StockX, which has been branded the world’s first “Stock Market of Things,” has fast emerged as the premier marketplace for buying and selling a wide variety of items, including luxury handbags and street clothes, trading cards, and collectibles of all kinds.
The company is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, and was founded in 2015 by Greg Schwartz, Josh Luber, and Dan Gilbert.
StockX, a thriving digital marketplace for buying and selling sneakers, redefines the future of retail by leveraging a unique stock market approach with its strong network effects, supervised process of purchases, excellent user experience (UX), and functionality that helps the online buy and sell marketplace platform stay ahead of the game.
You can see the value of the goods fluctuate in real-time as they change hands. With a post-money value of $3.8B as of April 8th, 2021, StockX is hailed as one of the world’s most valuable private enterprises.
One of the most exciting things about StockX is that it’s constantly growing. In 2019, StockX had over 200 million visitors and saw a rise in more than 90% yearly active purchases. StockX’s entire gross merchandise value for 2020 has climbed by more than 30% as the number of active sellers in Europe and Asia increased.
Since then, StockX has expanded into other product categories. It now sells a wide variety of items, including watches, handbags, streetwear, and electronics.
After raising close to $700M in funding, StockX acquired Scout on November 17, 2021. Scout’s data helps StockX learn about successful inventory and postings. StockX may use SCOUT to modify its platform and marketing or sales strategy according to the data SCOUT collects.
For example, it tells you why products tend to do better on competing marketplaces. StockX can market to entice sellers to return the goods or contact power sellers to offer them lesser costs.
The methodology with which competitors of StockX are ranked is based on publicly accessible information. Key points like total funding, number of users, acquisitions, gross merchandise volume (GMV), and anything in between will be considered.
This analysis, to ensure comparability, does not only look at sneaker marketplaces. Instead, we look at more traditional marketplaces that currently sell sneakers on their platform.
Furthermore, this analysis does not include indirect competitors of StockX. For example, manufacturers such as Adidas or Nike will be excluded.
So, without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the top 10 competitors of StockX.
1. Stadium Goods
Headquarters: New York City, New York Founder(s): John McPheters and Jed Stiller Year Founded: 2015
Stadium Goods has become the go-to place for sneakerheads who are looking to get their hands on a pair of rare pieces. The company is now the world’s premier sneaker and streetwear marketplace with over 2.9 million users, making it a top competitor of StockX.
The founders started SM Ventures, a venture capital business focusing on e-commerce and technology, in 2012 and controlled Blades/Blades.com, a 25-year-old skateboard and lifestyle clothing shop in New York, before they decided to create Stadium Goods.
Stadium Goods has a mobile application, making it convenient to shop while on the go. They have taken online shopping to the next level with their physical stores in New York and Chicago, setting it apart from StockX.
In 2018, Farfetch acquired Stadium Goods for $250 Million. Farfetch will gain access to Stadium Goods’s full inventory, which includes some of the most coveted sneakers in the world, while Stadium Goods will benefit from Farfetch’s expertise in running a luxury marketplace.
Sources: Business of Fashion, Crunchbase, Farfetch
2. Grailed
Headquarters: New York City, New York Founder(s): Arun Gupta, Julian Connor, Jake Metzger Year Founded: 2013
Grailed is a menswear marketplace backed up by some of the biggest names in fashion and venture capital. The platform was created out of a desire to provide a better way for men to buy and sell their clothes.
Grailed’s mission is to create a community where users can buy and sell their clothes to one another in an ethical, safe way. Grailed has grown into a multimillion-dollar company with over 200 employees and over 3.1 million users.
While StockX focuses on sneaker culture and streetwear, Grailed is more focused on men’s clothes in the luxury variety. It’s a much smaller site than StockX, and it has a much more niche focus.
According to Crunchbase, Grailed has raised $76.5M in funding over three rounds. Its valuation is currently not being disclosed to the public.
Sources: Crunchbase, Fashion Network
3. GOAT
Headquarters: Culver City, California Founder(s): Eddy Lu, Daishin Sugano Year Founded: 2015
Sneakerheads trust GOAT. The company’s website offers an interactive platform where members can buy and sell high-end sneakers. It has raised over $400 million in investment, boasts 12 million users and 600 staff, and has over 400,000 pairs for sale.
The idea for GOAT started after Daishin Sugano purchased a pair of fake Air Jordan 5 Grapes online. Determined to help keep other sneakerheads from experiencing the same problem, he built GOAT with the goal of creating a completely trustworthy sneaker marketplace. Now, GOAT is a leading sneaker marketplace that raised $492.6M in funding over 9 rounds.
With a valuationof $3.7 billion, GOAT acquired Flight Club in 2018. Thes merger has allowed GOAT to expand the markets where it sells sneakers. Flight Club will capitalize on e-commerce, and GOAT will enter the sneaker market by offering better customer service.
With an eye on international expansion, the firm claims to have 13 fulfillment facilities throughout the globe.
