Depop is an excellent example of using lots of domain expertise in an area that investors etc would write off as a “lifestyle business” or “not likely to achieve a high ROI” to create what is now a billion-dollar exit.
The founders of Depop have been in the fashion, and fashion retail, business for a long time. They started Retrosuperfuture, which was a cult hit in the sunglasses business (they probably did a lot more, but I never really bothered investigating). The knowledge and expertise they got from that cult hit — along with the credibility and the network among fashion’s “cool kids,” particularly in Milan — gave them a bit of an “unfair advantage” when they went after the at-that-time-already-getting-crowded used clothes business. They also executed pretty well in building exactly what their users wanted.
If you don’t get this business, how it is worth this much money, who they are, etc — no, you’re not some sort of genius humble-bragging that you’re blissfully unaware of such petty little things. You’re just demonstrating that you feel compelled to comment on things you don’t understand and dismiss them because they don’t fit into your myopic worldview of “what’s important.” Fashion is an industry, and one of the largest in the world; anyone who cares about global commerce / the environment / etc should be paying attention to that industry, and to the “circular” trend that remains in its infancy.
I hope the combined company continues to innovate, and that this isn’t just some sort of depressing market consolidation play. This space has a LOT of room for growth.
I'm surprised anyone would write this off. It's a trendy eBay for a specific niche (used/"vintage" clothes). If you can get it to scale (obviously not easy) it seems like it's an easy win and easy to monetise. On the surface a much better investment opportunity than a lot of the stuff we see on HN.
I don’t dislike fashion because I’m a humble bragging genius. I dislike it because I think it’s bad for the world. It preys on and fuels women’s insecurities to sell them throwaway products made by borderline-enslaved Cambodians. A guy making $1.63 billion doesn’t change that — the mentality that “it makes money so it’s good” is precisely the sick mentality behind this whole blight upon the world. I know you are right that there is more growth in this industry, but that growth is going to make the world a worse place.
I'd never visited the site but it looks very nicely executed, especially at creating a consistent vibe out of user-uploaded photos, which isn't easy.
A neat thing about businesses like this is that it takes a skillset that a lot of underemployed people have (cool hunting in thrift stores), and gives them a path to making part of their living out of it aside from the ancillary benefits of that come with being fashionable and cool. It also provides access to wider markets and price discovery for vintage shops in the same way that abehbooks did for used bookstores a decade or two ago, or eBay did for junk sellers at flea markets.
The inevitable downside is that it further compresses globo youth culture and makes it harder to develop a scene, but that horse left the gate a long time ago.
Nothing against the business, but if one were to start a lifestyle business, I can't think of a worse one than a marketplace, where you have to deal with refunds, inventory, legal issues, tons of advertising, upfront losses, etc. You're probably better off actually selling your stuff in these marketplaces, if you wanted a lifestyle business.
When I think of lifestyle businesses, I think of Pinboard, or Appointment Reminder, or a Depop/Poshmark/Etsy storefront.
Why exit is thought of as a success? It's kind of like a pump and dump scheme.
Does it mean founders suddenly lose their vision and abandon their customers to become an actual product for shareholders?
My partner is a top seller on Depop. We send and receive packages pretty much every day, it’s been great for them during the pandemic.
Depop has done a great job fostering a more human experience than other platforms. That’s definitely a huge factor in their success.
Buying and selling is pretty involved. Haggling is super common. If you’re selling many items, people will message you and ask for bundle deals. If you’re a regular, sometimes people will just throw you a discount. If you just buy something silently, you’ll often get a short thank-you message.
There’s a culture around the packaging, too. People tend to put candies, stickers, hand-written thank-you notes, extra things the seller doesn’t need anymore. It’s fun to open packages coming in, and it’s fun to pack them out with little surprises.
My partner has made a lot of friends that way, which has led to trading of talents and services. Sometimes it’s just people helping people, sometimes it’s commissions, sometimes it’s bartering, but all originating from the platform.
I once bought a bottle of expensive fountain pen ink for my sister as a present; the thing that struck me most about it was that they included a hand-written thank you note in the packaging. It was a family business, and I remember it, years later, because it was such a pleasant surprise, and an unexpected one from all of the other commercial encounters I have. It taught me the value of the personal touch and attention to detail for customers.
