Airmule

Airmule

Earn money while flying by selling excess luggage allowance.

1 follower

Airmule is the world's largest on-board courier platform. Our travelers earn money during their flights by selling most or all of their excess luggage allowance.
Airmule gallery image
Airmule gallery image
Airmule gallery image
Launch tags:TravelDeliveryTech
Launch Team
Anima Playground
AI with an Eye for Design
Promoted

What do you think? …

Ryan Hoover
I'm curious how you avoid drug trafficking, @roryfelton.
Renato Rotsztejn
@roryfelton @rrhoover Not just drugs but also any illegal item. How do you guys solve this issue?
Jared Schwitzke
@rrhoover @renatorotsztejn Our model inherently prevents this kind of activity. We're not a platform that allows just anybody to ship through our service. Our shipping providers are those with a high-frequency need for daily/weekly/monthly international express shipping, nearly all of which happen to be in the e-commerce space. The items we receive are typically purchased online by our shipping partners' end users in the US or China.
Shlok Vaidya
@rrhoover @renatorotsztejn @jschwitzke Frankly, you need a better answer on this. My background is in counterterrorism and this sets off a bunch of alarm bells. The primary question, what controls are in place to track the 'chain of evidence'/audit trail for the boxes and what was inside them? Can you tell me with 100% certainty who has touched a box and why along the way? How do you verify the box received is the same as the box originally given? Example: Drugs are easy to hide between two layers of cardboard and printing boxes, as you know, is trivial, especially in China. Given your focus on 'high frequency shippers' your exposure to manipulation is vastly increased.
Jared Schwitzke
@shloky Appreciate your response. And please excuse the brevity, but bulleted feedback here: - we partner with TSA certified shipping companies - yes, we can tell you every individual who has touched a container along the way - we manually screen each received item as an added measure - we document each item as it's received and delivered (photographs) - each container is sealed with security tape before traveler check in - we intentionally operate only via checked luggage (checked luggage go through enhanced security measures before being loaded onto a plane) - all travelers receive digital manifests (photos and descriptions) - our travelers are allowed to inspect their containers
David Ackermann

You are solely responsible of what you bring into a country. If this happens to contain illegal items - you're the one going to jail. Doesn't matter how good your screening is - it is never worth the risk.

Pros:

Cheap flights

Cons:

risk of going to jail for drug trafficking

Jared Schwitzke
Hi David! Valid concern, however our model prohibits that activity. We're not a platform that allows just anybody to ship through our service. Our shipping providers are those with a high-frequency need for daily/weekly/monthly international express shipping, nearly all of which happen to be in the e-commerce space. The items we receive are typically purchased online by our shipping partners' end users in the US or China.
Robert Magrino
you nailed it
Caitlin Northup
This sort of terrifies me, yet also oddly intrigues me.....
Jared Schwitzke
@caitlin_northup Anything I can help answer?
Davis Baer
I recently heard Airmule on this podcast: http://extrapackofpeanuts.com/fl... Seems like a pretty awesome idea - make money by putting your extra luggage space to use. Hope to see them in more airports soon. They are currently operating in airports in the Bay area, LA, and NYC, for international flights to and from China.
Jared Schwitzke
@daviswbaer Thanks for the share!
Steven Rueter
It’s so funny, because when working on Kindred we considered pivoting to exactly the premise of this app—it’s so hard to get proper Vegemite here in the States, and those German chocolates that I like. People had all kinds of things they wanted but couldn’t get where they lived. The idea is good, because it’s all about filling a market inefficiency by maximizing unused space. But the name...oh, the name...you must obviously be aware of its implication...and the fact that “mules”—the drug smuggling kind—are usually desperate victims of poverty, oppression, and manipulation, so I don’t really get trust from the name.
Jared Schwitzke
@rueter The name is definitely polarizing, we can admit. But in the defense of our founding team (many of whom were born in China), the term "mule" in China has a drastically different connotation than it does here in the United States. To be labeled a "mule" in China refers mainly to one's sturdiness, work ethic and durability.
Juho S

Would like to see more clearly the differentiation to another operator in the market; Grabr

Pros:

Good looking UI

Cons:

sign-up form has a bug: doesn't allow to proceed if there's a dot between first and last name

Jared Schwitzke
Hi Juho! The main differentiation between Airmule and Grabr is simple: the shipper vs. the shopper. We compete with each other in the same sense that a Toyota Prius competes with a Dodge Ram. Sure, a Ram and a Prius are vehicles that a person can purchase and drive, but they have two different target audiences that don't really overlap. Grabr's revenue model relies on the "shopper", i.e. the individual who's shopping for an item on Grabr either because it's too expensive to ship through traditional methods or it's too difficult to find in their local area (think culturally unique items). Users "shop" on Grabr by placing requests for items, then Grabr travelers may then accept these requests and earn a delivery fee for transporting them. We focus on the "shipper." We partner with shipping companies who have high frequency needs for international express shipping. These partners choose to ship with Airmule vs. FedEx, DHL or UPS because of our significantly cheaper cost and quicker delivery times. We then package these shipments from our partners into containers that travelers may courier along their flights and earn money for doing so.
Daniel Li

Not sure how it's going to work at scale, as it requires staff at the airports, so can only start with the popular airports first.

Pros:

Good idea

Cons:

I tried signing up but the mobile code was received 30 minutes later

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