Subscribe via RSS FeedThe eBay of Shipping uShip Named Most Underrated Website
uShip is the “first and largest auction style online marketplace for shipping and transportation services.”
uShip was just announced as the “Most Underrated Website” by the Mashable Blog, though it has been around since early 2004. Founder Matt Chasen came up with the concept when his mother couldn’t afford the $800 tag to ship her heirloom dresser across the country.
With a goal to be the eBay of shipping, uShip is a peer-to-peer network that matches up excess delivery truck capacity with people’s shipping needs. Shippers can list the details of their freight, and drivers and freight carriers can bid to deliver them in reverse-auction fashion. And like eBay, uShip incorporates feedback ratings to foster trust between shipper and driver.
uShip will be most useful for eBay stores and private sellers/buyers as well as individuals who need to ship their own belongings. But I can see value for ecommerce stores who sell large items in certain situations. For example, if a furniture retailer needs to accept an exchange on a damaged item, it could be much cheaper for the customer service representative to find a cheaper shipping price through uShip than with the standard shipping method. Or stores who generally do not ship internationally because of exorbitant costs could find lower cost options on a case-by-case basis.
Do you have any other ideas how etailers can leverage uShip’s marketplace?
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Why doesn’t anyone mention that they allow illegal carriers to scam not only money from psople but they have many carriers that have stolen household goods, motorcycles, etc???
They are nothing but a portal for scammers and thieves. If you want to take the gamble that your items will get stolen or maybe just your money. use uship or should I say uScam. Last month there has been over $20,000 in scams on that poor site.
Hi Timothy,
Thanks for your comment. I was not aware of this problem.
I looked into it and could only find this forum post on the issue: http://forums.uship.com/Topic26827-16-1.aspx
The community feedback system is, in my opinion, a good way to keep people accountable. As with anything (especially on the internet) it is buyer beware. The forum topic above brings up a good point that if you don’t do your own due diligence when making a decision, only take the ridiculously cheap offers or don’t read the community guidelines you may just be asking to be taken.
To call the site “nothing but a portal for scammers and thieves” is unfair based on what I’ve been able to find. Do you have a link regarding the $20K of scams on the site last month?
Hi Timothy,
Thanks for posting those links. Our comments do take a few minutes to appear, and no I have nothing to do with Uship. Just looked like an interesting site that I found on Mashable today.
We definitely are open to reader feedback (positive and negative) and I was only using Google search for “Uship + Scam.”
Maybe Uship will drop by and post their side of the story. Since the posts are on their forum, they’re not trying to censor anything.
If you read through their forums you will also see that they are known to remove posts too. That way when people such as yourself search, you will not find out about issues like this.
If you do a search on uship for “remove post” you will see that it happens alot and they hide as much of the illegal activity they can.
It is not a peer to peer network nor are they a neutral venue, they are harboring illegal activity and hiding it by censoring their forums.
http://forums.uship.com/Search1-2-2.aspx?SessionID=fqmrgx45azvgzcz4tkeh4a55&SortBy=1&SortOrder=1
I stand by that they are not underrated but overrated. Thank you for having this site so people can read about this ongoing issue.
Hey Linda, I am uShip’s Director of Trust & Safety. I think you and your readers should know that the individual posting under “Timothy” is a suspended uShip member that also ran a competitive website before it was recently shut down. He now appears to be making false allegations about uShip using this ShippingGuru site. Normally, we don’t respond to his comments, but we take these allegations very seriously and think it is important to set the record straight.
The truth is that uShip is one of the safest venues to find a reputable service provider to ship your goods. You are absolutely right to say that uShip makes service providers accountable for their actions through our feedback system. We are proud that uShip members leave positive feedback over 98% of the time.
Sadly, fraud exists in the online and offline world. No matter what venue you use to select a service provider, you still have the responsibility to follow common sense guidelines to protect yourself. uShip provides many resources to help consumers do their diligence before selecting a service provider. Overall, reported fraud accounts for less than .001% of transactions on uShip – a level that we believe to be far below industry averages.
We are proud of uShip and the value we are creating for consumers and businesses all over the country. Thanks for your post and the opportunity to respond!
Hi Mickey,
Thanks for your timely response. I think that clears it up for everybody.
Look at this carrier if you want to see a scam that went on after they were warned: http://www.uship.com/profile/lug201/
Linda, The rest of the story with UShip is that they diligently remove posts from the forums they find objectionable. Second - Timothy is not the owner of Shippingguru; I am personally acquainted with Timothy.
There are some very shady things going on in the UShip community right now, including several motorcycles which have disappeared; a dispute with John McAfee (of McAfee virus); and a refusal on UShip’s part to police their carriers and make even a token attempt to ensure the carriers are legally able to fulfill contracts. I’m sure that since you’ve broached the issue many more postings will appear shortly.
Thanks for your time.
Uship does appear to have found a niche that enables shippers to realize comparatively low shipping rates. However, from my observation, it isn’t necessarily achieved by matching shippers with excess space available on legal motor carriers. Too frequently it accomplishes this by allowing anyone with a truck and a credit card to become a member and bid on shipments. Since uShip readily states that it doesn’t verify the credentials or legality of service providers, it has become a magnet for many that willingly violate US DOT regulations by not being properly registered with US DOT as a motor carrier for hire. Those who are willing to violate the applicable statutes and regulations have found a lucrative market on uShip knowing they can be confident in their knowledge that uShip will make no real effort to verify they are legally authorized to haul property or passengers interstate for compensation. Those illegal haulers, who do not bear the expenses of the legal motor carriers such as US DOT & state registration fees, mandatory cargo & liability insurance premiums, and many other related expenses, can obviously transport for lower prices. Again, from my observation, uShip simply facilitates thousands of illegal haulers while simultaneously reaping revenue by charging the service providers extremely high match fees or service charges. Since a vast majority of the shippers are not aware of the requirements and regulations regarding interstate transport of property and passengers, they unwittingly enter in to agreements with these illegal haulers. The overall result does achieve reduced shipping rates. But a secondary impact is the fact that our nation’s highways are suddenly flooded with unregulated transporters that effectively avoid the requirements for driver’s medical exams, vehicle inspections, and numerous additional requirements that must be met by legal motor carriers and legal commercial drivers. These requirements are established to help safe guard the well being and safety of the consumer. The uShip concept is a great one but the resulting operation certainly appears unethical, if not illegal.
I am going to go ahead and close this thread, as we are not fans of Get Elastic turning into a courtroom. We support open PRODUCTIVE discussions, not flame wars. Domination of a discussion to bash a company mentioned in a post is not in the best interest of our readers, and therefore, we will attempt to curb such activities. We respect the viewpoints of interested parties and make no judgments, but politely decline to be a public wrestling ring.