit card.
The store gives us a paper receipt as if we were a normal customer. We keep that and I have no idea what you are actually paying.
I never really thought about it, but it seems the store charges instacart normal price and then instacart charges you separately with the markup. So they are a middle man.
Also, I have no objection in principle to receiving a % if the number is big enough. If someone wants to tip me 10% on a $500 order, then I am perfectly ok with this.
However, a drawback to the % method for us right now is if someone orders 6 things and half of it is stuff I have to cancel because out of stock seeing the tip drop by 50% does kinda suck.
But yeah. The way the math works on average I seem to make about 12-15/hr before tips, and my goal is cherry pick orders to double this. So if you tipped $20 flat on an order that would take less than 2 hrs (counting driving time) I would consider that good.
Tried Instacart for grocery shopping once back at the start of the pandemic....ONCE! The guy who delivered the groceries, wasn't wearing gloves or a mask, and did a shitty job of picking out produce. Plus, some of the cans and boxes of the items that were delivered were dented. I certainly would have not selected some of the produce items that were delivered. So, wifey and I decided to do our own grocery shopping, and I usually go early in the morning when there are less people in the store. The bonus on this is that the paper goods are in greater supply early in the morning.
In NOT using Instacart, there is one less person touching the grocery items. I actually think it is safer than having sloppy stranger touching your stuff. I keep my distance from others in stores and I change my clothes when I get home.
I've only read the first and last page, but I use the Walmart curbside pickup service.
You order online, select a pickup time, and then open the trunk when you arrive in your selected parking spot.
We have been using it for a few years and love it, I haven't been in Walmart in a long time.
Our Walmart is a super center with groceries.
Kroger also has this service but have never used it.
Thanks, Tim
Hi Tim,
Yeah ummm Walmart is fucking cringe and so are you for shopping there.
It's true that Walmart isn't a classy store, but they get their grocery food the same place other grocery stores do. Pilgrims Pride chicken and Diet Dr. Pepper are the same regardless of the grocery store one uses ;-)
Thanks, Tim
instacart is awesome and they just threw me a 15 dollar credit for my next order
also how does ur piece of shit dad hate aldis aldis has a legit great super weird frozen dumpling game and their red wine selection is super passable
lmfao aldis is fkn awful moron. My friend told me that he went there once and he had to PAY for a shopping cart, because they had locked up the carts presumably due to its trashy clientele
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