Depop Limited is a social e-commerce company based in London, with additional offices in Manchester, Milan and New York City. The company has an expanding global presence being popularised in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Italy. It allows users to buy and sell items, most of which are used and vintage pieces of clothing.
 | |
| Type of business | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Available in | English, Italian |
| Founded | 2011 in Roncade, Italy |
| Headquarters | London , United Kingdom |
| No. of locations |
|
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) | Simon Beckerman |
| CEO | Kruti Patel Goyal |
| Industry | Online shopping |
| Employees | 400 (2021)[1] |
| Parent | Etsy |
| URL | depop |
| Users |  30 million (2021)[2] |
History
editDepop was founded in 2011 by entrepreneur Simon Beckerman, at an Italian technological incubator and business start-up centre H-Farm.[3] Paolo Barberis and Nana Bianca were two of the first investors in the platform in 2012 with a seed investment.[4] Its headquarters were moved to London in 2012.[5] Depop expanded and opened additional offices in Milan and New York City.[6] Beckerman raised €1 million in funding in October 2013 from Red Circle Investment and brought on Faroese Runar Reistrup as new CEO.[5] In 2015, Depop secured another investment of $8 million from Balderton Capital and Holtzbrinck Ventures.[6] Most active users of Depop are located in the United Kingdom, Australia, United States and Italy. In March 2016, former CEO, Runar Reistrup, stated that Depop's growth was achieved through word of mouth.[7] Depop was the official app sponsor of the 2016 Vans Warped Tour.[8][better source needed]
In June 2019, Depop raised $62 million in Series C from General Atlantic to fund its expansion. Previous investors HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Balderton Capital, Creandum, Octopus Ventures, TempoCap and Sebastian Siemiatkowski also participated.[9]
In 2020, Depop's gross merchandise sales and revenue both more than doubled to $650 million and $70 million respectively.[10] In June 2021, Etsy announced it would acquire Depop for $1.6 billion in cash, making it Etsy's most expensive acquisition, but that Depop would continue operate as a standalone brand independent from Etsy.[11][12]
Overview
editDepop is a social e-commerce platform where users can buy and resell their items. As a mobile app, it is available on iOS and Android platforms.[13]
Most of the items sold on Depop are used, vintage, and repurposed pieces of clothing. Its user interface is modeled after that of Instagram, and users can sell items by posting pictures of them to their profiles, along with descriptions, hashtags, and prices. Many sellers model the clothes they sell themselves.[14] Users can also follow other sellers, whose posts will appear in their feeds. The platform's "Explore" page features items picked out by Depop staff. Users can pay for items using PayPal.[15] Depop users are also encouraged by the platform to use other social networking services such as Instagram to promote their shop profiles.[16] Celebrities have resold their own items on Depop, with some donating proceeds to charitable causes.[17]
As of 2024, Depop has over 35 million users, according to their website. [12] It is the 10th most-visited shopping platform for Gen Z consumers in the US,[18] and, in a poll conducted by The Strategist in 2019, Depop was voted by teenagers as their favorite resale website.[19][20] According to Taylor Lorenz of The Atlantic, Depop draws in Gen Z users through being easily accessible and having affordable prices, and much of its user base uses it to track trends in fashion. Popular sellers on the platform often go on to become social media influencers.[15]
Criticism
editDepop has garnered criticism from users and critics due to a number of its sellers buying clothes from thrift shops and reselling them for higher prices than they were purchased for.[21] The platform has also been criticised by its users for picking predominantly thin models wearing straight size clothing to showcase on its explore page, which some have described as sizeist.[22][19]
In November 2019, Business of Fashion reported that users within the Depop app were receiving sexually suggestive messages.[23]
References
edit- ^ Stych, Anne (2 June 2021). "Etsy acquires clothing resale platform Depop for $1.6 billion". American City Business Journals.
- ^ Huang, Kalley (25 July 2022). "Gen Z Designers Made It Big on This App. Now They're Graduating". The New York Times.
- ^ Morrison, Emma. "Artefact – In conversation with | Depop founder Simon Beckerman". Artefact. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ "TechTalk con Simon Beckerman, Riccardo Donadon e Paolo Barberis su Depop, la startup diventata unicorno". la Repubblica (in Italian). 3 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
- ^ a b Azeez, Wale (27 October 2015). "Depop: We're all shopkeepers now". Politico Europe. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ a b Lunden, Ingrid (29 January 2015). "Social Shopping App Depop Raises $8M, Hires Ex-Reddit GM To Break Into US Market". TechCrunch. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ Reistrup, Runar (31 March 2016). "The Entrepreneur: Runar Reistrup, Depop". Startups.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
- ^ "Vans Warped Tour". Vans Warped Tour. Archived from the original on 18 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ "Depop, a social app targeting millennial and Gen Z shoppers, bags $62M, passes 13M users". TechCrunch. 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
- ^ Scott, Charity L.; Kellaher, Colin (2 June 2021). "Etsy Buys Depop, Fashion Resale Site Popular With Gen Z, for $1.6 Billion". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ Paton, Elizabeth (2 June 2021). "Etsy is buying the fashion resale app Depop for $1.6 billion". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ a b "Number of Users on Depop 2024". Depop. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
- ^ Satenstein, Liana (31 March 2016). "All Those Millennials Can't Be Wrong: Why Depop Just Might Change the Way You Shop". Vogue. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ Heilweil, Rebecca (2 June 2021). "Why Etsy dropped $1.6 billion on Depop". Vox. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ a b Lorenz, Taylor (13 June 2019). "Why Teens Are Selling Clothes Out of Their Closets". The Atlantic. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ Vincent, James (2 June 2021). "Etsy targets Gen Z shoppers with $1.6 billion Depop acquisition". The Verge. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ Jones, Georgina (13 July 2016). "9 Celebs With Depop: The Millennial Thrift Shop". Bustle. Archived from the original on 8 September 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ "United States B2C Ecommerce Market Report 2022: Market is Expected to Grow by 11.80% to Reach $1,574.5 Billion in 2022 - Forecasts to 2026". finance.yahoo.com. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
- ^ a b Gates, Meggie (27 August 2021). "Depop Is the New Instagram — but Not in a Good Way". InStyle. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ Sherwood, Jessica (25 October 2019). "Depop: Can pre-loved clothes make fast fashion sustainable?". BBC News. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
- ^ Norvill, Yasmin (13 August 2020). "Is Depop being gentrified? Sellers and users weigh in on the debate". Dazed. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ Smothers, Hannah (9 April 2021). "Everyone's Favorite Thrifting App Favors Thin White Models". Vice. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ Lieber, Chavie (12 November 2019). "The Dark Side of Depop". Business of Fashion. Retrieved 21 April 2020.