• We compared a basket of alcohol prices (and delivery costs) from some of SA's most popular delivery apps and online stores.
  • Same-day deliveries are considerably pricier - but some cheaper online sellers may make you wait for up to two weeks.
  • Checkers Food Services and Pick n Pay offer the best trade-off between turnaround time, and price.
  • For more articles, go to www.BusinessInsider.co.za. 

After a week of bumper alcohol buying, you can now only legally get booze from Monday, according to Level 3 rules. You can still order alcohol online, though - but deliveries can only take place from Monday.

As the mad rush for alcohol after two “dry” months starts to settle down - and amid harsh economic circumstances – South Africans are expected to become more price conscious as they buy their booze.

Accordingly, we compared the prices of some of the most popular drinks, from some of the most popular online sellers, using the same address in Auckland Park, Johannesburg for deliveries.

As Checkers’ Sixty60 app wasn’t yet selling alcohol, we went with Checkers Food Services (CFS) instead. (CFS is intended for use by businesses in the restaurant and catering industry, but it was opened to the general public last year. Prices on the site exclude VAT, which we added for comparison purposes.) Zulzi and OneCart are grocery delivery services, which also now deliver alcohol to residences.

Here are the prices you can expect:

Windhoek Draught (440ml) 24 cans:

Pick n Pay: R309.00 

Checkers Food Services: R310.49

Zulzi (via Tops): R310.99

Makro (direct): R319

OneCart (via Makro Liquor): R319 

Norman Goodfellows: R322

Uber Eats (via Blue Bottle Liquors):  R362

Savanna Light (330ml) 24 bottles:

Makro: R309 

OneCart (via Makro Liquor): R309 -

Checkers Food Services: R290.99

Takealot: R325

Pick n Pay: R329.00 

Norman Goodfellows: R340


Jack Daniel's (750ml)

Makro: R249

OneCart (via Makro Liquor): R259

Pick n Pay: R279.99

Checkers Food Services: R249.54

Uber Eats (via Blue Bottle Liquors):  R389.99

Zulzi (via Tops):  R279.99

Norman Goodfellows: R269

Takealot: R279

Klipdrift brandy (750ml)

Makro: R140

OneCart (via Makro Liquor): R145

Checkers Food Services: R142.59

Takealot: R159

Pick n Pay: R159.99

Zulzi (via Tops): R159.99

Norman Goodfellows: R179

Uber Eats (via Blue Bottle Liquors): R222.99

Gordon's gin (750ml)

Makro: R149

Checkers Food Services: R151.79

OneCart (via Makro Liquor):  R159

Pick n Pay: R169.99

Zulzi (via Tops): R164.99

Takealot: R169

Norman Goodfellows: R179

Uber Eats (via Blue Bottle Liquors:  R226.99 

Total delivery cost – and when you can expect the order

Norman Goodfellows: Free. Delivery expected:  15 June. 

Takealot: Free. Delivery expected: 11 June.

Pick n Pay: R60. First available delivery slot: 9 June.

Uber Eats (via Blue Bottle Liquors):  R25. Same day delivery.

Makro: R90. Delivery expected: 10 - 14 working days.

Checkers Food Services: R100. Delivery expected: 13 June. 

OneCart (via Makro Liquor): R135.02 (R45.00 plus a “concierge fee” of R90,02) [Same day delivery].

Zulzi: R184.61 (Delivery fee of R20.00 plus a service fee of R164.61 [Same day delivery].

The cheapest options

Checkers Food Services, Takealot and Makro offer the lowest prices - our list of alcohol cost between R1,240 to R1,250 (delivery inclusive) with all of them. CFS has the shortest turnaround time, however. You should get your delivery in Cape Town and Gauteng within a couple of days. 

Pick n Pay also offers a good trade-off: low prices and we found a delivery slot for Tuesday.

If you want your alcohol on the same day, your cheapest bet is OneCart.

While the delivery fee is a hefty R159, the basket cost around R1,326 -  cheaper than other same-day options like Uber Eats (via Blue Bottle in the area where we ordered) which came to more than R1,500 and Zulzi, which was between the two.

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