Other
Mar 2020COVID-19 travel restrictions disrupted the core traveler-delivery model, and Backpack temporarily shifted business toward cargo shipping before returning to the original model.
SourceMarketplace to get stuff from overseas
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Overview
Backpack is a peer-to-peer cross-border shopping marketplace that lets shoppers buy hard-to-find products from overseas stores and have travelers deliver them, with escrow-based payments and a traveler guarantee.
Primary product
Peer-to-peer cross-border shopping and traveler-delivery marketplace for overseas products
Founded
2014
Headquarters
San Francisco, California, United States
Team size
11-50
Industry
Technology, Information and Internet
Sub-industry
Cross-border e-commerce marketplace
Offices
San Francisco, California, United States
Mountain View, California, United States
Staten Island, New York, United States
Business model
peer-to-peer marketplace
transaction/service fees
escrow-based payments
Funding
Stage
Seed
Total raised
$225K
Latest round
Seed · Nov 2019
People & investors
Leadership
Founder / CEO
Founder / CTO (Advisory)
Head of Global Operations
Head-Business Development
Head of Human Resources Operations
Work & culture
Mission-driven and trust-heavy, with a strong emphasis on authentic products, low-friction global commerce, fraud prevention, and customer support.
Product & market
Pricing
Customers pay the product cost plus a traveler fee and Backpack service/escrow fees; the company’s FAQ says fees average about 17% and generally do not exceed 21%.
Differentiators
- —Uses travelers’ unused luggage space as a delivery network
- —Focuses on authentic products and anti-counterfeit positioning
- —Escrow-based checkout and request guarantee/traveler guarantee
- —Supports manual product requests from retailer links
- —Cross-border delivery focused on lower cost than traditional shipping
Technology
React
Node.js
TypeScript
GraphQL
Terraform
Playwright
Jest
Ruby
JavaScript
SQL
OAuth
SAML
Plaid
Brex
Slack
Notion
Retool
Figma
Customers
shoppers seeking overseas products
travelers with spare luggage space
customers in Bangladesh and other target markets
buyers looking for authentic or hard-to-find goods
Competitors
Air Bringr
Grabr
Facebook Marketplace
Roadie
FlavorCloud
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
$1M-$10M
Estimated monthly visits
21.1K
Traffic estimate as of Jun 2026
Signals & risks
Other
Aug 2015Backpack tightened its referral and credit system after fraud abuse, limiting Backpack credit to 50% of payment and requiring verification of phone number, email, and real name; the blog says it reserved the right to manually cancel suspected fraud accounts.
SourceOther
Oct 2023The company faced competitive pressure from Facebook Marketplace and similar local buying/selling channels, which were cited as substitutes for some customer needs.
SourceLatest news
Substack · Mar 2025
Opinion-style piece that argues BackpackBang lost momentum over time, citing declining traffic and product neglect; useful as a secondary signal, not a primary authority.
SignalBase · Aug 2024
Claims a new funding round for Backpack and frames the company as a cross-border shopping platform; this is a lower-confidence third-party report.
The Business Standard · Oct 2023
Explains how Backpack and Air Bringr adapted after pandemic disruptions and discusses competition from Facebook Marketplace and other local channels.
Jobs and careers at Backpack
0 jobs at Backpack
No open positions
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