Tell HN: Interesting new startup - PackageFox | Hacker News Reader

Tell HN: Interesting new startup - PackageFox

packagefox.com

6 pointsramanujam11 comments

I wonder about the business model. This isn't win-win - the courier companies lose. It would be better for them if you didn't exist. Presumably they remain competitive by passing the savings from unclaimed losses on to their customers in their pricing. So the more successful you are, the worse it is for their margins and/or for general courier pricing; yet your income relies on their existence and the current difficulty of getting a claim through.

Will this cause you problems? Will your success cause the pain that you are solving to disappear, thus putting you out of business? Do you have arrangements with them, and permission to scrape their site / use their API on your customers' behalf?

The shipping audit industry has been around for years, we have just applied modern day technology and automation to an industry that has been all manual. The shipping industry is measured in billions of $ each year, so if we get that big we will figure something out.

so you're saying that if i overnighted a package, i shouldn't be entitled to a refund of the cost difference, at least, if it takes 3 days to arrive?

I am a grasshopper customer and met Hauser a few years ago. That guy is the real deal. If he is involved in this, then sign me up. The grasshopper service is great and Hauser is incredible. FedEx and UPS guaranty on-time delivery but they make it nearly impossible to actually get a refund -- their guaranty is a bit of an overstatement. If PackageFox can make this process easier and do the work to recover $$, then I don't know why eeveryone wouldn't sign up.

Sounds pretty cool... not sure about the 50% cut of refunds though! Sure, it might not add up to a lot in the long run, especially if you don't have too many late packages. But at first glance, seeing that they take 50% of the money they claim they help you earn would be a INSTANT turn-off for me, regardless of how the numbers actually add up.

Very fair point, we feel like the amount is fair for the work we do and it is free money. What number would make you signup and feel good about it?

perhaps two types of options -- a % cut for all packages, and monthly flat fee programs that have quotas (but overflow of quotas hits the % cut). gives the perception of control, and could be worthwhile for the right type of client.

edit: regardless, i passed it on to some ecommerce retail friends

Very interesting idea, we will consider offering this for sure. If anyone wants to test this we will work with them.

If you believe that 50% of the cut is a fair cut, you should add a little more detail about what exactly you are doing to justify this. Maybe mention how complicated the process is to handle on your own, how with many shipments you may never notice that some arrive late (and you get $0 back), and how much time you free up for the customer...

Great point, we will add more information and stats about the work. A good number might be the % of packages that are late and then rejected by FedEx for one reason or another and the work that goes into that. Thanks.

David Hauser, Co-Founder of Chargify and Grasshopper is listed as one of the two founders of PackageFox. This might be super beneficial for ecommerce startups if the service works the way it is stated.

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