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Re:What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown by tommynicholas on Sunday March 05, 2017 @12:06PM (#13796962)
The price of their service was $140 for the groceries the customer selected. Hard stop. The grocery store doesn't tell you what the underlying cost of their food was, nobody does that. It's not a requirement.

Now it could be something consumers DEMAND which would give a competitor an advantage if they did it (see Everlane with their transparent pricing) but it's not unethical or sleazy not to disclose the underlying costs of your goods.

Re:What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown by brown9-2 on Sunday March 05, 2017 @12:12PM (#13796995)
It seems unethical for a company to tell you "our markup for this grocery store is 15%+" when in reality it was ~50%.
Re:What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown by jimmywanger on Sunday March 05, 2017 @12:16PM (#13797026)
Is it unethical for stores to advertise "savings up to 50%" and have most items not be on sale for 50%?
Re:What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown by brown9-2 on Sunday March 05, 2017 @12:58PM (#13797312)
The difference here is that shoppers in that store can see the final price and actual savings before purchasing. Can you do the same with Instacart?
Re:What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown by jimmywanger on Monday March 06, 2017 @02:54AM (#13801315)
> Can you do the same with Instacart?

Instacart shows you the final price. The price they paid for the goods is immaterial - you're choosing the convenience of not having to write your own delivery app, recruiting employees, or set up payment.

When you walk into a book store, do you demand to see the book price broken down into manufacturer's price, store rent, employee pay, and store profit and complain when the difference between the manufacturer's price and the retail price is too high?

Re:What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown by tommynicholas on Sunday March 05, 2017 @12:17PM (#13797031)
That I agree with.
Re:What is Instacart really charging? the breakdown by unethical_ban on Sunday March 05, 2017 @12:35PM (#13797150)
No, not hard stop. If understanding the cost of a service/product is expected (via getting an itemized receipt), and the cost of service is separated from the product (as is done via delivery fee, service fee, etc) then it is unethical to build in markup on the product itself.

It's the same reason I think mechanics are shitty when they charge 50%+ markup on parts for auto repair. I'm paying you for the service - the right thing to do is to show the cost of the service separate from the market price of the product.

Alcohol/food at a restaurant is different - it is clear and known that service and product are interwoven in the list price.