>Depop has done a great job fostering a more human experience than other platforms.
You paint a pretty picture; the camaraderie of buying, selling, haggling in an online cobbled internet town square, make for an idyllic setting. The tug-and-pull of reuse/recycle, vintage vs fast fashion are noble principles.
However, there is a murky side, which is infused with extreme expectations, toxic and churlish behaviour e.g. Amazon Prime type service, petty haggling over a few pennies, sellers abusing their privileges, limited understanding of fees and/or how PayPal works, unnecessary spats and an appallingly high level of entitlement etc.
Nevertheless, there is synergy, but have doubts about long-term prospects ─ Depop might just become another case study in acquihire or perhaps just a blot, as there is no shortage of other contenders nipping at their heels e.g. Vinted.
Just wondering, is it profitable? I believe the Depop fee is 10% plus payment processing fees, which to me doesn’t sound like a great deal, but then again I’m not really familiar with that whole market.
I mean this in a completely good-natured way, but after looking at their site I’m not surprised that someone who would write “<Business I’ve never heard of> selling for $<N>bn” has never heard of them. You don’t strike me as their target audience.
That said, neither am I. Looks like you can’t even view any merchandise on the website, it’s basically an app-only experience it seems. That’s a huge turn-off for me.
I suppose you don't hear often about all the market/advertising companies buying each other. Even though I work in this field, I am almost always clueless about who are these companies.
Way back when I was a computer systems product manager, I was constantly struck by the random customers that would come through the executive briefing center who were some random boring business (making milk bottles or whatever) and it would turn out they had 75% of the US market or something like that. (This was before really widespread globalization.)
Back in 2016, Depop's founder, Simon Beckerman, was on an episode of BBC's The Bottom Line podcast about "The Youth Market" [1]. He explained his motivation behind starting Depop (app-driven alternative to eBay with a social element) and I thought it was quite insightful.
At the risk of misusing Gen Z slang, Etsy is "Cheugy" and depop is "no cap fire". Depop has the cache of being cool enough that celebrities (Doja Cat and Princess Nokia come to mind) whereas Etsy is more "mom crafts", with that being said I'm a big Etsy shopper. This feels a lot like the aqquistion of Instagram by Facebook in terms of buying a company for not just utility but social capital.
I was under the impression that it all eventually turns into AliExpress? I do not see how one can trust these “individual” sellers on Etsy or Depop or whatever to do quality control. If they do, and the reputation of the “market” is good, then there will exist arbitrage opportunity for other sellers to resell AliExpress stuff.
I've heard it akin to Etsy is where your aunt buys her "Live Laugh Love" signs and Depop is for kids to shop for cool college outfits.
I do a lot of thrifting myself and have been comparative shopping on Ebay, Depop and Poshmark for the best deals. Sometimes the same products are on all three!
This is a great move from Etsy. I believe the future of fashion is high quality items being bought, resold, or rented.
I don't think this because it's better for the environment (though it is), it's because I think young consumers genuinely want to consume fashion this way. They want to be seen in higher quality clothing, and the Depop model of buy and sell is the way to attain that.
>I believe the future of fashion is high quality items being bought, resold, or rented.
What kind of fabric that can withstand the stress of wearing, washing, drying and still be comfortable to wear and retain the look ?
Sure rugged outdoors stuff or comfort clothes that you don't care about stretching out and discolouring. But stuff like sweaters, jeans, etc. doesn't seem to matter how much money I pay - I get a more comfy fabric and better production quality - but durability wise it's nowhere near close to the jump in price.
I’d be interested in reading about how Depop did what dozens of other startups have tried to do: build a giant business around the used clothes market.
I don't follow it that closely because I'm not buying a lot of second hand or whatever but my impression of depop the last say 5 years was that it was used alot in UK but no one in North America
Good timing because it seems like Facebook marketplace now supporting shipping (and they syndicate your store through IG, etc) is set to disrupt this space, based on some people I know that are selling a ton more on FB lately and complaining about not selling anything on Depop. Will be interesting to watch how this plays out.
> the equities I'm negotiating as employment are probably worthless.
In this phase, it is all about spread. VCs and the likes invest in, say, 100 startups, because they know only one needs to success so they can write off the other 99.
