Are Instacart tipping reccomendations insane or am I being miserly?

Submitted ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨popemichael@lemmy.sdf.org⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

I’m physically disabled and have issue shopping due to bone tumors all over my bones (poly ostotic fibrous dysplasia with mccune albright syndrome). It hurts to live, walk, lift, exist, etc.

I’m also on what is essentially a keto diet to help keep my diabetes in the “pre-diabetes” state.

I use Instacart to help me survive and eat. It helps me not burden others and helps my independence.

Groceries are becoming more and more expensive. This is particularly true if you’re on a special diet like me.

Delivering five or so bags of groceries or a few larger (but essential) items can be like $150-200 on Instacart per trip. Then, when I check out, Instacart recommends tipping $40+?

That seems insane to me. Like $20 for that amount seems about right? Maybe throw in an extra $10 if I have some heavy things or items that are large in volume.

Should I be tipping $40+ dollars?

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Comments

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viking@infosec.pub ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Fuck tipping. This culture needs to die, and I’m doing my part. Flat zero no matter what.

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- FatAdama@programming.dev ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  While I agree that when the tip option comes up at the register when someone is literally handing something back to me (like takeout) is sort of ridiculous. However, that’s vastly different than someone going to the store on your behalf, checking out, driving to your house and walking all items to your front door does probably merit a tip. While I agree, some tipping suggestions from Instacart are a bit on the high side, think of the human being on the other side of this service. If you truly don’t want to tip, you’re welcome to get your own goddamned groceries. Food for thought.
  
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  - FireTower@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I think their claim is the practice of tipping is facially wrong and people should be compensated by their employer.
    
    However, that’s vastly different than someone going to the store on your behalf, checking out, driving to your house and walking all items to your front door does probably merit a tip.
    
    I believe they’d agree that person deserves compensation but they’d disagree on it being by tip vs salary.
    
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  - Deceptichum@kbin.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Are these people not already being paid to get the groceries?
    
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  - viking@infosec.pub ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Oh they definitely require adequate compensation, but going to the shop and doing groceries on my behalf is literally their job. So I don’t see why I should pay them extra for following their job description. Yes, it’s physically more taxing than sitting in an air conditioned office, but that’s a matter that requires addressing through adequate wages.
    
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BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You should know that on Instacart, workers can see your tip before accepting the order. It's functionally a bid, not a tip. I'm sure they have some algorithm for what value they recommend, but to some extent, this is the workers setting the price of their own labor. If you tip too low, you run the risk of the order not being accepted.

The fundamental situation is that delivery work is not actually that cheap, and especially given that these are lower paid workers, they're also more sensitive to inflation and so you'd expect their cost to rise more steeply than other things.

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phoneymouse@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I mean… given that Instacart probably pays them nothing and they’re taking something like up to 2 hours of their time AND using their own vehicle AND need to cover their own healthcare and retirement AND many people under tip them, I’m sure $40 is what would incentivize most people to do this job.

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Crashumbc@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Depends on where you live and how far they drive and how heavy the stuff is.

I tip 5-10 dollars, I do not tip a percentage for ANY delivery.

Now I live in a city and they don’t have to drive far. But I think tipping a percentage is stupid for delivery services.

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ryathal@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
20% is a general guideline.

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- andrew@lemmy.stuart.fun ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Since when? I’m not that old, and I’ve heard most of my life that 18% means “you did a stellar job” and 10% was “not great, not terrible.”
  
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