Are Instacart tipping reccomendations insane or am I being miserly?

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?

VulKendov,
@VulKendov@reddthat.com avatar

Tip what you can. If you can’t afford to tip then don’t tip. Taking care of yourself should be a priority.

Alternatively see if a social worker can get you into contact with charities or volunteers who can help you with your shopping.

otp,

Tipping 20% seems reasonable to someone who is using their own vehicle to do shopping for you. They have added expenses that, say, a server at a restaurant doesn’t have.

If it’s just one item that’s $200 just down the street, then yeah, don’t tip so much. But if it’s a regular grocery order (lots of items), then I don’t see what’s wrong with tipping 20% to cover the cost of their lower hourly rate and their increased personal expenses.

ShepherdPie,

I don’t think percentage based tipping really works for situations like this where grocery bills can vary widely. Buying a bunch of 50lb bags of rice for $100 or a couple filet mignon steaks for $100 don’t have anywhere near the same amount of work involved to deliver. Percentage based tipping works in a restaurant because everyone is ordering similarly priced menu items.

Sensitivezombie,

Your tip should always be from what you can afford to tip. What what you consider to me enough for the labor. This amount is different for everyone. Do not feel pressured from these tipping recommendations, societal pressures, etc.

phoneymouse,

I mean… given that Instacart probably pays them nothing and they’re taking something 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.

Crashumbc,

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.

BraveSirZaphod,
BraveSirZaphod avatar

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.

willya,
@willya@lemmyf.uk avatar

Look into Walmart plus assist.

WarmSoda,

I just started using this. So far absolutely nothing wrong with it.

xmunk,

Fucking insane. Instacart is being miserly by not paying their workers a fair wage.

Just to be clear - tipping culture in restaurants is a big social issue that will be hard to fix… but… Grocery delivery had no tipping culture pre-instacart! They’re just cheap assholes.

Chozo,
Chozo avatar

Instacart is being miserly by not paying their workers a fair wage.

Instacart is paying their workers fairly. It's just that the driver is not an Instacart worker.

They're not employees, they're contractors. And when you, the customer, place an order, they are now your worker as you've entered into a contract with this person. They aren't working for Instacart or the store, they're working for you. And you're the one who pays for their time and labor, that all comes out of the service charges on your order.

That's how all these apps work. They don't get paid anything by the app, they get paid by you through the app.

xmunk,

Legally speaking they’re contractors… but I’m calling BS on that - instacart has an immense amount of control over whether they are available, how they perform their job and what their downtime looks like.

You’re absolutely correct in a legal sense but what we call contractors today is completely divorced from the intention.

ericisshort,

This is simply a company using legal distinctions to shift the blame. These delivery drivers should be employees of the company. Besides, tipping is not topical for traditional contractors. Any payment is agreed upon ahead of time in the contract, and payment is made in accordance with said contract. Tips never enter into it.

vithigar,

Tipping food delivery drivers was definitely a thing pre-gig apps. It was quite normal, at least around here, to tip a pizza delivery driver, for example.

ericisshort,

I didn’t say tipping wasn’t a thing for delivery drivers. I said it was not typical for contract work. But regarding this comparison, tipping was in no way expected for deliveries before the apps. Del drivers back then were given a livable base wage and were reimbursed for mileage and gas on their vehicle, which the apps also do not do. I know because I did deliveries in college before the apps. It was also normal to tip less than 10% of the purchase price for delivery, yet the suggested tip values in app are always 10% or more. And another difference is drivers weren’t allowed to pick deliveries based on the tip value, but that’s how the apps work making your “tip” effectively the payment for delivery speed. That’s not how tipping is supposed to work.

But back to what I originally said, tipping is not typical for contract work. There is no other type of contract work where tipping 10-20% is expected other than delivery, ridehsare, and other similar new apps, so the apps created this trend for contract work, and it’s merely a way to pressure the customer to pay their workers so they don’t have to.

viking,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

Fuck tipping. This culture needs to die, and I’m doing my part. Flat zero no matter what.

