LicketyShip's four hour gadget delivery service goes live

We've all had those moments where we needed (read: wanted) something, and we needed it fast. For those who just can't get enough instant gratification in their lives, there's a new gadget delivery service aimed squarely at you. After two years of running through hoops in order to get everything sufficiently established, LicketyShip is hitting the streets (literally) and burning down the highways to get you whatever gizmo your heart desires (so long as it's stocked) within four hours of ordering. Due to nifty inventory-monitoring software and sweet hookups with local carriers, the company can probably get your kit to you before you'd make it down the 101 yourself. For now, however, the service is restricted to the San Francisco Bay Area, and there's no night owl routes running just yet either -- but if business goes as planned, and enough Bay Area folks shell out the $19.99 (and way up, we presume) required for such zippy services, the four-hour rule will reportedly go into effect from coast to coast.

[Matt Malone @ Sep 29th 2006 10:29AM]

Damn thats sweet. but i dont think id want something that desperate i couldnt wait until tomorrow. amazon deliver next day if you order at like 8am (my monitor came about 28 hours after ordering, which was sweet).

[netposer @ Sep 29th 2006 10:31AM]

Who really cares about some service in SF? This will never work except in heavily populated/dense areas in major cities.

I doubt it will catch on.

This is worse than articles on how to pick a broadband provider. Most folks not in big cities have only 1 choice anyway.

[John Sununu @ Sep 29th 2006 12:12PM]

"Who really cares about some service in SF?"

People in SF?

[duder @ Sep 29th 2006 10:31AM]

uh, what ever happened to walking into a store, giving them money, and walking out with your new shiny device? I don't get it.

[dpk @ Sep 29th 2006 11:49AM]

It's not uncommon to have to go to three or four different stores to find out nobody carries the specific product you're looking for. And calling them ahead of time to see if they have it may seem like a reasonable option, but, let's just say, good luck with that! You might be lucky enough to get an "associate" (not salesman) who cares enough to check for you.

So you end up having to go online for it, and wait days/weeks.

If this scenario hasn't happened to you, then yeah, this service is not for you. For the rest of us, I look forward to it expanding, especially to Seattle.

[shmengie @ Sep 29th 2006 11:47AM]

what? and leave the house? get real, duder!

[Atlanta Resident @ Sep 29th 2006 10:32AM]

eh... i'll still wait for Quantum Express to start up. When it absolutly positively needs to be there yesterday.

[Mattazuma @ Sep 29th 2006 10:36AM]

Smells like Webvan 2 to me.

[TS @ Sep 29th 2006 10:44AM]

"eh... i'll still wait for Quantum Express to start up. When it absolutly positively needs to be there yesterday."


heh. how sly. Really though, I must echo comments that this can't work in a lot of areas. I live in KC, and although its a good size city, I just don't see it happening here. Certainly has the potential to be feasible throughout most of Cali, however.

[PeeWee @ Sep 29th 2006 10:48AM]

Wow, getting goods delivered in four hours in a large city, who would of thought of that?
Try phoning any London company and they will send it via bike or van within a couple of hours, even hundreds of miles away - if you want to pay.
Hell, you can even get Pizza delivered. Maybe I should setup a Pizza delivery comapny, thats an original idea, eh?

[Jason @ Sep 29th 2006 10:58AM]

Brings back memories of the days of Urbanfetch and Kazaa.com...

[Rob @ Sep 29th 2006 11:02AM]

If a company like this can succeed in SF, isn't that enough? Just because it won't work in your city doesn't mean the company can't rake in bundles sticking to one (or more) big cities. I have no idea if this concept will succeed, but I would imagine there are plenty of very wealthy people who won't mind paying for convenience of same-day home delivery.

[LA Dave @ Sep 29th 2006 11:20AM]

Sounds very Kozmo.com like.
I enjoyed the service.
It was fast even in the LA area, they just expanded too fast.

