Difference between revisions of "Depop"

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Revision as of 17:31, 11 March 2021

Depop
Depop.png
Depop2.jpg
Depop Application [{https://www.depop.com/ text]
Type Online Marketplace
Launch Date 2011
Status Active
Product Line Depop
Platform iOS, Android
Website www.depop.com

Depop Is an online clothing marketplace and social shopping platform that enables users to buy used and new clothing from their internet-enabled device. Depop was founded in 2011[1] and was moved to London in 2012[2]. Depop is incredibly popular among younger generations, with 80% of users being under 25, and among Americans, with 38% of its users residing in the United States [3]. Depop is available for both desktop and mobile and has many other features, including allowing users to create a profile and virtual shop, in addition to purchasing and exploring items for sale. Depop also recommends clothing items based on your style and allows you to follow and interact with other users [4]. Several ethical issues have arisen on the platform mostly surrounding how users interact with and use the platform.

History

Depop was founded in 2011 and was brought to iOS devices in 2013 [5]. It was founded by Simon Beckerman who later stepped down as CEO in 2013[6], however, he is still on the board. The app was originally developed to be a shop selling items from Simon Bekerman’s magazine PIG[7], and a website was added later[8]. Depop was designed to function as both a social media platform and online marketplace, and Beckerman noted Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest as sources of inspiration[9]. Additionally, Depop was designed to attract “young designers, cool collectors, small shops and little brands,” however its current user base is primarily filled with younger shoppers and women [10].

Features

Home page

Depop features a home page. This page consists of several sub-pages including “Explore” “My DNA” and “Feed.” These pages allow you to explore new items, see your saved items, and additionally view the posts of shops you follow.

Selling on Depop

Depop requires you to have an account to both buy and sell items. In order to just browse on the app, you do not need an account. In order to sell, you have to set up your shop within the app, and then you can list items. There is an emphasis on entrepreneurship as Depop founder Simon Beckerman notes the app is like “having your store in your pocket” [11] and CEO Maria Raga notes users can “start a business from their bedroom”[12] . Each listing can have four photos. Depop encourages users to model their items and also encourages branding and promoting individual shops on other social media platforms. They also support and verify their top sellers and often give them more exposure [13].

Ethical Issues

Many ethical issues have arisen in relation to Depop, with some gaining more traction than others. These issues can impact both sellers and buyers.

Reselling thrifted clothing

Recently, especially among younger people, there has been growing awareness of Depop sellers and their impact on thrift stores. Named ‘thrift store gentrification,” this process is mainly centered around thrift stores raising their prices. For the most part, the blame for this issue falls upon Depop sellers and occasionally other online resellers [14]. This issue is widely debated, and there is not a lot of current research on this topic.

Reselling thrifted items has been around since the 1990s [15], and was also present on eBay before Depop [16]. In 2004 it was noted due to the stigmatization of thrift stores in popular media, middle-income shoppers feel more comfortable buying from thrift stores. They also often benefit greatly from the reduced prices and use shopping at thrift stores “as a way to resist a culture of consumption and disposability,” [17]. The specific impact of Depop on this phenomenon is not known.

Feminization of work

Along with other forms of online reselling, Depop faces the issue surrounding its feminization of labor, both as a social media application and a reselling platform. While exact user statistics are not known, Similar apps, like Poshmark have noted that registered users tend to be primarily female, with 97% of survey respondents identifying as female[18]. Depop founder Simon Beckerman notes they found a large customer base within “girls who want to sell their whole wardrobe,” and that “girls love [depop]."[19]

This creates many ethical issues with how women exist within the labor system Depop has created. With a focus on creating and maintaining customer relationships and networks, this process of reselling goods online can be incredibly burdening. With the reduced ontological friction offered by Depop, sellers often lose their right to ignore information [20] and must be constantly available. Additionally, it is noted that reselling items “is complicated by the emotional labor women must assume in managing their business personae and maintaining flows of communication online."[21] The combination of an information porous app and the emotional labor women perform makes this process burdensome.