You, as employee, however, cannot work at 100 startups and get paid in equity. So statistically, the equity you receive from the company you work now, is quite probably worthless.
At least, that is how I treat it: nice addition, interesting to keep me and my co-workers focused on revenue, but statistically worthless in the long run.
I'm let down on every article about Etsy lately. They used to be an engineering powerhouse during the StatsD days. Are they doing anything notable in OSS or engineering today?
I guess it makes sense considering Etsy is geared to customers like hippies, yuppies, yippies, punk bartenders, tattoo artists, bicycle mechanics, and hipsters roughly 27-50.
Expand the demos: build vs. buy. If you have the cash, buying is faster. If you don't, sweat equity build-out into adjacent categories and demos but it's slower.
Edit: Oooh, the hipsters don't like being called "hipsters." Trigg-ered. :DD That's okay, I'm half-hipster and half-yippie.
I can't downvote yet, but your comment doesn't add much to the discussion and is very hard to understand. And your edit is likely to attract even more downvotes since it just completely detracts from anything you were trying to get across.
[+] [-] numair|4 years ago|reply
The founders of Depop have been in the fashion, and fashion retail, business for a long time. They started Retrosuperfuture, which was a cult hit in the sunglasses business (they probably did a lot more, but I never really bothered investigating). The knowledge and expertise they got from that cult hit — along with the credibility and the network among fashion’s “cool kids,” particularly in Milan — gave them a bit of an “unfair advantage” when they went after the at-that-time-already-getting-crowded used clothes business. They also executed pretty well in building exactly what their users wanted.
If you don’t get this business, how it is worth this much money, who they are, etc — no, you’re not some sort of genius humble-bragging that you’re blissfully unaware of such petty little things. You’re just demonstrating that you feel compelled to comment on things you don’t understand and dismiss them because they don’t fit into your myopic worldview of “what’s important.” Fashion is an industry, and one of the largest in the world; anyone who cares about global commerce / the environment / etc should be paying attention to that industry, and to the “circular” trend that remains in its infancy.
I hope the combined company continues to innovate, and that this isn’t just some sort of depressing market consolidation play. This space has a LOT of room for growth.
[+] [-] k-mcgrady|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spoonjim|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] krrrh|4 years ago|reply
A neat thing about businesses like this is that it takes a skillset that a lot of underemployed people have (cool hunting in thrift stores), and gives them a path to making part of their living out of it aside from the ancillary benefits of that come with being fashionable and cool. It also provides access to wider markets and price discovery for vintage shops in the same way that abehbooks did for used bookstores a decade or two ago, or eBay did for junk sellers at flea markets.
The inevitable downside is that it further compresses globo youth culture and makes it harder to develop a scene, but that horse left the gate a long time ago.
[+] [-] AznHisoka|4 years ago|reply
When I think of lifestyle businesses, I think of Pinboard, or Appointment Reminder, or a Depop/Poshmark/Etsy storefront.
[+] [-] nr2x|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bsder|4 years ago|reply
Why would you believe this? Fad businesses chasing the tweens and 20-somethings is ABSOLUTELY the kind of business that VCs salivate over.
And fashion rises and falls in cycles. Have we forgotten fashion darlings like ModCloth?
The key to the fashion business is knowing when to cash out.
[+] [-] jonplackett|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] intricatedetail|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alexander-litty|4 years ago|reply
Depop has done a great job fostering a more human experience than other platforms. That’s definitely a huge factor in their success.
Buying and selling is pretty involved. Haggling is super common. If you’re selling many items, people will message you and ask for bundle deals. If you’re a regular, sometimes people will just throw you a discount. If you just buy something silently, you’ll often get a short thank-you message.
There’s a culture around the packaging, too. People tend to put candies, stickers, hand-written thank-you notes, extra things the seller doesn’t need anymore. It’s fun to open packages coming in, and it’s fun to pack them out with little surprises.
My partner has made a lot of friends that way, which has led to trading of talents and services. Sometimes it’s just people helping people, sometimes it’s commissions, sometimes it’s bartering, but all originating from the platform.
I definitely see why Etsy’s interested.
[+] [-] brobdingnagians|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 45ure|4 years ago|reply
You paint a pretty picture; the camaraderie of buying, selling, haggling in an online cobbled internet town square, make for an idyllic setting. The tug-and-pull of reuse/recycle, vintage vs fast fashion are noble principles.
