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cGuide: groceries around cornell med

Last updated: October 18, 1999 - HGW

Priceline: BE WARNED

1.13.00

So I tried the new Priceline / Webhouse online grocery shopping thing. It's not actually an online grocer, per se; they just make you select them items you want to purchase, then bid on the price you want to pay, tell you if those prices are acceptable, and then charge you in advance. Then you go to the grocery store and pick up those items, paying for them using a special green card (you can get one from the web site or from the store too, usually).

Now, here's the stuff in the fine print you'll want to watch out for:
1. NO SUBSTITUTIONS are allowed. That means if you get Snyder's Tortilla Chips instead of Santitas (like I did a few weeks ago), and your grocery store doesn't carry that brand or specific size, then you'll have to wait until they either do carry them or go find them at a different store. So before you bid, make sure your store has the SPECIFIC item you want -- size, brands, etc. Make sure you find at least two brands for the same item.
2. "WEBHOUSE DOLLARS" ARE NOT FREE MONEY TO PAY FOR GROCERIES. The Priceline folk go out of their way to give you the impression that you're getting $10 in free groceries. That's true, but to a limited extent. What it really is is $10 of discounts off of retail prices. Meaning, you can't use those $10 to pay for a loaf of bread; instead, you MUST use those $10 as, essentially, coupons. And on and on it goes -- the big catch is that these Webhouse dollars are a pain in the ass, but they're the only way to consistently get the 50%-off deals (which, for some items, are the ONLY way you can get a discount, e.g. oranges). The Webhouse dollars can be obtained by subscribing to magazines that you don't want, or visiting other websites and wasting time, etc. Basically, it's designed to waste your time and pass a few bucks on to you. My advice: AVOID THE 50% DEALS; whenever you're naming your price, go for the 60% deal with the 33% chance. You'll get the price less often, but at least you won't need to put up with the hassle of obtaining more "Web Dollars", i.e. "coupons".
3. It's a pain to separate out your webhouse groceries from your non-webhouse ones. But it can be done, and if you're saving a lot of money, it's probably worth it.
4. You DON'T need to pick up everything at once. Meaning, say, if you bought 3 gallons of milk, within a span of 6 months, you can pick up one gallon at a time.
5. All this being said, you can SAVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MONEY. I avoided the Webhouse dollar razzamatazz, went for the straight "name your own price" or "33% chance" prices, and wound up paying about 50% less for groceries at Food Emporium over on 71st and 1st Ave. That's just because Food Emporium jacks up the prices like there's no tomorrow, though. But savings are savings, and in the final analysis, if you have time to experiment with Priceline, go ahead and try it.

Coupons you can print out

ValuPage has weekly coupons, but all you have to do is print out the page, bring it to Food Emporium, and let them scan the UPC code, and *boom* you get "Web Bucks", which are printed out at the register, which you can use toward your next purchase at Food Emporium. Yeah, a little complicated, and there is a definite catch, but whatever -- you're going to buy your stuff there anyway, so just print out the page and try it.

Online Grocers

YourGrocer.com. The prices are reasonable, they deliver to Cornell (I think) but the catch is that you need to pay by credit card, $50 minimum, and delivery is $5.
NetGrocer - actually Fed-Ex'es your groceries! Now, oddly enough, for orders under $60, shipping comes to only $6.

Local Supermarkets and Grocery Stores

Portions of this page are adapted from the "Guide to New York", a blue book distributed to incoming Weill medical students.

Food Emporium

Really close by. Get a Shopper's Club card for occasional discounts, e.g. on orange juice. First ave & 71st. Can also deliver if you're lazy or injured.

Gristede's

Not as close by; 1st Ave. and 65th. Prices rumored to be a little better -- watch for the coupons in the "Our Town" mini-newspaper in Olin Lobby, if you're out for bargains (e.g. 88 cents for 2-liter bottles of soda).

Sloan's

First Ave. @ 72nd St. Didn't this shut down? If not, try it if you want. A step down in atmosphere from Gristede's, prices rumored to be occasionally higher or lower, but, hey, it's a supermarket.

Vegetable Stand Guy

York Ave. and 70th St. The guy stands on the corner with his vegetable and fruit stand on some days -- scientists have been unable to crack the secret of his schedule. Incredible deals on produce. For instance, you can pay $5.00 for 3 green peppers at Food Emporium, while you can pay $1.00 for 3 green peppers at this guy's stand. Beware, though -- he'll try to get you to buy stuff you don't want to buy. Be emphatic and insistent about exactly what you want, and what you don't want, and he'll be your buddy after a while, and maybe give you a free banana someday (no kidding).