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Counter-anecdote: I live in Canada, and it is not at all uncommon to ask friends who are visiting the U.S. to pick up items on their behalf (either alcohol and
by napoleond 10y ago
Counter-anecdote: I live in Canada, and it is not at all uncommon to ask friends who are visiting the U.S. to pick up items on their behalf (either alcohol and tobacco, which are often significantly cheaper at the border's duty-free stores, or e-commerce purchases that would not ship into Canada--there are several places close to the border that will receive and hang onto such packages for a fee).
Maybe that doesn't count as "shipping an item with a friend" but it's quite similar.
- lmm 10y agoI think a service that buys something for you (from businesses that sell to the public) has a big safety advantage over one that ships custom packages - while I'm sure it would still be possible to smuggle drugs that way doing so becomes a lot more complex. Likewise one that holds it and lets you pick up in person (which usually require you to present ID) rather than shipping it on. 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.