I'm guessing Costco would be a bit reluctant to formally allow something like this, as I also presume that one reason they get lower prices from suppliers is that they only sell to members, so there is less of a perception that a supplier is undercutting other retailers by letting Costco sell at a reduced price. A sort of price discrimination... but if stuff gets resold without a markup to bring the price in line with other retailers it would make their negotiations more difficult.
Any agreement between Costco and Instacart would basically be endorsing a method of skirting the annual membership fees, something Costco would most likely never be interested in. However, as a Costco member, I would absolutely love this. No more "Cart" rage on Saturdays!
Now... if anyone is interested in insta-gas delivery, hit me up. ;)
EDIT: It's not. I somehow assumed it would be. Interesting to know it isn't.
In anything else, changes in a business that had such a tiny area of influence would not make the news next to stories on international business. I shouldn't feel so bothered about this, but I do.
And incidentally, Instacart may well be such a thing. The effect it's had on my life is almost entirely a function of having small children rather than being part of the startup world.
When I read HN, I think of it as a place for news that appeals to the mind of a "hacker". That's the "box" that it inhabits in my mind.
When I see posts like this one though, I'm reminded that there's a very large bias towards things going on in a relatively small area or set of areas (SF, NYC, Boston, Austin, maybe Seattle). I think my feelings on seeing this post are just facing the reality of these natural biases.
Also, I'd like to say that these biases aren't a bad thing. It's natural when lots of people with the same interests live in just a few places. But it does exist, and it gives me a bit of a mental jolt when I run across them.
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Also, I agree with the sentiment that "anything sufficiently good will become ubiquitous." I've live(d) in the Seattle area all my life, and services like Amazon Fresh are wonderful for more than just people living the startup lifestyle.
However, as pg points out, to know if something is good you have to have someone volunteer to use it. While people in the Bay Area may use something nobody else does, the number of things they won't use that a larger portion of the population will is a small number. So when Steve and Steve were pushing their "friendly" computer at the Computer Club it was to a group of people would would spend $1,000 on something they didn't have an immediate use for, but they found uses for it, and from those uses inspired other people to see uses for it.
I've got a Zaurus Wizard, a Psion handheld, an HP Pocket Computer, a Palm Pilot, a Handspring, a Newton Message Pad, REX organizer, and an iPad. A lot of people have the iPad but much fewer have any of the other gizmos that led up to it.
So my options are Safeway delivery ($75 minimum delivery) or go to the store.
I am desperately waiting for them to increase their reach. Pretty please, Instacart? Any love for the south bay?
I'm sure Costco is getting a portion of that fee.
