Difference between revisions of "Depop"

Revision as of 20:38, 11 March 2021

Depop

Depop Application Source 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 new and used clothing from their internet-enabled devices. Depop was founded in 2011 and the application was brought to iOS in 2013. Depop is available for both desktop and mobile and has many other features: Users can create a virtual store or profile, buy items, and save items for later. Depop also recommends clothing items based on your style and allows you to follow and interact with other users^[1]. Several ethical issues have arisen on the platform mostly surrounding how users interact with and use the platform.

History

Depop was founded by Simon Beckerman in 2011 and the corporate headquarters moved to London in 2012^[2][3]. In 2013 the app was later brought to iOS devices and Simon Beckerman stepped down as CEO^[4][5]. The app was originally developed to sell items from Simon Bekerman’s magazine PIG, and a website was added later^[6][7]. Depop was designed to function as both a social media platform and online marketplace: Beckerman noted Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest as sources of inspiration^[8]. 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 ^[9].

ception

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, view recommended items and shops, see your saved items, and additionally view the posts of shops you follow^[10].

Selling on Depop

Depop requires you to have an account to both buy and sell items: however, you do not need an account to browse. 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” and CEO Maria Raga notes users can “start a business from their bedroom”^[11][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. Recently, online resellers have come under criticism for encouraging this process^[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, and was also present on eBay before Depop^[15][16]. In 2004 it was noted due to the normalization 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 shop at thrift stores to resist a culture of consumption and disposability. However, due to the growing popularity of thrift stores, there has been an increase in competition from other second-hand stores, discount stores, and online marketplaces. This has caused thrift stores to expand their target demographic to more high-income neighborhoods, thus moving to premier locations, having a nicer interior, and raising prices^[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 with an account 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 and must be constantly available^[20]. 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 emotional labor makes this process more burdensome for women.

ception

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: however, Depop still takes a 10% cut of all sales^[24][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

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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]. One user 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. ↑ 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.
2. ↑ Azeez, Walé. “Depop: We're All Shopkeepers Now.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 12 Nov. 2015, https://www.politico.eu/article/depop-were-all-shopkeepers-now/
3. ↑ “Simon Beckerman & Maria Raga.” The Business of Fashion, 1 Oct. 2019, https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/maria-raga-simon-beckerman.
4. ↑ 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.
5. ↑ “Simon Beckerman & Maria Raga.” The Business of Fashion, 1 Oct. 2019, https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/maria-raga-simon-beckerman.
6. ↑ “About.” Depop, https://www.depop.com/about/.
7. ↑ 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/.
8. ↑ 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.
9. ↑ 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/.
10. ↑ “Depop.” Depop, www.depop.com/.
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
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.