18 March 2010

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An interview with Colin Hay, founder of Stuff2Send.com (March 2009)

Stuff2Send.com is a new on-line service that puts people with stuff to send somewhere in touch with people who plan to be driving there anyway. Empty vehicle space can be used to its full potential, as motorists carry goods as well as simply driving from A to B. Anyone with a vehicle can register to deliver stuff, softening the blow of ever-rising motoring costs for students, commuters, taxi drivers and commercial vehicle operators.

Colin Hay, founder of Stuff2Send.com kindly spoke to TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk in March 2009.

Congratulations on implementing such an innovative yet simple concept, TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk would like to wish you the greatest success. When did the idea for the service first come to you?

Colin Hay: Thank you.

Last spring, I was commuting regularly from Newbury to Weybridge. Sitting in endless jams, you can’t help but be struck by all the empty space in stationary vehicles. I also sold a kite-surf on eBay to a fellow in Southend-on-Sea. I spent ages wrapping it, then drove to the post office, queued for ages, only to be told the parcel was 2cm too large. We contacted Parcel Force, they agreed to take it. After we’d paid, they told us they would collect it between 10 and 2pm the following day. It was totally inconvenient. That ‘there’s got to be a better way’ experience gave birth to Stuff2Send.

How hard has it been to get it to where it is today?

Colin Hay: For the first few weeks, it was a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Not many items were being posted on the site, so delivery drivers would take a look and think “it’s not worth coming back”. As awareness grew among senders, more stuff was uploaded. But then there were too few delivery drivers making offers. Three months in, partly thanks to eBay, partly due to press interest, things are really happening for senders and delivery drivers. Now the site has a pulse – and it’s getting stronger by the day; multiple offers are being made to senders and deliveries are taking place hourly, rather than daily or weekly.

One word that comes instantly to mind when considering using Stuff2Send.com is trust. This may well be a concern of many prospective users of your service, especially those wanting to send items of high personal or financial value. How would you provide piece of mind to potential users of the service?

Colin Hay: Trust is a really important issue for any web-based business. For us, it’s partly about checks and balances on the site and partly about common sense for those using it. Senders with valuable items can choose to use only professional delivery drivers, for whom we carry out random security checks. But the site also features a rating system for all users, to sift the good guys from the bad. Of course, we encourage senders to take care and use their common sense; check all contact details carefully. Make sure you call the delivery driver on a landline, not just a mobile phone. Ask for the registration number for the delivery vehicle.

You currently have 1,100 members. What would you estimate this figure to be by the end of 2009?

Colin Hay: We see exponential growth. At least 20,000 would be fantastic.

Do you have an example of how much money can be saved using Stuff2Send.com rather than a standard courier service?

Colin Hay: One of our senders, Amanda Webster, used Stuff2Send to deliver two wheelchairs from Manchester to Birmingham. She’d received a commercial quote of £200. With us, she found a delivery driver – a guy with an estate car – who did it for £20, a tenth of the price.

You began working with eBay in February, how has this relationship developed so far?

Colin Hay: It’s developed well. Finding good value used goods on the web is easy; but as we found getting our kite-surf to Southend, there’s a real transport issue with sites like eBay. Stuff2Send is an obvious solution to bridge the delivery gap. Since we started working with eBay the amount of stuff on the site has increased dramatically.

The cutting of unnecessary journeys, and therefore CO2 emissions, will be good news for the environment. Was CO2 reduction a driving force in the development of Stuff2Send.com or simply a pleasant side effect?

Colin Hay: Yes it was, partly because it’s a major selling point. Not just for the average delivery driver, but in terms of garnering wider support to promote Stuff2Send. The environmental angle is important for its own sake of course; but we had hoped organisations like the Energy Saving Trust and ActOnCO2 would see the benefits, and climb on board.

You contacted ActOnCO2 to let them know about the benefits that your service offers to the environment but had no response. Is this still the case?

Colin Hay: Sadly, yes.

Could somebody make a living from working solely with Stuff2Send.com?

Colin Hay: Theoretically, yes. I don’t think we’re quite there yet, but it’s certainly not inconceivable in the future.

What is the biggest challenge that faces Stuff2Send.com and how do you plan to overcome it?

Colin Hay: It’s easy to get professional couriers to buy into the concept. But it’s harder persuading private motorists that their vehicles don’t have to be a drain on resources; they could be a money earner.

Where do you see Stuff2Send.com being in 5 years time?

Colin Hay: As big as eBay – but on wheels!

For more information visit stuff2send.com

Author: Lee Sibbald, March 18, 2009

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