Our team is competing in the Minneapolis StartUp Weekend competition. We have to show a proof of concept, showing that people would actually pay for use of our service. We want to give YOU the opportunity to use this service, helping us prove our minimal viable concept.
Here's our problem: When people shop online, sometimes they want to order something that they don't want linked back to their account. I.E. somebody doesn't want the girlfriend knowing about the engagement ring he ordered her. Or somebody wants to order something erotic, but is nervous about the purchase being linked to the account.
We offer the service of ordering the product for you, for a minimal fee, and having it sent to a secure location from which the customer can pick up using a given alias.
To prove a minimal viable concept, we would like to demonstrate our idea using an anonymous audience (you guys). We will order any product for you and have it shipped to any address, then send you a screenshot of the billing receipt. We then ask you to reimburse us the cost of the item+shipping+10cents for service charge.
To protect both parties, we ask the following: -Limit max items to 2 -Must be from a credible source (Walmart, Amazon, BestBuy, etc.) -Limit total purchase to $15 US -Reimbursement of purchase must be within 1 hour of purchase, made through PayPal -Please abide by all laws relevant to the transaction. While we have no way to check, we do not want to, say, order alcohol for minors
If you have questions or concerns, please ask, and thank you for your participation, Veeky Forums!!
People order dildos and gay porn DVDs off of Amazon and even review them with their real names. Privacy is not important to millennials.
The vast majority of companies that sell those kinds of items are already going out of their way to protect the privacy of their customers.
They already do discreet billing, they already package it in a special way to ensure privacy, and even the company that manufactures the products go out of their way to design their packaging to be discreet.
Your business will be a niche within a niche
Isaiah Johnson
Hey user, thank you for the feedback!
You're right that it's a niche market, we recognized that ourselves. However, one of us personally feels that he wants his orders to be in confidence, without his name being tied to what he purchases. He has no particular reasoning besides it achieves a level of comfort to know that his name is not tied to a product in some database, so there are people out there that this idea would appeal to.
I like that you pointed out that "certain" companies already do discrete billing. We would like to incorporate something similar to that same model into the process of ordering from larger corporations, like BestBuy and Target. Even Cabela's, as we feel that some people would prefer their ammunitions orders remain private.
Thank you again for your feedback, we appreciate the response!
Henry Thompson
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Adam Jones
I see this being primarily a tool for crime.
You will go to prison for theft by receiving because you should have enough intelligence to understand this will be a front for stolen goods.
Christopher Bell
Hey user, thank you for the reply. I am definitely not attempting to advertise, and I apologize if it seems that way! Alternatively, a way that you may help us show a proof of concept is to give us verification in writing. I.E., "I would use this concept. I do not have the funds to do so right now, but if I did I would use your service to order product X through website Y."
Thank you very much for this input. Our team has already been considering the legal obligations of our service, and that is why we have made the conscious decision to only partner with accredited institutions certified by the Better Business Bureau.
Thank you both for the feedback!
John Russell
>one of us personally feels >as we feel
You're basing too much of your business on how this one douche feels and not what is market viable.
Other than adult products, this is a non issue, and even that's not a problem.
I and lots of others I personally know, both irl and online, have never cared about ammo purchases being linked to us.
You are also putting yourself into a huge legal grey area and putting yourselves at a huge liability risk with these kinds of products.
What are you going to do when some school shooter or terrorist uses your business as a third party to get his ammo?
You're looking for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist and putting yourself risk by assuming liability for someone else.
William Stewart
How do you plan on having a secure place for the packages in every city? Or will this service be just for certain areas? That's a whole lot of brick and mortar.
Logan Parker
Hi what if I want 3 items. Can you please help me? Can't you just make one exception for me to order 3 instead of 2?
Leo Jackson
We're thinking about utilizing Amazon Lockers as well as UPS Drop boxes to hold merchandise. When the order is received from the consumer, we would send the merchandise to the Box closest to the user's location. When we would receive the PIN to the box, we would immediately forward the box number and PIN to the consumer.
This would make the service easily scalable, since we're utilizing an already existing nationwide infrastructure.
Thank you for the response!
Jayden Edwards
We would only be dealing with companies associated with the BBB. Therefore, we would only be providing merchandise already readily available to the consumer. The value added by our proposition is the customer makes the purchase in privacy.
Caleb Walker
excuse me, you accidentally didn't reply to me and replied to someone who posted after me first. I guess you don't value potential customer opinions
Jace Butler
Disgruntled customer, Our service team apologizes for disgruntling you. Unfortunately all lines are busy. Please call back and we will try to reconnect your call. Thank you for calling TheLegend27.
Jose Davis
you call me disgruntled you aint seen nothing yet faggot
Oliver Reed
>we have made the conscious decision to only partner with accredited institutions certified by the Better Business Bureau are you purposefully being obtuse or are you actually retarded?
the vendors you're ordering from aren't the problem. Hiding the identity of thieves is the problem.
Angel Gonzalez
Nope, i'm just saying that I don't think a BBB company sells stolen merchandise.
Kayden Miller
The money made in blackmail will dwarf the fees charged
Caleb Watson
>i'm just saying that I don't think a BBB company sells stolen merchandise. yep, you're retarded.
it's the money you receive that's stolen, not the things it buys. Your 'service' is money laundering and theft by receiving. You have no safeguards to keep you out of prison.
