Online consignment site Tradesy has made its first acquisition, buying rival e-commerce site Shop-Hers, Coins2Day has learned exclusively. Tradesy declined to disclose the acquisition price.
The acquisition, which ReCode reported was rumored to be taking place earlier this year, comes at a time when consignment sites are consolidating. Many of these businesses, which sell secondhand clothes online and make money off consignment fees, are not growing amid competition for larger sites and established companies, such as eBay (EBAY).
Twice, another venture-backed clothing reseller, sold to eBay in a fire sale, according to multiple sources.
Tradesy, however, claims it is growing, and Shop-Hers will help continue that path with its user base and talent. Tradesy’s founder and CEO, Tracy DiNunzio, said the site has grown its revenue by 400% year over year and now has 4 million members. The company also raised $30 million in new funding from Kleiner Perkins earlier in 2015.
Tradesy allows sellers to upload photos and sell luxury clothes and accessories from the likes of Prada and Gucci, and will send the seller a shipping kit that includes a prepaid label. The site takes a 9% to 11.9% fee depending on whether the seller uses the sales funds to buy on Tradesy or deposits the money into an account. Tradesy also authenticates every item virtually and accepts all returns.
DiNunzio claims that her site, which competes with fellow venture-backed startup The Real Real and eBay, offers the lowest commission in the business.
Along with the new acquisition, Tradesy will soon be advertising on TV via a deal with marketing company Guthy-Renker, the company behind skincare line Proactiv.
Although Tradesy is growing, the site is still being challenged by the competition, which includes eBay, The Real Real, Poshmark, Thredflip, and ThredUp. But DiNunzio is confident in the company’s ability to draw users, saying the traffic and growth the site is seeing is all organic.
For more on how shopping habits are changing, watch this Coins2Day video:
