Community Chat

[Sweetbay magnolia]

I can see this would be a shock to the system.

That said, what does it cost to get a Subway sub?  There's a reason we don't eat out much.

I enjoy Prime, even though I don't use much of it.  I could also do without, and of course, I have.  The monthly fee is worth it, to me.

Fortunately, I am able and willing to go to the store.  Pick up is an option that I have not used.  I am in the fortunate place of having a Wegmans 1 mi away.  Very consciencious grocer.

[VanSleepy]

There's a Whole Foods about five miles from me (never been there) but I cannot get delivery to my area through Amazon. I have been using Fresh for the past 18 months with no complaints except the bread is sometimes smashed. I just received an order yesterday afternoon that I placed that morning. 

My  local grocery store ShopRite charges $15 for delivery so versus free no contest lol. I also like that with Fresh you know at the time of ordering if a product is available. 

[GenXmuse]

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@Sooner wrote:

I think $10 is more than reasonable for a delivery.  I'd pay it any time for people to do all the grocery shopping and bring it to my house.

I pay at least that as a tip.  This is on top of that. 

[Sooner]

We have grocery shopped 100 percent pickup for more than a year and a half now through WF and WM for a few items WF doesn't carry.

We've been very happy with the produce and almost everything we've gotten.  Even if the pandemic stopped tomorrow I'd keep doing pickup.  Why waste time in a grocery store when you don't have to?????

[Spurt]

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@stevieb wrote:

@GenXmuse  I have both Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh. I've used Fresh and I can tell you that up until recently in my area it's usually been a reliable service (with one glaring exception when they completely failed to deliver my entire order), though product pickings have often been slim, with availabiltiy seemingly an issue across the board. More recently, delivery options have been very limited. At one point one might actually have scheduled delivery for later the same day, the options lately have been meager and usually several days out. I hear they're having trouble finding drivers. Personally, I also think Amazon over-sold the service and quality is suffering. If they implement a similar charge for Fresh, odds are I'll phase them out, and have already reduced my use of them. Starting out at $10 seems a bit excessive. None of my local groceries that offer delivery are as high. I'd also have to consider whether or not to continue with Prime, given that neither shipping speed nor product pricing are what they used to be either.

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@stevieb 

Hi STEVIE,  

Our local grocery store HEB charges $4.98 to deliver, but they have a limit of 25 items with their delivery service.....Now their curbside service no longer has a fee on orders of $35 or more....

I use Instacart my Express Delivery Membership is $99 a year (which works out to $8.25 a month, plus a $2 service fee, but NO DELIVERY FEE for Express Members)----so it works out to $12 a month plus the optional tip....Since they partner with HEB groceries any partnership with them is held to the highest standard, plus the shoppers have said if they dont get a 5 star rating on Instacart's Evaluation Survey then they dont get called to shop & deliver. I have had nothing but excellent service, the only issue is if the grocery store has problem getting stock on an item.  So I guess the delivery services here dont have a problem in hiring people, must be a very popular gig---when Ive chatted with them, it seems like its mostly college kids that apply for the job  ....

I couldnt read the article that was linked, had to be a subscriber to Fortune, but Amazon must have found out that perhaps the grocery game isnt as lucrative as they anticipated ......And I read that Bezos wants to get the NFL Thursday Night package that the NFL Network currently has and incorporate that with Prime to make that service more enticing, but that sure wouldnt be a cheap business endeavor, the NFL charges a small fortune to hook up with them...if that happens then I suspect everything will go up in price affiliated with Amazon to help absorb that cost....Either that Or Amazon prices will go up so Bezos can pay for his space flights.....😉😃

And I read an article that Amazon counts on people thinking their merchandise prices are always the lowest but in reality even an Amazon Exec admitted thats not the case....and with more and more people shopping online Amazon is starting to struggle to offer the speedy service like they used to....and the price of these electric trucks that Amazon is purchasing will also be passed on to the consumer. Things are also changing for the retail world regarding their "contribution" to the market place (if you get my drift 😉)....Yep, the picture doesnt seem to be as rosy for Amazon as it has in the past...the hens are coming home to roost....

[Spurt]

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@decaf wrote:

Not surprising at all, the more profitable and powerful they become as they squash their competitors, the more they'll be able to charge customers (and the less they'll pay employees).  Haven't most of us seen this business scenario play out before?

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@decaf 

The less competition all the more that Amazon can dictate the price for goods and services....

[Spurt]

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@Sooner wrote:

Well how do you think a company can pay people to gather up your groceries, keep track of them and haul it to your house without increasing prices?

Could someone tell me how that could work without charging you more?  It's like free shipping.  SOMEBODY has to pay the fright.  And if they don't charge you they have to charge EVERYBODY more. . . 

That's why I said I'd shell out money to not have to go to the grocery store.  I would have done it 20 years ago if it had been available--and no where I live it was not.  

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Our local main grocery store HEB says it does charge higher grocery prices on those using curbside pick up or delivery service...

[Cakers3]

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@GenXmuse wrote:

I'm pretty bummed to hear of this change starting October 25th for prime members. I've been enjoying free delivery on shopping orders over $35. 
Though I can understand it not being free and things are increasing all over, $10 is a startling increase for something that was included in a membership before. 

I'll enjoy it while I can, but I definitely won't be shopping there anymore. 

Amazon Fresh is not affected, though we don't have it where I live unfortunately. 

link https://fortune.com/2021/08/02/amazon-whole-foods-delivery-fee-prime-users-grocery/

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@GenXmuse   I'm not surprised.  We used WF's delivery service in the beginning last year for some items and now a flat delivery fee plus tip-this may just cut into the tips for the delivery folks.

I think WF's has not been the same since the Amazon became involved anyway, so we  have shopped there less and less.  Thankfully we have Trader Joe's and a local grocery chain so it's all good.

[Snoopp]

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@PickyPicky3 wrote:

My Walmart curbside pickup receipt this morning had a line for "Bagging Fees" for the first time. Showed $0.00 today.

I have no idea what this will be.

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Bagging fees?  Now that’s nerve.

[songbird]

I've had AmazonFresh (one of the few people that got it when it first came out)  , Whole Foods and Instacart.  I stopped with Amazon Fresh because of the lack of food items they used to have and no longer have.  I rarely used Whole Foods (after Amazon Fresh came)   I continue to have Instacart, which I'm quite happy with.  I no longer go to supermarkets.  So itwon't affect me.  I have no intention of ever walking in to supermarkets again.