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Ask HN: Hyperlocal printing service? Hear me out

2 points by dauuit 2y ago

I dont own a printer and dont want to buy one so I usually go to fedex office on the occasions that I need to print. This got me thinking about whether my neighbors had printers, which led me to hyperlocal printing marketplace. Instead of driving 15 minutes to a print shop and waiting in line, what if I could just order from someone on my street or a local business that wants the occasional work? Some printers could even be mobile. Basically, DoorDash for print services. You can pick it up or have it delivered. Would this interest any one?

talldayo 2y ago
Besides a convoluted credit service, I don't know how you would convince people to knock on a stranger's door to deliver $0.03 worth of paper and ink.
- dauuit 2y ago
  I was thinking $5-$10 for delivery since drivers are already doing food delivery for much less, and time saved should be worth it for customers.
solardev 2y ago
You can already print to a local FedEx Office and pick it up: https://www.office.fedex.com/default/print-and-go https://www.office.fedex.com/default/print-and-go I don't think there's enough demand for one-off home prints like this to make it worthwhile for anyone involved. A printer is like $50, or nearly free at the thrift store. Businesses have their own. People borrow friends'. The labor in getting someone to drive that stuff around is going to be way more than printing costs.
- dauuit 2y ago
  Demand is definitely a pain point for home printers which is why I also considered mobile printers. Printandgo@fedex.com is super convenient, but going there isn't. I was thinking someone doing food delivery could add this to their mix. They'd make $5-$10 to pull up, print, and leave. You get to save some time. Printers are cheap but they collect dust for months before I finally need to use one so I haven't owned one in over a decade. This is feeling like a me problem but I appreciate the feedback.
  - solardev 2y ago
    I just don't think (out of the sample of people I've met) there's many people who print infrequently enough that they don't own a printer, but are also lazy and homebound enough that they won't suffer a 15 minute errand to go to a print shop/library/FedEx/work for the one print every three months they do need. I haven't owned a printer for a decade either. My partner prints maybe five or six times a year. Our solution was to just use the HP subscription ink service, which for $1 a month lets us print ten pages (way more than enough) and we never have to worry about cartridges running low or dry. And before that, in college I just picked up a used laser for $20 that paid for itself within a few weeks. Food delivery has both way higher margins and more regularity. People eat out all the time. Not many people print anymore (or we wouldn't be having this discussion to begin with). And the hassle and cost of your proposed solution (humans driving around making one off prints) just don't seem worth it relative to existing solutions. It's a rare enough problem that few people have anymore to begin with, and it's one that's easily solved by anyone who really cares to do something about it. I can't start my own restaurant but I can certainly go and get a printer if I needed one, rather than relying on some unreliable startup that probably wouldn't be able to get enough drivers anyway and just go under in a few months... they already have a lot of apps to juggle between Lyft, Uber, Doordash, Instacart, etc. Plus, I don't think there's many people who are going to want to go through the technical hassle of maintaining a printer and dealing with file types and margins and confused grandmas who really need that print, and oh can you fax it too? Why not, her old printer could... All that time spent for $5 (which they won't get the full cut of anyway), vs just accepting another drop off along the same route (which the existing apps already do)? They make money by squeezing in as many stops as possible within a time, optimized by the app routing, not by spending time waiting for prints to happen...
apothegm 2y ago
I don’t have a printer either, but 80% of the time if I need something printed it’s a form containing sensitive info like SSNs. I mostly rely on a trusted friend. I occasionally will use a business like Staples. I would not trust a random stranger.
- dauuit 2y ago
  Would background checks, or having docs printed in front of you help at all?
  - apothegm 2y ago
    Probably not. And at $5-10/print I’d be more likely to amortize the cost of a secondhand laser printer over a couple years.

2 points by dauuit 2y ago

talldayo 2y ago

Besides a convoluted credit service, I don't know how you would convince people to knock on a stranger's door to deliver $0.03 worth of paper and ink.

dauuit 2y ago
I was thinking $5-$10 for delivery since drivers are already doing food delivery for much less, and time saved should be worth it for customers.

solardev 2y ago

You can already print to a local FedEx Office and pick it up: https://www.office.fedex.com/default/print-and-go https://www.office.fedex.com/default/print-and-go I don't think there's enough demand for one-off home prints like this to make it worthwhile for anyone involved. A printer is like $50, or nearly free at the thrift store. Businesses have their own. People borrow friends'. The labor in getting someone to drive that stuff around is going to be way more than printing costs.

dauuit 2y ago
Demand is definitely a pain point for home printers which is why I also considered mobile printers. Printandgo@fedex.com is super convenient, but going there isn't. I was thinking someone doing food delivery could add this to their mix. They'd make $5-$10 to pull up, print, and leave. You get to save some time. Printers are cheap but they collect dust for months before I finally need to use one so I haven't owned one in over a decade. This is feeling like a me problem but I appreciate the feedback.
- solardev 2y ago
  I just don't think (out of the sample of people I've met) there's many people who print infrequently enough that they don't own a printer, but are also lazy and homebound enough that they won't suffer a 15 minute errand to go to a print shop/library/FedEx/work for the one print every three months they do need. I haven't owned a printer for a decade either. My partner prints maybe five or six times a year. Our solution was to just use the HP subscription ink service, which for $1 a month lets us print ten pages (way more than enough) and we never have to worry about cartridges running low or dry. And before that, in college I just picked up a used laser for $20 that paid for itself within a few weeks. Food delivery has both way higher margins and more regularity. People eat out all the time. Not many people print anymore (or we wouldn't be having this discussion to begin with). And the hassle and cost of your proposed solution (humans driving around making one off prints) just don't seem worth it relative to existing solutions. It's a rare enough problem that few people have anymore to begin with, and it's one that's easily solved by anyone who really cares to do something about it. I can't start my own restaurant but I can certainly go and get a printer if I needed one, rather than relying on some unreliable startup that probably wouldn't be able to get enough drivers anyway and just go under in a few months... they already have a lot of apps to juggle between Lyft, Uber, Doordash, Instacart, etc. Plus, I don't think there's many people who are going to want to go through the technical hassle of maintaining a printer and dealing with file types and margins and confused grandmas who really need that print, and oh can you fax it too? Why not, her old printer could... All that time spent for $5 (which they won't get the full cut of anyway), vs just accepting another drop off along the same route (which the existing apps already do)? They make money by squeezing in as many stops as possible within a time, optimized by the app routing, not by spending time waiting for prints to happen...

apothegm 2y ago

I don’t have a printer either, but 80% of the time if I need something printed it’s a form containing sensitive info like SSNs. I mostly rely on a trusted friend. I occasionally will use a business like Staples. I would not trust a random stranger.

dauuit 2y ago
Would background checks, or having docs printed in front of you help at all?
- apothegm 2y ago
  Probably not. And at $5-10/print I’d be more likely to amortize the cost of a secondhand laser printer over a couple years.