Thrilling (company)

Last updated
Thrilling
Company type Private
Industry Vintage clothing
Founded2018;6 years ago (2018)
FounderShilla Kim-Parker
Brad Mallow
Headquarters,
Key people
Shilla Kim-Parker (CEO)
Brad Mallow (CTO)
Website shopthrilling.com

Thrilling is an online marketplace for vintage clothing, apparel and home goods. The company partners with independent vintage and secondhand clothing stores that use the platform to list, sell, and ship inventory. [1] [2] Thrilling was founded by Shilla Kim-Parker and Brad Mallow in 2018, [3] In 2021, the company received $8.47 million in series A funding. [4] [5]

Contents

Thrilling has partnered with Banana Republic, Academy Award nominated costume designer Ruth E. Carter, and offers a studio service that uses the company's network of stores to find authentic period clothing for film and television productions. [6] [7] In 2020, Thrilling partnered with stylist Zerina Akers of "Black Owned Everything" to curate an online collection of vintage items from black-owned stores. [8]

As of January 2022, Thrilling hosted listings from more than 900 vintage stores in approximately 200 cities [9] and planned to use series A funding to improve technology such as partner store analytics, partially automating the item listing process, and adding personalization for customers shopping on the site. [10] [11]

In May 2022, Thrilling introduced a home goods section that allows thrift shop owners to list and sell vintage home decor items. [12]

Funding

The company raised $100,000 in seed funding in 2018 followed by a $2.1 million seed funding round that closed in July 2019. In a 2021 Series A round led by Prelude Ventures, Thrilling raised $8.5 million. [13] Investors include Prelude Ventures, Elemental Excelerator, Defy, Urban US, Phoenix Rising, Closed Loop, and Congruent Ventures. [14] [15]

Business model

Thrilling's primary competitors include the handmade and vintage craft site Etsy, Etsy's Peer-to-peer social E-commerce subsidiary Depop, and the peer-to-peer sites Poshmark and Tradesy. [16] [17] [18] [19] Most competitors rely on peer-to-peer sales and social media-influenced features, [20] but Thrilling sellers must be Brick and mortar thrift and vintage stores. [21] The company's social media presence and customer support via social media remains less than that of primary competitors and the site lacks customer reviews in large enough numbers to provide adequate ratings from some service categories. [22] [23]

The Thrilling platform allows store owners to list inventory online and handles sale, shipping and returns for a 10% commission. [24] During the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic these commissions were waived to allow shop owners to maximize income. [25] [26] The Thrilling platform contains technology to assist shop owners in digitizing large inventories, including the ability to use photography to detect an item's size and recommended price. [27] [28]

Services

Partnerships and collections

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Used good</span> Item that is not new being sold or transferred

Used goods, also known as secondhand goods, are any item of personal property offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender, but excluding books, magazines, and postage stamps. Used goods may also be handed down, especially among family or close friends, as a hand-me-down.

Thrift store chic refers to a style of dressing where clothes are cheap and/or used. Clothes are often bought from thrift stores such as the Salvation Army, Goodwill, or Value Village. Originally popular among the hippies of the late 1960s, this fashion movement resurfaced during the mid-1980s among teenagers, and expanded into the 1990s with the growing popularity of such music and style influences including the grunge band Nirvana. Thrift store chic can be considered as an anti-fashion statement because it does not follow fashion trends and does not attempt to look expensive or new.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vintage clothing</span> Garments originating from a previous era

Vintage clothing is a generic term for garments originating from a previous era, as recent as the 1990s. The term can also be applied in reference to second-hand retail outlets, e.g. in vintage clothing store. While the concept originated during World War I as a response to textile shortages, vintage dressing encompasses choosing accessories, mixing vintage garments with new, as well as creating an ensemble of various styles and periods. Vintage clothes typically sell at low prices for high-end name brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fashion design</span> Art of applying design and aesthetics to clothing and accessories

Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and place. "A fashion designer creates clothing, including dresses, suits, pants, and skirts, and accessories like shoes and handbags, for consumers. He or she can specialize in clothing, accessory, or jewelry design, or may work in more than one of these areas."

The 4th Street Corridor, also known as Retro Row, is a small business district in the city of Long Beach, California, along 4th Street from Walnut Avenue to Temple Avenue.

Buffalo Exchange is an American fashion resale retailer. Operating under a "buy, sell, trade" business model, it buys clothing and accessories from the public and resells them to the public. Buffalo Exchange targets a wide range of styles and ages with a mix of new and recycled clothing and accessories, including current trends, everyday staples, vintage, one-of-a-kind items, designer and more. Though often considered a thrift store, rather than receiving donations, they hand-select and purchase the majority of their inventory from the local community. This makes for a more curated selection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Straub</span> American fashion designer (born 1979)

Christopher Straub is a fashion designer who was a contestant on season 6 of the competitive reality show Project Runway and also appeared on season 1 of the competitive reality show Models of the Runway as the designer for the model Katie Sticksel, Celine Chua, and Matar Cohen. Both shows appeared on the Lifetime Network with new episodes aired on Thursday evenings.

Editorialist is an e-commerce marketplace that offers styling services with a specialization in luxury fashion and accessories.

Bay Garnett is a British freelance fashion stylist, author, editor, creative director and advocate for sustainability in fashion.

Chairish is a curated online marketplace for high-end vintage home furnishings and art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalia Fedner</span> American fashion designer and actress

Natalia Fedner is an American fashion designer, inventor and actress, best known for inventing a six-way stretch metal textile.

Trunk Club was a personalized mid- to high-end men's and women's clothing service based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

"Already" is a song by American singer Beyoncé, Ghanaian singer Shatta Wale and American trio Major Lazer from the 2019 album The Lion King: The Gift and featured in the 2020 film Black Is King.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebag</span> Online luxury handbag selling platform

Rebag is a New York-based online and brick-and-mortar retail platform, founded in 2014, for buying, trading, and selling luxury handbags, accessories, watches, fine jewelry, shoes, and select apparel.

An indoor swap meet in the United States, especially Southern California and Nevada, is a type of bazaar, a permanent, indoor shopping center open during normal retail hours, with fixed booths or storefronts for the vendors.

Isabella McFadden, known online as Internet Girl, is a Canadian social media personality and noted Depop seller of 1990s and 2000s clothing. She sells clothing found at thrift stores as well as new clothing of her own design. Many of her sales come in the form of "style bundles", sets of clothing with matching accessories based upon a particular theme or style. She has become Depop's top seller in the United States, with her account reaching over 660,000 followers.

Mona May is a costume designer who has worked on over 70 movie and television programs. With her trademark feminine style, using bold colors and feathery boas, May has been designing costumes since 1989.

Zerina Akers is an American fashion stylist and costume designer. She is best known for her positions as Beyoncé's personal stylist, costume designer for the Emmy-winning 2020 musical film Black Is King, and founder of the e-commerce site "Black Owned Everything".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Garnett</span> American clothier (1949–2016)

Robert Charles Garnett III was an American clothier. His vast clothing collection was regularly used in the film industry to outfit actors in period costumes. Over four decades, he owned several clothing stores on the East Coast. One of his customers was Ralph Lauren.

Carla Rockmore is a Canadian-American fashion stylist and jewelry designer based in Dallas, Texas. She is known for her fashion-related TikTok videos.

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