Between returning from vacation and being completely swamped with work, I’d been in need of a Costco run. I was considering doing a Costco SameDay order (aka “InstaCart”), but in the penultimate stage of the cart, the $3 “priority fee” annoyed me enough to hesitate. I was distracted the rest of the day with work phone calls. By the next morning, I realized I needed gas anyway, so I just went when they opened and avoided the crowds.
Comparing the receipt of what I purchased to what the InstaCart was sobering. Individual items were an average of 9.3% above Warehouse prices. With the additional fees, InstaCart was 18% more expensive. Adding a driver tip, almost 29% more expensive. So, InstaCart is not practical for a medium-sized Costco purchase. Also, they lack several of Costco deli/ready-to-eat options (like Nigiri).
Here’s the price breakout:
**Instacart**
(“Same Day” Costco)
**In-Warehouse**
Price of selected items
288.98
263.98
Coupons and rebates**(1)**
-32.00
-31.00
Service Fee**(2)**
14.41
Priority Fee (if I want order by 4pm)
3.00
Delivery Fee**(3)**
5.99
Delivery Tip (10% of order)
28.83
Total
340.21
263.98
InstaCart versus in-warehouse Costco
Notes: (1)The $1 difference in coupons was a poorly-worded promotion for an additional $1 off 2 packages of cereal. (2) InstaCart+ membership offers a discount of $8.93 on the service fee. The membership includes free PeacockTV (for EuroVision!) and 1 year of NY Times Cooking. There is a discount on the membership for Costco members. (3) The delivery fee of $5.99 is waived if you have InstaCart+