Shyp launches service in L.A. area
The on-demand pickup, packaging and posting service Shyp launched in Los Angeles on Wednesday, bringing with it a 20,000-squarefoot packing and shipping facility in the City of Commerce, and plans to employ dozens of delivery contractors.
Founded in San Francisco a year ago, the start-up aims to solve what co-founder Kevin Gibbons described as the most “painful” part of shipping an item — packing something and taking it to the post office.
“It’s not an easy thing to solve,” he said. “Consumers currently doing it themselves have to find a box, get bubble wrap and packing tape, pack everything, then take it to the post office. What we wanted to do was make it as simple as possible.”
Using Shyp, customers take a photo of the item they want to ship and input the destination via the company’s mobile app.
Shyp offers users a tool to compare shipping costs of freight services such as FedEx, UPS and USPS so they can estimate the cost of shipping.
A Shyp courier then comes to the customer’s home or workplace, picks up the item, takes it to Shyp’s packing facility for professional packaging and sends it via the chosen freight service. Shyp charges users a $5 pickup fee.
Shyp will join other ondemand delivery services already available in Los Angeles, such as Postmates, another San Francisco startup that delivers restaurant and store purchases, and Schlep & Fetch, a Los Angeles start-up where users can book a courier to send and pick up items from stores, restaurants, friends and family.
According to Gibbons, Los Angeles is a city ripe for on-demand courier services because while most people may have a car, few people like sitting in traffic, and even fewer enjoy going to the post office.
“With how spread out the city is, it also means a post office or FedEx is likely to be a lot further away than in San Francisco or New York,” Gibbons said. “So this has the added convenience of someone coming to you.”
Shyp will launch by servicing the greater Los Angeles area, starting downtown and stretching to Santa Monica, Los Feliz, Echo Park, Brentwood and Marina del Rey.