Jump to
Find Job Write Review
  • Find Job
  • Write Review
  • Account Login

    Forgot Password?
    Don't have an account? Signup

    Use a social account for faster login or easy registration.

    Log in with Facebook

    Account Registration

    Already have an account? Login

    Reset Password

    Remember your password? Login
Gigworker.com
  • Start Here
    Start HereWhat is the gig economy and how does it work?
    – Delivery Quickstart GuideThe basics of delivering food, groceries, and packages.
    – Lifestyle Quickstart GuideAn overview of lifestyle, care-related gigs.-
    – Lodging Quickstart GuideHow to get started renting your home on lodging platforms.
    – Freelancing Quickstart GuideHow to enter into the gig economy as a freelancer.
    – Rideshare Quickstart GuideThe basics of providing safe rides via rideshare services.
    – Tasks Quickstart GuideThe basics of making money performing common tasks.

  • Find Gigs
    SVG
    Browse All JobsBrowse all available gigs
    SVG
    Browse CompaniesBrowse all companies offering gigs
    SVG
    Browse CareersMove from part time to full time with our career guides

    Featured:

    1. Postmates Courier
    2. Instacart Shopper
    3. DoorDash Driver
    4. Uber Driver
    5. Lyft Driver

    Submit a Gig – list your gig on our gig marketplace
    Submit
  • Browse Companies
  • Read Content
    SVG
    App-Based GigsInformation for the Care, Delivery, Lifestyle, Lodging & Transportation sectors
    SVG
    Business AdviceHow to set up and run your own business as an independent contractor
    SVG
    FreelancingInformation for freelance consultants and gig workers
    SVG
    Reviews & RoundupsOur take on gig economy platforms, products, tools, and services
    SVG
    Side HustlesUnique and interesting ways to make money in the gig economy
    SVG
    NewsThe latest news and information about the gig economy

    Resources:

    • State of Remote Work in 2020
    • Stats About Remote Work
    • How An Increase in Remote Work Helps Employers
    • Why Gig Work Is Here To Stay for Good
    • Timeline of the Gig Economy

    Find Your Gig Today

    START HERE

  • Products & Training
    SVG
    Finance Accounting, finance, and funding
    SVG
    Products Essential products to get the job done
    Apps Smartphone apps to improve efficiency and earnings
    SVG
    Training Ebooks, courses, and certifications to advance your skills

  • Create Account
Home » Blog » App-Based Gigs » Delivery » Grocery » Instacart Express: Is the Premium Membership Worth It?

Instacart Express: Is the Premium Membership Worth It?

Instacart is a great way to save time and conveniently shop without actually shopping yourself. When choosing this service, make sure to not overlook Instacart Express, a membership that will help you save money when shopping.

Brett Helling
Updated on March 22, 2019December 29, 2020
Share:
  • Share this on WhatsApp
  • Share this on FaceBook
  • Share this on Twitter
Gigworker.com is supported by our visitors. When you click through the links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions.

If you could cut out one chore from your long list of responsibilities every week, which one would it be? Walking the dog? Doing your laundry? Cutting the lawn?

Every day, more and more people turn to Instacart — the online grocery delivery service — to take care of their weekly grocery shopping. Instacart frees up your time by picking up all of your grocery items and delivering them right to your door.

The service can quickly become addicting once you realize the convenience and time saving that come along with using Instacart personal shoppers.

If you’re currently using Instacart on a regular basis — or can see yourself using the service on a weekly or bi-weekly basis — then signing up for an Instacart Express membership may be in your best interest.

In this article, we’re going to discuss Instacart Express — what it is, how much it costs, and the benefits of signing up — so you can decide if it’s worth signing up for Instacart’s premium membership.


Jump To:

  • What Is Instacart Express?
  • Benefits of Instacart Express
  • Pricing for Instacart Express
  • Is Instacart Express Worth It?
  • Instacart Express 14-Day Trial
  • Additional Ways to Save

What Is Instacart Express?

Instacart Express is Instacart’s premium membership that gives users access to additional benefits for a monthly or annual membership fee. With Instacart Express, you can enjoy as many deliveries as you’d like for much less money.

Think of Instacart Express as the Amazon Prime of grocery delivery. With one annual fee, you can enjoy as many deliveries as you’d like without racking up a big bill.

