What Is ScoutRun? A Plain-English Guide to How It Works
A lot of people have asked me to explain what ScoutRun actually does. The short answer: we're a local shopping service for the Capital Region. A neighbor picks up what you need and drops it off at your door. No subscription required. First hunt is free. Here's the longer explanation — in plain English, with every question people have asked me this week.
The Basics
ScoutRun is a shopping service built for the Capital Region of New York. You tell us what you need, a local "Scout" picks it up at a store, and it gets delivered to your door.
A Scout is just a neighbor — a real person in your community who's signed up to shop for people nearby. There are no bots, no big corporate fulfillment centers, and no offshore customer service. Just local people helping local people.
No. This is the biggest misconception about ScoutRun.
We'll shop for anything at retail. If it's sold at a store somewhere in the Capital Region, a Scout can get it for you. Some examples of what Scouts have been asked to grab recently:
Yes, we're great at finding sold-out items — that's a fun specialty. But most of what we do is just everyday errands for people who don't have time to run around.
A few things:
- Any store, not just partnered ones. Instacart only works with stores that have partnered with them. ScoutRun works with any store you can think of — even small local shops.
- Retail prices. Instacart and DoorDash often mark up item prices by 10-30%. We charge you what the store charges, period. The only added cost is a finder's fee to the Scout.
- Real neighbors, not gig-app strangers. Our Scouts live in the Capital Region and are vetted locals. Many of them are already your neighbors.
- Can handle weird requests. Need someone to check three stores for a specific size? Pick up something from a small business that doesn't have an app? That's exactly what we do.
How It Works
You post what you need.
Sign up for a free account, click "New Hunt," and describe what you want. Be as specific or general as you want. "Gallon of milk from any grocery store" works. So does "The black Nike Vomero 18 in size 10 from any Capital Region store."
A local Scout accepts.
Scouts near you see your hunt and pick it up. You'll get notified when someone's on it, and you can message them directly.
The Scout shops and pays at the store.
They find your item, pay at the register (using their own money), and send you a photo. You approve and the charge is locked in.
Delivery to your door.
Usually same-day. You'll get a photo of the item at your door when it arrives. Done.
Pricing & Obligations
No. You don't need to subscribe to use ScoutRun.
Sign up, post a hunt, pay for that hunt. That's it. You never have to pay us another cent unless you want to.
If you end up using ScoutRun a lot, we have optional memberships that unlock free hunts each month — but they're completely optional and you can stick with pay-as-you-go forever if that's what works for you.
You pay two things: the retail price of the item (whatever the store charges), plus a finder's fee to the Scout.
No hidden fees. No surge pricing. No markup on the item itself. What you see at the register is what you pay for the item.
No charge. If the item can't be found, the hunt is cancelled and you pay nothing. The Scout will let you know and you can decide whether to try again or drop it.
Yes, and it's encouraged if they did great work. 100% of tips go directly to the Scout — we take nothing. Tipping is optional and entirely up to you.
Signing Up
Go to scoutrun.app/app and click "Create Account." You'll need an email and a password. That's it.
No credit card required to sign up. You only enter payment info when you actually post your first hunt — so there's zero risk of being charged by signing up.
No. Creating an account means nothing happens until you actually post a hunt. You're not on the hook for a monthly fee, you're not agreeing to try anything, and you can close your account anytime.
Think of it like signing up for Amazon — you just have an account ready to go if you ever want to use it.
No. Your account info, address, and what you shop for stays with us. We don't sell data to advertisers or anyone else. Scouts only see your delivery address after they accept your hunt, not before.
Right now we serve the Capital Region of New York — Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Saratoga Springs, Clifton Park, Latham, Colonie, Waterford, Ballston Spa, East Greenbush, and nearby towns.
If you're close to this area and not sure if we serve you, just sign up and post a hunt — we'll let you know.
Try it with a free hunt.
Sign up in under two minutes. No credit card required. Your first hunt is on us.
Create Free Account →No subscription. No obligation. Cancel anytime.
Becoming a Scout
If you live in the Capital Region and want to earn money doing errands for neighbors, you can sign up as a Scout. Scouts set their own schedule — accept hunts when you want, ignore them when you don't. It's true flexible work.
Scouts keep 40% of the finder's fee on single hunts, plus 80% on Member and VIP hunts, plus 100% of any tips customers give. You're paid out directly by ScoutRun.
Become a Scout →Still Have Questions?
Email us at support@scoutrun.app and we'll get back to you. I (Scott, the founder) usually answer these myself. ScoutRun is still small enough that if you email us, you're talking to a real person who cares whether the service works for you.