Power Sellers Unite

shiply · Joined: 12 Nov 2008 Posts: 6

Hi,

We would like to introduce our company Shiply , the UK transport marketplace and an eBay delivery solution.

eBay users, whether buyers and sellers, can list the item they are auctioning or bidding on eBay on our website and get competitive quotes from couriers already making similar journeys.

We have an integrated tool to import all details from eBay listings to Shiply listings including titles, item dimensions and pictures.

As courier companies working on Shiply consider these loads as additional loads, we can save consumers up to 75% compared to market rates.

So far there have been more than 65,000 users and 6,300 courier service providers registered for Shiply and about 100,000 shipments have been listed on our website.

We hope you find our website of interest and we look forward to receiving feedback and suggestions from all of you :D .

Many thanks.

shiply · Joined: 12 Nov 2008 Posts: 6

If you are a courier company or have friends who are in the haulage industry, please feel free to recommend Shiply as a valuable source to find backloads, return loads and keep delivery vehicles full!

On top of that, Shiply also helps the environment by reducing the number of wasteful journeys and CO2 emissions.

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4780

And when the buyer complains about not getting their item, who takes responsibility and refunds the buyer their payment?

goldenlady · Joined: 09 Sep 2009 Posts: 406

Oh boy......

Lots of great ideas abound the boards today. lol

jjj525 · Joined: 08 Apr 2009 Posts: 354

I like shiply's concept.

But I has some questions.

1) Do you provide accurate tracking like fedex,ups etc.

2) Is there is a insurance option for lost items or there is any guarantee ?

3) Are you planning to expand the service to North America especially USA ?

4) How much the sellers can save on average by using your services ?

5) Do you have a feedback system to rate the courier companies ?

goldenlady · Joined: 09 Sep 2009 Posts: 406

From their TOS:

2 Our Services - Neutral Venue

2.1 We are not a transportation service provider, freight forwarder, broker or intermediary of any sort. The Site acts as a neutral venue through which Transport Providers and Users can meet and enter into negotiations with a view to entering into Transactions. We are in no way involved in the actual Transaction. We have no, and assume no, control over the quality, safety, or legal aspects of the Jobs and/or Transactions that take place through the Site.

2.2 If you are a Transport Provider you hereby agree that the Site is for shipping/transportation related services only and that work that you provide will only involve services. Except with our prior written agreement, you agree that you will not use your Membership as a means to market or sell any goods products or other services unrelated to the Job.

2.3 It is the responsibility of the User to select a suitable Transport Provider for the provision of the Job and the responsibility of the User and the Transport Provider to negotiate the terms of the Transaction.

3 general disclaimer

3.1 Save where expressly stated otherwise in the Conditions, and only to the extent so stated, no provision of the Conditions shall be enforceable under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 and the Conditions do not give rise to any legal contracts, liabilities, obligations, claims or other benefits or protection between Members or in favour of third parties. Your contract in connection with a Transaction will be with the other Member and, as a result, we can give no commitments of any nature about the other Member (whether User, Transport Provider or Successful Transport Provider (as defined hereafter)) or the Job, whether as to quality, quantity, delivery or price.

3.2 We assume no responsibility for claims made by Transport Providers with respect to their licenses, insurance, registration, membership or trade association or indeed any other claim made at any point during the Transaction or bidding process. We operate purely as a neutral venue through which Transport Providers and Users may agree on a price for a Job.

&

Feedback

8.1 Whilst we are unable ourselves to conduct any due diligence on our Members, we do enable Users and Successful Transport Providers to provide feedback evaluations on each other’s performance in the course of the Transaction including but not limited to the performance of the Job (or, as the case may be, their failure to enter into a Transaction and/or perform the Job). The evaluations seek to provide Members with guidance on the skills and/or reliability of other Members prior to bidding or, in the case of Users accepting a bid from a Transport Provider.

8.2 The feedback process involves leaving a rating along with a short comment about the performance of the Member. There are three feedback scores that you can give: +1 (positive,) 0 (neutral), and -1 (negative). A Member’s overall feedback score is the average score of the ratings that he or she has received.

