The Backpack Blog

Ever dreamed owning an original Bob Dylan autographed poster which you see auctioned at eBay? Ever gasped why eBay or Amazon products don’t get shipped to your country? Ever wondered how cool it would have been if you could hold first edition Harry Potter books right after they got published? What about having original jersey of your most favorite superstar?

You don’t have anyone living abroad who can bring it for you? Those days are over. Now you can order your most favorite stuff online at www.backpackbang.com. People travelling to your city from abroad will bring it to your door. You will pay fewer prices than you would have if you were to buy imported same product. No import tax, tariff, or shipping fee. Other than the original price, you only pay carrier charge to the person who is carrying it for you as part of his risk and effort.

How backpack works

To get a product you like in Amazon or eBay, you choose it and find a carrier in backpackbang.com. A carrier is someone who is travelling to your city and has enlisted his or her flight schedule in the website. You negotiate a price with the carrier. When you both agree, backpack closes the deal. When the carrier reaches your city, he or she hands you the product and you pay the price agreed upon before. From the carriers’ perspective, he or she can charge higher price than the buying price of the product. It’s like he’s carrying your product and sell it to you while he reaches your city. This the beauty of peer-to-peer sharing concept: frictionless delivery where taxes and laws apparently don’t hinder the process.

It's All Magic at the Back-end:

The ingenious idea combined with creativity and passion of Fahim Masoud Aziz and Sakib Hasan Sauro has set a ground for frictionless shipping of products globally. The demand is tested. Remember how many people yearn for Jerseys, I-products, original books, medicines that are rare in your country and many more.

It's All about Having What You Want with Less Price:

If you are a buyer, the message for you: Buy overseas, Pay less. Pay less works because no tax or tariff or shipping cost is included. Plus, you get original products with less price. You even get products that are either very expensive or not available in your country. Think Macbook Air. Think Nikon D700. Think about having first edition of your favorite Game of Thrones books that are being auctioned at eBay and you constantly gasp looking at them. What about your most favorite gunner's jersey being an Arsenal fan? All you need to do now is to find your product, then strike a deal with a carrier who is travelling to your city listed in backpack.com.

It's All about Making Someone Else Happy while You Earn for Your Effort:

If you are a carrier, the message for you: Share your travel plans, Start earning money. Do you remember how many times you have been asked to bring an I-Pad, Google Nexus 7, or Amazon Kindle Fire HD for your friends? What about buying these products while you are abroad where prices are cheaper than your country market and selling them back to buyers matched through www.backpackbang.com Your benefit is that you can charge a "carrier price" since you are bearing the risk of shipping it. The beauty of the mechanism is that the price a carrier charges is negotiable. If a carrier charges unreasonably high price, the buyer can always choose another carrier, effectively applying the law of supply and demand.

It's Mostly about Empowering People with the Power of Technology:

Just because you don't have anyone living abroad, it's not acceptable that you can't buy the product you really want. I remember wanting an original Poker chips set which wasn’t available in Bangladesh. Instead, we had to play with Carom pieces. For backpack, it works for both sides: a carrier charges a shipment price while delivering a product that a buyer really wants. Not only has a buyer paid lower price for a product which is backpacked but the carrier gets compensated too. It's a win-win situation for both sides.

It's Somewhat about Making the Barriers of International Shipping Irrelevant:

FedEx, DHL, UPS-- contrary to all of these, backpack provides a cost-effective option to buy original products.

It's about Connecting Global Community Organically, Serving the Economy Indirectly yet Profoundly:

Backpack creates a social medium of sharing, creating value deeply within by recognizing peoples' choices and helping them get what they want. Along the way, backpacking will create friends, well-wishers, often some miscreants too. Tackling those miscreants and fraud issues is backpack's biggest challenge for growth. Finding a solid sharing mechanism that will hold both the buyer and carrier accountable is critical to backpack’s growth.

It's about Passion

I remember talking to building co-founders of backpack in its building days: Fahim and Sauro. Their eyes were glimmering with hope and passion, allowing them to work tirelessly to create awesome stuff. These two creative persons are hedging their bet on you that you also will like what they created. Remember the bet is on you right now? Do you see things happening?

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

---Apple, Think Different Campaign