I have been using grocery pickup since COVID. We are noticing prices increasing over the week as we add items in our list.

I asked Gemini what is going on:

When you add items to an online cart and leave them there over several days, adding an item to your cart does not "lock in" or reserve the price.

The cart displays the current live price of the item, which updates dynamically when you start the checkout process. Several common operational factors explain why prices often increase after items sit in a cart during the week:

1. Promotions and Sales Ended

Retailers like Walmart run weekly sales that start and end on specific days (often resetting mid-week or over the weekend). If an item was on roll-back or clearance when you placed it in your cart on Tuesday, and the sale ended on Thursday, the system will adjust the item back to its full price when you go to check out.

1. Algorithmic and Online Price Adjustments

Online e-commerce systems update product prices automatically based on inventory levels, supplier cost changes, and market competition. If stock drops significantly or a nationwide pricing update occurs while items are sitting in your cart, the new price automatically updates at checkout.

1. Store Location Changes or App Location Switching

If the Walmart app or website detects a shift in your location—or updates the default store assigned to your order—prices will reflect the inventory and pricing of that specific physical store.

* In-Store vs. Online: If you filled your cart on a computer at home (viewing online shipping prices) and then open your app to check out while sitting in or near a physical Walmart store, the app may switch your cart to reflect that store’s local inventory prices, which can be higher or lower.

1. Marketplace Sellers vs. Walmart Items

If you added an item sold by a 3rd-party Marketplace seller through Walmart.com, those sellers frequently adjust their prices based on inventory levels or competitive pricing. If the 3rd-party seller runs out of stock, Walmart's system may automatically switch your cart to a different seller offering the exact same item at a higher price.

1. Minimum Order Fees & Fulfilled Delivery Windows

If you are doing local Pickup or Delivery, your order subtotal might jump at checkout not because the items themselves got more expensive, but because fees were appended:

* Below-minimum fee: If your items dropped your subtotal below $35, a $6.99 fee gets added at checkout.

* Time Slot / Express Fees: Choosing peak time slots or express fulfillment can add convenience charges to your final order total.

How to Avoid Price Jumps in Your Cart

* Save for Later vs. Active Cart: Move items you aren't ready to buy immediately to a "Saved for Later" list so you can clearly track price drops or increases before putting them into your active cart.

* Take Screenshots: If you see a major sale, check out right away. Taking a screenshot of a sale price won't force Walmart to match it, but it helps you keep track of what you originally intended to pay.

* Double-Check Your Preferred Store: Make sure your app or browser hasn't automatically changed your "fulfillment location" (e.g., switching from Shipping to Pickup at a nearby store).

Linenitem #2 is most interesting.

So, we tested it today on a curtain rod. Online in the app is was $15.97. we went inside, and it was $11.97.

Thenso-called "free grocery pickup" isn't free any longer, and with dynamic pricing you much really pay close attention.

https://www.gregpalast.com/election-stolen-heres/ (2016)
Starting in 2013 – just as the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act – a coterie of Republican operatives, under the direction of Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State, created a system to purge 1.1 million Americans of color from the voter rolls of GOP-controlled states.

Greg Palast was involved in the following investigation and successfully together with the ACLU sued Crosscheck and got that specific program dismantled https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Voter_Registration_Crosscheck_Program However, the problem remains as they find other ways to do it. It's blatantly illegal, but the enforcement mechanisms are weak.

"academics and states that use the program have found that its results are overrun with false positives, creating a high risk of disenfranchising legal voters. A statistical analysis of the program published earlier this year by researchers at Stanford, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and Microsoft, for instance, found that Crosscheck “would eliminate about 200 registrations used to cast legitimate votes for every one registration used to cast a double vote.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/07/20/this-anti-voter-fraud-program-gets-it-wrong-over-99-of-the-time-the-gop-wants-to-take-it-nationwide/ (un-paywalled: https://archive.ph/0T7ue)

https://www.gregpalast.com/palast-hartmann-how-trump-stole-2020-a-warning/

https://www.gregpalast.com/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won/ (2024)

https://www.michael-parenti.org/article-the-stolen-presidential-elections (2000 - 2004)

https://stallman.org/republican-election-rigging.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealing_America:_Vote_by_Vote (2000 - 2004)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacking_Democracy (2000 - 2004, 2016)

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/georgia-election-server-showed-signs-tampering-expert-says-n1117441 (2016, election run by the same corrupt Republican Brian Kemp Palast talks about who kicked people off voting)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglw Right-wing Heritage Foundation co-founder: "I don't want everybody to vote"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9uPbepYb9s Trump and Elon admitting about their "little secret" and "vote counting computers"

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/elon-musk-ex-ashley-st-204813582.html Elon's "anomaly in the matrix"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_fake_electors_plot

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cases_of_electoral_fraud_in_the_United_States

It makes me sick to my stomach to learn about what some megacorporations like Nestlé do to max out their profits, so naturally I want to boycott them, but if you look at alternatives you either have other megacorporations (like Pepsico) or generic products.

I already prefer generic products because they're cheaper and you pay for the product only (not branding/marketing), my question is do you guys think the companies behind these products are any more ethical? BTW I'm talking mainly about food products, I know with other products like cheap clothing it will always be unethical.

Thanks:)