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From the FAQ: >When you reach your travel destination, the shopper will come pick up the product from the Airport and we will pay you (the traveler) as soon as

From the FAQ: >When you reach your travel destination, the shopper will come pick up the product from the Airport and we will pay you (the traveler) as soon as the shopper receives and confirms that they have the product. This seems like it introduces a lot of risk for the traveler. What happens if the shopper receives an item, but doesn't confirm it with Shypmate? Further, as somebody that travels internationally fairly often, I'm not sure I'd be willing to do this. How are import/customs duties and declaration of goods handled? I can't find any information on the site. Further, given that this more or less looks like a scheme to skirt normal channels for importation of goods, what's going to stop the local customs authorities in Ghana or Nigeria from detaining travelers for participating in (what appears to be, though may not actually be) an illegal imports business?

kwadwon 11y ago
We do ask the shopper to confirm receipt of the item but we also do follow up with the traveler. In future we may have the traveler take a photo documenting delivery of the item so that a shopper who has received an item doesn't deny that that they have in fact received it. That is a very valid question and one we are currently working on coming up with a good solution for. The fee for duties is something we'd include in the shopper's fee but there are many cases that we'd expect to have to take on that cost initially as we iterate and refine the process. There are many questions still to be answered but we are looking to work with local authorities in Ghana and Nigeria as well.
- amazon_not 11y ago
  In addition to many other issues, I would never agree to pay import duties and taxes out of pocket as a courier. Either you give me the cash to pay for it or I'd tell customs to keep the parcel and let the buyer sort it out. Now, even assuming I'd be as silly as to pay duties and taxes out of pocket, I sure as hell wouldn't hand over a parcel before being paid in full for my services and any and all taxes and duties.
  - tcokoro 11y ago
    Hi I'm Tochukwu also one of the cofounders of Shypmate. In such a circumstance we would be understanding of the courier's situation and we would do what we think is best for both the customer and courier, potentially paying the courier before the item is given to the customer.
    - amazon_not 11y ago
      What circumstances? By default this is the case for every delivery. As a courier I would never accept a parcel unless it came with a cash advance to cover all import duties and taxes.
      - tcokoro 11y ago
        We haven't had a traveler yet that has had to pay for import duties or taxes.
        amazon_not 11y ago
        So only small ticket items then? Or have your couriers been smuggling in the stuff? ;)
        Sleaker 11y ago
        That's not an acceptable argument to the question. Just because it hasn't happened in the past does not mean it can't or wont happen once the service begins to grow, or not even if it begins to grow.. If it continues to operate into the future as someone else said the chance is non-zero.
        dragonwriter 11y ago
        Ghana, like most countries, seems to charge import duties on all imports, with exceptions for narrow sets of preferred imports. Also like most countries, Ghana exempts certain items for personal use of the traveler from this. [0] It really seems like the only way your couriers (who you refer to as "travelers") could avoid import duties in general -- I mean, I assuming that people aren't all purchasing agricultural parts, fishing gear, and other exempt categories of items -- is if the imported goods are being misrepresented as personal use items. Nigeria seems to have generally similar rule exempting personal effects [1] but requiring import duty (and import paperwork!) for all other imports [2]. Again, it sounds a lot like what is going on is technically smuggling by misrepresenting imports-for-trade as personal use items. [0] see generally, http://www.gra.gov.gh/docs/info/customs_guide.pdf http://www.gra.gov.gh/docs/info/customs_guide.pdf [1] https://www.customs.gov.ng/Stakeholders/passengers_concessions.php https://www.customs.gov.ng/Stakeholders/passengers_concessio... [2] https://www.customs.gov.ng/Guidelines/Destination_Inspection/guidelines.php https://www.customs.gov.ng/Guidelines/Destination_Inspection...
- kosich 11y ago
  Here is an idea on how to make sure the receiver doesn't deny receiving the item. 1. Add a barcode to the packaged item 2. The receiver has to scan the barcode using your mobile app before the traveler hands over the package. Your app will then display a passcode that the traver recognizes. This ensures that you are certain that the receiver is who they claim to be and also that they received the item.
  - kwadwon 11y ago
    Thanks for the suggestion. This is definitely something we have in the pipeline. One of the constraints we are dealing with is that often people will turn of their phones when they travel internationally. We do get a local (international) number to contact the travelers but a good number of those phones don't have scanning capability. An alternative is to have the shopper enter a code via sms. The traveler then gets a confirmation that validates the shopper is who they say they are and it also confirms to us that the shopper picked up the package (the traveler would not know this code).

