
Show HN: Lost & found tags - sensecall
http://loseproof.com/
======
thomseddon
Now what I would REALLY pay for, and what I thought/hoped was, is stickers had
location tracking so I could find them with my phone, i'd put them on my keys,
wallet everything. I think THAT, packaged into an very easy service, could be
a brilliant business.

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iroquai_tribe
I think this is what you're looking for: [http://lapa-app.com/](http://lapa-
app.com/)

~~~
jamsterdam
The similarities between Lapa and Tile are scary. Coincidence or copying?

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ajiang
Could I ask about the user testing you did on this?

Intuitively, if I lost something valuable, I would feel that people would be
more inclined to make an effort in returning it if they saw a name (and hence
a person) attached to it. Emotionally, that seems to be more powerful of a
draw than a code. I guess in my case, I would think the additional
vulnerability from having my name and e-mail address on it would not outweigh
the perceived drop in likelihood someone would return my precious item.

I'd love to hear whether that's just me, and whether that's just perception
(of having a lower return rate) vs. reality.

~~~
nicholassmith
I think having a name sounds like a good idea that could be quite hard to do
in the wild without making the stickers larger. Take for example my name
(Nicholas Smith), which isn't overly long, but it'd take up a bigger chunk of
sticker space unless we truncate it to Nick Smith. Which is still reasonably
big, so you have to either increase the sticker size or truncate further until
it's N.Smith and it loses the persona attached with a name.

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epaga
This is very reminiscent of [http://www.tagbak.net](http://www.tagbak.net)
which adds in a "reward for return" for the honest finder (which is a great
idea). IIRC, TagBak is trying to work with vendors to include tags with phones
instead of selling tags to end users... interesting to think about which
strategy is more effective.

~~~
sensecall
Definitely - that's a great idea. We're currently looking in to a few
strategies (aside from selling direct to the user): \- enterprise/businesses
\- education (colleges & universities) \- manufacturers \- insurance providers

One angle that's certainly appealing is to reduce production costs even
further (and therefore retail cost) to make a super low-cost way to protect
items that have low value but high importance. Things like sketchbooks,
coursework and so on.

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yummyfajitas
Free shipping creates an arbitrage opportunity: buy 20 tags for 0.5 GBP/each.
Mail them to the shipper, for a little bit extra (0.3GBP maybe? don't know
what postage is in the UK.)

You can now have items shipped for $0.8GBP/each.

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acron0
A great idea, in principle, but £5 for 5 stickers? It'd cost me 10p to print
10 stickers with 'lost@mydomain.org' on... which I might well do, now I'm
thinking about it.

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sensecall
Glad we've inspired you :)

Loseproof is really geared toward people who want an out of the box solution –
easy to signup, easy to protect your stuff & more secure (it's anonymous).

We'd also love to know where you can get stickers printed at that price... we
might need to change supplier!

~~~
acron0
Sure, I get that. Have you thought about approaching businesses? My
organisation has about circa 100 BlackBerry devices in circulation, none of
which have any kind of 'if lost' marker on them...

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jack-r-abbit
Your site has several links to "LoseProof store"[1] but I just get redirected
to the home page.

Also, I think you should be very explicit about telling people these are
stickers. And possibly talk about how well they stick. I don't put stickers on
things so these are not for me. I am probably not alone.

Lost & Found seems to be a bit of a crowded space these days... so good luck.

[1] [https://loseproof.com/store](https://loseproof.com/store)

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rb2e
Or if you could just generate a QR code and print on a sticker saying "if
lost, please scan for return details". The QR code takes you to your own
website with return details or a mailto: link.

Not 100% fool proof and depends on those who find it having a smart phone but
its a cheap hack.

~~~
teh_klev
I like that idea.

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svdr
It would be great if you always knew where all the objects you own are. For
example, if you know you still have some nice LP's in the basement, but you
can't find them, you should be able to take al look at your phone and see
exactly where they are. (They might show up at a friends place :) Or, if you
know there should be some clothes for your kid in a particular size, the app
should list all of them available, and show in which box the are exactly.

Not doable yet I guess, but definitely something people will want.

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apierre
I like the idea but good samaritans in this world becomes scarce, especially
for electronics.

I believe it is best to use services like Find my iPhone/Droid, and the likes
if you lose your precious device. At least you can lock/wipe/send your details
if your device is found and still have a little chance of having it returned.

Also I think sticker tags like that are not really effective in a world where
everything becomes location/people/things aware. The natural evolution is "tag
2.0" (eg. TheTileApp)

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ipince
This is exactly like TrackItBack, which you've probably heard of? I came
across them since they had some pretty awesome airline mile bonuses. I never
used the stickers (I still have them); all I remember was thinking to myself
"damn these are some expensive stickers." (The miles promo was so good that it
made sense to buy them even if you wouldn't use them).

..

I just searched for them and found that they're out of business. Other
competitors seem to be idstickers and foundit, though I know nothing of them.

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sensecall
I haven't heard of TrackItBack actually, but we know there are a few very
similar products (TagBak, GadgetTrak, Tracer Tags). The problem is they're
just so clunky - something we think we've solved pretty well.

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eono
Why can't I just put my (e-)mail address on the device? The person who finds
it just needs to give it to the next post office and tell them the receiver
will pay for it.

