It has never been easier to buy something online and get it to you within a reasonable time.
Instacart has taken this to the next level with its business of delivering within an hour or so.
However, does Instacart partner with everybody, and is it helpful?
Keep reading to learn about Instacart’s Costco Membership and everything that entails, like pricing and how it generally works.
Table Of Contents
- Does Instacart Have Costco?
- How Does Instacart Work With Costco?
- Do You Need a Costco Membership to Order Through Instacart?
- Can You Use Your Costco Membership on Instacart?
- Can Instacart Shoppers Go to Costco Without A Membership?
- Is Costco More Expensive on Instacart?
- Is There an Instacart Costco Membership Discount?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Final Thoughts
Does Instacart Have Costco?
In the simplest form, Instacart is a delivery service that guarantees that the order will arrive in around an hour, meaning that it has to come from a local store (so some things may be unavailable).
Instacart typically only shows the stores close to your location, so while they offer Costco and other stores, it may show closer grocery and department stores first.
Instacart partners with many places that provide almost everything you could need within an hour of ordering it online.
How Does Instacart Work With Costco?
Instacart does not require users to have a Costco membership to buy online from Costco.
So, in theory, you can order items from Costco without paying the membership fees through Instacart.
Do You Need a Costco Membership to Order Through Instacart?
Costco, and the other partnering stores, do not interact much with Instacart, as it is the shoppers who go in and buy the orders.
However, the shoppers use a particular card, uniform, and lanyard, identifying them as an Instacart worker and charging the buyer through the company.
Instacart works by utilizing personal shoppers.
These personal shoppers go to the store, buy the items, and then deliver it to your house.
It is like a food delivery service but for everything, including food from the stores.
It all starts on the Instacart website or app.
Someone will place an order for specific items at a local store through Instacart.
An Instacart personal shopper will claim the order and head to the store to find said items.
Once they have gotten the order, they pay through Instacart, well, honestly, you pay, and then they deliver them right to you.
There are two options when you choose to order Instacart: delivery and curbside pick-up.
Contactless delivery refers to when Instacart brings the order to your doorstep and leaves it there so you can pick it up.
Curbside pick-up consists of a shopper or the store collecting and then bringing it out to your car when you confirm that you arrived to pick it up.
Can You Use Your Costco Membership on Instacart?
Instacart allows shoppers to use their Costco memberships when they purchase from Costco through Instacart, which can be highly beneficial to utilize.
This is because including your membership will reduce the fee you pay to Instacart for going to a store that requires membership for entrance.
Costco requires Instacart to enact a hefty fee to compensate for the lost capital from shoppers who order from them without membership.
Thus, Instacart allows you as the buyer to input your Costco membership information, like you would if you were ordering directly from Costco online, to save everyone a little money.
How To Link Your Costco Membership in Instacart
The first step in linking your Costco membership to Instacart is to log in to your Instacart account.
After that first step is complete, you need to find three lines that should be horizontal.
Those lines should be in the top left corner of the page.
Once you have clicked those lines, you need to select Loyalty Cards. When you have chosen that, locate Costco.
Then you should be able to enter your Costo membership number and finish up by selecting verify.
Can Instacart Shoppers Go to Costco Without A Membership?
Instacart personal shoppers can go to Costco to fulfill orders (or bunches) without purchasing a membership for themselves.
However, these workers without memberships must have the Instacart uniform or their Instacart lanyard.
They can also show their profile with their picture to identify themselves.
However, the biggest drawback is that they cannot purchase anything for themselves.
In other stores, Instacart shoppers can buy products for themselves as long as they do not pay for them with their Instacart card, but Costco will not let them purchase anything for themselves without a membership.
Is Costco More Expensive on Instacart?
While pricing varies depending on the items, timing, and availability of the object, there is even more variability from places like Costco that have membership fees.
Instacart tries to be very transparent with pricing, and you can find it all in the app when you click the retailer and then view pricing information.
Using Instacart to purchase from Costco can build up to become pretty expensive.
When you factor in the fact that many users do not have Costco memberships, it makes sense Costco would require a fee.
That fee to replace the missing money they would have gotten from your membership does make an order through Instacart from Costco more expensive than other stores, such as Food Lion or Target.
Costco Prices on Instacart vs In-Store
Some items will be more expensive through Instacart than if you went and bought them in the store, which can be for various reasons, but the main factor is the delivery and lack of membership.
While Costco has a membership fee, its wholesale prices usually compensate for the deficit.
When you order through Instacart, you pay for the object, the purchase, and the delivery or pick up.
The upcharge is from stores that change the price of goods when dealing through a service, such as Instacart.
Instacart Tip for Your Driver
It is expected that you give a tip.
Like most delivery services, Instacart does not pay a large wage. Instead, shoppers mostly depend on good tips to make their money worth it.
Typically, Instacart will recommend a small tip of about five percent.
Because drivers depend on the tips, Instacart has a minimum two-dollar suggested tip amount.
You can change it to be more or less, but they strongly encourage a good top.
Good tips will also make your order more appealing for shoppers to pick up.
Is There an Instacart Costco Membership Discount?
If you have a Costco membership and include that information in your account, you can avoid the upcharge for ordering from a membership-only store without the membership.
Doing so saves you from the extra costs and can help you save some money.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are a few commonly asked questions regarding Instacart and how it works with Costco.
Why doesn’t Costco show up on Instacart?
The main reason it does not show is that you are too far from Costco.
There is a maximum distance, and you may be outside the lengths, which is most likely true if you can see another store, but not Costco.
You can try searching for it, and it should explain why it did not pop up for available Instacart orders.
Why is Costco Instacart so expensive?
As Instacart does not require you to have a Costco membership to order from them on Instacart, there has to be an upcharge to pay Costco for the losses they receive from the buyer’s lack of membership.
Thus Costco requires so much extra percentage from an order by a non-member through Instacart, meaning Instacart has to charge you a little extra to even out.
You can read more about these in our “Why is Instacart So Expensive” post.
Final Thoughts
Costo works with Instacart for the smoothest interactions possible and provides you with their products through personal shoppers.
While it may seem costly, you can purchase Costco products without acquiring a Costco membership.
However, while it may save you, in the long run, to invest in a Costco membership, Instacart provides you with their products quickly, membership or not.