The premium membership is an excellent choice for those who use the delivery service on a regular basis. The premium membership is the exact same service as the standard membership, however, you’ll receive access to a few convenient and cost-saving benefits.

Benefits of Instacart Express

Being an Instacart Express member, you receive unlimited free deliveries on orders over $35, you won’t be required to pay service and delivery fees on all orders, you can order from multiple stores at once without an additional charge, and you never have to pay for busy pricing during periods of high demand.

Instacart Express graphic

We aren’t going to lie, the delivery and service fees quickly add up when using the standard Instacart service. With Instacart Express, you can bypass delivery fees when the order total is $35 or more and instead only pay one monthly or annual membership fee.

You will also won’t be required to pay for service fees on all orders, which is either a $2 minimum on small orders or a 5 percent charge on larger orders.

As an Instacart Express member, you can also shop from multiple local stores on the same delivery order for no extra charge. This means that if you have a very particular list of items that can only be purchased at certain stores, you can place your order guilt-free without worrying about wasting money.

For example, if you have several specific items in bulk from Costco and also need your weekly groceries from a grocery store like Whole Foods, you can place this order without being charged multiple delivery fees.

Another perk of Instacart Express is that you never have to worry about placing orders during busy periods. With the premium membership, you can place orders at a popular delivery time like 5:00 p.m. on a weekday and won’t be required to pay busy pricing.

By now you’re probably thinking, “Sure there are plenty of perks, but what does Instacart Express cost?”

Pricing for Instacart Express

Instacart Express price chart

Instacart Express costs $99 for an annual membership or $9.99 if you sign up for the monthly membership. If you go the monthly route, you’ll end up paying $20 more per year compared to the $99 yearly fee.

If you’re on the fence between paying a monthly fee or taking the plunge into the annual subscription, we recommend going the monthly route until you know you’ll get your money’s worth.

If you’re an avid user of Instacart and know that you’ll use the service over the course of the year, then, by all means, pinch a few pennies and sign up for the annual membership. Just remember that once you sign up for the annual membership, you’re locked in for the entire year.

But how can you justify spending that much money on a monthly or yearly membership and at what point is the Express membership worth it?

Is Instacart Express Worth It?

Since you’ll be facing a $99 yearly fee if you sign up for the annual membership, it’s important to realize when you’ll actually get your money’s worth. If you place an order from Instacart once per week, you can expect to break even after using the service for four months, if not sooner.

To give you an accurate representation of the cost comparison between the standard membership and the Express membership — paid both monthly and annually — we did a quick calculation of what you would pay using each option.

Instacart Express yearly cost comparison

In the graph below, we assumed that once per week you placed the minimum delivery amount of $35 to get free delivery with Express. With the Express membership, you aren’t required to pay delivery fees or service fees, so you can begin to see how quickly those fees add up using the standard service.

Under this assumption, you will surpass the annual membership fee of $99 four months into using the platform. This can obviously be much sooner if you place orders that are more expensive than $35, you order during busy periods, you request orders with a small delivery window, like one-hour delivery or two-hour delivery, or the default delivery fee is higher than $3.99.

The bottom line is that if you use Instacart on a regular basis, you should definitely be thinking about signing up for Express if you want to save money throughout the year. If you’re still trying to figure out if it’s a good idea, you can always sign up for the free 14-day trial period.

Instacart Express 14-Day Trial

If you’re on the fence about signing up for the annual Instacart Express membership, you can always give it a test ride by signing up for the free 14-day trial period. The trial period will give you access to all of the Express benefits without spending a dime.

If you’d like to give the Express membership a try, you can head to the Express sign up page, enter your information, and begin your trial period. If you’d like to continue using the service after the trial period, you can continue on and your credit card will be automatically charged.

If you don’t want to continue and would prefer to cancel your membership, make sure you do so before the end of the trial period. Remember, your card will be automatically charged so it’s imperative that you don’t forget.

Also, the Instacart Express trial period is only valid once per household. Therefore, if you’re thinking about trying it more than once under different names in the house, you won’t be allowed to since it looks at the customer’s address rather than their name.

Since Instacart Express is all about saving money on your deliveries, we figured you might want to know a few other ways you can save using Instacart.

Additional Ways to Save

Beyond Instacart Express, you can also save a few bucks here and there by taking advantage of promo codes and coupon codes.