Austin Baker
>You have no safeguards to keep you out of prison. and ignorance is no excuse.
just because you're a retard that accidentally launders stolen money doesn't make it any less of a crime. Especially when your service is set up specifically to launder money.
Anthony Anderson
nice scam bro
1) buy product 2) get paid 3) cancel order
never been done before. real original.
Jaxon Lopez
If you guys think that this money laundering is a real issue, then please give us more feedback: why do you think that this is a money laundering problem? what is stopping launderers from doing this now, purchasing items from Amazon using stolen cash? How would we be contributing to this criminal act, and furthermore what laws would keep us held liable for their crime? We can take criticism, but please keep it constructive, and give us enough detail to improve this design.
Oliver Fisher
your shit gonna get swatted soon lol have fun
Nathaniel Green
Sorry, let me clarify: We would be keeping the log for tax purposes. So we would still have the log of the transactions. However, we would effectively "bury" the transaction, making sure not to sell it to a 3rd party, do analytics on it, or let the merchandise vendor know the specifics of the transaction. Does that help clear things up?
Yeah, no, without that piece of information I see why you guys were saying that it was a laundering scheme.
Luis Hughes
sounds skeevy
Wyatt Rodriguez
damage control damage control damage control
too late faggot. you could hide? go to a public area maybe you won't die?
Nathan Robinson
I think OP is a wonderful man with a wonderful idea who is not at all compensating for anything.
Christian Morris
>we would still have the log of the transactions which means it's not really anonymous since anyone with a subpoena can find out who bought what.
that would protect you from liability but make your service less attractive to the number one demographic that wants something like this- criminals. Or people cheating on their wives or siphoning money prior to a divorce. Both of which will be found out also.
Jason Ramirez
Give me one reason to use your service, which is different than anything I can get from Amazon or any other retailer.
There isn't, and the vast vast VAST majority of people are going to use your service for FRAUD and FRAUD ONLY.
How long did it take for you to come up with this FUCKING SHIT IDEA? Is this SERIOUSLY the SMARTEST THING that YOU FUCKING KIDS CAN COME UP WITH THESE DAYS? A fucking forwarding service. Glad you are retarded cause it makes people who have two brain cells to rub together that much better off.
Leo Perez
That's the point though, you're not actually doing anything.
The record of the purchase still exists and is tied to the customer, they are just going through an unnecessary third party for the illusion of anonymity. You know this and so do the customers.
We've already established that merchants are already doing things to be discreet with billing and shipping, which means that your target demographic are criminals, whether you like or acknowledge it.
Angel Mitchell
But the products bought by consumers would not at all be connected to their name or their shipping address by a third party. Which is the value that we are creating for the consumer. Think of the people with tin hats. That is one consumer we are targeting, which we will be attempting to validate that assumption in the following days. I actually so appreciate it guys, this feedback is very helpful and we're taking the criticism to heart. Please keep it coming
Gavin Reed
Why would they use you instead of setting up a P. O. Box with a fake identity, which is easy to do?
You're still going to be legally required to keep all their information on record and you have to disclose that to them, so wish is the point?
It's a middle man for the sake of nothing.
Carson Richardson
A PO box based on a fake identity seems elaborate, but consumers could still do it if they want. We would be offering that same service of privacy to them. so in that specific case they would be benefitting from conserving unnecessary effort.
Jaxson Rivera
Sorry, also meant to say, as a law abiding entity we would legally have to supply the purchasers in a sapina. Same as Amazon. However, when laws are followed, we still offer a layer of identity protection by concealing the purchasing patterns of the consumer from corporations that the user would be uncomfortable giving that information to. Think lady products, bug-out kits, surprise gifts.
Robert King
Subpoena
Austin Evans
If I were you, I'd pivot to a Bitcoin-to-products vendor. Accept only Bitcoin, and what the customer wants (say, a URL to an Amazon product). You take the bitcoin, convert to $, order the product, ship it to your storefront somewhere. People can come in and pick up their purchases. No anonymity, but anyone ordering would have a reasonable amount of privacy and you probably wouldn't be breaking any laws.
Joshua Nelson
I think OP would have much more success in the food industry. Today fish are becoming more and more common, which would make it easy to open a cheap restaurant with low startup. If you moved to Alaska, it wouldn't cost that much to buy bread either, a key ingredient in most restaurants. I believe OP should combine these items. The mantra of this establishment should be "The Marvelous Breadfish." I would eat there every day and pay $20 a meal.
Ryan Cooper
10/10 constructive dolphin criticisms
Austin Bennett
>Accept only Bitcoin While op is a moron, so are you as well. Accepting only bitcoin would severely limit your market
Josiah Gonzalez
hey im tryna buy a fleshlight descretely. dont want it shipped to my house cause my parents. last time i ordered one they delivered it to my neighbor, good thing they didnt open it... heh. mom was like hey whats this package u got here.
not this time. i will meet with u and use an alias. thanks. pls pm me.
Jordan Lee
We're trying to do an anonymous, no contact service. We'd be glad to order you the fleshlight and have it shipped for you, however you would need to provide us an address to ship to.
