This Seattle Startup Has A Unique Idea For Securing Your Delivery
People will steal anything. Sometimes they don’t even know what they’re stealing.
Last September, my mother-in-law purchased a baby crib as a baby-shower gift for our coming little one and Fedexed it to our house in San Jose, California. Unfortunately, the gift never showed up because somebody had stolen our delivery.
Every year, over 15 million people have a delivery stolen from their home. The experience usually goes something like this: You arrive home expecting to open your package, but it’s missing. You track it, and the status shows “Delivered.” You start to investigate by calling the shipper, the carrier, your neighbors, etc. After countless phone calls and emails, you find out if the package is insured and if you’ll receive a refund or a replacement.
Michael Grabham, a Seattle resident, used to be in the same situation as yours quite a few times. The incidents inspired him to create Package Guard, a frisbee-sized alarm device that sits at your front door. It establishes a clear delivery location for the UPS, FedEx, DHL, United States Post Office or other courier service with the text “PLACE PACKAGE HERE.” Once your delivery is safely on the Package Guard, the alarm is armed. The only way to remove the package is by entering your passcode in your mobile phone app. If someone removes your item(s) without entering the passcode, the Package Guard sets off an alarm (similar to a car alarm). It will also integrate with your surveillance camera so you can get a picture of the thief and share it with police or on Facebook to warn other neighbors.
“With an increasing number of people ordering items delivered to their homes, I wanted to create a simple solution that would solve the problem of protecting a delivery when no one is home,” said Mike. “The Package Guard sets off an alarm if packages are removed without the passcode making it virtually impossible to steal deliveries and being unnoticed thus putting ‘Porch Pirates’ out of business.”
The Package Guard is on Kickstarter and you can now back the product with a purchase of $49.00. Or, if you’ve ever experienced package theft, share your story on the Package Guard Facebook Page or tweet the company at @PackageGuard to earn a free device.
As a introductory offer to anyone that has had a package stolen will be able to get a Package Guard for just paying the shipping. All they have to do is send proof from police, media outlet or email from the delivery company that shows that a package was stolen and Package Guard will send them a device for just $5. They can sign up for this on the company’s Kickstarter campaign as well.
Keep tabs on Package Guard at:
Mike is an entrepreneur and an active member in the Seattle Startup ecosystem with Startup Grind and Start IT Seattle on KIRO TV. He loves to build teams and products, and he’s constantly in pursuit of knowing his customers deeply to deliver a great product experience. Mike and his wife also have a nonprofit called Survivethestreets.org to help homeless people.
Connie loves to hear your feedback, so feel free to email her or add her on LinkedIn.