Instacart promo codes allow you to sign up for Instacart and receive money off your first order. This is an excellent way to score an extra $10 when ordering from Instacart for the first time. After signing up and redeeming your $10, you can also refer other friends and receive up to $50 in free groceries. Not bad at all.

Instacart coupon codes, on the other hand, are widely available in the Instacart app. You’re able to browse through all of the current coupons available at your favorite stores. You can also save and organize your own coupons that you’re planning on using.

Express Saves Cash

Instacart Express is worth the premium fee if you’re placing orders anywhere near once per week or every other week. The money you’ll spend on delivery fees and service fees quickly add up and surpass the annual membership fee of $99.

If you live in a place like New York City or Chicago and grocery shopping is somewhat of a nightmare, we recommend turning to Instacart shoppers to bring your groceries right to your door. You can at least give the trial Express membership a shot at no extra cost to see if the service is right for you.

  • Author Details
Brett Helling
Owner , Gigworker.com
Brett Helling is the owner of Gigworker.com. Since an early age, he has started business ventures and worked various side hustles in many different niches. He has been a rideshare driver since early 2012, having completed hundreds of trips for companies including Uber and Lyft. In 2014 he started a website to share his experiences with other drivers, which has now become Ridester.com. He is currently working on a book about working in the Gig Economy, expanding his skill set beyond the rideshare niche by building and growing Gigworker.com. As the site grows, his insights are regularly quoted by publications such as Forbes, Vice, CNBC, and more.
Web
https://bretthelling.com/
follow me

Tags

  • Instacart

Recent Posts

  • Prevent Eye Strain While Working From Home
  • 10 Tips to Make Your Home Office a Productive Workspace
  • Guide to Rideshare and Food Delivery Driving on New Year’s Eve

Related Articles

How much does Instacart pay for grocery shoppers
March 20, 2019

How Much Does Instacart Pay? Find the New Instacart Pay Structure Here

Grubhub Tipping: What’s a Fair Amount to Tip Your Driver?
January 10, 2019

Grubhub Tipping: What’s a Fair Amount to Tip Your Driver?

January 10, 2019

9 Ways to Make More as an Uber Eats Driver

5 Comments

Catherine W. Fry

December 10, 2019 at 2:28 pm

Instacart raised their annual membership for Express back to $149 starting in January. Since they charge on average 5% more per item, plus you have to tip, I have found I pay on average $25 to $45 more per order than if I had gone shopping myself. While it was worth it when I was just out of the hospital, I can get around now and it is more expensive than it should be. Plus you don’t get credit for gas at Safeway, and not anything for Costco either. Loss loss for the consumer.

  • Reply

Jody Hurley

January 9, 2020 at 3:19 pm

Walmart has free pick up. And starting free delivery.

  • Reply

Sherry Campbell

March 28, 2020 at 7:44 am

I’ve found that, at least locally, there is a huge disconnect between Walmart’s in-store shopping inventory and what’s available through the pickup or delivery service. I signed up for an annual, but have yet to be able to place an order due to the availability issue.

  • Reply

Nancy DeSimone

April 30, 2020 at 2:50 pm

I signed up for express for orders 35.00 and over and now the stores are saying you have to spend 75.00 to put your order in. Not what I signed up. Please review and answer me back.

  • Reply

Pat Williams

April 8, 2020 at 5:32 pm

And Instacart Express doesn’t guarantee you a delivery slot or protect you from last minute order cancellations during this coronavirus crisis. Not sure I’ll continue to use it when this is over. Sure can’t use it now.

  • Reply
Leave a comment

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post a comment

ImageHow the Gig Economy…As of 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that…
ImageThe State of Remote…Remote work isn’t new. Telecommuting has long been a part…
ImageAn Increase in Remote…Remote working, or telecommuting, has been around since the invention…
ImageWhy Remote and Gig…Working remotely — add it to the long list of…
ImageThe Ultimate Guide to…According to Upwork’s annual “Freelancing in America” study, it won’t be…
ImageThe 11 Best Cities…The gig economy is booming, but where is the best…
ImageWorking Remotely in a…We are entering the golden age of remote work. As…

Account

  • My Account
  • My Bookmarks

Company

  • About
  • Blog

Resources

  • Contact
  • Terms
  • Privacy

Featured

  • Basics
    Intro to The Gig Economy
  • Basics
    Gig Economy Timeline

Gigworker.com Copyright © 2020