Skip the Post Office, Use Shyp
blog.geteasypost.com
blog.geteasypost.com
Not really. You do need packing materials.. but Endicia, Stamps.com, and even the USPS website will let you print postage. And you can request a free pickup through the usps website.
That's your real competition...
Absolutely! However USPS only does pickups from 10-2 M-S. You need to be there or leave the package outside.
We will be soon adding support for UPS, Fedex, Ontrac and a bunch of other regional shipping company. Ship through Shyp and we handle everything.
I've also heard some UPS Stores will pickup, package, and ship packages for you.. but it's up to the store (they're independently owned).. don't know how widespread that is.
I really don't have anything else to add... It's an interesting idea.. How compelling it is depends on the price I would think.
The question now begs whether the benefits of their service warrants the extra cost?
Size of the box is also a very important factor. Using the free USPS boxes, it can be double or even triple the cost of a tight fitting box. Size does matters ;) We currently have 20 different sized boxes in our warehouse.
We are trying to offer an amazing service but still remain competitive to current pricing.
Saying that, there will be a ton of people who will do anything to save a dollar. I value my time very highly and assume a lot of other people do as well.
What would be cool is if you provided the same kind of service that paypal does for shipping (print and prepare labels etc.) as an addon / plugin to shopify or other shopping cart systems.
Check out Ordoro for printing labels. I think they integrate into shopify. Not our business.
If this works in SF it will most likely work in other major cities. Shipping stuff sucks everywhere.
Did USPS open up some regulation or something, what's going on?
That being said, one thing we've seen, is as companies have invested more and more in digital delivery, they've 'de-invested' in their physical print & mail production, so it makes a lot of off load it to a S(oftware)+S(ervices) model.
Fulfillment is the biggest pain in the ass of a business. You won't understand until you have to do it yourself. Even 10 packages can take an hour from beginning to end. So a few startups caught on and the rest were inspired to offer solutions as well.
I personally can't use Shyp because I have a sweet & easy setup already.
1) I have all my shipping supplies in the basement (boxes stacked to the ceiling).
2) I pack my orders (from DayOnePP.com) and buy postage using Stamps.com and print it out on sticky labels using my laser printer.
3) As long as 1 box is Priority Mail the USPS will pick up for free the next day. She's usually here at 3pm so I know when to be ready.
4) If not, there's always a post office within 5 minutes that has a 24/hour package drop off container. I just run through that before work and drop off all the boxes I've got.
It literally cannot get easier. I don't wait in line for anything and still get the cheapest prices on postage by using the online discounts that stamps.com(& PayPal Shipping & Pitney Bowes Smart Postage & Endicia offer) .
Beyond actually packing and shipping the product I don't see what else there is left to solve.
Looks like you have a great system but there is still room for improvement. Our new pricing is actually free pickup if you send 2+ packages.
In v2 or v3 we will have a super easy way to import orders directly into Shyp. Just export and choose your pickup time, thats it. We will come, separate all items (providing they have a UPC or serial) and verify.
We will ship each item the best way possible (speed or price). Our goal for high volume shippers is to actually save them money from current processes. We make our margins from the discount we have negotiated will all the providers. Everybody is happy at the end of the day.
Why, if I want to ship things to people as my business, would I implement some software myself using this rather than buy an existing offering?
Am I missing something? Shipping and accepting credit cards are completely different, I know this API concept works for Stripe, but I fail to see how it works well for shipping.
I work on an internal company application and it would be great if people could purchase & print postage from within the application.
Drop me a line at j at easypost dot com and I'd love to see how we can help
If you had a way for me to use a normal digital camera with my PC it would help get me on board.
There was some other new service here on HN recently that was called 'Sold' for selling stuff but it only worked on a certain platform I didn't have a device for, too- so I guess its not uncommon for startups to exclude whole market segments by device ownership.
To come to that decision, it was probably a factor of what you know and also some insight into the customer base. For example, maybe iOS users tend to be more likely to pay a premium for convenience or that in San Francisco, iOS penetration is higher than Android, etc etc.
If the product picks up traction, I will bet that their next move is to port to Android, then web, then maybe ... maybe windows phone and blackberry.
We take these bags with contents to our warehouse where we professional package all items for transport.
We are looking to cover round trip but still seeing if that is economical for us.