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June 03, 2005
Lost and Found on the Internet
I just found a new service that I wanted to share. Basically, it's a lost and found service for the internet. StuffBak will give you small stickers (or perhaps you have to buy them...not sure) that you can place on various items. It contains their URL, an 800 number, a unique ID, and in bright yellow letters "REWARD FOR RETURN!"
The idea is that if an honest person comes across your $400 PDA or camera or whatever, they would like to return it to you. Even if they're a little less than honest, a reward might induce them, but they still have no idea of how to find you. Well, the StuffBak sticker gives them a way to report the item, and StuffBak will arrange the shipping and return to you. The service is technically free until they actually return an item to you, and then it's just $14.95 plus shipping (typically less than $30 total).
Yes, you could achieve much of this just by engraving your contact info onto the item (if it's big enough), but there is a nice convenience and privacy factor here. I have a similar service for my keys, provided by my alumni association, where I carry a keychain ornament that allows a finder to just drop the keys into mailbox, eventually getting them back to me for a fee.
Now, I did say it's "technically" free. It's really just free for the first year after the activation of the label. After that, it's either $2.95 per year per label, or $20 for any number of labels for five years. (You do the math.) Also, any reward you promise is obviously paid by you, but StuffBak handles the details, providing immediate gratification to your hopeful Samaritan.
A field test run by CNBC showed that 5 out of 6 items were returned within three days, so it seems to work. (Plus, the one item not returned was so cheap that I wouldn't have used the service on it in the first place.)
Anyway, I just thought I'd pass it on in recognition of, "Hey... that's a good idea."
Technology by Dan at June 3, 2005 05:09 PM