How would you like to not have to actually pack your bags? Or even better, not to have to even bring them with you on the plane? Adam Balkin explains how in the following Tech Talk report.
How much would you pay to have someone else deal with one of the most frustrating parts of traveling? Packing, dragging your suitcase to the airport, then checking your bags in? Well, DUFL is a relatively new service, aimed primarily at frequent fliers, that sends you a suitcase. You pack it once, then that’s one of the last times you pack it.
“In that suitcase you give us all the clothes that you typically wear on the road, we bring those into our facility, we inventory them, we clean them, we take professional pictures of them, and then we store them in a secure closet,” says Bill Rinehart, CEO of DUFL. “And then you have access to the app so you can see all of your clothes on your app and you say ‘I’m going to New York next week, I get there on Thursday, I want this shirt, this shirt, these pants, those shoes, those socks,' so you literally virtually pack your bag. Our warehouse workers then go and actually professionally pack your bag and when you get to your hotel, your bag is already there."
Now if you are weirded out at all at the thought of someone handling or cleaning your clothes, if it helps at all, your name is not attached at all to this bag during that process. Thanks to a QR code, you are simply an anonymous number.
Your name only gets associated with the bag once it is packed and the shipping label is attached. Now, to the big question: the cost.
“The standard price for a trip is $99, and what that includes like for me in New York this week, that includes shipping to New York, shipping back from New York, and all dry cleaning," Rinehart says.
Standard meaning you have given at least three days’ notice. If you need overnight, that is an extra $50 each way. There is also a $10 monthly fee for storing your clothes. You can pack your DUFL bag via the web or an iOS or Android device. Right now, the service is available just in the United States, though international service is set to launch any day.
Early next year, DUFL will add a sports service so that you can do the same thing with equipment from golf clubs to scuba gear to surfboards.