Moreover, Depop emphasizes the importance of a professional brand, both on the app and on other social media applications[22]. This can be ethically complicated as creating a reselling brand is largely based on “classed and gendered identities, experiences, networks, and bodies.” [23] The large social media presence sellers are expected to have also additionally manifested in the fact that sellers must lead public lives and must be constantly available for customers.

Worker's rights

Many sellers on Depop are labeled as bedroom entrepreneurs [24], however, Depop still takes a 10% cut of all sales[25]. While not directly gig workers, these sellers, who labor to earn Depop profit, do not receive any benefits or job security and can earn varying amounts. Some more popular shops are known to earn upwards of $150,000 a year, meanwhile, most users earn significantly less, often equating to the minimum wage [26]. While not a traditional gig economy, Depop shares many features and ethical concerns, despite labeling its users as entrepreneurs.

Sexual Harassment

Akin to many other social media platforms, Depop users regularly face sexual harassment within the internal messaging service. While Depop has a messaging feature, it is mostly for sellers and buyers to interact: however, this messaging service is used for a variety of other reasons, many of which relate to sexual harassment[27]. Some users even reported their boyfriend was "pretty much using Depop like tinder" [28]. With a large number of its users being under the age of 20 this can pose a large threat[29].

References

  1. ↑ Azeez, Walé. “Depop: We're All Shopkeepers Now.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 12 Nov. 2015, https://www.politico.eu/article/depop-were-all-shopkeepers-now/
  2. ↑ “Simon Beckerman & Maria Raga.” The Business of Fashion, 1 Oct. 2019, https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/maria-raga-simon-beckerman.
  3. ↑ Knowles, Kitty. “Depop CEO: Solving 3 Big Problems For Young Cool Shoppers.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 26 Apr. 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kittyknowles/2018/04/26/depop-ceo-solving-3-big-problems-for-young-cool-shoppers/?sh=7d3a25477b40.
  4. ↑ Weir, Melanie. “What Is Depop? Here's What You Need to Know about the Clothing Marketplace Platform.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 8 Jan. 2021, https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-depop.
  5. ↑ Pavarini, Maria Cristina. “Stories: Simon Beckerman, Founder/CEO, Depop.com.” The, 13 Jan. 2014, https://www.the-spin-off.com/news/stories/Simon-Beckerman-founderCEO-Depop.com-7789.
  6. ↑ “Simon Beckerman & Maria Raga.” The Business of Fashion, 1 Oct. 2019, https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/maria-raga-simon-beckerman.
  7. ↑ “About.” Depop, https://www.depop.com/about/.
  8. ↑ Morrison, Emma. “In Conversation with: Depop Founder Simon Beckerman.” Artefact, 4 June 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20150716080409/www.artefactmagazine.com/2015/01/14/in-conversation-with-depop-founder-simon-beckerman/.
  9. ↑ Pavarini, Maria Cristina. “Stories: Simon Beckerman, Founder/CEO, Depop.com.” The, 13 Jan. 2014, https://www.the-spin-off.com/news/stories/Simon-Beckerman-founderCEO-Depop.com-7789.
  10. ↑ Morrison, Emma. “In Conversation with: Depop Founder Simon Beckerman.” Artefact, 4 June 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20150716080409/www.artefactmagazine.com/2015/01/14/in-conversation-with-depop-founder-simon-beckerman/.
  11. ↑ Morrison, Emma. “In Conversation with: Depop Founder Simon Beckerman.” Artefact, 4 June 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20150716080409/www.artefactmagazine.com/2015/01/14/in-conversation-with-depop-founder-simon-beckerman/.
  12. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid. “Depop, a Social App Targeting Millennial and Gen Z Shoppers, Bags $62M, Passes 13M Users.” TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 7 June 2019, https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/06/depop-a-social-app-targeting-millennial-and-gen-z-shoppers-bags-62m-passes-13m-users/.
