Fresh direct just moved into my neck of the woods in NJ. When they did so, I received a $50 off my first $125+ order. I purchased my entire Easter dinner from them and was quite pleased. The meat was well packaged and the produce looked fabulous. They delivered when promised.

I'd like to place another order, but the prices are stopping me. I don't pay much attention in the grocery store, but it seems that when looking online, they seem really expensive. I showed the receipt to my mom and she said that it was comparable to shopping in Wegman's. Many of their products seem to be organic/no hormone/grain fed, etc. and I get the sense they're trying to be the Whole Paycheck of internet grocery shopping

Does anyone use them here regularly? Are you happy with the service/products? Do you find them expensive compared to a regular grocery store?

Fresh Direct prices are usually cheaper than supermarket chains and their stuff is often better. I use them almost exclusively. Do pay attention though. They sometimes mess up orders or forget stuff so check what you receive against what you have ordered.

I will have to take a closer look at local pricing. If you live in Manhattan, I would imagine Fresh Direct could be much cheaper than going to Dags, or similar.

I'll post back when I do some more research.

I always felt they were more expensive but I believe that thought comes from the quality and type of products I would buy online vs what I would buy in the store, as well as the ability to see your total increase as you place things in the online cart. I know I always bought prepared meals and higher quality foods, and would be very cognizant of the total price increase as I shopped. I never pay as much attention when I shop in a store.

I think the reality is that they are at least competitive, but I'm sure it varies a lot by location.

I stopped using Fresh Direct 4 years ago because they were no longer competitively priced.

I cook mostly from scratch. My shopping cart is 90% "basics" -- veggies/fruit/meat/beans/pasta/dairy, etc.

Fresh Direct is, at a minimum, about a third more expensive, and often more (today on their website they have only organic carrots, at a 100% premium).

I tailor some of my shopping around what's on sale, and since the sale items on FD are much fewer and dominated by non-basics (prepared stuff), I would be spending 50%-60% more to use FD.

I also mostly cook from scratch and buy the same basics as you.

I did a cursory look at a few supermarkets in my area. Broccoli is on sale for .89 a head. Fresh Direct has them for 2 bunches for $4 (or 5). Bananas are on sale for .49 a pound - Fresh direct only sells them by the bunch.

And there I have another problem - what is a bunch? I ordered asparagus and broccoli for easter dinner - both only sold by the bunch - so I ordered 2 bunches of each because there's no clue as to what constitutes a bunch. I ended up with enough broccoli and a little less asparagus than I would have liked.

I also ordered 2 tomatos, figuring they would be normal sized tomatoes. I got 2 that fit into a Big Mac sized container

But it was convenient, and the produce was very nice.

We buy 99% of our groceries from FD. It may cost us a bit more, but the combination of convenience, quality and customer service can't be beat. You can get some decent prices by checking out their Presidents Picks, so we normally start there. It's so nice to get a couple deliveries right to our door each week. If we are ever unhappy with an item we shoot them an email and we get a credit (and sometimes even more) within minutes. It's up there with Amazon for me as far as companies it would be hard to live without.

It appears that most are satisfied with the service. However, it also appears most of those people live in Manhattan where getting groceries at a reasonable price could me a trek away from home (ie Costco).

I loved the convenience as well. Going to Wegman's on a Saturday is an exercise in frustration -I just don't want to throw away too much money on the convenience.

I use FD on occasion. It just requires too much advance planning.

Prices are lower than at the Gristedes across the street from me for a lot of things (e.g., cereal). I think FD has good quality meat and produce (better than Gristedes, at least, which isn't hard).

I went to Wegman's over the weekend, which, as usual, was an insane asylum. The prices look about the same, with FD being slightly higher for some items. I didn't check prices for non-fresh groceries, such as cereal, which we buy at Costco.

The meat prices at FD looked a bit higher, but the quality was much better. However, I noticed that FD carries a lot of organic or non-hormone meat which raises the prices substantially.

I'm going to be on the busy side next weekend, so I might place another order for fruits and veggies.

As for planning - well, if you live in the city with the myriad of options for getting food, you are more likely to shop daily or every few days. I shop on the weekends, so I have to spend the time anyway. For the supermarket, it's walking the aisles, for FD, I can do it from my chair at home.

But the prices ARE higher for those of us not paying Manhattan prices.