Someone here in OZ has come up with the idea of couriering stuff near your home for you to deliver on your way home from work as an income topper, if this was paid by Bitcoin it could streamline so many aspects of this biz. I dont have the biz or funding abilities to take it further but thought I would bring it to the forum for thought.
http://m.news.com.au/NSWACT/fi993688.htm;jsessionid=FEEB66914B047E7DDA4CD7A1EE863B34Turning commuters into couriers
March 31, 2012 12:00AM
A TEAM of Aussie entrepreneurs has coupled the power of social media with the volume of traffic on city roads to create a delivery service that makes anyone an instant courier.
Formed in Melbourne but now operating in Sydney, online start- up company MeeMeep connects people who need something moved or delivered with motorists who are heading in the right direction.
Co-founder Rob Emmett said the result negated the need for expensive couriers and, because the drivers were already going close to the delivery address, it was an environmentally friendly alternative.
"I was watching empty cars and vans going back and forth and I thought: 'Wouldn't it be great if we could harness all that commuter movement'," he said.
"What's stopping us connecting the physical power of people with the digital power of the internet?"
Potential drivers hook up on the MeeMeep site with people who want items delivered, with a fee negotiated between the pair before the delivery takes place....
Live updates about new jobs are posted on the company's Facebook page. Mr Emmett said prices usually varied from $5-$50 per job and worked out to be about 40 per cent cheaper than commercial couriers.
He cited as an example workers travelling from the CBD to their outer suburban homes every day.
He said they could align with a business that needed regular deliveries from the CBD to the suburb and get paid to do what they were already doing.
"There is also a huge market out there for pick-up only items from sites like eBay, Trading Post and Gumtree and a lot of interstate movement of items like beds, picture frames, hard drives and wardrobes," Mr Emmett said.
"It's an attractive proposition for people who have one-off items to move and don't have enough stuff to fill a removals truck. - Neil Keene