Big Box Splits Manhattan Delivery Costs, But Does It Beat FreshDirect?

(MoneyWatch)  New York City has been the subject of any number of interesting delivery services over the years but few that have quite as unique a take on pricing as Big Box Deliveries. It may be unique, but question must be asked, is it superior?

Basically, Big Box Deliveries shops at Costco for Manhattanites who can't or won't. The new service, developed for doorman buildings on Manhattan's Upper West and the Upper East Side ?€" the doorman required to facilitate deliveries ?€" was developed, according to the company, to combat the inconvenience of shopping for household items while working long hours. It also allows city residents to buy those items in bulk for which it might be worth making space, even in tiny New York apartments, such as disposable diapers. Costco has finally succeeded in securing a location in Manhattan, which is slated to open later this year after finally getting clear of community and self-appointed activists, but Big Box Deliveries knows that most Manhattanites don't own cars, making access to and haulage of bulk products problematic.

Yet, it's the pricing system that sets Big Box Deliveries apart. The company has determined that on average, New York City stores and delivery services are 147.42 percent more expensive than Costco. Big Box, in its own words, "splits the savings" with its customers. Take Charmin toilet tissue, Costco price $20.19 for 30 rolls. The average price for 30 rolls in New York City, using the Big Box average, would be $42.18, the company determined, so the customer pays $31.19 and saves about $11.

The pitch on the Big Box web site says it determined the average New York City price by looking at the cost of purchases from FreshDirect, the Internet-based grocery delivery service, Fairway, Gristedes, D'Agostino and Food Emporium supermarkets, Duane Reade and CVS drug stores, Staples, and Petco. Where no direct comparison exists, Big Box uses the overall average difference of 147.42 percent to calculate a price.

Orders placed by 9 p.m. are delivered next day and accounts are settled though PayPal.

For residents of the two fashionable New York neighborhoods who fall between the group that's spending just about all its money on rent and the group that has maids to do its shopping, Big Box Deliveries offers an option that could be attractive, particularly for families who go rapidly through grocery, dairy and consumables ?€" such as disposable diapers ?€" associated with children.

Still, FreshDirect offers the same products including household supplies of toilet tissue in bulk, at least by its definition. Recently, the FreshDirect listed 18-packs of Charmin toilet tissue at $14.99 or at 83 cents per roll under the bulk product designation on its web site. The Big Box price for a 30-pack of Charmin was, as noted, $31.99 on the same day, or $1.04 per roll. FreshDirect has a delivery fee, of $5.79 per order. Still applied only to the Charmin 18 pack, that raised the price to $1.15 a roll, and it should be noted that the premium charged for purchases from Big Box Deliveries is per item not per delivery, as in the FreshDirect case. Thus if a consumer is ordering cleaning supplies and paper towels, too, what is essentially a delivery cost to the consumer adds up when purchasing from Big Box but divides per item when purchasing from FreshDirect. It's also worth considering that, given the tiny dimensions of Manhattan apartments, an 18 pack might be all of the bulk folks can manage.

So, is Big Box a bargain? Determining the answer turns out to be a bit complicated and to be taken on a case by case basis, sometimes literally.