BuddyExpress

Monetizing extra luggage space through crowdsourced shipping

1 follower

Monetizing extra luggage space through crowdsourced shipping

1 follower

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Launch tags:Travel•Tech

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CyberMonday.AI

Maker

Thanks for hunting BuddyExpress, @kwdinc! :) Hi Product Hunters! I’m excited to share BuddyExpress with you. BuddyExpress connects travelers who have extra luggage space to people with shipping and shopping needs. BuddyExpress was conceived after FedEx billed me several hundred dollars to send a small xmas gift to my parents overseas. Luckily I was able to find an uncle who happened to be traveling there to carry my package for me - but that took a few, very inconvenient hours of calling around. After doing bit of research and asking the community lots of questions, I discovered that the practice of leveraging one’s network for shipping is common and widespread but lacking good tools for making it an efficient and easily monetizable process. I hope that this app opens up cheaper shipping options - especially on under-served and over-priced shipping routes - while enabling travelers to monetize their extra luggage space to discount the cost of their trips. **Please try out the iOS app, would love to hear your feedback and ideas for improvement. Android version coming soon! Some details: This initial release aims to provide users with trust, safety and monetization/insurance. 1) Trust BuddyExpress users prefer to tap into their network of family and friends for shipping - even with a few degrees of separation - because of implied accountability. BuddyExpress uses social authentication to do the heavy lifting of connecting users to their network, providing accountability via a review system and also screening against the terrorist watch list to filter out bad actors. 2) Safety/Security Travelers are concerned about the risk of carrying contraband as well as customs regulations. BuddyExpress provides a public audit trail of packages by documenting package ownership and photos, and providing information that allows travelers to properly declare packages to customs and establish a chain of custody. 3) Monetization/Insurance BuddyExpress users also want a smooth payment mechanism for monetizing their luggage space. Package senders are also concerned about theft, damage and loss and want some form of insurance/collateral. BuddyExpress provides a payments and escrow system that guarantees payment to travelers for successful deliveries, and reimbursement to shippers in the event of theft, loss or damage. Thanks for reading! Looking forward to valuable feedback and insights from the Product Hunt community.

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10yr ago

CyberMonday.AI

Maker

@bentossell Great question. Spent some time interviewing the folks who ask those questions at the airport and it turns out that you are allowed to say "Yes", because you are allowed to carry things for others. They ask so that they can properly screen the package - for the traveler's protection, and so that any disallowed items don't get on the flight. They understand that the practice is very common.

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10yr ago

CyberMonday.AI

Maker

@bentossell lol, that's a very interesting thought! Another democratization twist is that the airlines do sell unused luggage capacity to commercial entities without any direct revenue share w/ the passengers who have paid for and own that space. In fairness, though, that might already be factored into ticket prices.

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10yr ago

@geordasche @bentossell this is how shipping was done before FedEx FYI. FedEx was the first company to charter its own planes for shipping. #funfact

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10yr ago

CyberMonday.AI

Maker

Thanks @bbzeven! And DHL as well 😄 #funfact

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10yr ago

@geordasche Here's another one: A traveller will only know they have enough space when they're checked in at the airport or they just have a large suitcase with just two shirts in it. What if they found out they are overweight? Something to consider.

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10yr ago

HackerMetrics

I think the hassle of organising collection and packaging, and then ensuring it doesn't get lost with the fear of having my credit card charged, along with the risk of travelling with items that could be illegal. I just can't see how this will succeed. How much is the average trip worth to the traveller? Must only be a few dollars?

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10yr ago

CyberMonday.AI

Maker

@dylankbuckley Great question. FedEx once billed me $491 to send a small package overseas, and even more to send a document to a different country. I would have paid anything less than that in that emergency. The app allows the traveler and sender to negotiate a mutually beneficial delivery fee via a bidding system so that any hassle can be factored in and worth it. It'll be interesting to see how those numbers trend.

