Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

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Caduceus
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Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by Caduceus »

Has anyone tried peer-to-peer shipping services like Grabr? These are services/apps that connect people who are traveling, and want to make some money on the side by also purchasing items for you and bringing them back. So, for example, if someone was taking a return flight from London to New York, you could pay them a fee to collect an item in London, and then you'd pick up the item in New York when they return.

It would be a lifesaver for items that just aren't available from the most common retailers and/or are a hassle to ship through customs (perishable items / liquids / antiques)

Would be interested in hearing your experiences/recommendations
Cruise
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by Cruise »

Next time you are in Mexico, I have a friend who wants to deliver a package to me. 😀
pizzy
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by pizzy »

I can’t imagine the money is good enough to do this.
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Marylander1
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by Marylander1 »

This sounds more like a plot device than a functioning business.
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leeks
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by leeks »

This post sounds like an ad for Grabr
hicabob
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by hicabob »

What specific legal items would such a service would be useful for?
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mrmass
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by mrmass »

Cruise wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 3:33 am Next time you are in Mexico, I have a friend who wants to deliver a package to me. 😀
Yup all I can visualize is Locked up Abroad.
HomeStretch
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by HomeStretch »

Hard to believe this service has a viable model. There is no way I would accept an unknown package from an unknown person in order to bring an item, for example, from London to NY.
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rob
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by rob »

How do you get past that question on check in... Has someone given you a package :-)
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ResearchMed
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by ResearchMed »

rob wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 10:41 am How do you get past that question on check in... Has someone given you a package :-)

This! ^^

:shock:

RM
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TomatoTomahto
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

hicabob wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:59 am What specific legal items would such a service would be useful for?
I guess if someone wanted something available at Duty Free, but I’d only do that for a friend.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by ResearchMed »

TomatoTomahto wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 10:57 am
hicabob wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:59 am What specific legal items would such a service would be useful for?
I guess if someone wanted something available at Duty Free, but I’d only do that for a friend.

Also, it's quite different if someone asks you to *purchase* something and bring it back.

Being given a package (or even a "thing")... no way! For several reasons........
And by a stranger/"service"?
Really!?
I don't see how this is even legal (and perhaps it isn't).

RM
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TomatoTomahto
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

ResearchMed wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 11:10 am
TomatoTomahto wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 10:57 am
hicabob wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:59 am What specific legal items would such a service would be useful for?
I guess if someone wanted something available at Duty Free, but I’d only do that for a friend.

Also, it's quite different if someone asks you to *purchase* something and bring it back.

Being given a package (or even a "thing")... no way! For several reasons........
And by a stranger/"service"?
Really!?
I don't see how this is even legal (and perhaps it isn't).

RM
I could see trying to explain it to the judge. No thanks.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
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rob
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by rob »

TomatoTomahto wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 10:57 am
hicabob wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:59 am What specific legal items would such a service would be useful for?
I guess if someone wanted something available at Duty Free, but I’d only do that for a friend.
In the dim dark past sometimes you need a really urgent signature on a contract where this might have been worth it... but it's all esign now days. I cannot think of anything legit today....
| Rob | Its a dangerous business going out your front door. - J.R.R.Tolkien
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ResearchMed
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by ResearchMed »

rob wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 11:23 am
TomatoTomahto wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 10:57 am
hicabob wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:59 am What specific legal items would such a service would be useful for?
I guess if someone wanted something available at Duty Free, but I’d only do that for a friend.
In the dim dark past sometimes you need a really urgent signature on a contract where this might have been worth it... but it's all esign now days. I cannot think of anything legit today....

Ah, memories...

The courier services that we occasionally used to get an NIH grant in the door by 5pm on the last day... And occasionally one of us would fly with the precious stack of papers "to be sure".
[Umpteen paper copies of what could be thick proposals...]

But those were all verifiably papers (one could flip through the pages, nothing hidden in some special cutout area.