kwadwon 11y ago

We do ask the shopper to confirm receipt of the item but we also do follow up with the traveler. In future we may have the traveler take a photo documenting delivery of the item so that a shopper who has received an item doesn't deny that that they have in fact received it. That is a very valid question and one we are currently working on coming up with a good solution for. The fee for duties is something we'd include in the shopper's fee but there are many cases that we'd expect to have to take on that cost initially as we iterate and refine the process. There are many questions still to be answered but we are looking to work with local authorities in Ghana and Nigeria as well.

amazon_not 11y ago
In addition to many other issues, I would never agree to pay import duties and taxes out of pocket as a courier. Either you give me the cash to pay for it or I'd tell customs to keep the parcel and let the buyer sort it out. Now, even assuming I'd be as silly as to pay duties and taxes out of pocket, I sure as hell wouldn't hand over a parcel before being paid in full for my services and any and all taxes and duties.
- tcokoro 11y ago
  Hi I'm Tochukwu also one of the cofounders of Shypmate. In such a circumstance we would be understanding of the courier's situation and we would do what we think is best for both the customer and courier, potentially paying the courier before the item is given to the customer.
  - amazon_not 11y ago
    What circumstances? By default this is the case for every delivery. As a courier I would never accept a parcel unless it came with a cash advance to cover all import duties and taxes.
    - tcokoro 11y ago
      We haven't had a traveler yet that has had to pay for import duties or taxes.
      - amazon_not 11y ago
        So only small ticket items then? Or have your couriers been smuggling in the stuff? ;)
      - Sleaker 11y ago
        That's not an acceptable argument to the question. Just because it hasn't happened in the past does not mean it can't or wont happen once the service begins to grow, or not even if it begins to grow.. If it continues to operate into the future as someone else said the chance is non-zero.
      - dragonwriter 11y ago
        Ghana, like most countries, seems to charge import duties on all imports, with exceptions for narrow sets of preferred imports. Also like most countries, Ghana exempts certain items for personal use of the traveler from this. [0] It really seems like the only way your couriers (who you refer to as "travelers") could avoid import duties in general -- I mean, I assuming that people aren't all purchasing agricultural parts, fishing gear, and other exempt categories of items -- is if the imported goods are being misrepresented as personal use items. Nigeria seems to have generally similar rule exempting personal effects [1] but requiring import duty (and import paperwork!) for all other imports [2]. Again, it sounds a lot like what is going on is technically smuggling by misrepresenting imports-for-trade as personal use items. [0] see generally, http://www.gra.gov.gh/docs/info/customs_guide.pdf http://www.gra.gov.gh/docs/info/customs_guide.pdf [1] https://www.customs.gov.ng/Stakeholders/passengers_concessions.php https://www.customs.gov.ng/Stakeholders/passengers_concessio... [2] https://www.customs.gov.ng/Guidelines/Destination_Inspection/guidelines.php https://www.customs.gov.ng/Guidelines/Destination_Inspection...
kosich 11y ago
Here is an idea on how to make sure the receiver doesn't deny receiving the item. 1. Add a barcode to the packaged item 2. The receiver has to scan the barcode using your mobile app before the traveler hands over the package. Your app will then display a passcode that the traver recognizes. This ensures that you are certain that the receiver is who they claim to be and also that they received the item.
- kwadwon 11y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion. This is definitely something we have in the pipeline. One of the constraints we are dealing with is that often people will turn of their phones when they travel internationally. We do get a local (international) number to contact the travelers but a good number of those phones don't have scanning capability. An alternative is to have the shopper enter a code via sms. The traveler then gets a confirmation that validates the shopper is who they say they are and it also confirms to us that the shopper picked up the package (the traveler would not know this code).