Lifestyle

7 Things Grocery Delivery Apps Hope You Never Notice

By Erica Coleman · September 21, 2026

The convenience of grocery delivery has become baked into millions of American households — and so have the fees and markups that come with it. The FTC is now examining whether apps like Instacart and DoorDash should be required to disclose the true cost of orders earlier in checkout, after mounting complaints from consumers and restaurants alike.

Here’s what your grocery delivery app hopes you never notice on your bill.

The items themselves cost more than in the store. This is the biggest hidden cost — and it’s invisible on your receipt. Third-party delivery platforms including Instacart and DoorDash mark up product prices roughly 10 to 20 percent above what the same item costs on the store’s shelf, industry analyses have documented. On a $200 weekly grocery bill, a 15% markup adds up to about $1,560 a year — before you pay a single delivery fee.

Store-native apps often don’t mark up prices. Walmart+, Amazon Fresh, Target Circle 360, and Kroger’s direct delivery through Kroger Boost typically charge the same prices you’d pay walking into the store. If you shop the same grocery chain every week, the store’s own delivery app is almost always cheaper than ordering from the same store through Instacart or DoorDash.

Some third-party apps mark up over 30 percent. Item markups aren’t uniform across delivery platforms. Postmates and DoorDash have shown some of the highest markups in independent comparisons, adding 33% or more to a consumer’s receipt on some orders, a delivery-app cost comparison by FinanceBuzz found. Compare the same order across apps before you commit to one.

“Drip pricing” adds fees you didn’t see up front. Service fees, delivery fees, and peak-hour surcharges are often added at the end of the checkout process — after you’ve already picked your items. The FTC has opened a formal rulemaking process examining whether food and grocery delivery apps should be required to disclose the full cost of an order earlier in checkout, TheStreet reported. Read every line item before you confirm.

The default tip is often set high. Instacart’s default tip is frequently 20% of the order, prominently placed and requiring several taps to reduce. Most customers don’t realize the default can be adjusted. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tip — the shopper is doing the work — but “default” isn’t the same as “recommended” or “customary.”

Peak-time surcharges appear when it’s busy — and sometimes when it isn’t. Both Instacart and DoorDash add $2 to $5 in surcharges during high-demand periods. What counts as “high demand” is set by the app, not the customer. If you’re consistently ordering at off-peak times and still seeing surcharges, that’s worth checking.

Delivery costs an average of 80% more than picking up. Between item markups, service fees, delivery charges, and tips, ordering through platforms like DoorDash or Uber Eats costs nearly 80% more on average than picking up the same order, according to a LendingTree study cited in TheStreet’s coverage of the FTC’s action. That’s convenience math you should do consciously — not by default.