Can you trust you're getting the same grocery prices as someone else?

NPR. This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong. And I'm Steven Massaha. And Waylon, I have a confession. I love grocery shopping. Me too. It's like my weekend activity. I mean, it's so fun. I mean, it's a place where you could, like, buy crispy chili flakes and, like, a light bulb. Yeah. There's, like, aisle after aisle of fresh fruit, and I love a bakery section. Yes. And every purchase of, you know, a croissant or a box of ice cream bars provides the store with data. Data that's used to figure out how much to stock and how much to charge. Most of this data gathering is pretty passive. You know, you weigh your lettuce, scan your card, and bam, new data. But recently, some grocery stores took that a step further. They gather data by charging some customers more than others. On today's show, how much can you really trust you're getting the same price tag as someone else? We look at research and how grocers charge different customers different amounts for the same items on the shopping platform Instacart. And we ask what this could tell us about the future of the prices we all pay. This message comes from NPR sponsor, Capella University. Learning doesn't have to get in the way of life. With Capella's game changing FlexPath learning format, you can set your own deadlines and learn on your own schedule. That means you don't have to put your life on hold to earn your degree. Instead, enjoy learning your way and pursue your educational and career goals without missing a beat. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at capella.edu. This message comes from NPR sponsor, Zoom. Work isn't just meetings. It's calls, chats, docs, emails, calendar invites, events, and more. And Zoom brings it all together on one platform. Everything flows together so that you can finally focus on what matters. With Zoom, ideas happen faster, projects move forward, and your workday finally works for you. Zoom is more than meetings. It's a unified platform powering how people get work done. Learn more at zoom.com/podcast and zoom ahead. Think of Instacart like DoorDash but for the supermarket. It lets shoppers buy groceries from the comfort of their home, either for pickup or delivery. And like DoorDash, the prices are often set by the store, not Instacart, sometimes at a markup. In December, there was new research released on that pricing. It came from a few different consumer advocacy groups, including Consumer Reports and the Groundwork Collaborative. That last group is run by Lindsay Owens, who was a senior policy adviser for senator Elizabeth Warren. Okay. So I gotta ask, are you an in store shopper, delivery, or curbside? Oh, man. I'm I'm all three. I'm a mix. But, above all else, my amazing spouse, Jay, does most of the grocery shopping. Lindsay and the team wanted to look into Instacart because a few …