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Recently my husband got a job that keeps him out of the house all day. That means that the stuff that we used to do, like grocery shopping, isn’t something that we can do easily. Cue Instacart. If you don’t know, Instacart is a website and mobile app where you can order groceries from your favorite stores and have it delivered to your front door. But, when I talk to my friends and family about Instacart, it seems that there is little known about it. So, I figured it might be worth it to spread the news about Instacart to everyone I know.

Pricing

WHAT THEY SAY

For the cost of $14.99 a month, you can get Instacart Express which allows for unlimited free deliveries of $35 or more. According to their app, you can also shop a variety of stores with free delivery on the entire order plus you can avoid the higher fees during peak delivery. Otherwise, delivery charges are $9.99 per order.

WHAT I SAY

I decided to pay for Instacart Express because I will use it every month. I will typically have orders that are $35 or more so it’s worth it to me. But, what I was hoping would happen was that Instacart Express would be convenient for when I forget to get something from the store and am too lazy to go out can’t go out. In those cases, it’s really not worth it. I would not pay $9.99 for a normal delivery and it’s just worth it to me to go out myself. But, for big grocery orders it’s great.

Store Selection

WHAT THEY SAY

This may vary by region. I am lucky to live in an area where there are many stores around. With that being said, I have access to shopping at New Seasons, QFC, Fred Meyer, Costco, Safeway, Natural Grocers, Whole Foods, and Bevmo. You cannot buy just anything at these stores and they only offer certain products. You can’t shop sales but you can shop at Costco even without a membership!

WHAT I SAY

I am a huge bargain shopper. Instacart can and does pick the prices that they offer on their app and website. I feel like they are entitled to that, but there is no option for shopping sales. Instacart does offer coupons, but it’s one of those buy more save more (so are you really saving more?) I do love that I can shop at Costco on Instacart because I truly hate going to Costco (purely for the crowds). I also love that you can buy alcohol at some stores (not Costco though). Of course, you have to show the shopper your ID when they drop off the groceries. Overall, I feel like the selection of products is okay but the prices can sometimes get expensive.

The Application/Website

WHAT THEY SAY

You can choose from a multitude of stores and pick your own time slot and day. You can either use the search bar to find the specific item you are looking for or browse the selections through the menu. After you put in your order, they put a hold on your card until the groceries have been delivered to your house and you can change the order up until the shopper starts to shop. You can track what the shopper has shopped for, approve substitutions, and track the delivery of your order.

WHAT I SAY

The website is definitely easier to use than the mobile app, although the app has its benefits too. When I first started using Instacart, I had a hard time navigating the mobile app and it took me a while (and sometimes I still have a hard time) to figure out how to change stores and how to browse selections. I’ve only had two times where I had issues with the app, but they were relatively minor. There does seem to be a problem though where it will say that my shopper has started shopping 30 minutes before they actually start shopping and so I can’t make changes to my order.

The Shoppers

I feel like this section may vary depending on the region so I will not do a they said/I say layout. Instead, I will only speak from my own experiences. The shoppers that I’ve had have been amazing. I haven’t had any run-ins with any of them and the shoppers have taken advantage of the chat function to keep me informed of any price changes or replacements. I’ve had a shopper manually change the price of an item because it was on sale, which I greatly appreciate, and when she came to my door, she made sure everything was correct before leaving. The shoppers are all friendly and take their job very seriously.

Overall

Putting all of these categories together, Instacart is definitely something to use if you have a major shopping day coming up and you have a child home sick, don’t have access to transportation, or are too anxiety filled to go try to deal with crowds. It is a little expensive, but that’s the cost for ease of access. I’ve recently gone out major grocery shopping with Husband and ended up spending $50 more than we would have if I had just gone shopping on Instacart. It allows you to buy what you need and not spend money on those sudden desires at the store. For that, it’s worth it to me (but I definitely have a problem with that). If you have to make a quick shopping trip because you forgot to buy milk, don’t bother using Instacart because you’ll end up spending $13 for a container (with delivery). If you are interested in trying Instacart, please feel free to use my link to get $10 off and free delivery!