Question
eBay Items 'Hitch a Ride' on Two New Web Sites
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
May 13, 2004
Two new sites promise to serve a need that all auction buyers and sellers have: getting their auction items delivered. Canadian-based Hitchpack and Texas-based uShip have created sites where people can "hitch a ride" for their purchases, connecting people with shipping needs to people who are already making the trip.
The two sites take different approaches with fees. On Hitchpack, the sender pays a listing fee, while on uShip, there are no listing fees, and the driver pays a commission of his compensation.
"I see the cars along any major highway corridor as a conveyor belt," said Yakim Almaleh, president of Hitchpack. "The Hitchpack concept won’t increase the number of cars on this conveyor belt - it will just make more efficient use of them." Two Kingston-based entrepreneurs and a recent Queen’s University MBA graduate started Hitchpack.com.
People who are sending an item can post a listing on Hitchpack for $1.99 to look for drivers to deliver their item to recipients. The duration of a posting can be up to 2 weeks, and a 1-week renewal costs $1.99.
uShip, meanwhile, charges no listing or transaction fees for shippers. Drivers pay a transaction fee when a match is completed and approved by both parties. The transaction fee is 7.9% of the driver's compensation (the shipper's offer price) with a minimum fee of $1.
Mickey Millsap, executive vice-president of uShip, calls his site a "peer-to-peer shipping marketplace." He and two fellow MBA students founded the site, which launched March 1. They are self-funded, but will seek A-round funding once they graduate at the end of the month.
uShip requires all members to register with a credit card. Recognizing that some people won't be comfortable with a college student conveying their goods cross country, Millsap said senders can search specifically for licensed bonded drivers.
Both services use a feedback method for members to rate their transaction partners.
http://www.hitchpack.com
http://www.uship.com
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nuts
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Is it me..or does this seem like a stupid idea ??
What am I missing ??
crystal
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I think I'll stick with and the Post Office. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...n_rolleyes.gif
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While I would be hesitant to use either of these. Where I do see a possibility is large items. Types of items that are either too large for UPS/FedEx or Oversize UPS/FedEx. Truck is a minimum of $100.00, Bus around $45.00.
What would be real nice for both parties is if someone drove to point b 3 times a week regardless, and the other party had items to go to point b reguarly. A win win situation.
No way can I see this as a even thought in my mind for normal type shipments, and going to the Uship website, "commonly shipped items" include large items, table, kayak, piano, cabinet etc. Also a quote is "Save 30-80% shipping your OVERSIZED items"
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What I will be looking for is the day when Canada Post goes on strike again (and they will) and finding someone to take parcels over the border. There could be a real boon business for someone who makes trips to the US a couple of times a week.
Jill
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We do that exact thing in Vancouver
www.auctiondropnship.com
$1.00 per package
$1.50 per pick rate Min. 5 boxes
There are others in Ottawa , Toronto, this I can put you in touch with
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cool, we could all get some really neat eba y items out of those boxes, I have a really big van, hummmmm
opportunity knocking.... http://community.here.com/infopop/em...on_biggrin.gif
just kidding.....but someone would think like that.
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Hi Everyone,
As a HitchPack employee, I am little discouraged by some of the comments that I have read.
The Steiner article on AuctionBytes didn't mention that our site is reverse-auction based. What this means is that a sender posts a shipping request for sending a bike from LA to San Francisco. The posting would also include the ceiling price that he/she is willing to spend, say $15. Travellers already taking the trip would respond, indicating how much they would accept to bring the item along. At the end of the posting, the sender receives an e-mail containing all the responses along with the respective traveller ratings.
This way, the sender can select the traveller based on price AND rating. A traveller with a higher rating will probably make more money. With our concept, a sender will probably end up paying less than what he/she was willing to.
Pierre Omidyar believes that people are basically good. So do we!
Dude
HitchPack - The Ride Board for You and Your Stuff :-)
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HitchPack's service may violate eBay's Privacy Policy (that protects an eBay user's contact information) if an item is consigned to a HitchPack member without the customer's knowledge.
As for Pierre's philosophy, give me a couple billion dollars and I'll wax lyrical about the goodness of humanity all day long. I promise.
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