Last year, I went to Paris armed with a package for my friend Satish (name changed), courtesy his mom back here in Mumbai. It wasn’t often that Satish’s mom, an erstwhile journalist, was able to send him special goodies from home. Let’s face it – airfare to many far-off countries isn’t exactly cheap and international courier providers can charge exorbitant rates as well. Many a times, we have to be content with a virtual gift or a Whatsapp gift icon on occasions that demand that something special. Satish made my trip really memorable with his expert guided tours of the city’s museums and cultural hotspots. Trust me, his knowledge of the city could have rivalled that of a professional guide’s. Match that with his near-perfect command of the French language and you have a perfect travel companion. Alas, I couldn’t return Satish’s generosity by bringing back a gift for his mom. My luggage was so full with all the shopping I’d done (I really overdosed on the Camembert and wine) that there was no space left for Satish’s largish package.
We’re nearing that time of the year again, when it’ll be time for Satish to send a gift to his mother on her birthday. Will he have to depend on an acquaintance making a fortuitous trip to Mumbai? Or will he have to entrust his token of love to an anonymous courier provider? If Satish goes to Google Play store and downloads a uniquely named app called Zaldee, he might be able to find a third and better way to surprise his mom.
A couple weeks ago, one of my friend, called me up and told me that he is aware of an app named Zaldee that allowed people to make money while they travelled. How exactly did they do that? I asked. He said, that Zaldee allowed people to sell and buy excess luggage space while traveling by any mode of transport (Air, Car, Train or Bus). So if I’m travelling to Singapore next week, all I have to do is list my trip and rate per kg of goods on Zaldee and wait for someone to approach me with a request. What’s more, I can set a weight limit as well, so I don’t have to be saddled with more than I can handle. My first question was – Is it a safe platform? He assured me that it was. There are lot of features including “Trust Shields”, Recommendations, Chat & Feedback to provide peace of mind but Satish would have to use it for himself to be completely satisfied.
Zaldee works somewhat like Quikr, Olx, AirBnb and other online buying-selling platforms. But this is a mobile phone app and therefore, that much more accessible. One has to download the app from either Apple App store and Google play store . Sign up and provide one’s credentials with one’s other social accounts. Then, one is free to list a trip or browse through listed trips if one has a package to be sent anywhere in India or the world.
I had never heard of Zaldee before and I was doubtful if this US-based app would have any users in India. I was pleasantly surprised. The app was full of listings from India when I signed in. Zaldee also has a decent following on Facebook and other social channels as well. Though Zaldee shares your email id only after you accept the request, I would suggest to use common sense as we do with any other transactions on Quikr/Olx/Airbnb.
But with Satish living in Paris, I have no doubt that he will have a fruitful experience with Zaldee. I’m tempted to tell his mom to expect something really memorable on her birthday this year but I’ll try and desist. What’s a surprise with prior warning after all?
Disclaimer: This post has been commissioned by Zaldee Inc and the author bears no responsibility for individual experiences with the app. To commission a similar post, email Ankita@trailstainedfingers.com