  13. ↑ “Seller Handbook.” Depop, https://sellers.depop.com/Seller_Handbook_Final_US.pdf.
  14. ↑ PheusTheFetus, director. TikTok, 30 Dec. 2020, https://www.tiktok.com/@pheusthefetus/video/6911954574253362438?sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6938513431742350854&is_from_webapp=v2&is_copy_url=0.
  15. ↑ Garland B.C., Crawford J.C., Gopalakrishna P. (2015) Second Order Marketing: The Consumer Reseller. In: King R. (eds) Proceedings of the 1991 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17049-7_12
  16. ↑ Murphy, Scott L., and Shuling Liao. "Consumers as Resellers: Exploring the Entrepreneurial Mind of North American Consumers Reselling Online." International Journal of Business and Information, vol. 8, no. 2, 2013, pp. 183-228. ProQuest, https://proxy.lib.umich.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/scholarly-journals/consumers-as-resellers-exploring-entrepreneurial/docview/1511118119/se-2?accountid=14667.
  17. ↑ Raulli, Julie A. From Shabby to Chic: Upscaling in the United States Thrift Industry, Colorado State University, Ann Arbor, 2005. ProQuest, https://proxy.lib.umich.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/dissertations-theses/shabby-chic-upscaling-united-states-thrift/docview/305014266/se-2?accountid=14667.
  18. ↑ “Poshmark's 2020 Social Commerce Report.” Poshmark, 2020, https://www.report.poshmark.com/#:~:text=Poshmark%20user%20survey%20respondents%20were,community%20of%2060%20million%20users.
  19. ↑ Morrison, Emma. “In Conversation with: Depop Founder Simon Beckerman.” Artefact, 4 June 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20150716080409/www.artefactmagazine.com/2015/01/14/in-conversation-with-depop-founder-simon-beckerman/.
  20. ↑ Floridi, Luciano. “Ethics after the Information Revolution.” The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics, edited by Luciano Floridi, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010, pp. 3–19.
  21. ↑ Zhang, Lin. “Fashioning the Feminine Self in ‘Prosumer Capitalism’: Women’s Work and the Transnational Reselling of Western Luxury Online.” Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 17, no. 2, July 2017, pp. 184–204, doi:10.1177/1469540515572239.
  22. ↑ “Seller Handbook.” Depop, https://sellers.depop.com/Seller_Handbook_Final_US.pdf.
  23. ↑ Zhang, Lin. “Fashioning the Feminine Self in ‘Prosumer Capitalism’: Women’s Work and the Transnational Reselling of Western Luxury Online.” Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 17, no. 2, July 2017, pp. 184–204, doi:10.1177/1469540515572239.
  24. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid. “Depop, a Social App Targeting Millennial and Gen Z Shoppers, Bags $62M, Passes 13M Users.” TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 7 June 2019, https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/06/depop-a-social-app-targeting-millennial-and-gen-z-shoppers-bags-62m-passes-13m-users/.
  25. ↑ “Seller Handbook.” Depop, https://sellers.depop.com/Seller_Handbook_Final_US.pdf.
  26. ↑ Butler, Sarah. “'Everyone I Know Buys Vintage': the Depop Sellers Shaking up Fashion.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 Oct. 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/20/everyone-i-know-buys-vintage-the-depop-sellers-shaking-up-fashion.
  27. ↑ Lieber, Chavie. “The Dark Side of Depop.” The Business of Fashion, The Business of Fashion, 12 Nov. 2019, https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/technology/depop-sexual-harassment-internet-safety.
  28. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CFm4JWfBrNP/?igshid=7w2jim3alc1y
  29. ↑ Knowles, Kitty. “Depop CEO: Solving 3 Big Problems For Young Cool Shoppers.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 26 Apr. 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kittyknowles/2018/04/26/depop-ceo-solving-3-big-problems-for-young-cool-shoppers/?sh=7d3a25477b40.
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