Pricing Update

Weight/dimension charge sucks. It’s difficult to understand how the charge (aka W/D charge) is calculated and sometimes it feels excessive.

Take this Tang for example: why is there a ~9,500 taka W/D charge for a ~3,300 taka item? Or in the case of the cricket shoes: for a ~5,500 taka pair, the Backpack fee is ~300 taka but there’s a ~3,100 taka W/D charge! How is this charge calculated? Who is this money going to?

We want to shed some light and do something about the issues here. Let’s see how W/D charge is actually calculated. Displayed on the left is one of engineers explaining the process.

We hope the explanation will clarify the calculation a little bit. Put simply, though: Backpack does not keep any money from items with W/D charge. But the travelers need to get paid for carrying these items. Hence, the extra charge. So for a $40 Tang that weighs 8kg, there will be an extra charge because the item is so heavy.

To make this simpler and more transparent, we’re introducing a new pricing breakdown. Now, you can clearly see where your money is going.

The new pricing breakdown

Here’s what each part means:

• “Seller takes” is the total amount we pay the seller, including the item’s seller price, sales tax, and shipping charge (if any).
• “Traveler takes” is the money that goes to the traveler for packing, carrying, and safely delivering the item. The bigger or heavier the item, the more the traveler takes.
• “Backpack takes” is the actual amount we get to keep that helps us run our platform and offer services like call support, warranty, insurance for damaged/missing items, etc. For certain items where the traveler fee is too high, the Backpack fee can be as low as $0. (We’re literally bringing these items for free!)

Now, we know that this isn’t solving the entire problem — but we do think that bringing simplicity and transparency is the necessary first step.

For our next steps, we think the following two issues are most important:

1. Wrong W/D charge for some items: We calculate the charge based on the weight and dimension info we get from the sellers (e.g. Amazon). But in some cases , the W/D info provided by the seller isn’t correct, consequently making the “traveler takes” part in the new breakdown incorrect.
2. W/D charge for some items is way too high: An item that’s comparatively bigger/heavier and has lower price tends to have higher W/D charge (this impacts the “traveler takes” part in the new breakdown). Sometimes that makes things prohibitively expensive.

We’d love to hear your feedback as we continue to work on this. Reach out to us at support@backpackbang.com

One more thing: We’re slashing the home delivery fee inside Dhaka by half and making it 99 taka, starting today 🎉

Flat Tk 99/- home delivery fee inside Dhaka

We’re hoping this will make home delivery a better option for you guys!