What has led to this opportunity in the first place? Restated: what's broken about shipping goods to Ghana and Nigeria currently that leads to high prices from the status quo shipping companies? What is the single biggest factor leading to high shipping costs?
Shypmate (YC W16) Pays Travelers To Bring Products To Ghana And Nigeria
51–60 of 61 posts
Re: Shypmate (YC W16) Pays Travelers To Bring Products To Ghana And Nigeria
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
We currently do not but these are things that we are looking into as we get feedback from current deliveries and quickly iterate. We are open and transparent and let the travelers know what things Shypmate covers and what we don't.
Please stop before somebody gets hurt.
Why save people from themselves, if the do this naively?
If anyone does use this service (as a courier) and if they do so without asking these obvious questions and then get burned - why protect them?
People are (imho) obliged to think for themselves. If they fail to do so why have sympathy?
Re: Shypmate (YC W16) Pays Travelers To Bring Products To Ghana And Nigeria
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
No offense taking. You bring up very valid points and concerns and they are all things that we've considered and are working on. We have answers to some, and there are still a lot of questions we don't have clear cut answers to but the fastest way to have something safe and secure for people to use is for us to expose all the cracks and quickly fix it. We appreciate all your questions amazon_not. Please keep it comin…
Now, I haven't even been trying to poke holes in your operation, but even with this cursory overview of your business, it's obvious to a mere layperson that your whole setup has enough holes to drive a truck full of C4 through. I urge you to stop and halt all operations, before somebody gets into trouble, has legal issues or get sued. Only when you are reasonably sure from a legal and regulatory perspective that ther…
I don't know why you are being voted down. If you sound harsh it's because the whole project sounds pretty crazy. Did YC really back this? Insane.
Re: Shypmate (YC W16) Pays Travelers To Bring Products To Ghana And Nigeria
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ok, you've made your point repeatedly. In fact, you've posted 17 comments in this thread. That's over the top, even without the overheated rhetoric, so please stop.
Is there some particular point to tell me to stop hours after I've stopped posting? Yes, I've posted 17 comments. Each comment has been original, on topic, with a point and I've several times been thanked by the founders for raising important issues. What's the problem with being active and engaged? How on earth can that be considered over the top? I have no dog in this fight, but I'm genuinely worried something bad…
By overheated rhetoric I meant stuff like this:
"Please stop before somebody gets hurt."
"If you keep this up, I bet you are going to see the insides of some American jail cells too"
"you have been warned"
"your whole setup has enough holes to drive a truck full of C4 through"
Active and engaged is great, but I think you crossed the line (a bit) into hounding. You repeated yourself, became shrill, and seemed uncharitably to assume that no one had thought of any legal issues before your comments appeared. The founders were admirably polite and focused on the substantive aspects of what you posted, but that doesn't mean you can't do the same.
Re: Shypmate (YC W16) Pays Travelers To Bring Products To Ghana And Nigeria
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
No offense taking. You bring up very valid points and concerns and they are all things that we've considered and are working on. We have answers to some, and there are still a lot of questions we don't have clear cut answers to but the fastest way to have something safe and secure for people to use is for us to expose all the cracks and quickly fix it. We appreciate all your questions amazon_not. Please keep it comin…
Now, I haven't even been trying to poke holes in your operation, but even with this cursory overview of your business, it's obvious to a mere layperson that your whole setup has enough holes to drive a truck full of C4 through. I urge you to stop and halt all operations, before somebody gets into trouble, has legal issues or get sued. Only when you are reasonably sure from a legal and regulatory perspective that ther…
Listen, all this company is doing is to trying to solve an important issue that has plagued Ghanaians and Nigerians for a long time. Their services have provided and continue to provide many people with the items that they need without having them secum to extremely high shipping rates and unfavorable delivery times. In my book, the only wrong that they have done is not spread through Africa faster.
Since you are seemingly unaware of how startups work, I will educate you. This company is a startup. Most startup companies do not have all the details figured it yet. The point of a startup and the point of being in YC is to learn and improve products and services so that the company is able to run more seemlessly as demand increases.
Large Companies such as uber and lyft for example were faced with many questions surrounding the safety of passengers. Even more so than companies like shypmate. Yet these companies are largely successful and have spread all over the globe. What you need to realize is that we live in a different era where many companies operate on trust between individuals and the company. If any establishment is dissected as you have done to this company, it will not be difficult to point out several 'holes' in operations or ways the services provided can cause harm.The point is that every company operates with an aspect of risk involved.
What you need to understand for now is that 1) shypmate is a startup. It will continue to make shipping more seemless and safe for both its travelers and buyers. 2)From my experience and understanding, they are fully aware of the contents of the items being shipped and make sure to the best of their ability that the items are safe for travelers. 3) Travelers are informed of products that they will be carrying and even chose whether to accept or decline a package fully aware that they will be carrying these at their own risk.
Urging them to cease all operations because something might potentially go wrong is both ignorant and shows lack of experience and even common sense from an entrepreneurship standpoint. If all founders were to take your advise, half the worlds companies would shut down and cease to exist.
Instead of looking at the negative impact this could have, I think it is a better use of everyones time to concentrate on how to make this type of shipping easier and safer for everyone involved.
Re: Shypmate (YC W16) Pays Travelers To Bring Products To Ghana And Nigeria
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If the item being delivered is over a certain value we'd have the shoppers (in Ghana or Nigeria) cover duties and taxes. Isn't it usual for countries to charge import duties on any goods (regardless of value) brought for trade (including for delivery to a purchaser) rather than for personal use, but allowing some exemptions for personal use? Is the "over a certain value" here an indication that the business model h…
Are you providing your couriers with any documentation stating that they are acting as your transport agents in shipping parcels into the country in an attempt to shield them from any liability? Do you provide all the necessary documentation for importing and clearing customs and/or do you train your couriers on how to perform these duties? Do you provide couriers with legal representation in-country and will you cov…
It is so obvious that you've never been to Nigeria before that I had to question whether I should even respond to this stringing of words together that you might call sentences. "providing your couriers with any documentation"... are you serious ?
