PPS.: If you want to send something and your country is not in our database, please let me know asap and we'll insert the country into our database for you.
I saw that somebody tweeted that India would be interesting - we've already negotiated the prices and will have them in the database soon. Email me at laura (at) goshippo.com
Brilliant! Suggestions: 1. Can you enable keyboard navigation for the dropdowns? 2. Currency seems to default to my language setting, not to my location. Can this be configurable? Bugs: 1. Sorting doesn't seem to work. 2. Your blog seems to be having performance problems.
Which country are you in? I'm taking suggestions which ones to include next ;) Just finished negotiating with some Indian courier services and will insert them into the database soon! Will then have a look at China next... Please do let me know which countries you want to see next.
Your "This field is required" validation labels obscure the postcode lookup dropdown for me when I submit before inputting any details. Otherwise, very nice!
It kept throwing errors saying that I needed to pick a valid zip code or city from the dropdown (despite having done so). I had 45247 and Tokyo Japan as my two selections. It also said "This field is required" with a bubble that pointed off screen with no way to scroll over to whatever the field was.
Trying to use Tokyo might be your problem. There is a notice posted at the top of the page saying "Supporting Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States to date" so it looks like your selection shouldn't work.
Hey 67726e, you're right. We're currently showing the best rates for these countries, meaning that we have more than one courier provider for them in our database to allow comparison. All the other countries should work nevertheless simply without "good" (cheap) rates. So it's our bad, apologies!
After entering a valid zip (92128), I had to click the box again to get a listing of valid entries for the zip and select the first one (which had zip/city/state) before it would continue.
The UI should probably auto-select the first one (best match) if user enters the full zip.
I was able to continue and I liked the idea/implementation overall. Nice :)
hahaha, yes that's the HN effect. I didn't expect that that many people would click on it and we're now staring at GA overwhelmed by the response... Can't even work on the bugs now because the server got so slow.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Hey geekyguy, thanks for clicking on the link and I'll have to apologize about the server problem. I'm really really sorry. I didn't expect the HN community would be that interested about Shippo... The server should normally adjust automatically to the traffic but somehow it's trashed right now. Sorry again for the inconvenience!
I get a 503 -- thanks HN! ;) -- but a completely empty page. Consider configuring your server so that a minimum output is sent in order not to confuse the average joe later.
Thanks for the suggestion, ozh! I'm sorry about the server problem. I didn't expect such an overwhelming response rate on HN and all we can do now is stare at GA in disbelieve ;)
This site will certainly be useful in the next month when I need to ship a couple of prototypes overseas for testing. Its currently not working for me, but looks like you're being slammed with traffic. I'll bookmark and try again later. Good luck with it!
Awesome, agnuku. Please let me know which country you need as an outbound country and I'll add the country into our database asap in case it's not already in there! And please do send me a msg on laura (at) goshippo.com. I'm happy to give everybody here from HN the service without taking commission.
my parents in-law recently purchased a fantastic white Lexus LS 460 Sedan by work parttime using a laptop... you can find out more... www.Buzz19.com
I was under the impression (hearsay) that the Big Two carriers at least (FedEx, UPS) do not appreciate having their prices directly compared and contrasted.
Is offering this service only for international shipments a way to get around that?
Hey adyus, valid question. FedEx and UPS have similar points in their T&Cs that talk about comparison. Feel free to get in touch personally to talk about possible solutions!
Worked for me. Love the idea. Although I would not use it myself mainly because I rarely send anything ( just once in last 10 years maybe ). I am not sure if I am a rare case or just common case.
However, turn this into a brokerage for ecommerce shops, ebay sellers, etc... and, $$$
Thanks for the feedback. Yes, this is exactly what we're trying to do. Looking for beta customers at the moment that offer platforms to connect buyers and sellers. For them the price and convenience counts. If anybody here wants to beta test, ping me!
What about server side implementation? I saw that you are using Apache. If you are on Django or Rails you can easily switch to Nginx and gain some benefits.
Hey arush, thanks for the positive feedback! I'm sorry about the server problem. We weren't expecting that many clicks when I posted it on HN... ;) We'll be based in SF starting from next week Tuesday. Want to move this conversation to email? I'm laura(at)goshippo.com
Hey canistr, thanks for the feedback? Where are you based? I'd love to offer everybody here on HN the service without taking commission for a trial period in exchange for occasional feedback. Why don't you message me at laura(at)goshippo.com and we can talk
I'm sorry, Ye. I really am super sorry about the server problems and I apologise to everybody who can't access the site. We simply did not expect such an overwhelming response from the HN community and we weren't prepared for it. Again, I apologise for the inconvenience and hope for your patience and understanding
Hey caublestone, thanks for the compliment. Which country are you in? Is it in our database already? If not I'll include it for you.
