Depop, the style resale market beloved by Technology Z, will probably be acquired by Etsy for $1.6 billion, the 2 corporations introduced on Wednesday.
The money deal, which is anticipated to shut by the third quarter of this 12 months, underscores the rising affect of clothes resale platforms. Extra customers are turning to the secondhand marketplace for one thing cheaper and — doubtlessly — greener because the overproduction of clothes more and more provides to landfills.
The development seems to have been accelerated by the pandemic as extra customers regarded to declutter wardrobes, earn money by promoting their outdated garments or arrange vogue customization companies from their bedrooms.
Investor urge for food can also be on the rise. Final month, Europe’s largest secondhand vogue market, Vinted, raised 250 million euros in a funding spherical that valued the start-up at €3.5 billion ($4.26 billion), whereas in the USA corporations resembling ThredUp and Poshmark have gone public this 12 months.
Depop, which was based in 2011, has been notably profitable in constructing a market for youthful shoppers, who’re adopting secondhand vogue quicker than some other group. Ninety % of its customers are below 26, with 30 million customers throughout 150 international locations. The platform is especially recognized for its classic garments and streetwear — and for creating a brand new cohort of on-line influencers well-known for promoting their wares.
“We’re merely thrilled to be including Depop — what we imagine to be the resale dwelling for Gen Z shoppers — to the Etsy household,” stated the Etsy chief govt, Josh Silverman.
He stated he believed the platform had “important potential to additional scale” and stated that he noticed “important alternatives for shared experience and development synergies” for Etsy’s attire sector, which was valued at $1 billion final 12 months.
In line with the Boston Consulting Group, the worldwide marketplace for pre-owned attire is price as much as $40 billion a 12 months — about 2 % of the whole attire market. It’s anticipated to develop 15 to twenty % yearly for the following 5 years.
The transaction is anticipated to shut within the third quarter of 2021, topic to antitrust evaluations in Britain and the USA.