Sources: Crunchbase, Index Ventures, LA Times, Your Next Shoes
4. eBay
Headquarters: San Jose, California Founder(s): Pierre Omidyar Year Founded: 1995
On Labor Day in 1995, Omidyar advertised his laser printer for $1 on eBay, which was known at the time as Auction Web. After a week of no bids, bidders weighed in and pushed the price up to $14.83. Omidyar could see he was onto something remarkable right immediately.
eBay plans on expanding its partnerships on sneaker marketplaces which have been vital to its Authentication Guarantee on sneakers. In October 2020, eBay launched a new service in partnership with Sneaker Con. The “Authenticity Guarantee” allows sellers to submit photos of their sneakers to Sneaker Con’s experts for evaluation at no cost to the seller. If a buyer wants to process a return, Sneaker Con will evaluate the shoes again before sending them back. Their multi-point inspection system includes checking various aspects of the shoes in question, including the sizing, labels, stitching, logos, heel tabs, laces, and more.
The United States and Great Britain are where most of eBay’s customers reside. With over 185 million active users and 19 million sellers globally, it is one of the largest eCommerce platforms in the world.
Currently, with $87.6 Billion in revenue, eBay has managed to set itself apart from the competition with its integrated AI technology, which uses 3D scans of sneakers to provide unprecedented accuracy in product listings.
Sources: Crunchbase, eBay, PR Newswire, TechCrunch, The Street
5. Vestiaire Collective
Headquarters: Paris, France Founder(s): Fanny Moizant and Sophie Hersan Year Founded: 2009
Vestiaire Collective is a French online luxury consignment shop. Its business model is based on the simple principle of connecting buyers and sellers of designer apparel through an online platform.
They launched Vestiaire Collective after seeing that most of their friends’ wardrobes were full of gorgeous designer clothes they no longer wore. Moizant and Hersan also noticed that many fashion bloggers started selling their goods online.
Vestiaire Collective is a fast-growing fashion marketplace with an estimated annual revenue of $187.9M and a current valuation of $1.7B. They have 9 million members across 90 countries and are growing at an annual rate of 18%.
The marketplace is focused on pre-owned luxury items, focusing on fashion, and accessories. They have a large selection of shoes compared to other marketplaces, but not as many as StockX.
Sources: Forbes, TechCrunch, Vestiaire Collective
6. The RealReal
Headquarters: San Francisco, California Founder(s): Julie Wainwright Year Founded: 2011
Thanks to Wainwright’s website, customers in the luxury shopping sector are eager to spend more now that they realize the genuine resale value of high-end items. Consumer trust in the organization is at the heart of The RealReal, which has previously been absent in the online luxury consignment industry.
In June 2019, The Real Real went public. The RealReal is a safe and reliable platform for consumers to buy and sell luxury items. They do this by providing a rigorous authentication process overseen by experts. As a sustainable company, they give new life to pieces by hundreds of brands, from Gucci to Cartier, supporting the circular economy.
The RealReal makes consigning effortless with free in-home pickup, drop-off service, virtual appointments and direct shipping. The company specializes in curating and authenticating a wide variety of previously owned luxury items offered on consignments, such as apparel, sneakers, accessories, and jewelry.
The marketplace sold approximately 250,000 goods in its first two years, with 60 to 70% of the earnings going back to its sellers. It now boasts over 7 million users and over $500 million in income, having launched two storefronts in Los Angeles and New York.
Since its launch in 2011, the platform has received a total of $356.9 million in investment. The company currently has a GMV of $2.1 billion in 2021.
Sources: Business of Fashion, National Jeweler, The RealReal
7. Poshmark
Headquarters: Redwood City, California Founder(s): Manish Chandra Year Founded: 2011
Poshmark is a social commerce platform that gives users the ability to set up their own online shops where they can sell and purchase second hand items. The website is based on the belief that shoppers want to buy from genuine sellers and that authentic service is important for a product to be successful.
Poshmark was created to give women a way to make money off-loading extra items from their closets. A unique aspect of Poshmark is that it includes social components in the website, such as likes and followers. This makes shopping on the site more fun for its users because they can see how many people like their items and what others say about them.
Poshmark Inc. began trading on public markets on January 14, 2021. Since then, it has consistently lagged behind the S&P 500 and had a market value of around $1.2 billion as of February 2022. In its first year as a publicly traded company (2021), Poshmark earned $262 million in revenue.
Manish Chandra founded Kaboodle before Poshmark. Two years later, Chandra sold the firm for $30 million and took several Kaboodle workers to make retail a social online experience.
Sources: Crunchbase, Forbes, SuperPosher, Vogue Business
8. Urban Necessities
Headquarters: Las Vegas, Nevada Founder(s): Jaysse Lopez Year Founded: 2001
Urban Necessities is a leading retailer of urban clothing, lifestyle products, and sneakers. They provide a unique opportunity to buy expensive sneakers without paying full retail by giving customers the chance to win them in a game they call “the Key Master Game.” This game is available at every Urban Necessities location, making the company stand out from its competitors.
