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  • December 2016
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

thredUP: Think Secondhand First

By: Thomas Eisenmann, Allison Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:22
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Abstract

In the fall of 2016, the management team at thredUP, the largest U.S. online retailer of second hand clothing, is deciding whether to expand into international markets. Over the past 12 months the 7-year-old startup, which had raised over $130 million in venture capital, had seen revenue grow 100% and gross margin double. Would moving abroad expand thredUP's total addressable market and help position the company for an IPO? Or would it prove a distraction, derailing momentum in the core U.S. business?

Keywords

Scaling Start-ups; International Expansion; Online Consignment; Apparel; E-commerce; Internet and the Web; Expansion; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Business Startups; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; San Francisco

Citation

Eisenmann, Thomas, Allison Ciechanover, and Jeff Huizinga. "thredUP: Think Secondhand First." Harvard Business School Case 817-083, December 2016.

About The Author

Thomas R. Eisenmann

Entrepreneurial Management
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