
The High Price of Delivery App Convenience - dnetesn
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/technology/personaltech/the-high-price-of-delivery-app-convenience.html
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FussyZeus
If you're bargain hunting, do your own damn shopping. I can't imagine why
anyone would use Instacart for a trip to Costco, you lose half the benefits of
your Costco membership PLUS you have to pay a heavy fee for that kind of cargo
movement.

This whole article rings to me like "You mean I have to PAY people to bring
things to my door at my convenience at a moments notice? No one told me that!"
No fucking shit. Even a pizza guy gets paid for delivery and that's all he
does!

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ljk
That's why we need drone delivery! /s

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tzier
At first I thought "high price" was related to the treatment of workers on
these platforms, or the perils of the workers who flock to them. Less
intriguing now that it's just complaining about the markups on goods.

The item prices are relatively clear, and obviously carry a markup for
convenience. Same as buying a mattress through a physical store vs Casper -
more players in supply chain means more markups. A user can decide if the
convenience is worth the markup. Manual entry systems sometimes lead to
mistakes, but will disappear as databases become more complete.

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jbob2000
This article is so contrived.

> "Instacart states upfront that it has markups for some stores, including
> Costco. But the app neglects to show the actual retail cost of each item
> compared to the markup, making it tough to assess just how much more you’re
> paying for the service."

If I'm buying something to be delivered to me, I don't really care what the
price is, as long as the total is not outrageous. I'm paying for convenience,
full stop. If I care about price, I will go to Costco and get the damn dental
floss myself.

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dragonwriter
IF I care about price, I'll use Google Express, and get convenience and the
same price as I'd get direct from Costco. (Instacart charges a premium for
Costco _not_ for the convenience of delivery, but for the "convenience" of not
having to buy a Costco membership; Google Express just lets you enter your
Costco membership info and use it.)

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Diamons
"Brooke Hammerling, a tech start-up publicist based in New York, recently paid
$113 to Postmates for three orders of cheeseburgers and fries on a rainy day.

It turned out, after Postmates investigated the order, that the courier had
punched in the incorrect price for the food, which should have been $39.78.
The company issued a refund for the difference.

“I should’ve known they weren’t showing the actual prices,” Ms. Hammerling
said. "

That pretty much summarizes the customers of these apps.

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the_watcher
Postmates charged me $140 for a $10 burrito once ($14-ish with fees). I didn't
notice for a few days, since the estimate was not that high, and I usually
don't close out immediately. I called their support, and they immediately
refunded the entire balance of the meal. Their support has been generally
fantastic in my experience, and their high prices are really the only way to
make the model work.

~~~
Diamons
In this case she saw the $113 charge for three orders of cheeseburgers and
fries and didn't think twice about it. To her that price seemed logical.

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iamleppert
Not to mention how unfriendly to the environment these apps/services/companies
are.

I get it, they are offering a convenience for those people who can't be
bothered to properly manage their lives. But every time someone has to go out
and buy items individually for you, like this woman's cat food, it uses
resources. It uses someone's time, and often involves delivery of an item that
could involve having someone use their car.

What I don't understand, is why don't these people make a shopping list like
everyone has been doing for years, and replenish said items once a week or at
whatever schedule? Make the effort. Go to the store yourself.

It irritates me that people think their time is so valuable they are unwilling
to do life's most basic tasks, and to properly manage their lives so they
aren't constantly in instant-need all the time and reaching for their phones
to provide them a solution to their own sloth.

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envy2
I'm not convinced that these services are necessarily worse for the
environment; they might even be better in some circumstances.

Having dedicated delivery drivers who can, for instance, go grab groceries at
Whole Foods for five people who all live in the same neighbourhood and then
deliver them is likely better for the environment than each of those five
people getting in their own car and driving to Whole Foods separately.

Shopping once a week like people have "been doing for years" also means you
don't get fresh ingredients. I don't want to make dinner with herbs that have
been sitting in my fridge for a week on top of however long they were at the
store; I want ones I picked up (or had delivered) that day. And people who
live in small apartments don't necessarily have the space to "stock up" on
stuff in advance.

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iamleppert
This appears at first glance how people would use them, but, casually, you
will start to see a pattern emerge that allows people to use the services more
and more, and for more ad hoc uses, gradually divulging into "I need something
right now" mentality, and complete and utter lack of any planning. That's what
all my friends do who use these services.

I would argue that if you want fresh ingredients, such as herbs, you should
adopt a simple herb garden in your home. If you can't be bothered to do that,
then I suppose you could shell out $20 every time you need some fresh basil,
but I think now I'm being pedantic.

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mattmalin
Overall I think it's good that we now have a pretty direct way to pay upfront
for increased convenience of faster delivery time. This value is akin to the
(opportunity) cost of actually going out to physically buy something if you
want/need it almost immediately but starting to increase the market of goods
beyond just that you can get in local shops.

Minor niggle: They mention the Amazon Prime Now $8 fee for one hour delivery
but neglect to mention there is no additional fee for delivery within only two
hours. There is of course the recommended "tip" which sits at around 10%, but
for a fairer comparison with the other mentioned services generally providing
delivery within a day, I think the free option within two hours is more
comparable.

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r00fus
Why no Google shopping express in the comparison? Also the theme of the
article is clickbait-ish.

I kind of figure that someone is lugging around my 50lb bag of rice order for
delivery that it might cost me a bit more...