Nigeria (the government) has been robbing its citizens for years and allowing poor electricity and poor roads. Should the citizens now worry about whether the Nigerian government should get its cut in the form of tariffs ? No! And again, whoever you are, you are just so stupid to assume that the Nigerian (practiced law) is anything close to what it is in the U.S. that you should just go and find a hole in the ground to dip your head into and pray that God gives you some sense. Nigeria is the type of country where you can pay a "police officer" to go and arrest someone (poorer than yourself) simply because you didn't like the person.
"Do you provide couriers with legal representation"...tell me why any Nigerian customs agent would waste the time to put a fellow Nigerian in prison because he was bringing baby shoes or bottles for someone else ?
Re: Shypmate (YC W16) Pays Travelers To Bring Products To Ghana And Nigeria
#57This is really a great idea. The number of issues surrounding the idea (customs, legal issues, etc.) are obvious, and the discussions around them reminds me of the questions thrown at many of the other major sharing economy start-ups initially (Uber, AirBnB, et al.), but with a good team and some experimentation they will figure them out, as other major startups have done and continue to do. People who have spent a g…
I wish the team luck; but I think that most of that luck will occur if they pivot hard away from their current tactics. Governments don't really care about informal smuggling (e.g. somebody bringing a laptop with them, and leaving it behind) because it's not happening at scale and it's impossible to police. But governments are going to care deeply about a formalized smuggling organization that beats market prices by…
"expect all inbound luggage to be searched for anything wrapped in shipmates packaging"...ok so wouldn't the couriers then just wait until after they've left customs and their destination airport to wrap the items in the SHYPMATE packaging ?
Are you trying to sound like you can't think or am I just that good at solving REALLY REALLY basic problems ?
"And the founders should not expect to ever visit home again..." ...And if you've been to Nigeria, you'll know that the founders won't lose too much sleep because of this.
" they'll get arrested when they step off the plane."...if their operation is so big that the Nigerian authorities are aware of who they are, the founders won't be arrested, customs agents will just ask for bribes. It's as simple as that.
To anyone reading this, if you've never been to Nigeria, don't have family living in Nigeria or aren't from the 3rd world, please save yourself the embarrassment of proving why America's educational system graduates its student to college at least 2 or 3 years later than Nigeria's (http://www.nairaland.com/12959/how-does-nigerian-education-w...) by not commenting on this post.
:)
Re: Shypmate (YC W16) Pays Travelers To Bring Products To Ghana And Nigeria
#58You may consider trying this with Turkey, as well. Informally, friends and family do this kind of thing pretty regularly, and it was also common practice among colleagues at my company's Istanbul office. Though it obviously doesn't offer the protections of a more formal arrangement, there is a Facebook group now to support connecting people – https://www.facebook.com/groups/417504741672236/
Is Turkey any more lenient on smugglers than Ghana or Nigeria?
I really don't know, but I understood that this business wasn't about smuggling, just transporting expensive or difficult-to-get items. Smuggling implies contraband, which by its nature is probably something tourists and travelers won't dabble with, so if the business model is built around smuggling, then I imagine it is dangerous anywhere.
Re: Shypmate (YC W16) Pays Travelers To Bring Products To Ghana And Nigeria
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is Turkey any more lenient on smugglers than Ghana or Nigeria?
I really don't know, but I understood that this business wasn't about smuggling, just transporting expensive or difficult-to-get items. Smuggling implies contraband, which by its nature is probably something tourists and travelers won't dabble with, so if the business model is built around smuggling, then I imagine it is dangerous anywhere.
> Smuggling implies contraband
Smuggling to me implies stuff that people haven't paid tax on. Not just stuff that's illegal to own.
Here's a radio programme using court records from the 18th Century to explore history. This episode is about smuggling.
> Smuggling was a trade in the 18th century - sprawling from the brutal criminal underworld, to shops, to chic drawing rooms - brandy, tobacco, pepper, lace, French silks. But one commodity above all was worth killing for and facing the noose - tea.
> In fact two thirds of the tea which was drunk in Britain was smuggled in along the Southern coastline of Britain. Every single inhabitant of coastal ports like Rye would have known what was going on, probably most were drawn into it - and many ended up in the Old Bailey in London.
Re: Shypmate (YC W16) Pays Travelers To Bring Products To Ghana And Nigeria
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Now, I haven't even been trying to poke holes in your operation, but even with this cursory overview of your business, it's obvious to a mere layperson that your whole setup has enough holes to drive a truck full of C4 through. I urge you to stop and halt all operations, before somebody gets into trouble, has legal issues or get sued. Only when you are reasonably sure from a legal and regulatory perspective that ther…
Listen, all this company is doing is to trying to solve an important issue that has plagued Ghanaians and Nigerians for a long time. Their services have provided and continue to provide many people with the items that they need without having them secum to extremely high shipping rates and unfavorable delivery times. In my book, the only wrong that they have done is not spread through Africa faster. Since you are see…
They're taking a widespread but largely illegal practice and building a business around it. Most startups don't make time to "figure out the details" by engaging in an organized criminal enterprise.
What will Shypmates be able to do when a Nigerian customs agent decides to make an example of one of their couriers? What about when a customer hides a small amount of contraband in a package and the courier gets jailed for importing drugs?