# Ask the newish instacart shopper **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 15, 2020, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875 "2020-04-15T20:38:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/21 "2020-04-16T22:33:49Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > One box of crackers? > > Did you accept that order? Did you get paid or tipped enough to make it worthwhile? It was part of a double order that had a $42 tip from the second order. The one thing we do not see is the breakdown of fees and tips per customer until after the order posts. Therefore it is common for them to bundle a tiny low or no tip order to a larger one at the same store. > [@](#): > > Have you ever had someone tip-bait you? (promise a big tip and then renege)? Not yet, but I have had orders where 75% of the items on an order were not available on a percentage based tip and ended up with about $12 in tip instead of the initially promised $50. ICs systems do that automatically. > [@](#): > > Do you ever shop multiple orders at once? > > Do you have any kind of cooler or other storage in your car, to help keep frozen stuff intact? I have done doubles, I’ve never done a triple yet I already had insulated bags from doing Uber eats. I did however go ahead and order the set of bags that instacart offers. 4 bags for $25 was better than Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/22 "2020-04-17T04:20:08Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > It was part of a double order that had a $42 tip from the second order. The one thing we do not see is the breakdown of fees and tips per customer until after the order posts. Therefore it is common for them to bundle a tiny low or no tip order to a larger one at the same store. > > … > I have done doubles, I’ve never done a triple yet > … If I follow: you got two orders, for two different people. One of them was for a box of crackers. The other was for loads of other stuff. Did these go to separate addresses? Sounds like a pretty nasty trick that IC played on you ☹ Is there a delivery fee? as in, the crackers person paid umpty-ump extra on a single box of crackers? (I haven’t used InstaCart yet, obviously). Once you’ve shopped an order, do you have to wait in a regular checkout line with the regular customers? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/23 "2020-04-17T17:17:26Z")
> [@Summerday](#): > > How do you pay for the items? Do you use your credit card and are reimbursed by Instacart or does Instacart give you some kind of credit card? > > Does Instacart reimburse you for gas or mileage on your car? > > Have you considered teaming up with someone? They do the shopping while you make deliveries…by the time you get back, they’ve got the next order ready to be delivered? We are issued a instacart branded debit card it will only work when there is an order pending on our account. mileage is part of the calculation for the base payment that IC pays us. Technically tag team shopping is not permitted. It does happen at times and can speed up shopping but you run into problems at some stores like costco who are a little more strict about who comes in before and after normal business hours. Also we cannot get an additional order until the last order is dropped off. I guess you could juggle phones with two people and two accounts. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/24 "2020-04-17T18:03:54Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Sounds like a pretty nasty trick that IC played on you ☹ well the other one tipped $55 so having another minimally reimbursed order was no big deal > [@](#): > > Is there a delivery fee? as in, the crackers person paid umpty-ump extra on a single box of crackers? (I haven’t used InstaCart yet, obviously). He probably paid a $7 or so fee plus for that box of crackers > [@](#): > > Once you’ve shopped an order, do you have to wait in a regular checkout line with the regular customers? Some places have a dedicated line but most we are in line with the other customers. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/25 "2020-04-17T20:14:19Z")
Do you think Instacart shopping will continue to be popular, say, this time next year? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/26 "2020-04-21T15:57:18Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Do you think Instacart shopping will continue to be popular, say, this time next year? I think that it will level out more popular/common than it was before this but i have zero faith it will be as well rewarded. Right now people are sending us out because they are scared. A year from now, we will probably be just another commodity service like uber with people kicking us around like disposable people again. I wish we could rate customers like we can on uber ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/27 "2020-04-21T20:34:47Z")