However, there is a murky side, which is infused with extreme expectations, toxic and churlish behaviour e.g. Amazon Prime type service, petty haggling over a few pennies, sellers abusing their privileges, limited understanding of fees and/or how PayPal works, unnecessary spats and an appallingly high level of entitlement etc.
Nevertheless, there is synergy, but have doubts about long-term prospects ─ Depop might just become another case study in acquihire or perhaps just a blot, as there is no shortage of other contenders nipping at their heels e.g. Vinted.
https://www.instagram.com/depopdrama/
[+] [-] Nextgrid|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] matsemann|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] antihero|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dblooman|4 years ago|reply
For those interested, it is a scala shop, all terraform and AWS on the backend
[+] [-] halfmatthalfcat|4 years ago|reply
We’re they leveraging Akka too by chance?
[+] [-] desarun|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nly|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nkrisc|4 years ago|reply
That said, neither am I. Looks like you can’t even view any merchandise on the website, it’s basically an app-only experience it seems. That’s a huge turn-off for me.
[+] [-] shankr|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ghaff|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Ekaros|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zachrose|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fatfox|4 years ago|reply
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b080xk99
[+] [-] ultim8k|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] werber|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lotsofpulp|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ehnto|4 years ago|reply
The wikipedia page for it reads like satire: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheugy
> While it has been compared to "being basic",[3] some sources have suggested that it is "not quite 'basic'."
What do you mean?! What are you trying to say to me!? Use real words damnit! We have so many!
[+] [-] randycupertino|4 years ago|reply
I do a lot of thrifting myself and have been comparative shopping on Ebay, Depop and Poshmark for the best deals. Sometimes the same products are on all three!
[+] [-] ZephyrBlu|4 years ago|reply
- "no cap" = not lying
- "fire" = cool
- "no cap fire" = definitely cool
[+] [-] raviisoccupied|4 years ago|reply
I don't think this because it's better for the environment (though it is), it's because I think young consumers genuinely want to consume fashion this way. They want to be seen in higher quality clothing, and the Depop model of buy and sell is the way to attain that.
[+] [-] reader_mode|4 years ago|reply
What kind of fabric that can withstand the stress of wearing, washing, drying and still be comfortable to wear and retain the look ?
Sure rugged outdoors stuff or comfort clothes that you don't care about stretching out and discolouring. But stuff like sweaters, jeans, etc. doesn't seem to matter how much money I pay - I get a more comfy fabric and better production quality - but durability wise it's nowhere near close to the jump in price.
[+] [-] subpixel|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ArtWomb|4 years ago|reply
https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/retail/etsy-buys-...
Etsy is a GCP case study in public cloud infra migration, moving from 2000+ on-prem bare metal servers
Etsy: Migrating to Cloud (Cloud Next '19)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gdm5Jcoajg
[+] [-] ChrisArchitect|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wdb|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yesimahuman|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] avipars|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jokethrowaway|4 years ago|reply
Well done!
And that's a humbling reminder I'm crap at picking startup unicorns and the equities I'm negotiating as employment are probably worthless.
[+] [-] berkes|4 years ago|reply
In this phase, it is all about spread. VCs and the likes invest in, say, 100 startups, because they know only one needs to success so they can write off the other 99.
You, as employee, however, cannot work at 100 startups and get paid in equity. So statistically, the equity you receive from the company you work now, is quite probably worthless.
At least, that is how I treat it: nice addition, interesting to keep me and my co-workers focused on revenue, but statistically worthless in the long run.
[+] [-] schoolornot|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] arashi99|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] waynesonfire|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] grouphugs|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] grouphugs|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] failwhaleshark|4 years ago|reply
I guess it makes sense considering Etsy is geared to customers like hippies, yuppies, yippies, punk bartenders, tattoo artists, bicycle mechanics, and hipsters roughly 27-50.
Expand the demos: build vs. buy. If you have the cash, buying is faster. If you don't, sweat equity build-out into adjacent categories and demos but it's slower.
Edit: Oooh, the hipsters don't like being called "hipsters." Trigg-ered. :DD That's okay, I'm half-hipster and half-yippie.
[+] [-] doomslice|4 years ago|reply