People buying the exact same item from the exact same store are sometimes paying a price as much as 23% higher on the platform Instacart, thanks to AI algorithms that show buyers different prices.
This new technology known as artificial intelligence could lead to cures for cancer and an end to world hunger. But you know it’s not going to! Corporate America only wants AI technology fool you into purchases with false information, proliferate shitty pictures where peoples’ hands have six fingers, and charge you more money for the same or lesser product. They have little use for the technology providing any real public benefit.
Right now, Instacart is quietly running experiments on millions of us while we shop for groceries online. They are trying to figure out exactly how much they can get away with charging you for breakfast cereal, lunch meat, pasta, and everything in between. How do I know? 1/9 pic.twitter.com/sbmcBUrczg
— Lindsay Owens (@owenslindsay1) December 9, 2025
We see the latest example of this in a report in today’s New York Times that the SF-based grocery delivery platform Instacart is charging people different prices for the same product from the same store, with prices sometimes varying by as much as 23%. A Washington, DC Safeway was charging different Instacart shoppers anywhere between $3.99 and $4.79 for the same carton of eggs when bought on Instacart, the listings for the same box of Cheerios at a St Paul, Minnesota Target varied between $3.99 and $4.59.
“Two shoppers who are buying the exact same item from the exact same store at the exact same time are getting different prices,” Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative that performed the study, told the Times. “The data really backs up how extraordinarily pervasive this is.”
It's the old scheme known as “dynamic pricing.” Of course, Uber and Lyft have been doing it for years, as have the airlines during holiday seasons. But Instacart has taken a keen interest in the practice since they acquired an AI startup called Eversight, whose product claims to “unlock revenue growth by automated, continuous testing of new prices & offers with your shoppers.”
“This isn’t about managing scarcity or efficient markets,” I said. It’s about “pushing to figure out the maximum amount you are willing to pay and squeeze it out of you.” 5/9 https://t.co/CaBfgK9UcX
— Lindsay Owens (@owenslindsay1) December 9, 2025
For their part, Instacart claims they were just conducting “pricing tests” at the time this study was conducted, hence the conspicuous differences.
“The pricing tests are short term, randomized and designed so that people may see slightly lower prices and some may see slightly higher prices, with the goal of helping retail partners understand consumer preferences and identify categories where they should invest in lower prices,” an Instacart spokesperson told the Times.
Neither the Times nor the Groundwork Collaborative found any evidence that these price changes were based on the buyers’ income or zip code. But Instacart, like most tech companies, certainly has this information at their disposal.
KRON4 points out that Instacart pushed back on these findings in a company blog post today (one that does not acknowledge the New York Times report, but you kinda figure it’s what they’re rebutting).
“While we have made real progress working with our retail partners to drive affordability through loyalty integrations, same-as-in-store pricing, and more – retail partners on our platform control their pricing strategies,” Instacart says on their blog post. “Additionally, just as retailers have long tested prices in physical stores to understand what resonates with customers, a small subset of our retail partners – 10 U.S. retail partners that already choose to apply markups – use Instacart’s Eversight technology to run limited online pricing tests. These short-term, randomized tests help retail partners understand category-level price sensitivity so they can sustainably invest in lower prices where consumers care most.”
Of course, there have always been deals like Happy Hour, Early Bird Specials, or 50-cent chicken wing nights where establishments try to goose up business with cheaper deals on the slow nights. But those are up front, and consistent across all buyers. With “AI “dynamic prices” on third-party platforms, you never know what you’re going to get.
But it’s fair to assume that what you’re probably going to get with dynamic pricing on tech platforms is “get charged more,” if they figure they can wring it out of you.
Image: Toronto, Canada- November 14, 2020: Instacart company closeup sign is seen in Toronto, Canada. Instacart is an American company that operates a grocery delivery and pick-up service.
