Costco Hack

THIS COSTCO HACK WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU SHOP

Sit back, relax, and grocery shop.

BY RAYNE ELLIS

Costco Wholesale is one of those American grocery behemoths that has garnered a cult following. Shopping in one is a spiritual experience. There are tips and tricks that only veteran Costco shoppers are privy to, and if you're not in the club then good luck trying to understand their lingo.

And although there are other places with this kind of religious obsession – Trader Joe's and Publix, we're looking at you – all it takes to join those congregations is a couple of encounters, and a certain amount of knowledge on where items are located.

And now the Costco club is about to get much larger. Thanks to San Francisco based company Instacart, you don't even need to be a member to shop. Boom, an instant $60 saved!

The premise is simple. First, you have to figure out if Instacart is available near you. The company has operations in a wide range of cities, from large ones like Los Angeles to smaller college towns like Raleigh-Durham, NC, but it's not everywhere just yet.



Based on your location you have a predetermined selection of grocery stores to shop from. Once you've set up an account, you're able to order groceries that are in the same price as they would be in the store, but often grocery chains opt to offer promotions (excluding Whole Foods and Target).

All you have to do is pay a delivery fee and tip your shopper, then you're set. However, the caveat with the delivery fee is that it's not a set amount. Similar to Uber's Surge Pricing tactics, Instacart sometimes instills a "Busy Pricing" delivery fee, which increases the cost of delivery because demand is high during the delivery time you've selected.

And as ingenious as this idea is, many companies are jumping on the delivery bandwagon service. Now that Amazon has purchased Whole Foods, that grocer might be next – which would be a mega competitor.

In addition, the delivery fee could become equivalent to the annual Costco membership if you use it frequently, especially during grocery rush hours. It really all just depends on whether time is more precious to you than money.

Happy shopping. Oh, and welcome to the Costco club.