scorecard
  1. Home
  2. finance
  3. news
  4. Etsy plans to acquire thrifting app Depop for $1.6 billion in hopes of reaching Gen Z users

Etsy plans to acquire thrifting app Depop for $1.6 billion in hopes of reaching Gen Z users

Jamie Wild, Morning Brew   

Etsy plans to acquire thrifting app Depop for $1.6 billion in hopes of reaching Gen Z users
Finance1 min read

Hello! This story is from today's edition of Morning Brew, an awesome daily email read by 2.9 million next-generation leaders like you. Sign up here to get it!

Etsy is expanding beyond handmade "Live Laugh Love" bathroom signs with its acquisition of thrifting app Depop for $1.6 billion.

For Etsy, whose median seller is about 39, it's a strategic move meant to court Depop's overwhelmingly Gen Z user base: More than 90% of its users are under 26.

For those of us past our quarter-life crises, here's the need-to-know on the secondhand shopping platform:

  • More than 26 million users across 147+ countries buy and sell apparel and accessories.
  • Revenue, which mostly comes from the commission Depop charges per sale, doubled last year to $70 million.
  • Depop's sales grew faster last year than its fashion resale rivals, Poshmark and ThredUp. More than $650 million worth of goods traded hands on Depop in 2020.

Looking ahead...thrifting is expected to get more popular as Gen Z ages into greater spending power and more shoppers favor sustainable products over fast-fashion. But if that's the glass-half-full take, here's the OJ-and-I-just-brushed-my-teeth one: Etsy has warned shareholders of impending "possible deceleration" caused by "reopening headwinds."

This story is from today's edition of Morning Brew, a daily email. Sign up here to get it!

READ MORE ARTICLES ON


Advertisement

Advertisement