~~~
sensecall
Good question – one of our main aims with LoseProof is to keep your personal
information secure (phone number, email address, home address etc).

Although a lot of items get lost relatively close to home, you're right –
we're looking at extending the service in the future to offer the option of
return postage.

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huhtenberg
Re: pricing table -

    
    
      Protect unlimited items
      10 LoseProof tags
    

This doesn't really compute. So is it "unlimited" or is it "10"?

~~~
sensecall
Sorry, that is _really_ confusing – it looks like copy left from an earlier
iteration. Thanks for pointing it out.

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ksatirli
Interesting service - looks a lot like
[http://www.stuffbak.com/sb/default.aspx](http://www.stuffbak.com/sb/default.aspx).

I've had StuffBak for years and really like the idea of tagging my device but
in the end, it really boils down to having a finder that is honest enough to
return your device.

~~~
sopooneo
Honest and _sympathetic_ enough. And a low tech note scrawled with a sharpe
may have an advantage there.

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jrockway
_Maybe your iPhone has a passcode lock, or your diary has only got your name
in. If they got lost, how would you get them back?_

On Android, there is an option called "Show owner info on lock screen" that
lets you put whatever text you want on the lock screen. I use "jon@jrock.us".
Is there really no iPhone equivalent?

~~~
jreed91
The same thing can be done on the iPhone

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fmax30
So what happens if someone (a loseproof member) finds the items but decides
not to return it ?. It can help muggers too , why the need to mug someone
directly, become a loseproof member and you will get to know the approximate
location of the item. And then he looks for it for a day , finds it and sells
it .

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nc
Hmm, seems like something product manufacturers should pay for not consumers -
see [http://www.knomobags.com/uk/register-your-
knomo/](http://www.knomobags.com/uk/register-your-knomo/)

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adrow
As with the last time this was posted you can also just register your items
for free here:
[https://www.immobilise.com/view.php](https://www.immobilise.com/view.php)

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jonahx
Nice job on the site and branding. Personally I don't see writing "Please call
555-1212 if found" as a security problem that needs solving, but there are
probably some who do.

~~~
sensecall
Thanks very much, glad you like it.

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fit2rule
These things need: Bluetooth Low Energy profiles, and Infinergy 800mhz energy-
harvesting antennae. Then they'll be worth 5 bucks.

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markdown
Found a typo on the FAQ page under the question "Can you guarantee my stuff
will be safe?":

> your stuff will get back to you should the worse happen.

worst.

~~~
sensecall
Good catch, thanks.

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scrrr
Just get 100 stickers with your email address, put it on your things and hope
for the best...

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ck2
For a moment I thought it was RFID stickers and I got excited.

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smoyer
Is anyone else's tongue tripping on the name? I keep saying "LooseProof" in an
effort to make the syllables use the same vowel sound (English US speaker).

The web page is nice, but this stage in my life I feel like I've got too much
stuff. Losing it is one convenient way to rid myself of some of the mass. The
things I really care about aren't conducive to stickers ... I think my wife
and kids would object, but maybe I could find somewhere inconspicuous.
Everything else I'd hate to lose I have redundancy for (family photos are on
Flash drives in multiple locations).

Maybe my definition of "Love" has become more refined than it used to be?

~~~
jack-r-abbit
> _Is anyone else 's tongue tripping on the name? I keep saying "LooseProof"
> in an effort to make the syllables use the same vowel sound (English US
> speaker)._

It could be that we pronounce things differently... but for me the single "o"
in _lose_ and the double "o" in _loose_ make the same sound as the double "o"
in _proof_. The two words ( _lose_ and _loose_ ) only differ in the way the
"s" sounds. The "s" in _lose_ is more of a "zzzzz" while the "s" in _loose_ is
a standard "s" sound. So... my tongue is not tripping on that.

