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Ask HN: Just finished coding my new startup; need ideas for getting traction

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Re: Ask HN: Just finished coding my new startup; need ideas for getting traction

#61
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, but I still don't get it. Surely giving person X access to your home carries more risk than just giving person X your PS3. Is your point that you have less legal recourse or is there something more practical I am missing?

Ah, but in that case the /seller/ is the only one with property on the line. Sellers in most markets are used to taking on risk (eBay and PayPal's policies are oriented around this pattern, for example) whereas buyers are not.

Thanks, that's what I was missing.

Re: Ask HN: Just finished coding my new startup; need ideas for getting traction

#62
I work for a large geographically diverse company and we often carry company stuff between offices on our trips to save on the cost of couriers. Perhaps you could whitelabel this service and hook into tripit.com or something similar and demonstrate to a client that with your system you could save $X,000 of money in courier fees by having your staff carry stuff internationally or even just interstate.

Re: Ask HN: Just finished coding my new startup; need ideas for getting traction

#63
The comments in this thread are interesting, and I think that all the reasons brought up as to why it won't work are accurate.

That said, I think there's a slight chance of value in making this a really premium service. Don't try to make it less expensive than USPS, make it lots more expensive than FedEx.

Find the people who like to drive. Pitch it as having an adventure. There's an old movie, Bed of Roses, where Christian Slater is a former lawyer turned flower delivery guy, because he likes seeing people's faces when they open the door and see the bouquet. You're not delivering a package, you're meeting a stranger and taking a package on a secret mission! Don't make it anonymous, have people meet in coffee shops right before they drive off to feel each other out. It's a daytrip outside of people's routine lives.

The people buying the service are people who hire traditional couriers, like bike couriers in cities, but for longer distances, when it has to be hand-delivered and you can call the guy on his cell phone and such. It's a premium service.

And then there's even a tier above that. A really expensive alibi service, where you pay someone to drive somewhere far away and have something mailed from a traditional Post Office there, to get the far-away postmark.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Just finished coding my new startup; need ideas for getting traction

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then the shipper could get ripped off.

Most of these concerns are the same as with any site that deals in blind transactions (ebay, used things on amazon, paypal in general), but these sites only require you to risk your time upfront where as in the case of this site the customer is risking something they already own with the hope of future payment. Essentially its like requiring people on ebay to send items before they receive payment. The most basic way…

Can't you just turn it into a crime not to deliver?
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