Olympic gymnast Jackson Payne has been a Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace aficionado for years, but shortly after negotiating a price on whatever he was selling on the platforms, he always encountered a conundrum: getting the item to its new owner.

含羞草研究社淚t would be a 45-minute to an hour含羞草研究社檚 drive 含羞草研究社� and they wouldn含羞草研究社檛 want to come pick it up and I wouldn含羞草研究社檛 want to go deliver it,含羞草研究社� Payne said.

So when he retired from his athletic career at the end of August, he decided it was time to do something about it.

That something is Deeleeo, an Edmonton-based app that aims to bring convenience and affordability to the courier industry by letting anyone sign up to transport goods.

Deeleeo, which recently had its soft launch, has been used by locals to speedily drop off presents or loan out items to friends and family and by small businesses to get purchases to buyers.

Experts say it含羞草研究社檚 an opportune time for peer-to-peer or crowdsourced delivery services specializing in non-perishable goods because many Canadians are staying home and such apps allow consumers to send items without a requiring a mask or a trip outdoors.

It含羞草研究社檚 a reversal from a few years ago when similar services were calling it quits, citing low demand and more interest in food delivery.

The most high profile courier service to close was Uber Technologies Inc.含羞草研究社檚 Rush, which operated in San Francisco, New York and Chicago between 2014 to 2018. The company chalked up the closure as a 含羞草研究社渂old bet含羞草研究社� that didn含羞草研究社檛 work out and refocused on UberEats.

Courier DHL and a group of German design students explored a similar service called Bring Buddy, but it was cancelled seven years ago and the company hasn含羞草研究社檛 used crowdsourcing since.

Even Walmart considered using customers to drop off U.S. orders, but abandoned the idea.

Others thought crowdsourced deliveries still had potential, but zeroed in on the commercial markets by undercutting postal services and big-name shipping companies with cheaper prices and lower wait times.

Payne insists there is a market for his service because it can get deliveries where they need to go quicker or more cheaply than traditional options.

Small packages going a short distance can be delivered for as low as $9, while bigger items needing to travel hundreds of kilometres can cost $70, he said.

Couriers earn between 75 and 80 per cent of the delivery fee and make premiums for the more items they deliver.

含羞草研究社淚 have family members that don含羞草研究社檛 have jobs right now and I see the struggle, so if Deeleeo can provide a temporary, part-time or even full-time solution to raising the funds they need to support their family, I含羞草研究社檓 happy to see that,含羞草研究社� Payne said.

Just as Payne was readying to launch Deeleeo, Uber was reconsidering crowdsourced deliveries again.

Despite its Rush troubles, it launched Uber Connect, a Deeleeo competitor, at the end of May in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Connect likely won含羞草研究社檛 be the last new crowdsourced delivery option.

A 2016 McKinsey study valued the global parcel delivery market at more than $108 billion and said it含羞草研究社檚 growing so fast that shipping volumes could double by 2026.

While crowd-based shipping models can be attractive because of their affordability, the report warned that such services will likely only play a minor role in the industry because they can be fraught with legal issues and it can be difficult to source drivers during peak periods if they sign up with multiple companies.

McKinsey, however, suggested the services could excel at managing 含羞草研究社渦ltra peak demand含羞草研究社� like the December holiday rush that already prompted Canada Post to plead with consumers to get their parcels shipped early.

Holiday seasons like Valentine含羞草研究社檚 Day and Christmas have been a boon for years, but the pandemic is producing a surge too, said Kristine Hubbard, operations manager at Beck, a Toronto taxi service that has offered deliveries through its cabs for as long as she can remember.

含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e finding, in the interest of not wanting to go out or be in direct contact with family members, people will send some cookies they含羞草研究社檝e made or maybe it含羞草研究社檚 a blanket or maybe you know it含羞草研究社檚 some tool they含羞草研究社檙e going to lend,含羞草研究社� Hubbard said.

Beck follows the city-mandated $10 parcel minimum and charges that rate for the first three kilometres and $2.50 for every additional kilometre.

There are no hard rules around what it will ship. Most items, including food or forgotten house or car keys, are fine, but Hubbard has had to veto some requests.

含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檝e been asked to transport a snake. That was a hard no,含羞草研究社� she said.

含羞草研究社淪ome people have asked to send babies alone.含羞草研究社�

While such services are fulfilling an important need during the health crisis, Wendy Cukier, a research lead at both the Future Skills Centre and Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, worries about their affects on the workforce.

Uber and Deeleeo 含羞草研究社� much like food delivery services 含羞草研究社� rely on independent contractors and were developed to offer convenience to consumers and a money generator for people out of work or looking to pad their incomes.

The problem with services relying on independent contracting is they often don含羞草研究社檛 offer stable wages, employment benefits or health insurance, said Cukier.

She wishes services and regulators thought more about how big an impact universal basic income and portable benefits, which move with people as they change jobs or employers, can have on workers and the economy.

含羞草研究社淢ake no mistake about it 含羞草研究社� some employers are constructing new arrangements so that they don含羞草研究社檛 have to invest in long-term employees,含羞草研究社� she said.

含羞草研究社淲e have to make sure we don含羞草研究社檛 leave anyone behind.含羞草研究社�

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

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