Also, I'm really happy to offer everybody from HN the service without taking commission for a test phase in exchange for occasional feedback. Let me know if interested. You can reach me on laura(at)goshippo.com
Hi kd5bja, valid question. The statement you quoted is our vision for the future. We just launched with our MVP and we're working on the courier side to get as many courier services into our database as possible. At the moment we don't cover all courier services globally. We've got the courier services from Germany, UK, Sweden, Finland and Norway in our database. That's why it's only 11 couriers. I hope for your understanding and I really hope that we can reach our vision soon.
The way your frontpage is built, it looks like a claim of what you currently provide. It's also odd that you show the DHL and TNT logos on the front page but don't actually support them yet.
I like your vision and hope you get there, but misleading potential customers like that doesn't sit well with a lot of people.
I agree with your point and we never had the intention to mislead our customers. I'm sorry if it appeared as if we were trying to mislead them! We just launched and there was no bad intention behind putting the logos up there. I guess we were just a little too rash with that decision. We're currently in talks with both TNT and DHL and will have them in the database within the next two weeks. I'd just like to assure you again that there was no bad intention at all!
Wonderful! I don't ship internationally very often, but I've wanted something like this every time.
I tried sorting my search results using the buttons on the upper right, but none of them worked. I suggest also making the column labels work for toggle sorting.
The option to include a screenshot with feedback is a great idea.
Thanks for the great feedback and the compliment! You're right, the sorting feature is still not functioning well. It's on the to do list (the to dos are pilling up with all the great feedback we're getting here:)). Thanks for letting me know!
Hey tengkahwee, thanks for your feedback. We're moving to Asia next. Just promised another commentator to do India first but after that I'll get Singapore into the database. Can I get back to you when we're ready? Would you like to beta test?
An API for developers would be really nice for integrating into personal ecommerce websites. It's a pain dealing with all the couriers individually. Please also consider adding support for Purolator and Canada Post.
Hi jamese, the API will be ready next week! Purolator and Canada Post it is. Can I get back in touch with you when we have them integrated? Also, if you can spare some time I'd really like to learn more about what kind of pain you were experiencing with the courier services so we know what not to do!! My email is laura(at)goshippo.com
I'm launching a marketplace within a month or so for custom machining and fabrication. Vendors want instantaneous quotes and labels. I'll probably be integrating with EasyPost to start. Here are some thoughts:
I need an API so a vendor can print labels from my site. I want one-click shipping so that they get 1) a label 2) billed 3) pickup. Speed is important to my vendors. Most of them bill hourly and think of their time that way so anything that reduces time per job is a big deal.
My flow looks like:
Customer enters specs and shipping info for a price quote -> Vendor responds with a quote including shipping
If all goes well, I'll also do instantaneous pricing for certain machining processes. Unless I missed something in the docs, EasyPost apparently does not do quotes based solely on zip/dimensions/weight and I never got a response from support when I asked. For me, this means that to get a shipping quote, customers also need to enter at least an "address_line1". There may be a business/technical reason for this, but I'm worried that having to enter that additional piece of personally-identifying info on my site will be a dealbreaker for first-time customers while I'm starting up.
For my use case, I'd like to see Stripe Connect functionality for shipping: vendors sign up for shipping through OAuth and then I interact with the shipping service on behalf of each vendor. On EasyPost, it appears that a UPS/Fedex/USPS/whatever
account is tied to the EasyPost account. It was suggested that I bill vendors for shipping and go through my own carrier accounts, but this seems messy.
If you could address some concerns for marketplaces in the future, I'd be pretty happy.
Hi tbran, thanks for leaving a comment. Here's my take on your concerns:
Easypost is a really great service. They were in YC and I think they are a great choice for the flow you mentioned. We're quite different from them (while we're still addressing the same problem).
The address_line 1 is not necessary to get an accurate quote. However, it is necessary to generate a label that you'll need for sending the package. You'll have to be careful to enter the correct address. FedEx charges extra afterwards for address corrections. Our goal was to build an API that allows you to get accurate quotes without having to enter a lot of data. However for the final label purchase the exact address will be necessary.
UPS/FedEx etc. don't allow you to pass on your account to people that are not directly connected with your business. I assume that is what you meant by "messy." If you still want to do that stripe connect is certainly a good choice. This is exactly what we're working on - to get contracts with courier services to eliminate this problem.