Lopez was inspired to create Urban Necessities after experiencing homelessness firsthand. He eventually landed a job selling footwear in a five-year-closed section of Las Vegas Boulevard Mall.
Lopez’s store blew up in September 2014 with a down payment of just $40. Despite that, he made $1 million in sales before the end of 2014. The secondhand shop made more than $20 million in sales in 2019. For someone homeless more than a decade ago, that’s quite an accomplishment.
Sources: Business Insider, Complex
9. Depop
Headquarters: London, United Kingdom Founder(s): Simon Beckerman, Maria Raga Year Founded: 2011
At a period when apps were still somewhat uncharted ground for many fashion designers, the second-hand clothes resale app known as Depop was developed.Depop is primarily an app and has the majority of its users under 25. It’s set up like Instagram, with a social media platform and a shopping app rolled into one. It encourages shoppers and users to reuse and recycle our clothes.
In 2019, Etsy acquired Depop for $1.6 billion in cash plus stock. The acquisition was a good move for both companies: Depop has doubled its revenue and gross sales since 2020, and Etsy has seen its stock price rise by 50%. With the purchase of Depop, Etsy has broadened its reach to a younger population. This will help the site to develop while keeping its brand image as a genuine area for handcrafted products.
The company has attracted 30 million users in 150 countries, who have purchased 32 million items on the app.
Depop is different from StockX since it does not provide product verification. This might be a disadvantage for certain customers, but it also means that the cost of things is often cheaper than on StockX.
Sources: Business of Fashion, Crunchbase, The Spin-Off
10. Flight Club
Headquarters: New York City, New York Founder(s): Damany Weir Year Founded: 2005
Flight Club, a 16-year-old retailer with a devoted following among sneakerheads worldwide, has merged with GOAT. This fast-growing company sells hard-to-find shoes through a mobile shopping app that has become one of the most popular in the United States.
In recent years, sneaker resale has become a popular phenomenon, particularly among young men and men in their early twenties. The merger of Flight Club and GOAT is likely to produce a major player in the industry.
A total of $300 million is generated yearly by the combined efforts of Flight Club and GOAT. GOAT receives a fee of around 12% on shoes sold through the app, while Flight Club receives a commission of 20% on consignment sales.
Sources: Complex, PR Newswire, Vox
Honorable Mentions
Apart from the above-mentioned firms, there are a plethora of other companies that didn’t make the cut.
Example marketplace competitors not on the list include Vinted and thredUp. Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, Vinted is the largest online marketplace for secondhand clothing in Europe. With more than 25 million users in 12 different markets, Vinted provides a platform for buying, selling and trading used clothing. The company completed an all-equity funding round of $303 million in 2021. Valued at $4.2 billion pre-money, Vinted competes with StockX for investors’ attention.
On the other hand, thredUP, a leading online thrift store, aims to lessen the fashion industry’s environmental impact while creating economic opportunities for consumers and enterprises. The firm’s latest platform addition, Resale-as-a-Service (RaaS), powers resale for some of the world’s most famous fashion companies. In 2021, thredUP brought in $251 million in revenue.
In case you're a curious human being: this is how StockX makes money
Another company worth noting, Farfetch, sells high-end products, including shoes, at a discount. It lets people purchase expensive products from home. Farfetch Platform Solutions provides commercial and retail tools for premium brands and merchants. FPS, powered by Farfetch, helps brands and retailers access new customers, boost global capabilities, and improve online and in-store shopping experiences. It gives partners access to the Farfetch Marketplace’s capabilities, scalability, and success.
Since sneaker culture in Asia is different from the US and Europe, it has developed through time rather than being imported from OX Street. OX Street, a Southeast Asian sneaker and streetwear e-commerce marketplace will boost used shopping. The firm combines business and culture. Their legion of sneakerheads offers sizing guidance and personal remarks. Carousel Group purchased OX Street in 2021 to resume development in Greater Southeast Asia. Ox Street kept its name, identity, platform, and team. Ox Street will examine and validate each shoe. Carousell will deploy its technology, reach, and market liquidity across categories. StockX itself expanded into Southeast Asia back in 2020 by opening an authentication center in Hong Kong.
It’s hard to talk about sneaker retail companies without thinking about top brands like Nike and Adidas NMD. Nike leads the charge having raked in $44.538 billion in 2021 while Adidas NMD follows closely behind with $24.721 billion to show for 2021.
Lastly, Facebook Marketplace also sells shoes. Facebook Marketplace is a local peer-to-peer selling app. Thanks to this functionality, Facebook’s 1.3 billion monthly users may participate in trade with one another rather than through eBay. Users may create buying and selling profiles via the app, making it easier to find vendors nearby. It doesn’t identify the buyer or seller and raises a fraud risk.
