6 ms·

My bigger question is how you would validate this isn't drugs because this seems like the perfect low effort way to send high value drugs.

raw_anon_1111 6mo ago
[flagged]
- flippyhead 6mo ago
  [flagged]
  - ahhhhnoooo 6mo ago
    You think the average person has the infrastructure and the relationship with customs and the DEA that FedEx and ups do?
  - raw_anon_1111 6mo ago
    Yes because if someone gets stopped carrying contraband who works for FedEx, delivering in a FedEx truck, wearing a FedEx uniform is going to be treated the same as Bob in his Honda Civic who said he picked up a package from a known trap house and had no idea what was in it.
    - hrimfaxi 6mo ago
      Doesn't Uber have a courier service too?
      - scarface_74 6mo ago
        You would be equally as dumb to do that unless you are delivering from a commercial establishment. https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/unfortunately-i-was-the-drug-mule-in-that-situation-drugs-transported-via-ride-share/3550184/ https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/unfortunately-i... https://www.freedommag.org/news/uber-drivers-used-as-unwitting-drug-mules-across-the-us-922132 https://www.freedommag.org/news/uber-drivers-used-as-unwitti... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13107193/Uber-driver-drug-package-restricted-account.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13107193/Uber-drive...
  - randomguy2026 6mo ago
    All humor and pithy quips aside. The assumed liability is very different. A driver of a commercial courier accidentally transporting an illegal substance is at much less personal risk than an average citizen or small business. I think this match-maker platform should be willing to shoulder more that liability. KYC but for bill of lading as well? While not 1-1 or perfect, AirBnb and TaskRabbit platforms include insurance and other risk mitigations for both sides of p2p relationship.
    - raw_anon_1111 6mo ago
      A company can’t shoulder liability for a cop pulling them over and arresting them on criminal charges.
alegd 6mo ago
[flagged]
- ahhhhnoooo 6mo ago
  I think you are being too glib. The trust model is really different for small packages. Housing small amounts of drugs in objects is way easier and more likely than wrecking someone's airbnb. And the consequences are higher for the driver. You can insure an airbnb or trip. Are you going to pay for someone's legal fees when they get popped for being a drug mule?
  - dpark 6mo ago
    The bigger problem is that being a casual package courier is not worth the hassle. Let’s say someone doesn’t want to pay FedEx $70 to ship a box next-day from San Francisco to Portland, so OP arranges for you to do it and charges $35, takes $10 off the top and pays you $25. Now you are supposed to drive to random person’s house to pick up the package, carry it across state lines, and drop it off at someone else’s house. You have to deal with potential flakes on both sides of this transaction and risk of carrying who knows what the whole time. For $25. Would you agree to do this job? And if not, would you trust your package with someone who would?
    - subhobroto 6mo ago
      > Would you agree to do this job? And if not, would you trust your package with someone who would? You're absolutely right BUT I do want to point out a situation where the answer is "Yes" because the model is entirely different. Last mile delivery is expensive because it does't enjoy the economies of scale. I'm increasingly seeing increasing number of random personal vehicles drop off my retail packages that were shipped via UPS/FedEx to a central hub. I don't understand why these retailers even do this - these items are like $1-$10 and part of a much larger order that arrive in a staggered fashion. I would imagine people pay more than the item in just gas so it's likely a customer satisfaction thing. I imagine either the retailer or UPS/FedEx indemnifies these people if and when things go wrong so these people have the backing of a multibillion dollar logistics company. Perhaps the OP could look into this portion of delivery? The OP is really light on location and painpoints to ave a real concrete conversation.
chucksmash 6mo ago
> the perfect low effort way to send high value drugs They've already created a FedEx and an Amazon for high value drugs. They're called FedEx[0] and Amazon[1]. [0]: https://qz.com/1627572/drug-traffickers-favorite-way-to-move-fentanyl-is-fedex-and-usps https://qz.com/1627572/drug-traffickers-favorite-way-to-move... [1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/world/deadly-drugs-paper.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/world/deadly-drugs-paper....
- hilariously 6mo ago
  Fair, I should have said even cheaper as well.
- sharkweek 6mo ago
  Relevant Mitch Hedberg (rest in peace) joke: “ I love my fed-ex guy cause he's a drug dealer and he doesn't even know it”
pjc50 6mo ago
Check-in explicitly asks you "have you packed your bags yourself", and then you have to either say "no I have this random package from a stranger which might contain anything" or lie to customs. TBH, I can't really think of a market for this that isn't contraband. The "last mile" looks really annoying as well. Edit: I think it's a legit marketing question for OP. Name three different kinds of item someone might want to use this service for. I'll even give you one: there's already a small cottage industry of reshipping companies from e.g. Japan, who will let you buy stuff from companies that won't themselves do international shipping. Ship to re-shipper, who then handles the international part. You might be able to get a market started if your model starts with only items bought from legitimate retailers. Effectively a really long distance doordash.
- pavel_lishin 6mo ago
  I can easily imagine a market for this, because I was in the market for this until last week. I had a large, bulky, and fragile package I needed to send to Florida from New Jersey. The shipping corps were happy to do it for me for $500+, and no guarantee that it wouldn't arrive as a box of shattered glass. I ended up finding someone in town who happened to be driving there, and was kind enough to deliver it for me. They still offer no such guarantee, but they also were kind enough not to charge me for this!
  - pjc50 6mo ago
    > They still offer no such guarantee, but they also were kind enough not to charge me for this! Sure, but like open source, the dynamics are different when it's a favor without money changing hands. OP's market would want compensation, and then inevitably someone has to deal with the "my package arrived as a pile of shattered glass" claims.
  - leros 6mo ago
    It's a thing in second world countries too. There are small communities that don't get package delivery, so they ship packages to the capital city and then pay someone to drive packages to their community once a week or so. I've heard of people paying $50 a package in places with pretty low incomes.