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10yr ago

HackerMetrics

@geordasche I live in London, and all my family are in New Zealand (You can't get further away), and I sent a 10kg package for £45. So I don't feel your price point is right above. I admire your responses to everyones concerns. What I would say is that people on product hunt are typically the early adopters. So if you have a hard time convincing them, you may be in for a very hard job with the general public.

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10yr ago

CyberMonday.AI

Maker

Thanks @dylankbuckley, good feedback. I do agree that London - New Zealand is well served, with affordable shipping, likely because of economies of scale from large volumes. It appears the most enthusiastic users are those along under-served, inefficient, long-tail routes, who still have to pay an arm and a leg, and so are already comfortable w/ alternatives - this includes many Asian, African and South American countries. Hopefully the feedback here will help refine the app into something that works better for those routes.

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10yr ago

As people travel between two different countries, how BuddyExpress help users know that something is legal in leaving country but not legal in another country?

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10yr ago

CyberMonday.AI

Maker

@stevesun21 Great question - planning to add feature to provide guidance on this in a future release, very important. In the meantime, there are several websites that help with this, including the TSA site. Would love to get ur ideas on how such a feature would be most effective.

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10yr ago

This is something i've always wanted to exist! Are you guys launching an Android or Web version soon?

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10yr ago

CyberMonday.AI

Maker

Thanks @aalmassry! working hard on Android and web versions. Will keep you posted!

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10yr ago

@geordasche You know, a while back, I came across this service (https://www.parcl.com) that I thought was trying to do what you guys are trying to do. Do you think there is an opportunity there between you guys for collaboration ??

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10yr ago

Zengo wallet

how do you deal with security and checking that what is sent is being safe and compliant with travel regulations?

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10yr ago

Corkdork

The FAA, Homeland Security, FBI, and TSA strongly recommend never carrying anything for a stranger into an airport--let alone onto a plane (especially a wrapped package)--and it's not because they're trying to restrict the sharing economy from taking over luggage compartments. This is a huge matter of personal liability--and not the kind (as far as I know) you can take out an insurance policy on, like an Uber driver who insures their car against injury and damage. I can't imagine an insurance company, even those that provide travel insurance, would ever take on this kind of risk. Based on what I'm reading in your other comments, there are so many moving parts to safeguard against potential and obvious pitfalls, it seems massively overwhelming. Although at this point I'm not going to become a user, I commend the approach and wish your team lots of luck.

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10yr ago

CyberMonday.AI

Maker

Thanks for your feedback, @rueter - and as you alluded to this is why BuddyExpress' focus is on enabling users to leverage their trusted networks instead of strangers. Please don't hesitate to send us any additional feature ideas that you think might mitigate!

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10yr ago

Corkdork

@geordasche I'm just not sure what you mean by trusted networks. Is that traveling friends and family? Do I need an app for that then? Am I going to charge my friends and family to carry stuff for them? Or is it friends of friends and family, in which case, wouldn't they be considered strangers?

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10yr ago

CyberMonday.AI

Maker

@rueter Yes, it's a good question, and asked by several folks on this thread as well as touched upon in my intro. What we're hearing from users is that they already tap into their network of family and friends for shipping - even with a few degrees of separation - because of implied accountability. They just want better tools for doing that instead of cold calling friends/relatives to ask if they know anyone traveling soon. BuddyExpress uses social authentication to do the heavy lifting of connecting users to their network, providing accountability via a review system and also screening against the terrorist watch list to filter out bad actors.

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10yr ago

This sounds good but all too familiar like shypmate.com a current YC co. Wondering if you knew/know about them a and how you plan to differentiate @geordasche

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10yr ago

CyberMonday.AI

Maker

@demi_ademuson BuddyExpress is a couple years in the making, and completely bootstrapped. There are a couple new niche route players focused on ordering goods overseas for specific countries. They typically have a website that lets you post orders and then they coordinate manually by email. We wish them success because there is a need. BuddyExpress is focused on providing a technology solution for social shipping that scales vs just a platform for ordering goods.

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10yr ago

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