I did my first InstaCart order today, for Sam’s Club. The Daughter uses InstaCart to shop the local grocery store. She loves it. I appreciated all the info from this thread! The Daughter gave me helpful advice, too It was a helluva big order, because I hadn’t shopped at Sam’s since shelter-in-place. My grand total was almost $800. Then I had a panic attack, because I forgot the Hormel pre-cooked bacon! My family would have killed me! The Daughter explained how to text my shopper, and he was so nice, he added the bacon to my order. I could have selected a delivery time, starting at 4 PM or later. Ugh. I chose “flexible time” because of what **drachillix** explained about the shoppers choosing orders. Suggested tip was $35. That amount insulted ME. I went for a straight 15%. Because the order was so large, 15% is quite a chunk of change. I must have checked all the boxes, because I barely placed the order when I was assigned a shopper, and he went to work right away filling up the cart. His substitutions were just fine. I had a heavy order: cases of water, soft drinks, dog food. After he finished he said, “I hope I can fit all this in my Prius!” He did. He earned that tip! And I gave him a great review. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/28 "2020-04-21T20:36:41Z")
I’m curious how this works. I put an order in for my local supermarket (via the supermarket webpage). The order is fulfilled by Instacart. I had a 20% tip listed on a large order and it took six days to have the order fulfilled. - Is the backorder just that massive? - Do Instacart drivers pick and choose so others are paying bigger tips? Or drivers hate big orders? - Do you just get whatever Instacart sends you next? - Do you/others work weekends? Because the delivery slots available showed nothing on the weekend (they show unavailable slots on the weekdays and absolutely nothing on the weekend). I do not need same day delivery but six days was hard since I had not planned on such a long lead time (I was getting very, very careful with the TP usage). I have used them before and it was same day (even when next day was fine). I live in Chicago and I am centrally located so there is no issue with me being hard to reach or no markets nearby (I have five major grocery markets within a mile). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/29 "2020-04-21T20:39:48Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > It was a helluva big order, because I hadn’t shopped at Sam’s since shelter-in-place. My grand total was almost $800. Then I had a panic attack, because I forgot the Hormel pre-cooked bacon! My family would have killed me! The Daughter explained how to text my shopper, and he was so nice, he added the bacon to my order. That’s a big order. Was this all food and other consumables? How long do you expect it to last? ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/30 "2020-04-21T20:47:07Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That’s a big order. Was this all food and other consumables? How long do you expect it to last? Pet food, drinkables, personal care products, laundry stuff, and oh yeah, food. It should last six weeks or so. It’s for six people, two dawgs, six cats. Some was needed right now (like the BACON!) and other stuff was to replenish the hoard. I have hoarding tendencies, and the “Situation” has exacerbated it. And I hate shopping. I’d rather do an outrageous trip every six to eight weeks and get it over with. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/31 "2020-04-21T20:57:52Z")
Was it worth the $120 not to have to do the shopping on your own? Would you have paid that even in non-pandemic times? Because personally I’d be reluctant to do so. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/32 "2020-04-21T21:06:48Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Was it worth the $120 not to have to do the shopping on your own? Would you have paid that even in non-pandemic times? Because personally I’d be reluctant to do so. It was worth every dime. Aside from the pandemic stuff, I’m in a unique situation. I don’t drive any more. Mr VOW is recovering from a heart attack and is still taking it easy. We are presently living with The Daughter and her family, and getting a driver is oftentimes a logistics nightmare. Would I use it in non-pandemic times? Perhaps. But for now, I’m damned grateful. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/33 "2020-04-21T23:42:27Z")
OP: How come I can’t ask the shopper to at least _look_ for toilet paper or paper towels or bleach? The Instacart store site in my area (Raley’s) doesn’t even list those items for shopping. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/34 "2020-04-22T16:25:35Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > OP: How come I can’t ask the shopper to at least _look_ for toilet paper or paper towels or bleach? The Instacart store site in my area (Raley’s) doesn’t even list those items for shopping. People constantly placing orders for nothing but those items…then pitching a fit and or downrating drivers who fail to fullfill their fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/35 "2020-04-22T16:36:04Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I’m curious how this works. > > I put an order in for my local supermarket (via the supermarket webpage). The order is fulfilled by Instacart. > > I had a 20% tip listed on a large order and it took six days to have the order fulfilled. > > - Is the backorder just that massive? it would not shock me if there is some load balancing happening on the back end of IC but at least in my market, there are sometimes a few hours with few if any batches to work. > [@](#): > > - Do Instacart drivers pick and choose so others are paying bigger tips? Or drivers hate big orders? we are looking for “bang for the buck” smallest orders with biggest payout. Generally large orders are a good thing, especially with a generous tip. how long it takes to get to our order screen I cannot explain, but once an order like that posts, it is gone in seconds. a single large order could take a couple hours to pull and deliver but makes you as much money as working 5-6 smaller orders that take all day. > [@](#): > > - Do you just get whatever Instacart sends you next? we are shown a list of available orders to choose from. > [@](#): > > - Do you/others work weekends? Because the delivery slots available showed nothing on the weekend (they show unavailable slots on the weekdays and absolutely nothing on the weekend). yup if anything weekends see more volume than weekdays because people working in many essentials businesses are home. