Instacart prices are not the same as the store prices. I would like to run a comparison myself one day - I will update this post if I ever do - but from reading others reviews it seems they charge about 22% more than the store price. Also delivery costs $3.99. In my case I used a referral code, so I automatically got $10 off my first order and free delivery. If anyone wants to give it a try here is the referral link: http://inst.cr/t/S8AtVx.
I figure the $10 off would defray the surcharge costs. Not to mention the fact that going to the store costs gas or bus fare. In my case Whole Foods is 9 miles away and gas right now is around $4.00 a gallon, so going to Whole Foods is going to cost me about $2.75, and my time, 40 minutes driving there and back, plus however long I am in the store, but I say the store time is cancelled out by the time I spend ordering online and on the phone with my personal shopper. As an added benefit, I don't have to carry groceries up three flights of stairs. Although I don't think there is anything to force you to, you are encouraged to tip your shopper. I am not quite sure what the standard tip etiquette is supposed to be in this case, but the website drop down offers a minimum choice of $2. Other choices are $5 or $10. I only ordered 15 items, so I tipped $2. You do have to order a minimum of $10 worth of groceries too; not that that's a tough thing to do. If you plan on using the service often, they have a Instacart Express, a program where all of your deliveries over $35 are free; the program costs $99 for the year, but if you use it weekly that's under $2 per order for delivery. As a side note, I didn't get any cool reusable Instacart bags like I've seen online. My groceries were delivered in normal Whole Foods paper bags. I would think that they would give you a bag for your first delivery.
I received all of my items, although three items had to be substituted: my mushrooms, my beer, and my potatos. I ordered at 4:28 and received my order by 5:32. I was supposed to receive my order between 5:30 and 6:30, so I was impressed (1 hour delivery was not available for me from Whole Foods, probably because it's a 20 minute drive away).
All in all, I think this is a great service if you don't mind paying a little more for the convenience. It's especially worth it, if you are sick or are pregnant or have a baby. Assuming you are using Instacart Express, ordering an average of $50 of groceries weekly, and that the prices are indeed marked up 22%, it's costing you maybe $12 for delivery in an hour. I guess it all depends how much your time is worth.
