Instacart announced on December 22, 2025, that it had ended all item price tests on its platform, effective immediately. Those tests had allowed different shoppers to see different prices for the same item at the same store. The change does not mean every shopper now sees identical grocery prices everywhere: retailers still set prices, which may vary by store location, and promotions and fees remain separate.
What Instacart ended
Instacart said that a small number of retail partners had used Eversight technology to test different prices for the same item at the same store. The company announced that retailers could no longer use that technology for item price tests on Instacart, effective immediately on December 22, 2025. Instacart characterized the tests as randomized and said they were not dynamic or surveillance pricing and did not rely on supply and demand, personal information, demographics, or individual shopping behavior. Those descriptions are the company’s account of how the tests worked. Instacart’s announcement
Why shoppers saw different prices
The issue was variation in the listed price of the same product at the same store—not simply a price difference between two stores, or one shopper using a coupon that another shopper did not have. In a January 8, 2026 release, the New York Attorney General summarized a Consumer Reports and Groundwork Collaborative study involving 437 shoppers across four cities. The release said nearly three-quarters of the grocery items in the experiment were offered at multiple prices, with an average 13 percent difference between the highest and lowest prices for a single good. It also reported the study’s estimate that the differences could mean $1,200 in additional costs per year for a typical family of four. That annual amount is an estimate, not a measured loss for every family. New York Attorney General’s release
What can still make an Instacart total differ?
| What varies | What it means | Status described by Instacart |
|---|---|---|
| Item price by shopper at the same store | Different shoppers saw different prices for the same item at one store in the discontinued tests. | Instacart says the tests ended in December 2025. |
| Item price by store location | A retailer may set different prices at different locations. | Ongoing; retailers set item prices on their storefronts. |
| Promotions and discounts | Deals can change what a shopper pays without changing the standard item price test practice. | Ongoing and distinct from the ended tests. |
| Fees | Delivery and other checkout fees can affect the total independently of item prices. | Separate from item pricing; Instacart says it provides checkout transparency. |
Instacart’s July 22, 2026 pricing principles say that customers shopping for the same items at the same time from the same store location will see the same item prices. The company also says it will not use personal information to set item or membership prices or fees. These are company commitments; the cited materials do not establish that they have been independently audited. Instacart’s pricing principles
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What the regulatory inquiry does—and does not—say
On January 8, 2026, New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office had sent Instacart a letter demanding information about pricing experiments and compliance with New York’s Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act. The law took effect on November 10, 2025, and requires disclosure when a company uses personal data to affect prices, according to the Attorney General’s release. The office raised questions about the placement of Instacart’s disclosures and requested information. The release describes an inquiry, not a final court finding or proof that Instacart violated the law.
Instacart’s May 11, 2026 policy post says Maryland’s Protection from Predatory Pricing Act expressly bars charging consumers a higher food price based on personal data. That is Instacart’s description of the law and its position, not a substitute for the statutory text or legal advice. Instacart’s Maryland pricing-law commentary
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What shoppers should take from the change
- The specific practice Instacart announced it ended was testing different prices for the same item at the same store.
- Do not assume that item prices are identical across store locations; retailers may set location-specific prices.
- Compare the full checkout total, since promotions, discounts, and fees are separate from the discontinued tests.
- Instacart’s public pricing promises are company statements, while New York’s request for information is an inquiry rather than a legal ruling.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
