What is StockX? StockX Review

The Detroit-based company was founded by Dan Gilbert, Josh Luber, Greg Schwartz, and Chris Kaufman in 2015-2016. StockX has more than 800 employees in the Detroit metropolitan area. StockX currently has international offices in London, England, and Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and has certification agencies in the Corktown community of Detroit, Moonachie, New Jersey, and Tempe, Arizona. Scott Cutler and Schwartz serve as CEO and COO, respectively. Deena Bahri became the company's first chief marketing officer in 2019.

history

The company was founded in 2015 by Dan Gilbert, Josh Luber, Greg Schwartz and Chris Kaufman.

The company was officially launched in February 2016. Josh Luber previously founded Campless, the predecessor site of StockX (founded in 2012-2013), which introduced rare sneakers, and Greg Schwartz served as COO. After Gilbert acquired Campless from Luber, Luber moved from Philadelphia to work at Gilbert's One Campus Martius building in downtown Detroit.

In October 2017, the company held its first "StockX Day" event in Detroit, inviting dealers, platform users and industry influencers to meet employees and check out operations. About 200 people attended the event.

In April 2018, 150 buyers and sellers were selected from 3,000 to 5,000 applicants to participate in the second "StockX Day".

In October 2018, StockX opened its first international headquarters in London. At the end of the same year, StockX opened its second authentication center in Tempe, Arizona, and then opened two more authentication centers in Moonachie and West London, New Jersey. At the time, StockX was one of the fastest growing startups in Detroit and Michigan.

In May 2019, the company held its third “StockX Day” event, which attracted 300 attendees and announced the opening of its first permanent store in New York City, as well as several major product updates.

In June 2019, Scott Cutler was appointed CEO.

In August 2019, the company had more than 800 employees. The company opened its fifth certification center in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

In September 2019, the company inked a multi-year advertising deal with Bleacher Report, and Deena Bahri became StockX’s first chief marketing officer.

In 2019, the company opened its fifth authentication center in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. StockX keeps a catalog of all counterfeits received. In September 2020, StockX co-founder Josh Luber left the company.

In November 2021, StockX announced that it had signed University of Connecticut basketball star Paige Bueckers as a featured spokesperson for its basketball and women's sports series.

In January 2022, StockX announced that NFT products could be bought and sold on its marketplace.

Business Model

StockX is an online marketplace that facilitates auctions between sellers and buyers, then charges transaction and payment fees. Sellers send purchased items to StockX's facilities for inspection and verification, and the verified products are then shipped to the buyer. StockX uses a "stock market-like" variable pricing framework and discloses the price history of specific items. StockX is best known for sneakers and streetwear, but also sells other clothing and accessories such as handbags and watches. In 2017, StockX's total sneaker transactions exceeded eBay. Counterfeit items are returned to the seller and buyers are refunded.

StockX charges a 3% handling fee for all resellers and a 9.5% transaction fee for new users, which decreases as user experience increases. Before the company expanded to Europe, StockX only advertised in the United States and accepted US dollars. As of September 2018, 15% of the company's buyers were international buyers. In January 2019, StockX partnered with celebrity jeweler and influencer Ben Baller to sell 800 pairs of black and red slides directly to the public, marking the company's first "initial product offering" (IPO). The shoes were printed with "Ben Baller did The chain", a lyric from ASAP Ferg's 2017 song "Plain Jane".

funds

StockX is backed by Gilbert, Battery Ventures, and GV Ventures, as well as Scooter Braun, Jon Buscemi, Eminem, Joe Haden, Ted Leonsis, and Mark Wahlberg. The company raised $6 million in February 2017. In September 2018, StockX received $44 million in a second round of funding. In addition to Battery and GV, investors include Steve Aoki, Marc Benioff, Don C, and Karlie Kloss. The investment provided funding for StockX's international expansion.

In June 2019, StockX raised $110 million in another round of venture capital at a valuation of $1 billion. Investors included General Atlantic, GGV Capital, Yuri Milner’s DST Global, Battery Ventures, and GV.

Latest News

On February 3, 2022, the StockX platform was sued by Nike, accusing it of selling unauthorized Nike shoe images as digital collectibles on the platform, with the amount reaching trillions.