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/36 "2020-04-22T16:44:41Z")
Perhaps you can’t answer this, but when I place an Instacart order, it gives me a list of delivery times. One is called “fast and flexible” I think, where it gives you a range of dates that it might be delivered. That makes sense to me, given what you’ve said about shoppers choosing orders from a queue. But I can also pick a specific delivery time. Like yesterday I placed an order, and chose today between 11am and 1pm as the delivery window. And sure enough, my shopper is now shopping it, at 9:45am. How does that work? How do they know a shopper will be ready and willing to shop the order in such a specific time window? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/37 "2020-04-22T16:55:34Z")
Fun example of an undesirable order posted right now…it has been sitting on the queue for like 45 min Sams club 5/6 5 items/6 pieces (one was two of the item in question) 6 miles to delivery destination $7.34 instacart payment + zero tip Sams club orders of a few pieces with long delivery runs are common and the local store manager forces instacart shoppers to wait in line outside with the customers when they get busy enough to limit occupancy. I routinely ignore all of their orders because of this. Every other store in town lets us bypass exterior queues especially since we are often pulling 2-3 peoples orders at once. vs. Costco 28/29 2.3 miles $10.29 instacart payment + $17 tip costco orders like that are very common its pretty much worth it to ignore those $7-10 sams orders for the possibility of $25-30 payout Costco order that takes 15 min longer to process. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/38 "2020-04-22T17:00:22Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Perhaps you can’t answer this, but when I place an Instacart order, it gives me a list of delivery times. One is called “fast and flexible” I think, where it gives you a range of dates that it might be delivered. That makes sense to me, given what you’ve said about shoppers choosing orders from a queue. But I can also pick a specific delivery time. Like yesterday I placed an order, and chose today between 11am and 1pm as the delivery window. And sure enough, my shopper is now shopping it, at 9:45am. How does that work? How do they know a shopper will be ready and willing to shop the order in such a specific time window? They know exactly how many shoppers are available waiting for orders at any given time and they have a pretty good idea how many are available on average to be able to make an educated guess at getting your order within a few hour window. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/39 "2020-04-22T19:01:36Z")
**drachillix** , from everything you’ve posted, my Sam’s Club order had confetti, trumpets, and fireworks to accompany it! And I’m so damned glad! I barely clicked “send order” before I was notified my shopper had been assigned, and he began to work on it immediately. We live about 20 miles as the crow flies from Sam’s, and I knew that would be a major strike against me. The suggested tip was insulting, and I went for a full 15%. I am sure the tip is why my order was picked up so fast. **Dewey Finn** wanted to know if the $100-plus I spent on the tip was worth it. Hell, yes! And thanks to your info, **drachillix** , I know it was well worth it to my shopper, too. The quarantine business is the drizzling shits. It is disruptive to everyone, yet we still need to go on living, and that takes food, laundry products, and stuff for our pets. I am deeply grateful I have the money to spend on InstaCart, because it gives our family just a little bit of normalcy in these trying times. Thank you, **drachillix** , for what you do! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875/40 "2020-04-22T19:18:42Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Was it worth the $120 not to have to do the shopping on your own? Would you have paid that even in non-pandemic times? Because personally I’d be reluctant to do so. > > It was worth every dime. > > Aside from the pandemic stuff, I’m in a unique situation. I don’t drive any more. Mr VOW is recovering from a heart attack and is still taking it easy. We are presently living with The Daughter and her family, and getting a driver is oftentimes a logistics nightmare. > > Would I use it in non-pandemic times? Perhaps. But for now, I’m damned grateful. > ~VOW Sorry for not replying earlier. Yes, I can understand that in your circumstances, it’s worth the expense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-newish-instacart-shopper/851875.md?page=3)