Prim, The Uber of Dirty Underwear

A couple of years ago, when I was still living in NYC, I did my laundry in the first week of December and discovered that my Halloween costume was at the bottom of the laundry hamper. Before you go assuming that I’m just a filthy, filthy human being I’d like to point out that, a) I own a lot of clothing, especially underwear, b) I now wash my clothing at least every two weeks, if not more frequently, probably because my boyfriend would kill me if I didn’t.

The reason I found myself in that predicament is because the only thing I hate more than the post office is doing laundry. I spend probably three days every week just pumping myself up for the ordeal that is getting all of my clothing clean.

Prim is a laundry pickup service that is currently only available in San Francisco, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Menlo Park but is looking to expand soon. All you have to do is select whether you want morning or evening pickup and then wait for the text telling you that they’re on their way. If you don’t feel like waiting, you can leave your garbage bag full of dirty clothing with your doorman (‘cause you’re fancy like that) or even give them a key to come into your apartment and pick it up.

While I’m all about convenience (duh), that last bit seems kinda strange to me but hey, it’s not my job to tell other people what they should or shouldn’t be comfortable with.

The cost is a little steep – $25 for the first bag and $15 for each bag after that – and I’m cheaper than most people, so normally I’d just keep battling with my willpower and do my laundry myself. However, considering the fact that I’m actually writing this article from a laundromat and I just found out that I fucked up and my dryer didn’t start, which means I have to sit here for 20 more minutes…

Maybe it’s worth the cost.

These are two great examples of companies who are taking on problems that a large number of people hate and coming up with ways to serve those markets. What other ones do you guys know about? Drop me a line in the comments and maybe I’ll cover them in an upcoming article.