[Terry @ Sep 29th 2006 11:25AM]

There have been 4 hour (6 hours I think coast to coast) services like this for atleast 25 years. At the company I worked for we shipped tapes, punch cards and computer printouts to and from coustomers sites. It's been 15 years since I'ved used the services, so I can not remember the company name at this time. It did not stock gadgets, but you could schedule a pickup and delivery from a store.

[Jim @ Sep 29th 2006 11:34AM]

Kozmo for gizmos!

[Matt M @ Sep 29th 2006 11:43AM]

ok im sorry, here's the problem with this business model. If i want something now, then chances are that i will go ahead and pick it up at the store myself. The products i want delivered TODAY are the products that arent avaliable locally, like a specialized computer part, or a gadget that can only be ordered from places like newegg. I bet i could pay my ROOMMATE $20 to pick up something locally for me, and he'd gladly do it in a heartbeat. If all they're doing is looking up local stock and picking it up for you, then what's the point???

[Jason @ Sep 29th 2006 12:00PM]

Whoops... that should have been Kozmo.com, not Kazaa (mind is elsewhere today!)

[Carlos Rivero @ Sep 29th 2006 12:23PM]

here is the link ... for lazys like me...

http://www.licketyship.com/

[srw985 @ Sep 29th 2006 12:24PM]

whens the UK version coming?

maybe in 50 years?

[Tim @ Sep 29th 2006 12:39PM]

So you get it in four hours, then have to wait another 16-20 hours for the "Initial Charge".

If the gadgets arive charged and ready to go that would be awesome. The worse thing about buying a new toy is opening the box, and seeing a note on the battery telling you that you can't play with your new toy till after the "Initial Charge".

[zsyco @ Sep 29th 2006 3:06PM]

[quote]
So you get it in four hours, then have to wait another 16-20 hours for the "Initial Charge".

If the gadgets arive charged and ready to go that would be awesome. The worse thing about buying a new toy is opening the box, and seeing a note on the battery telling you that you can't play with your new toy till after the "Initial Charge".[/quote]

Now that's a service that will move gadgets. You get it, fully charged, within 4 hours. It does suck when you have to wait, sometimes over 12 hours, to use your new toys.

[Menhir @ Sep 29th 2006 1:06PM]

Yup - smells exactly like Kozmo.com and Urbanfetch! I agree that Kozmo was a great service and concept, but they did expand too fast and with no economies of scale.

I interned with Kozmo.com and the concept that worked in NYC with bike messengers shuttling stuff around had no shot in cities like Houston and LA. So they had to get people deliver in cars (like pizza delivery).

The stupidest thing with that was they'd pay the delivery guys $10/hour but the web site had no minimum purchase limits or delivery fees. I personally have seen a guy drive his car like 10 miles to deliver a 75 cent bag of sunflower seeds. Ridiculous!

By the time they figured out the problem, it was too late.

[Scott C. @ Sep 29th 2006 1:18PM]

uh.... the website doesn't work

[Magallanes @ Sep 29th 2006 2:28PM]

Sound like any express delivery system but expensive.

[Dp462090 @ Sep 29th 2006 3:23PM]

Although, having gadgets charged when they reach your door, would be nice, I can see a few issues with it (mainly with batteries). But, I guess if they kept a large stock of batteries charged, it could work.

[Alex @ Sep 29th 2006 3:15PM]

That's awesome. I thought it might come to this some day. People just can't get their stuff soon enough. When I order stuff with free shipping from Amazon (which usually takes only two or three days) it's painful enough.... four hours would own.

[schale_WDI @ Sep 30th 2006 11:27AM]

Quote from 10 years ago:
"I don't know if this crazy technology called a cell phone is really going to catch on. I mean come on if I want to make a call I just pull over and use a pay phone."

[Z @ Oct 1st 2006 7:29PM]

They're going to have to expand their stock a LOT more for this to succeed.

I entered "Imate Jasjar" and "Qtek 9000" and "Dopod 900", and nothing came up. I know not everyone is looking for that device, but it's popular enough, especially for a place like SF, that they'll need to offer it along with some other higher-end products.