This makes me think... what about the air service for parcels? One may not know exactly which flight it would be on, but...?
Fun times now! :annoyed

RM
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Cruise
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by Cruise »

Once, while visiting my senior senator in Washington, his chief of staff asked me to bring a piece of luggage with me back home, which I would then give to the senior staffer in his state’s office. I was even worried about transporting that, thinking what kind of payoff money or worse might be in the luggage. 😀
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by talzara »

Caduceus wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 5:48 pm Has anyone tried peer-to-peer shipping services like Grabr? These are services/apps that connect people who are traveling, and want to make some money on the side by also purchasing items for you and bringing them back. So, for example, if someone was taking a return flight from London to New York, you could pay them a fee to collect an item in London, and then you'd pick up the item in New York when they return.

It would be a lifesaver for items that just aren't available from the most common retailers and/or are a hassle to ship through customs (perishable items / liquids / antiques)
Grabr is for deliveries from Europe and the United States to South America. It's competing with the package forwarders in Doral, Florida. Since incomes are much lower, small savings to us are big savings to them. For example, Argentina's GDP per capita is 17% of the United States. If Grabr costs them $10 less than a package forwarder, that's like saving $60 to us.

If you want to buy something from South America, you might be able to use a courier on the return trip. However, you won't find anyone to deliver a product from London to New York City because they're all flying to South America.

You'll also have a hard time finding someone to take a valuable antique. They want products that are lightweight and not fragile.
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by talzara »

hicabob wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:59 am What specific legal items would such a service would be useful for?
You can see a list of items on the Grabr website. Most of them appear to be:
  • Electronics
  • Personal care items that cost a lot less in the United States, such as skin creams, lotions, and nutritional supplements
  • Unique items that are not easy to buy in South America, such as accessories for a musical instrument from Germany
talzara
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by talzara »

HomeStretch wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 10:36 am Hard to believe this service has a viable model. There is no way I would accept an unknown package from an unknown person in order to bring an item, for example, from London to NY.
rob wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 10:41 am How do you get past that question on check in... Has someone given you a package :-)
ResearchMed wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 11:10 am Also, it's quite different if someone asks you to *purchase* something and bring it back.

Being given a package (or even a "thing")... no way!
Nobody is giving you a package, unless you mean the UPS delivery person. Grabr requires travelers to buy the items themselves.

Also, the OP did not ask how to make money by delivering products. The OP asked about using the service to buy a product. You're answering the opposite of the OP's question. It's like if someone asked about using Uber to get to the airport, and the responses said, "I would never want to drive a stranger to the airport. What if they stab me and steal my car?"
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Caduceus
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by Caduceus »

talzara wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 1:27 pm Grabr is for deliveries from Europe and the United States to South America. It's competing with the package forwarders in Doral, Florida. Since incomes are much lower, small savings to us are big savings to them. For example, Argentina's GDP per capita is 17% of the United States. If Grabr costs them $10 less than a package forwarder, that's like saving $60 to us.

If you want to buy something from South America, you might be able to use a courier on the return trip. However, you won't find anyone to deliver a product from London to New York City because they're all flying to South America.

You'll also have a hard time finding someone to take a valuable antique. They want products that are lightweight and not fragile.
Talzara, thank you. This helps explains a lot. I couldn't get any courier offers for the route that I wanted and I did notice that just about every request was to a destination in South America.

Do you happen to know of any similar apps that have wider coverage?
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Re: Has anyone tried peer-to-peer courier services?

Post by talzara »

Caduceus wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 7:29 pm Talzara, thank you. This helps explains a lot. I couldn't get any courier offers for the route that I wanted and I did notice that just about every request was to a destination in South America.

Do you happen to know of any similar apps that have wider coverage?
Package forwarding exists to fill a gap in the market. It has to be difficult and expensive to buy products in country A, easy and inexpensive to buy products in country B, and the retailers in country B won't ship to country A for a reasonable fee.

That's not true for the UK and the US, so there isn't a large market for package forwarding.
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