raw_anon_1111 6mo ago

[flagged]

flippyhead 6mo ago
[flagged]
- ahhhhnoooo 6mo ago
  You think the average person has the infrastructure and the relationship with customs and the DEA that FedEx and ups do?
- raw_anon_1111 6mo ago
  Yes because if someone gets stopped carrying contraband who works for FedEx, delivering in a FedEx truck, wearing a FedEx uniform is going to be treated the same as Bob in his Honda Civic who said he picked up a package from a known trap house and had no idea what was in it.
  - hrimfaxi 6mo ago
    Doesn't Uber have a courier service too?
    - scarface_74 6mo ago
      You would be equally as dumb to do that unless you are delivering from a commercial establishment. https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/unfortunately-i-was-the-drug-mule-in-that-situation-drugs-transported-via-ride-share/3550184/ https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/unfortunately-i... https://www.freedommag.org/news/uber-drivers-used-as-unwitting-drug-mules-across-the-us-922132 https://www.freedommag.org/news/uber-drivers-used-as-unwitti... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13107193/Uber-driver-drug-package-restricted-account.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13107193/Uber-drive...
- randomguy2026 6mo ago
  All humor and pithy quips aside. The assumed liability is very different. A driver of a commercial courier accidentally transporting an illegal substance is at much less personal risk than an average citizen or small business. I think this match-maker platform should be willing to shoulder more that liability. KYC but for bill of lading as well? While not 1-1 or perfect, AirBnb and TaskRabbit platforms include insurance and other risk mitigations for both sides of p2p relationship.
  - raw_anon_1111 6mo ago
    A company can’t shoulder liability for a cop pulling them over and arresting them on criminal charges.

