Why hasn't AirBnB, CouchSurfing, or similar companies started disrupting the global shipping business yet by using their users as shippers. They don't even provide an API for building such apps. It's a huge opportunity i think.
I have an answer to this question: illegal drugs. I don't have a second answer to this question. This makes me think that you'd have difficulty finding 1,000 of legal packages to run through a proof of concept, to say nothing of scaling to the millions you need to have a viable logistics business.
When Uber first came out i thought it won't work because of all the kidnappings and robberies that would happen. I wonder if you have the same skepticism about travellers becoming carriers.
Edit: not disagreeing, it's a totally valid reason.
Huh? Where/in what culture is that? I don't think I know anyone who does ship items with friends with any kind of frequency. I think I've shipped an item with a friend once in my life (a figurine that I could only find on sale in the US), and there are proxy buyer services that cover that use case in a much easier (and safer for them) way.
Maybe that doesn't count as "shipping an item with a friend" but it's quite similar.
And while it's a fair example, I think Canada, where most of the population lives very close to the US border, probably doesn't generalise to the rest of the world.
"Did you pack this bag yourself sir"
"Oh yes"
"And all the contents is yours"
"Well, no. I mean, there's a package in there that I'm taking with me that's somebody elses"
"But you wrapped the package yourself?"
"Well, no"
"So you didn't pack the bag yourself?"
"Yes I did, there's just one brown paper wrapped item I'm couriering for a friend"
"So your bag contains a package that it not yours, and that you've not seen inside which was given to you by someone else?"
"Yes. But it's fine. I got it via an App..."
Luggage by contrast is expensive. The marginal cost of a checked bag is far more than just posting the thing to the destination.
So the only value might be in ""disrupting"" local customs enforcement. Brazil has a 50% import duty on electronics, for example. So you might be able to do something there - although the customs people are already alert to this possibility.
Our "IRS" shut down the company, even with they claiming every traveler would declare and pay proper taxes.