8.3 You accept that by posting a Job or by bidding on a Job it is probable that another Member will leave feedback about you and you acknowledge that your feedback consists solely of comments left by other Members and the overall feedback score calculated in accordance with clause 8.2. You agree that you will not use any feedback received on the Site on any venue or website that is not the Site. Do always use common sense and respect when leaving feedback on another Member as unwarranted, potentially libellous feedback could result in legal claims being made against you. We do not censor feedback or investigate it for accuracy, and you acknowledge that we are in no way legally responsible for any feedback that is left.

8.4 Any use of profanity, libellous behaviour, illegal activity, or any other from of abuse of the feedback function or any other part of the Site may result in a ban from further use of the Site and, if applicable, being reported to any relevant authorities.

9 No Agency

Nothing herein shall create or be deemed to create any joint venture, agency or partnership relationship between ourselves and any Members whatsoever. Members shall not hold themselves out as implying any such relationship with us.

http://www.shiply.com/docs/useragreement.php

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4780

In other words, they are not responsible for anything ever.

No thanks.

goldenlady · Joined: 09 Sep 2009 Posts: 406

Can't you just see the DSR results? :shock:

The sound a lot like eBay with that - just a venue jargon.

All I can do is shake my head. lol

shiply · Joined: 12 Nov 2008 Posts: 6

Hi All,

Thanks for your comments/questions here.

@DaLizardsLair, that would be an insurance claim between the user and the transport provider. We do advise, just as you would if you met a company off line via traditional methods, you check their levels of insurance/credibility. We do conduct fraud screening tests on our members which in addition to our feedback rating system (similar to eBay) means are far more safer and secure way of sourcing a transport company compared with the traditional means of flicking through classified ads/Google and hoping for the best!

@jjj525

1) Simple answer is some of our transport providers do and some don't, it really depends on their own set up.
2) Users are covered by the GIT (goods-in-transit) insurance policies of the transport companies they choose to transact with
3) Not any time soon, sorry.
4) On average, it is hard to say, however we have seen savings up to 75% off standard rates. So, pretty significant!
5) Absolutely, after every transaction, feedback is left both ways and these are monitored by out trust & safety team on a daily basis.

@goldenlady

Our opinions differ a great deal on this matter, I'm afraid. For me, it is quite a simple test:

If you choose to transact and enter into a contract with a company you found in the yellow pages for example and something went wrong, would you call up the yellow pages and demand compensation? No...

However, for some reason, some people feel that because they are finding a company on-line instead, there should be some extra responsibilities somewhere. In fact, by operating on-line and by carrying our additional fraud screenings/feedback rating system, we offer a far safer and secure venue to carry out business than those traditional means.

I hope I have answered your questions thoroughly, but do let me know any more and I'll be happy to get back.

Regards,
Robert Matthams
MD - www.shiply.com

goldenlady · Joined: 09 Sep 2009 Posts: 406

It's interesting how part of the marketing for the site is their vetting process yet they take no responsibility. Just a venue attitude. How do they get away with that when they are making a claim that using the servicers on their site is safer?

The yellow pages does not take a chunk of change from the FVF of each transaction that happens in association with ads placed in them.

That means, the provider I choose does not charge me extra to cover the % they are paying for me to find them. Sure, they have the initial fee but that is nothing compared to the usual amount of business created by a yellow page ad.

In your case, the provider has to pass on the % to the customer.

Why would the customer need you and to pay more when they can simply locate a courier themselves? Most people on the internet today know how to check into a business to see if they are worthy of doing business with.

It seems that the site makes pretty good money on FVF and the couriers get high cost advertising from the site listing their business and the buyers seem to take it in the end. The only true winner, it appears, is the site.