alegd 6mo ago

[flagged]

ahhhhnoooo 6mo ago
I think you are being too glib. The trust model is really different for small packages. Housing small amounts of drugs in objects is way easier and more likely than wrecking someone's airbnb. And the consequences are higher for the driver. You can insure an airbnb or trip. Are you going to pay for someone's legal fees when they get popped for being a drug mule?
- dpark 6mo ago
  The bigger problem is that being a casual package courier is not worth the hassle. Let’s say someone doesn’t want to pay FedEx $70 to ship a box next-day from San Francisco to Portland, so OP arranges for you to do it and charges $35, takes $10 off the top and pays you $25. Now you are supposed to drive to random person’s house to pick up the package, carry it across state lines, and drop it off at someone else’s house. You have to deal with potential flakes on both sides of this transaction and risk of carrying who knows what the whole time. For $25. Would you agree to do this job? And if not, would you trust your package with someone who would?
  - subhobroto 6mo ago
    > Would you agree to do this job? And if not, would you trust your package with someone who would? You're absolutely right BUT I do want to point out a situation where the answer is "Yes" because the model is entirely different. Last mile delivery is expensive because it does't enjoy the economies of scale. I'm increasingly seeing increasing number of random personal vehicles drop off my retail packages that were shipped via UPS/FedEx to a central hub. I don't understand why these retailers even do this - these items are like $1-$10 and part of a much larger order that arrive in a staggered fashion. I would imagine people pay more than the item in just gas so it's likely a customer satisfaction thing. I imagine either the retailer or UPS/FedEx indemnifies these people if and when things go wrong so these people have the backing of a multibillion dollar logistics company. Perhaps the OP could look into this portion of delivery? The OP is really light on location and painpoints to ave a real concrete conversation.

chucksmash 6mo ago

> the perfect low effort way to send high value drugs They've already created a FedEx and an Amazon for high value drugs. They're called FedEx[0] and Amazon[1]. [0]: https://qz.com/1627572/drug-traffickers-favorite-way-to-move-fentanyl-is-fedex-and-usps https://qz.com/1627572/drug-traffickers-favorite-way-to-move... [1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/world/deadly-drugs-paper.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/world/deadly-drugs-paper....

hilariously 6mo ago
Fair, I should have said even cheaper as well.
sharkweek 6mo ago
Relevant Mitch Hedberg (rest in peace) joke: “ I love my fed-ex guy cause he's a drug dealer and he doesn't even know it”

pjc50 6mo ago

Check-in explicitly asks you "have you packed your bags yourself", and then you have to either say "no I have this random package from a stranger which might contain anything" or lie to customs. TBH, I can't really think of a market for this that isn't contraband. The "last mile" looks really annoying as well. Edit: I think it's a legit marketing question for OP. Name three different kinds of item someone might want to use this service for. I'll even give you one: there's already a small cottage industry of reshipping companies from e.g. Japan, who will let you buy stuff from companies that won't themselves do international shipping. Ship to re-shipper, who then handles the international part. You might be able to get a market started if your model starts with only items bought from legitimate retailers. Effectively a really long distance doordash.

pavel_lishin 6mo ago
I can easily imagine a market for this, because I was in the market for this until last week. I had a large, bulky, and fragile package I needed to send to Florida from New Jersey. The shipping corps were happy to do it for me for $500+, and no guarantee that it wouldn't arrive as a box of shattered glass. I ended up finding someone in town who happened to be driving there, and was kind enough to deliver it for me. They still offer no such guarantee, but they also were kind enough not to charge me for this!
- pjc50 6mo ago
  > They still offer no such guarantee, but they also were kind enough not to charge me for this! Sure, but like open source, the dynamics are different when it's a favor without money changing hands. OP's market would want compensation, and then inevitably someone has to deal with the "my package arrived as a pile of shattered glass" claims.
- leros 6mo ago
  It's a thing in second world countries too. There are small communities that don't get package delivery, so they ship packages to the capital city and then pay someone to drive packages to their community once a week or so. I've heard of people paying $50 a package in places with pretty low incomes.