Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/11/16/the-deliverysafe-is-the-ultimate-foil-for-porch-pirates-and-it-could-save-your-holidays.html
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Oh, if I had the cash to spare I would order one right now.
And have it delivered to The LockPickingLawyer.
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Or roughly half the size of the box Amazon shipped my blister pack of watch batteries in.
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After trying to enter those 15 digits, the 6th Amazon delivery driver of the day gave up and left the package on the safe. A porch pirate then came along and saw the code on the box’s label.
THEY had the patience for this ridiculous thing, and were rewarded with all the goodies inside.
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Sounds over engineered.
Sounds like it’ll never get used. Without enough of them deployed, nobody is going to enter special codes “sometimes”.
There’s two genal types of porch pirates.
- Follows the delivery truck and steals immediately after delivery, sees the package delivered.
- Drives the neighborhood looking for packages and steals based on opportunity.
This box is trying to defend against the first. But, my guess is the second is much more common. Anything that hides what’s delivered is good enough for the second. The second one depends on being able to quickly see a package sitting there. They are not going to go check every house with a delivery box to see if something is in it. It just takes to long.
If there’s only one house on the block, maybe they’ll check it on the assumption that the specific house gets lots of packages and it’s likely to have something in it. Better than a fancy box with extra access steps, more people with delivery boxes would be a better solution.
Whichever group is paying for most of the losses should just send people a box. First one free, then subsidize the cost so it’s super cheap but not abused. Just a deck box, protect from rain with a lid and hides a package. Assuming Amazon pays when people say they never received a package, they should send every Prime member a deck box the first year, with an Amazon logo on the box. If every house on the block has a delivery box that’s as simple as dropping stuff in it, then delivery people are more likely to use it. It just becomes normal instead of an exception.
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I’d take a free deck box.
Ya, I thought it was much bigger, like a home freezer. Not an unreasonable expectation since you can actually buy a full sized home freezer for about the same money. To be sure, there is no locking mechanism in a home freezer but there is no refrigeration system in this lockbox. Last month I had an Amazon order to which I added one of those “Add-on” items that are only offered with a larger order, supposedly taking advantage of the fact they are already sending you something. Three items in total: a tube of glue, another meat thermometer, and the add on item, a dog toy. All three items arrived in separate packages, each package about as big as a child’s shoebox, each package grossly oversized. One such package would have easily done for all three, all of which appeared to have come from the same warehouse. In any event, they would not have fit in this lockbox. Can’t believe Jeff Bezos leaving money on the table, but my experience with Amazon shipping is generally like that.
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Googling “porch bench with storage” gives any number of options, all better looking, multi-functional and less obvious, including DIY versions.
Add combination lock as required, but as you say, the main thing is to keep the packages out of sight.
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I think I’d rather have a trap door porch to keep the porch pirates.
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Does this box bolt down to the concrete like a gun safe, or is there really anything other than size keeping someone from just walking off with the whole box?
The This Old House stuff always looks nice.
Keeping the package out of sight, the box doesn’t matter. I would even say the main thing is something the delivery guy actually uses. Doesn’t help if they put stuff next to it.
We have a regular bench on a covered porch that’s 3 steps up. With a hedge that blocks most view from the street too, including the bench. Occasionally a package is left on the bench. Normally they are left just barely under the roof so the driver doesn’t need to use the steps at all. There’s no way a one off delivery box would ever get used. It needs to be something everyone has.
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But how do you deliver this item without getting stolen?
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this box looks like you put a freezer unit outside your front door
I don’t feel a need for it at present, but I’ll keep it in mind if I ever decide I want to piss off my neighbors.
Came here to invoke the LockPickingLawyer. I won’t consider any lock until he’s had a crack at it.
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Just steal the whole safe then. Easy peasy.
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Either that’s a very tiny person, or that’s some serious forced perspective action there.
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Well, it’s not wrong. 6 feet by 3 feet is more than 2 feet by one foot.
(It is left as a problem for the student to calculate the dimensions of the box pictured. For reference, the lunar distance is 384,400km)
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Jesus. Just get a free defunct freezer off Kijiji and slap a hasp on it and let the delivery guy lock it with a lock you leave in it. Hmm, not a bad idea actually, unless you have an objecting HOA.
How about delivery drivers not just dump packages outside, unattended?
