Instacart · Instacart Terms of Service · View original document ↗

Pre-Authorization Charge Above Checkout Total

Medium severity Unique · 0 of 325 platforms
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Recent governance activity Instacart recorded 2 documented changes in the last 30 days.
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This analysis describes what Instacart's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

This authorization mechanism protects against payment failures when final charges exceed the original quoted amount due to post-checkout modifications. The pre-authorization approach allows the service to proceed with orders that may increase in cost without requiring additional payment authorization steps at completion.

Recent Activity

This document changed recently

Medium May 9, 2026

Instacart rewrote its entire Terms of Service, adding 367 new sentences including sections on AI-powered services, updated arbitration procedures, and revised data handling practices. The restructuring makes it harder to compare what changed because the entire document was reorganized.

View change record →

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Users' payment instruments will be subject to a temporary authorization hold for an amount higher than the initial checkout total, with the specific amount disclosed during the purchase process. The actual charge applied will reflect the final total including any post-delivery modifications, replacements, or elected tips.

How other platforms handle this

Anthropic Medium

We appreciate feedback, including ideas and suggestions for improvement or rating an Output in response to an Input ("Feedback"). If you rate an Output in response to an Input—for example, by using the thumbs up/thumbs down icon—we will store the related conversation as part of your Feedback. You ha...

TikTok Medium

Virtual Items Policy: This policy governs the access and use of Virtual Items (such as virtual coins and diamonds) on the Platform.

Airbnb Medium

Airbnb Payments will collect the Total Fees at the time of booking confirmation (i.e. when the booking request is accepted by a Host for instant bookings). In the event of a cancellation, Airbnb Payments will refund the Guest in accordance with the Host's cancellation policy, and any refund will be ...

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
Your payment instrument will be temporarily authorized for an amount greater than the total amount of the purchase appearing in the original check out. This higher authorized amount will be disclosed during the purchase process and is a temporary authorization charge on your order, to deal with situations where your total purchase amount turns out to be higher than the original amount due to special requests, added items, replacement items, weight adjustments, or tips that you may elect to add after delivery.

— Excerpt from Instacart's Instacart Terms of Service

Provision details

Document information
Document
Instacart Terms of Service
Entity
Instacart
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
April 18, 2026
Last verified
April 27, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-003101
Document ID
CA-D-00135
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
30a1ef722ca2f269aa634194339403244ed9043a7522c96cae21a5329951e4c8
Analysis generated
April 18, 2026 12:44 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Instacart
Document: Instacart Terms of Service
Record ID: CA-P-003101
Captured: 2026-04-18 12:44:42 UTC
SHA-256: 30a1ef722ca2f269…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/instacart/instacart-terms-of-service/pre-authorization-charge-above-checkout-total/
Accessed: May 20, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Instacart's Pre-Authorization Charge Above Checkout Total clause do?

This authorization mechanism protects against payment failures when final charges exceed the original quoted amount due to post-checkout modifications. The pre-authorization approach allows the service to proceed with orders that may increase in cost without requiring additional payment authorization steps at completion.

How does this clause affect you?

Users' payment instruments will be subject to a temporary authorization hold for an amount higher than the initial checkout total, with the specific amount disclosed during the purchase process. The actual charge applied will reflect the final total including any post-delivery modifications, replacements, or elected tips.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Instacart?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Instacart.