Shopping with Grabr
Have you ever looked online and seen something you love; only to realise it is only sold in another country? I know I have, and sometimes there is a way around it. For instance, some stores ship worldwide and there are companies out there that will act as a middleman. The trouble with this, however, is it often costs you a lot more, and if you decide to use a business as a middleman it can be tricky to work out all the ins and outs of it as well.
In fact, a whole lot of work has to go into getting you an order from abroad via the postal system.
So I was interested when online shopping company Grabr got in touch – they allow you to shop the globe, but it is done with a difference.
Grabr is a peer-to-peer delivery network and works as so: Let’s say for example there is a pair of shoes you would just love to own in New York; you log onto Grabr, sign up as a consumer and set up an order. This can be done in a couple of ways: you can choose to search the Grabr shop filled with things other people have asked for, you can paste a link from a website, and lastly, if you’re not 100% sure of what you are after, you can manually enter all the details about the item.
Once you have found the item you want you need to set up the order, which will cost you:
The RRP of your chosen item.
Traveller’s reward – this is how much you are willing to pay the traveller to bring the item to you.
Service fee – this is 7% of the total.
Once you have completed all that, you sit back and wait for someone who it travelling from your items location, to your home town (or nearby) and is willing to pick up a bit of extra spending money by bringing you your goods.
What happens if the traveller doesn’t bring me my goods?
Grabr holds on to all the money until the item has been delivered, so you can be safe in the knowledge that no goods means you will get the money back.
All of this means the process of getting goods via Grabr is a lot less complex, cutting out all those middlemen, which in turn cuts down the chance of it getting lost in transit.
What’s more: if you are a traveller yourself, you can sign up to be a Grabr Traveller for people seeking items and look to earn yourself some more money.
Personally I am really interested to see how Grabr works and I have set up a grab for a personalised pet pillow from Moscow – can you imagine Sally on a pillow how cute! Hopefully, someone will agree to bring it over to me and I can update you on just how Grabr works.
What do you think of the idea of Grabr, would you give it a try?
I simply adore this post! Sometimes it can be confusing for me, the process of international shipping! Thanks for explaining it so clearly!
Grabr sounds like an awesome company! Do they deal with all the currencies or is it in just 1 main one?
Thank you for sharing this post.
Such an interesting read.
Thank you!
This sounds like such a great idea. I think it could end up getting quite costly so I think the item would definitely have to be worth it but I think its something id use xxx
enjoyed reading this post greatly
Thanks for info
I don’t do enough online shopping shopping to need a traveler service, but the idea is super cool. I hope your cat pillow from Moscow comes to you door soon!
Never heard of this service so thanks for the into. Certainly worth considering.
I had never hear of this, sounds a great service though.
As an online shopper this is a great idea. I shop from a few places out of the US so I know how much of a struggle it can be.
Shopping online is so much easier ! I’ve always wondered the steps when it’s over seas or anything
I love to shop online. No i can understand why it takes so long to arrive. I will have to give Grabr a try.
This sounds like a great service. Never heard of it until now although can’t wait to try it soon.
Yes, I have seen many items I would like, then find out they have to be shipped from overseas. Import duty, shipping costs etc put me off buying. I wonder if international airline baggage costs would be any cheaper. Cabin luggage is free, but bigger items in the hold plus the traveller’s fee may cost more than shipping and import tax.
I have never heard of Grabr but I think it is great that the have cut out the middle man and created a clearer and concise experience.
This is such an interesting concept. Might have to take a look x
What a great idea! I don’t know if I could be patient enough to wait for someone going to where I needed, but I am going to give it a try!
This looks a great idea, so many times I see items on American sites that don’t ship to the UK, the disadvantage of being a bit of a weird goth I suppose!
I am a slow traveler but definitely move time by time so this looks perfect on me. Thanks for the info! 🙂
It’s fun that they have found a new concept for shipping. Shows that there’s always a way to think outside of the box (pun not intended). 😉
This looks like a great service to use. I normally shy away from international purchases and shipping, but I may give this one a try.
I usually find what I need from suppliers delivering to the UK but find it an intriguing concept. Clever thinking from whoever came up with the idea.
Thanks for sharing but I’m not sure my lady needs another way to shop. She’s already cornered the national market. Grabr will help make it an international effort.
What a really good idea! I will definitely look into this next time I see something fro America I want!
That’s a really interesting concept! I like that it sounds like a safe way to shop globally, since you don’t have to worry about your funds disappearing before you get your order!
I would definitely give Grabr a try. It would probably work best with small items. I love that it would eliminate middle men, extra charges, and the long wait. Thanks for letting me know about this.
It’s amazing what the internet allows us to do now, this is a great service especially when you want that special item 🙂
I’ve never heard of this but perhaps I should sign up as a traveller as I’m heading to New York later this year and could pick up some items for people x
Ohh good luck if you do 🙂 x
I am loving this service. I have gone on quite a few sites and found items I loved and they didn’t ship. This is perfect! I should sign up to become one of the traveller too. Might make me a bit of money 🙂
That is such a neat service! This seems a little nerve racking but I am sure they have figured out a system to make it less risky! Too cool.
What a great idea. I have found things I wanted to buy in different parts of the world and I didn’t because I wasn’t quite sure about shipping and everything going smoothly. This service would certainly make you feel more comfortable about shopping internationally.
What an interesting service! There are so many products that I’d love to try that aren’t here in the US. I’ll definitely have to look more into this <3
This is so new to me! I need to look into it 🙂 xx
Well I have not heard of this company before but it sure looks a lot easier than usual! Thanks for sharing. Infographics make things so much easier to understand too! Angela from Daysinbed
This is a really interesting idea! There are so many products I would love to try that are USA only, will defo have to look into this x
This is a really neat idea. I would consider giving it a try. I am going to look into this a little more.
oh wow love the sound of this as I am often disappointed when I can’t by as they don’t deliver to the UK sure will take a look
This is awesome! I love how technology is totally changing our world and connecting us in so many unexpected ways.
Wow what an interesting business concept. Almost reminds me of the way I used to get books in the early 2000’s. You’d sign up and ship a book someone else wanted then you could get a book. Great idea!
This seems like a really interesting idea. I would definitely be willing to try out Grabr and see how it works out.
Sure I’d give it a try. Sounds super convenient!
I have never heard of anything like this before, but I am definitely going to try it out!
Never heard of this before but sounds like an interesting service. Thanks for the heads up. Looking forward to seeing what you think of this once you try it out!
What an interesting service! It seems like a good idea but I am slightly dubious about trusting other people with my good :/ I guess for small-value items this is fab!
I was about to ask how you could make certain the person bringing your item would actually come through and then you answered that question for me. 🙂 I’ve never heard of anything like this before and I really hope it takes off. What a great concept and you explained it well.
This is perfect. There are a few European companies I want to shop with that this will be perfect for. Hope someone is traveling from their to my loc soon.
I’ve never heard of anything like this before but it makes sense and definitely seems worth a go! X
It seems like such a nice way to get a taste of somewhere you can’t travel to. It would totally help me get my travel fix.
Intriguing post! It’s not something I’ve ever thought about. I just buy UK and I filter my searches to only find these items. I should perhaps broaden my horizons!