Are you a frequent flyer? Do you tend to choose remote or hard-to-reach destinations to unwind? Do you wanna make a little money for even less work? You should consider joining an international peer-to-peer shipping service.
How it works: Sign up as a delivery agent and input your dates and destination.
- You’ll be sent orders from users who either live in your city of origin or the city you’re visiting. You can fulfill as many orders as you like (or have room in your luggage for.)
- You pick up the product and set a delivery time and location to make the handoff.
- Once the order has been confirmed as “delivered,” you get paid out.
Travel blogger Kesi Irvin wrote that she makes between US$500 and US$1,000 each trip with Grabr, the most popular peer-to-peer platform, depending on the luggage space she dedicates to deliveries.
Here are her tips for getting started:
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Plan early. Start making delivery offers at least two weeks before your trip so you can collect everything you agree to deliver without disrupting your itinerary.
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Set the right price. You might be enticed to offer a low delivery price to get more volume, but it’s better to charge a higher fee and bring in fewer orders (see next tip.)
- Be selective about your orders. Chances are you’ll have to go through customs, so you don’t want to bring in too many electronics since that will raise red flags, and you might have to pay extra taxes (which eats into your earnings.)