I purged my closets in the move, and ended up eBaying off a bunch of odds and ends. It’s a painless process, until you then have to actually pack and ship the stuff you just sold.

Fortunately, I discovered the app Shyp, which makes shipping as easy as listing items in the first place. Enter the destination addresses, shoot photos of the items, and for a $5 flat fee, the company will send someone to pick everything up, pack it, and send it off via the cheapest carrier option available.

It’s a smart business model, as the $5 fee is just supplementary income for the company, which makes most of its money on the arbitrage between the retail shipping price and the discounted price they pay based on their high shipping volume. Thus, the cost to ship is the same as you’d pay at the post office or UPS, and packing labor and supplies are free. That makes shipping cheaper than doing it yourself (as you’d otherwise have to buy those packing supplies), while still making enough money to keep the company profitably around for the long haul. Or, at least, that’s my hope, as I don’t want to have to go back to the prior process of packing, schlepping and sending myself.