Depending on where you are in the world, getting something delivered to your doorstep can be difficult if not impossible.
Enter the traveling courier.
A new startup, Envoyrs.com is aiming to meet those needs with travelers who are looking to pocket some cash on their next journey.
An international courier service, Envoyrs allows customers to pay for their item along with an appropriate commission in an online transaction that is not completed until the traveler makes the delivery. In this case, Envoyrs looks after the funds until the process is complete.
The customer is able to fill out a form online to request their item and provide additional details. Afterward, the couriers, known as envoys, purchase the item themselves and are reimbursed plus commission upon a successful delivery.
Envoyrs takes a 15 percent service charge on each transaction, and recommends a minimum commission of $5, according to Raymond Walsh of USA Today's Road Warrior Voices. Of course commission will vary depending on the worth of the item.
"My cofounder, Catherine, and I were living in Bali and realized that getting things delivered was a huge issue because of fees and unreliable postal services," co-founder Tim Beiko told Road Warrior Voices. "We asked people in our community if they'd experienced the same problem and learned that this was a widespread issue."
"After some market research, we concluded that this problem affected more than just Bali, and was quite big in Southeast Asia especially," he added.
According to Walsh, more than 1,500 people from more than 50 different countries have signed up with Envoyrs.
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