HACKER Q&A
📣 ta1234567890

Uber for Printing?


Recently I had to print something, but I didn't have a printer available. No problem, I went online, sent my document to a local Staples and got it printed. But, 1) the closest store was 20+ minutes away by car, 2) it was relatively expensive for just a few pieces of paper, 3) didn't get a time estimate for pickup, had to find the number of the store, call and got told the job was scheduled to be done 3 hours later, at a time I wouldn't have been able to pick it up, fortunately they were able to print it on the spot and I was able to go pick it up right after.

So then I thought it would've been great if I could've found someone with an available printer (through an app or website), within a short distance, and paid them for the service instead of a huge national chain. Does that service exist? If so, what's it called and would you recommend it?

  👤 posguy Accepted Answer ✓
Independent Print and Copy shops are pretty common still, meanwhile every shipping store (eg: UPS Store, FedEx Office, local independent mail shops) and library offers inexpensive printer use.

Hard to build a business when there is ubiquitous existing supply combined with most home printers having much higher ink costs and dodgy print quality due to lack of use/maintenance.

👤 q-base
I had this idea probably 5 years ago now and I am sure others had it before that. Everyone talked me out of it because paper is going away. But that just compounds the pain once you actually need it.

There are issues with regards to security when you transfer the files for printing, privacy issues on the content itself and then of course issues with regards to the quality of the printer and the printed material itself. But I actually still believe it would be possible to make a profitable company out of it.

Every company does not need to aim for unicorn status.

👤 matt_s
A possible path for this type of business to be profitable is for other businesses to participate instead of individuals.

Apartment complexes and car repair shops come to mind as places that have printers. The fees to the consumer would probably be astronomical compared to the $0.25/page a print shop might charge.

Driving someone around is small invasion of privacy, I can't imagine individuals wanting to invite others into their homes for a buck or two.