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Prim (YC S13) Does Your Laundry. Pickup, Wash, Fold, Delivery, Awesome

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Re: Prim (YC S13) Does Your Laundry. Pickup, Wash, Fold, Delivery, Awesome

#11

Post by greenyoda »

cwilson wrote: post #3

I'm a subscriber to this service and I can verify it is awesome. I'm rarely home (nor does my apartment or building have machines), the wash & folds close to me are known to lose laundry, and I absolutely don't have time to sit around and wait for my laundry in a laundry mat (you know, startup taking up all my time). This service is maybe $5 more expensive than taking it to a wash & fold yourself, so it's a no-braine…

"This service is maybe $5 more expensive than taking it to a wash & fold yourself..."

Which means the price might not be sustainable once the venture capital funding runs out, and would have to be raised to cover the company's real expenses.

Think about it:

- Prim is probably paying as much as anyone else would for the laundry services. (Why would a well-rated laundry service give Prim a discount from their usual rates? A laundry business probably has pretty slim margins, and a good one probably can get plenty of customers without offering discounts.)

- Can the extra $5 pay for the cost of the person who is picking up and delivering the laundry (a truck driver probably gets much more than minimum wage), the fuel and maintenance of the trucks, insurance, office space, computers, etc. and still provide profit for Prim?

Re: Prim (YC S13) Does Your Laundry. Pickup, Wash, Fold, Delivery, Awesome

#12

Post by aroman »

marknutter wrote: post #10

Yet another startup that caters to the 20 something tech crowd with too much disposable income and too little free time on their hands. Do people in Silicon Valley ever leave spend time outside Silicon Valley?

As fellow (hopefully that's a safe assumption) an outsider looking in, I have to agree with this.

It also just generally frustrates and disappoints me that so many brilliant young developers and entrepreneurs spend their time fixing textbook first world problems instead of addressing the poverty, disease, crime, and unrest which still plagues the world.

Re: Prim (YC S13) Does Your Laundry. Pickup, Wash, Fold, Delivery, Awesome

#14

Post by jjsz »

greenyoda wrote: post #11
cwilson wrote: post #3

I'm a subscriber to this service and I can verify it is awesome. I'm rarely home (nor does my apartment or building have machines), the wash & folds close to me are known to lose laundry, and I absolutely don't have time to sit around and wait for my laundry in a laundry mat (you know, startup taking up all my time). This service is maybe $5 more expensive than taking it to a wash & fold yourself, so it's a no-braine…

"This service is maybe $5 more expensive than taking it to a wash & fold yourself..." Which means the price might not be sustainable once the venture capital funding runs out, and would have to be raised to cover the company's real expenses. Think about it: - Prim is probably paying as much as anyone else would for the laundry services. (Why would a well-rated laundry service give Prim a discount from their usual rat…

Though by that time, with their customer base, they can guarantee bulk economical washing machines directly from manufacturers, discounted rental space, and hybrid or electric cars to further cut down costs.

Re: Prim (YC S13) Does Your Laundry. Pickup, Wash, Fold, Delivery, Awesome

#16

Post by caoxuwen »

redthrowaway wrote: post #8

Come on, Xuwen. You run a laundry service. Your shirt should not look like it's spent the last week on your floor. The guy with the faux hawk is wearing a shirt that looks how I want my shirts to look. The very least you can do is use your own product and show why it rocks, and that means wearing a freshly cleaned shirt.

Sorry that was a new shirt taken out of a box before we took a last minute photo. None of my other shirts were like that...

Re: Prim (YC S13) Does Your Laundry. Pickup, Wash, Fold, Delivery, Awesome

#17

Post by jjsz »

aroman wrote: post #12
marknutter wrote: post #10

Yet another startup that caters to the 20 something tech crowd with too much disposable income and too little free time on their hands. Do people in Silicon Valley ever leave spend time outside Silicon Valley?

As fellow (hopefully that's a safe assumption) an outsider looking in, I have to agree with this. It also just generally frustrates and disappoints me that so many brilliant young developers and entrepreneurs spend their time fixing textbook first world problems instead of addressing the poverty, disease, crime, and unrest which still plagues the world.

"Well maybe once everything in our country is automated, we'll have time to worry about others' automation, digital divide, and poverty."

Re: Prim (YC S13) Does Your Laundry. Pickup, Wash, Fold, Delivery, Awesome

#18

Post by hardwaresofton »

I had this idea, though I envisioned hardcases with RFID tags and a laundry robot that read them -- But nice to see it was a good idea.

And yeah, it's a solution to a first world problem that only really occurs to 20 something tech crowd people, but, in the end, there's a market, and they're serving it. Simple as that.

Re: Prim (YC S13) Does Your Laundry. Pickup, Wash, Fold, Delivery, Awesome

#19

Post by pbreit »

pbreit wrote: post #6
wiml wrote: post #2

I'm under the impression that pick-up-and-drop-off laundry has been a common business in larger cities for the last, oh, century or more? Is this just a "...yeah, but this time it's on the Internet!" business model?

To an extent you are correct although your snarky tone is lame. The same could be said of towncars and taxis, for example, but Uber has absolutely brought a new spin to the market taking large advantage of the internet and mobile to organize constituents and offer enhanced service. I don't think laundry has quite the opportunity but I don't find it necessary to belittle the effort here since there is obviously room f…

Reason for downvotes?

Re: Prim (YC S13) Does Your Laundry. Pickup, Wash, Fold, Delivery, Awesome

#20

Post by imcqueen »

Are you trying to sell this to businesses as an employee perk or just DTC right now?

I'm guessing most employers who offer this service have people bring their clothes on site to be picked up (anyone with experience please weigh in). Your angle is to eliminate that piece, so that may be a good selling point.

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