About the flow that we had envisioned for our service:
customers choose the product they want to buy -> tell us in which country they live -> we show them all available courier services -> they chose the servicelevel that suits their needs best (fastest, cheapest, whatever) -> check out -> the label is directly sent to the vendor -> vendor sticks it on the package -> brings it to the post office/gets pickup (vendor can specify if only pickups are allowed & which day is best for pick up) -> done (all through API)
Just email me at laura(at)goshippo.com if you have any more questions. Happy to help out.
Regarding the "messy account passing", I'd just like to be able to interact with a vendor's own UPS account with minimal setup from my vendor. Thanks for the info! It clears some things up.
I don't know a service that offers multiple courier services and allows multiple accounts... If you want you can integrate the API of one courier service, such as UPS, and offer access with multiple accounts. Or you can use Easypost and have access to multiple courier services with one single account. I'm sorry that I couldn't be more helpful. Good luck!
Never thought about it like that... We needed a name for the domain and chose this one because I thought we could have a Hippo (the animal) in our logo. I really like how mailchimp uses their logo to make their service a bit cooler. Thanks for mentioning.
113 comments
[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 216 ms ] threadDid a trial entry for the UK between cities and found that UPS was cheapest, if I book it I'll try and do so through the site.
It kept throwing errors saying that I needed to pick a valid zip code or city from the dropdown (despite having done so). I had 45247 and Tokyo Japan as my two selections. It also said "This field is required" with a bubble that pointed off screen with no way to scroll over to whatever the field was.
Using an iPhone 5, ios 7.
The UI should probably auto-select the first one (best match) if user enters the full zip.
I was able to continue and I liked the idea/implementation overall. Nice :)
A minor copy change suggestion:
"only pay after you created" -> "only pay after you create"
Is offering this service only for international shipments a way to get around that?
However, turn this into a brokerage for ecommerce shops, ebay sellers, etc... and, $$$
I get a "503 Service Unavailable: Back-end server is at capacity" for this:
https://goshippo.com/wp-content/themes/wpbootstrap/images/lo...
Matt
I like your vision and hope you get there, but misleading potential customers like that doesn't sit well with a lot of people.
I tried sorting my search results using the buttons on the upper right, but none of them worked. I suggest also making the column labels work for toggle sorting.
The option to include a screenshot with feedback is a great idea.
Love your product.
I need an API so a vendor can print labels from my site. I want one-click shipping so that they get 1) a label 2) billed 3) pickup. Speed is important to my vendors. Most of them bill hourly and think of their time that way so anything that reduces time per job is a big deal.
My flow looks like:
Customer enters specs and shipping info for a price quote -> Vendor responds with a quote including shipping
If all goes well, I'll also do instantaneous pricing for certain machining processes. Unless I missed something in the docs, EasyPost apparently does not do quotes based solely on zip/dimensions/weight and I never got a response from support when I asked. For me, this means that to get a shipping quote, customers also need to enter at least an "address_line1". There may be a business/technical reason for this, but I'm worried that having to enter that additional piece of personally-identifying info on my site will be a dealbreaker for first-time customers while I'm starting up.
For my use case, I'd like to see Stripe Connect functionality for shipping: vendors sign up for shipping through OAuth and then I interact with the shipping service on behalf of each vendor. On EasyPost, it appears that a UPS/Fedex/USPS/whatever account is tied to the EasyPost account. It was suggested that I bill vendors for shipping and go through my own carrier accounts, but this seems messy.
If you could address some concerns for marketplaces in the future, I'd be pretty happy.
The address_line 1 is not necessary to get an accurate quote. However, it is necessary to generate a label that you'll need for sending the package. You'll have to be careful to enter the correct address. FedEx charges extra afterwards for address corrections. Our goal was to build an API that allows you to get accurate quotes without having to enter a lot of data. However for the final label purchase the exact address will be necessary.
UPS/FedEx etc. don't allow you to pass on your account to people that are not directly connected with your business. I assume that is what you meant by "messy." If you still want to do that stripe connect is certainly a good choice. This is exactly what we're working on - to get contracts with courier services to eliminate this problem.
About the flow that we had envisioned for our service: customers choose the product they want to buy -> tell us in which country they live -> we show them all available courier services -> they chose the servicelevel that suits their needs best (fastest, cheapest, whatever) -> check out -> the label is directly sent to the vendor -> vendor sticks it on the package -> brings it to the post office/gets pickup (vendor can specify if only pickups are allowed & which day is best for pick up) -> done (all through API)
Just email me at laura(at)goshippo.com if you have any more questions. Happy to help out.