Launching under the Jet brand, Walmart is trying out a personal shopper service that you text whenever you want to make a purchase rather than use an online site. Called JetBlack, the service costs $50-a-month for access.

When a subscriber texts the service, the personal shopper can reference the user’s frequently purchased items in order to figure out what to purchase. There’s also a short interview conducted with the user at the start, specifically to identify the user’s preferred brands.

In addition to ordering frequently purchased items, the personal shopper can offer up suggestions on that to order. The service can offer top 3 choices as well as limit choices by how much they want to spend.

In addition to texts, users can send a picture of an item to the personal shopper. This would be ideal if you are shopping at another retailer, but wanted to compare prices with the same (or similar) item in Walmart’s inventory.

When the product decision is approved, the purchase process is entirely completed by the personal shopper. Basically, the user doesn’t really have to do anything besides send text messages.

Walmart is likely targeting more affluent shoppers due to the price of the subscription service. The company has been testing the service on a small scale for the last 8 months. On average, users purchase more than 10 items per week via text messages.

At the moment, Walmart is only operating the service in New York City, but plans to expand out to more areas if demand exists. Anyone interested in the service can sign up on the JetBlack Waitlist here.

Walmart wants you to pay $50 a month for a shopping by text service

Rising for the first time since 2011, Costco will be raising annual membership fees between $5 to $10 starting on June 1, 2017. Specifically, the Gold Star membership and Business membership will increase from $55 to $60 and the Executive membership will rise from $110 to $120.

In addition to extra benefits with Costco Travel and Costco Services, the Executive membership provides a 2 percent cashback reward on qualified purchases. Basically, if you spend $3,000 in qualified purchases over the course of a year, you will regain the additional $60 spend on upgrading from Gold Star to Executive. The maximum annual reward earning in a single calendar year is capped at $1,000.

During 2017, Costco expects the fee increase will impact 35 million members. Comparatively, Sam’s Club (owned by Walmart) charges $100 for Sam’s Plus annual membership and $45 for the basic Sam’s Savings or Business membership. Sam’s Club has 660 locations in the United States compared to Costco’s 508 locations in the United States.

Neither warehouse chain has to contend with Jet.com anymore, an online retailer that attempted to bring the warehouse subscription model to the Web. Jet.com pivoted to a subscription free model before being acquired by Walmart last year.

However, warehouse chains still have to compete with Amazon. Amazon has continued to push into the warehouse chain model by offering Subscribe-and-Save bulk items for repeat orders as well as Prime Pantry, a bulk-order system for purchasing common household items such as food or cleaning supplies.

Costco’s membership fees are rising on June 1

Heard all the hub-bub about a new shopping site called Jet.com? Attempting to do to Amazon what Costco did to Walmart, Jet.com is a shopping site that’s attempting to bite a chunk out of the mighty Zon.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Can I shop on Jet.com for free?

10/07/15 EDIT: Yes. Jet.com has changed their business model as of October 7, 2015. While previously charging consumers $50 a year for access to deals, the annual membership fee has now been dropped in order to bring in more shoppers as well as products from various brands.

Is Jet supposed to be cheaper than Amazon?

That’s the goal. They want to be cheapest on the Web, specifically 10 to 15 percent cheaper for individual items. However, it starts to get really interesting when you combine items in your cart, opening up the possibility for additional discounts (called Smart Cart Savings). On top of that, you can stack another discount onto your order if you use a debit card (basically cash) instead of a credit card.

How do I know I’m getting the lowest price?

They will tell you. Jet is including a price comparison widget on product pages that will compare prices from major online retailers like Walmart and Amazon. That comparison tool includes both the base price and how the price changes based on the volume of an order. Jet thinks the average user will save $150 a year.

How does Jet make money with low prices?

10/07/15 EDIT: Their cut will be minimal. They want to break even or take a small profit on orders now, since abandoning the yearly subscription fee model.

Do I have to buy in bulk, like Costco?

Nope. You can buy items in any quantity. You aren’t being forced to make huge bulk purchases, like 96 rolls of toilet paper at one time.

How does a Jet membership compare to Amazon Prime?

Like Apples and Oranges. Jet’s membership provides access to highly competitive pricing while Amazon Prime provides enhancements to the online shopping experience (such as two-day shipping, online video streaming, music streaming, etc…). Yes, Prime Day was restricted access. But Prime Day was terrible.

How much does shipping cost?

Shipping is free on all orders over $35. In addition, shipping on returns is completely free. Another interesting twist, if you waive the option of free shipping on returns for an order, the price of the order will be discounted further. Shipping on items below $35 will vary.

How long does shipping take?

Most items will arrive in three to five business days. Pantry products (food) should ship somewhat faster, typically arriving within two days. At this time, Jet does not offer any type of same-day delivery options for major cities around the United States.

Will I have to pay sales tax?

Yes and No. Items sold through Jet retail partners will be subject to sales tax already setup by that online retailer. However, items specifically sold by Jet are subject to tax when shipped to locations in Kansas, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Utah. That leaves 45 other states that are sales tax free when it comes to Jet purchases.

Does Jet offer any type of cashback program?

Yes, it’s called JetCash. Using affiliate relationships with retailers, JetCash users intentionally route their online shopping purchases through Jet.com (via a shopping portal) in order to get a cut of the affiliate revenue earned for each purchase. It’s similar to earning reward points when using a credit card, but requires additional steps to take advantage of additional savings. eBates.com is an example of a competing program.

What is Jet.com? 10 Things You Should Know About the New Shopping Site