FatAdama,

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.

Deceptichum,
Deceptichum avatar

Are these people not already being paid to get the groceries?

FireTower,
@FireTower@lemmy.world avatar

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.

viking,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

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.

folkrav,

Yes, fuck tipping. Absolutely. Pay your employees.

However, “doing [your] part” would be stopping to frequent places that have employees that are tipped. Most of these employees can’t make a living off the base salary. You’re not passing the message you think you may be - the only person you’re penalizing is the employee. The business got your money regardless, why would they pay their workers better?

Hell, around here, minimum wage for tip jobs is a couple bucks lower than regular minimum wage, so not tipping means making those employees pay taxes on tips you didn’t give them lol

viking,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

Oh yes, if I can help it, I don’t go to places that have a tipping policy.

Nyfure,

In an more ideal world, getting less money because people tip less, would push you to reconsider the job choice and ultimately switch to something more lucrative.
With less workers, the company would be forced to pay more to even get employes.

Problem with this idealised scenario is, it doesnt work in the US, because workers are getting screwed so much and have so little choices at those low paying jobs, they'd be the ones loosing massively in the short-term.
And with little support structures my the states and federal government, they would fail.. and the 2 party system would fail them even harder, noone cares about them in the government.. too much invested in fighting imaginary culture wars.

But then again, using less services of the business leads to the same outcome in the end, so even that wouldnt work well.
The business will always win in the short-term.
So as it is ineviteable, maybe its better to think long term anyways.

And everyone wants tips these days, no longer just a gratitude or paying low wage workers, but now also a 'bid'.. (sure not every worker might like relying on tips, but specially well paid servers prefer it as they make bank)
I dont see you getting iut of tipping either way very well without government intervention.. which i dont see happening, but you have orher big issues too..

TootSweet,

Not sure if this helps, but I always did a 20% of the subtotal tip. I switched to exclusively Instacart in early 2020 (because COVID, of course) and didn’t quit doing weekly Instacart for groceries pretty much weekly until probably… September of 2023? (Estimating here.) And every trip I did a tip of 20% of the subtotal. A typical order might have a subtotal of $450 for a tip of about $90.

Now, I know that’s way more than Instacart would ever suggest and I did see it as going “above and beyond”. Also, I was fortunate to be in a position to be able to do tips of that size and most people who ordered Instacart probably couldn’t afford it.

So, again, not sure if it helps any.

ryathal,

20% is a general guideline.

Shadow,
@Shadow@lemmy.ca avatar

I think this is very regional.

Here in Vancouver I’d say 15% is standard, and most preset options are 15% / 18% / 20%.

I was just in NYC and it seemed like 20% was standard with the preset options being 18% / 20% / 25%.

Seriously though, fuck tipping. I’m not paying an extra $50 on an already expensive $200 bill just because your employer underpants you. 20% is already high and is only if you give some damn good service.

andrew,
@andrew@lemmy.stuart.fun avatar

Since when? I’m not even 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.”

I’ve always tried to tip 20% minimum anyway to support my fellow humans, usually closer to 25-30% especially on smaller bills, but these days it’s frustrating because it almost takes away any of the joy of tipping extra well when it’s already on there as a suggestion.

These days I’m all about getting rid of it and just paying a living wage and making the prices match reality.

folkrav,

When I was a kid, a “normal” tip was 15%. I remember cause it’s equivalent to our sales tax lol. Somehow the expectation became 18-20% in the last couple years. I guess tipped jobs being often minimum wage doesn’t help - feeling the squeeze of the last handful of years’ inflation?

andrew, (edited )
@andrew@lemmy.stuart.fun avatar

I’ve read at least one article suggesting that Square and Clover et al are kind of exacerbating the problem by letting/encouraging business owners to make default tips higher. And I’m sure it’s pretty obvious that owners are not super inclined to increase base pay when they can bump suggested tips and pass that cost onto the customer without making things look more expensive.

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