If you’ve ever ordered groceries on the Instacart app, there’s a chance you may have been surprised by your grand total. That’s because some grocery stores featured in the app charge “higher than in-store item prices.” It’s in a disclaimer that can be found at the top of a store’s Instacart page. But according to one former Instacart shopper, the pricing policy is far less straightforward than that.
In a TikTok video uploaded earlier this month, @nicccyb recounted her time as an Instacart shopper. She revealed that the way sale prices are shown on the app can be “very deceptive.” She also said that shoppers were instructed to never put the receipt in the grocery bag.
“I did Instacart as a shopper for two-and-a-half years, and they would pretty much threaten to deactivate your account if you ever put the receipt in the bag…They upcharge the sh*t out of you and it’ll be very deceptive because sometimes it’ll show on the app on the customer’s end an item’s $10 and it’s on sale for $8.99 or $8 or $7, but in reality the store is charging like $5. So there’s really no sale going on. It’s very deceiving,” she explained.
The TikToker also shed some light on priority deliveries, claiming that it’s “never visible” to Instacart shoppers. Her video has been met with well over 1,500 comments, with both Instacart shoppers and customers explaining how they’ve been affected by the pricing.
“In MD, Instacart upcharges between $1.50-4 PER ITEM. Started making time to shop myself, saves me about $150,” said one user.
“A shopper left [the receipt] in my stuff one time and the groceries were 40 dollars less than I was charged. I emailed instacart but never heard back,” another person claimed.
One user in particular pointed out that despite the upcharges, Instacart shoppers allegedly don’t receive any of that money.
“Not to mention that NONE of the money made from the upcharge goes to the shoppers! and they just lowered our pay from $7/batch to $4,” they said.
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