Same day delivery service LicketyShip (previous coverage) is expanding out across the state from their initial beta in San Francisco and the Bay Area, joined by some new partners.
LicketyShip has moved away from serving as a delivery service for online stores (like Kozmo), to servicing local door to door deliveries. You can use it for local business deliveries or last minute packages that need to arrive ASAP.
You set up a delivery by logging on to the site, inputing the start and finish locations, and then paying with a credit card. A short while later, a courier will show up to your door to deliver your package in 1 to 4 hours, depending on your needs and payment ($19.99 starting). Goods can be up to a whopping 5500 pounds and even have their progress tracked on the website, email, or SMS.
LicketyShip seeks to avoid a Kozmo-like flame out by utilizing the pre-existing system of couriers, instead of creating their own. LicketyShip “rents” couriers by paying for deliveries couriers can take during their normally unproductive down time. Whenever an order is placed, their computer system examines prices and reputations couriers to calculate the best route for delivery.
LicketyShip will now be making on demand door to door delivers to all the the major markets over California, including LA, Orange County, Sacramento, and San Diego (including outlying areas). As part of the launch, LicketyShip will be handling deliveries for the LA times, K&L Wines, and Ztail.com.
Using their API, the LA Times will be using the service as a delivery option for the Times’ 40,000 classified listings on Recycler.com. Prices for deliveries start at $19.99 for the first 200 lbs. K&L Wines, will be using the service to offer local, same day deliveries to their consumers over the phone and eventually their website. Ztail, which helps eBay merchants make better listings, will offer LicketyShip deliveries for their eBay auctions.