The three, honestly compared
- Pickup, free, fastest, and you meet the person who made your thing. You order ahead, the app tells you when it's ready, you walk in. Pick it whenever the business is on your way.
- Delivery, a courier brings it within the business's local radius. You pay the courier fee, shown at checkout before you commit, priced by real distance. Pick it for today-food and can't-leave days.
- Shipping, it mails to you anywhere the carrier goes. You pay the real carrier rate, also shown before you pay. Pick it for the non-perishable stuff, apparel, prints, candles, packaged goods, especially from businesses in other cities.
The choice appears in your cart, and you only see what that business actually offers, no phantom options.
What each one asks of you
- Pickup: nothing. Maybe your name at the counter.
- Delivery: your address, once, it's saved for next time. The fee quote updates to the address you pick.
- Shipping: your address too, plus patience measured in days, not minutes. The tracking link does the waiting with you.
The fee math worth knowing
Fees for delivery and shipping are the real cost of moving your order, computed live for your address, the business doesn't set them, doesn't mark them up, and doesn't receive them. Which means: a big delivery fee isn't the baker being greedy, it's the distance. Order from closer businesses or switch to pickup, and the fee obeys.
If something's off
- Delivery isn't offered to you. You're outside that business's radius, or they're pickup-only. What you see is what they offer.
- The shipping quote feels high. Heavy and bulky costs real money to mail. The quote is the carrier's own rate for your distance.
- You picked pickup and can't make it. Message the business from the order, rescheduling a pickup is the easiest favor in retail. Just don't ghost a made order.