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.
@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.
@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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@geordasche@bentossell this is how shipping was done before FedEx FYI. FedEx was the first company to charter its own planes for shipping. #funfact
@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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Sounds risky. Any room for drug or terrorist activities? If so, how would you deal with all those?
@mirmayne The app screens against the terrorist watchlist, limits the categories of items that can be carried, and also provides a public audit trail of package photos to establish chain of custody.
Ultimately, as required by our user agreement, the best protection for the traveler is to properly declare the package for screening at the airport - just like they would if sending via post office.
What our users are saying is that they want tools to make it easier to tap into their trusted network of family and friends for shipping - even with a few degrees of separation - and that's the primary goal: enabling easy access to trusted network. Our goal is to make this existing practice even safer so welcome your thoughts on features that will enhance this.
@mirmayne I find it risky aswell. Since people fake even passports. I dont think that there is a rule!? To carry risky stuff and say it belongs to someone else, but it is still in your luggage. If people would not be honest, this would be a perfect Solution for Turkish people!!!
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@tristancelebi I agree. Look at also this concept: Jim asks me to carry is watch. Jim knows it cost him £4K. I ran off with it never to be seen again. I'm curious to see how this app plays out.
@mirmayne@tristancelebi Good points - hence the escrow/collateral provided by the app. If you run off w/ Jim's watch, BuddyExpress will charge your credit card to reimburse Jim. :)
@zosegal Great question. What we're hearing from users is that they want the tools to manage risk by allowing them to tap into their trusted networks of friends and family for shipping.
Trust is key, so BuddyExpress leverages social authentication, pulls in your network, provides community policing via reviews, and documentation as well to enable you to make better decisions on security and risk.
The idea being that it scales because it's the community that is managing security and risk, and not a central bottleneck. Thoughts?
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?
@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.
@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.
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.
BuddyExpress connects travelers who have extra luggage space to people with shipping and shopping needs. Travelers can earn extra cash by carrying safe packages on their personal trips, particularly for routes underserved by traditional couriers.
Senders are able to bid for affordable shipping, especially for emergency shipping needs which are traditionally expensive.
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