That's when I thought about alternatives to the current method of sending materials through the big incumbent carriers. What if I had found a person who had a planned trip from my city to the city in China where the recipient was located? I believe I could have convinced that person to deliver the item for me for around $25 to $30, a fair price to rent a tiny portion of his/her luggage for less than a day. I would have instructed my contact or recipient overseas to meet the koorier (courier) either at the airport, the hotel, or a local coffee shop.

So the best way to prove this business concept is to actually do it. I'm trying to raise just enough money to cover airfare from California to Asia to be the world's very first koorier. Here's my plan in the Spring of 2017:

- Drive from San Jose to Los Angeles (LA)

- Fly from LA to South Korea then to the Philippines, then back to South Korea and LA again

- Drive from LA back to San Jose

During this entire process, I plan to deliver an item for one or more people who need to send something from each of my departure points to any of my destinations.

As of now, I am planning to advertise my services on Craiglist (for a full month prior to departure) hoping to find strangers who need this type of service: something cheaper than established express shipping companies but just as fast, if not faster.

Moving forward, will this be a good and safe business model? Obviously, there are some Customs/security issues involving the delivery of goods across borders through a third party. However, this type of activity has been common all over the world since the advent of international travel. People of all nationalities regularly ask their friends and family members to transport certain items to designated recipients abroad. 

I'm originally from the Philippines and we call this arrangement "Padala." I believe there is tremendous potential to facilitate and monetize this type of service among complete strangers.

To address Customs and security concerns in the future, Koorier (as a company) will therefore strongly encourage that items being delivered NOT be in any form of packaging. The last thing a koorier would want is to unwittingly deliver something that can land him in jail, or worse! Everything should be in plain sight.

If a sender is worried that an item in full view would tempt the koorier to steal it, would packaging prevent that? What's to prevent the koorier from opening the package to see if anything is worth stealing? Ultimately, no amount of box, tape, and bubble wrap can prevent theft if complete trust is not established when the parties meet.

Furthermore, the sender's and koorier's credit card and/or Paypal accounts will be linked to the Koorier app. If either of them wanted to do something illegal or questionable, would he/she risk using his/her own financial accounts for this activity? As far as I know, drug dealers use cash for their transactions to hide their identities.

And lastly, we will implement a user rating system just like other e-commerce sites. A sender or a koorier can comment on his or her experience dealing with the other party. He or she can also give the other person a rating from one to five stars.

So during my 2-3 week experiment in 2017, I will:

- only do business with senders via Paypal 

- only deliver items that are not packaged or wrapped

- meet the sender and recipient at public places for safety reasons

Please keep in mind that the Koorier app does not exist yet. The main platforms I will use to simulate the app will be Craigslist and Paypal. 

I am just trying to raise enough money for airfare. After deducting expenses to cover Kickstarter fees and the cost of making and shipping out the rewards, I should have just enough for an economy round trip ticket from LA to the Philippines, with a stop-over in South Korea. If I don't raise additional funds for decent hotel accommodations, I can always find a hostel or other "budget-friendly" establishments.

Some of you maybe be asking "Why the hassle of raising such a small amount just for airfare?" It's not just about raising money but also raising awareness for the future Koorier app. I am hoping that backers will continue to follow Koorier on social media and that could make them instrumental in evangelizing the app to their families, friends, and acquaintances. 

If funding is successful, I will log every day of my entire trip in the Koorier Facebook and Twitter pages to let you know the progress of my experiment. Please like and follow Koorier on social media.

 FUTURE APP LOGO

REWARDS

KOORIER T-SHIRT

KOORIER BACKPACK

Custom-designed Koorier Backpack: 420D Nylon + Jacquard; 48 x 32 x 19 cm  

I've been working with a backpack manufacturer for the past 2 months and we settled on customizing a blue backpack, which they already sell, to incorporate the Koorier logo. I requested the K logo be a brighter blue than the rest of the blue trim so that it stands out.

The Koorier backpack is currently not available for sale anywhere. These will be manufactured exclusively for this Kickstarter project.

Functional K Logo  

The logo, patterned after an envelope, can be opened to reveal a pouch, much like an envelope. However, there is also a secret zippered compartment where you can store more valuable items like a passport. You can close the logo securely with the built-in velcro (*** final product might use a snap-button instead of velcro ***).

 Lower Compartment

Custom-made brand label with raised (3D) font

 Mobile phone pouch will fit an iPhone 6 or smaller (NOT a 6-plus)

Whereas the blue version has different shades of blue, the red version has the same shade all throughout. The manufacturer came up with this uniform red design as an alternate offering.