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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 foo
by tommynicholas 10y ago
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.
- brown9-2 10y agoIt seems unethical for a company to tell you "our markup for this grocery store is 15%+" when in reality it was ~50%.
- jimmywanger 10y agoIs it unethical for stores to advertise "savings up to 50%" and have most items not be on sale for 50%?
- brown9-2 10y agoThe 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?
- jimmywanger 10y ago> 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?
- tommynicholas 10y agoThat I agree with.
- unethical_ban 10y agoNo, 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.