Well, they really do sound like eBay, now don't they? lol

things4u · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 1331

you have got to be joking any business doing that type of shipping wether it be 1 or several parcles would never use a middle man to set up a delivery with them not taking any liability for there services and charging for exactly what a listing that can be found in a phone book or business directory where they make a contract directly with that carrier and discuss insurance and liability of deliverys
I would have to say it is a nice sounding scam for making a buck for doing nothing of much value! the business directory is online and free for use

"Why would the customer need you and to pay more when they can simply locate a courier themselves? Most people on the internet today know how to check into a business to see if they are worthy of doing business with. "

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4780

Quote: › docWrite("quote") that would be an insurance claim between the user and the transport provider.

And when the buyer gives the seller a Negative rating due to your slipshod business practices?

Again, no thanks.

I'll stick to the USPS. The best service at the best price.

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4780

jjj525 wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")I like shiply's concept.

But I has some questions.

1) Do you provide accurate tracking like fedex,ups etc.

2) Is there is a insurance option for lost items or there is any guarantee ?

3) Are you planning to expand the service to North America especially USA ?

4) How much the sellers can save on average by using your services ?

5) Do you have a feedback system to rate the courier companies ?

Their "concept" is to function as a high priced version of The UPS Store, only they don't handle the actual packages.

So you pay them to tell you where to go.

shiply · Joined: 12 Nov 2008 Posts: 6

Hi Again,

Sorry for the slow response here.

@DaLizardsLair - That's a common misconception, we actually don't charge users anything to use our web site. Instead we charge our transport providers a fee on work actually secured. It is free to get bids from transport providers and it's free to accept a bid, there are no fees for users.

@things4u@blujay.com Again, this I'm afraid is a misunderstanding. You are claiming that Shiply charge "exactly what a listing that can be found in a phone book or business directory". In fact, what we offer is an online marketplace where prices come to you from transport providers already making similar journeys. So, not only do you save a lot of time phoning around, but because the listing acts in an open, transparent, auction format, you are getting a really low price (up to 75% off).

In the UK, over 25% of lorries run empty of cargo, and over 50% run only part full. Our service was set up to make use of this waste and enable consumers to fill it up whilst making substancial cost savings. Our users actually save up to 75% on their deliveries. Since launch over £4 million has been saved and 5.8 million road miles. If you were to contact any of our transport providers directly via a phone book or business directory, all you would receive is full rates.

@goldenlady Actually, you will see nowhere on our site that we use our vetting procedure as a marketing ploy. We simply don't need to, the fact our service saves people up to 75% is plenty enough, the added value of being able to also see past feedback from previous customers is something which is also a great bonus.

I was actually quite surprised to get such a negative reception here, but I hope I have helped to explain a little more about what we do. Certainly in the UK market, we are very popular amongst the eBay community, please see the reviews on eBay itself - http://cgi6.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SolutionsDirectory&subgroup=9&page=details&solutionId=7226 .

We have some 7,000 transport providers, 100,000+ users and were also recently announced as Start Up of the Year and Green Start Up of the Year by leading business communities.

All the best and I appreciate you all taking the time to look at our business.

Regards,
Robert Matthams
Shiply

andrewbird · Joined: 02 Feb 2011 Posts: 1

I as a new customer o shiply have a few comments to make

I joined the site and all seemed great
excellent quotes came back with in a few hours
excellent concept so i chose the most competitive supplier and thought here we go all good.

Problems arrived.

problem 1
i was not able to do any checks on the transport supplier until i paid a large deposit on pay pal to shiply.
ok seems like a good company so i did this sent my 100 bucks and got an email straight back tel phone numbers and contact details of the provider was sent straight away. all good.

problem 2
i did a simple check on the transport provider on google i.e name and telephone number
I was shocked at the search it seems that the provider was a scammer and had set up many business to defraud people out of there money and in some cases stole the items!!!!!!!!!

problem 3
tried to call there telephone number where i was told they are only doing actions via email response so i emailed yes you got it nothing

problem 4
emailed 2nd time yes correct nothing still waiting
i will keep all up to date with the out come

still waiting

if any one reads this from shiply can the contact me and i will be happy to post a positive reply as soon as i receive it.#

Andrew Bird