Depop

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Depop
Depop.png
Depop2.jpg
Depop Application [1] [url 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 new and used clothing from their internet-enabled devices. It was founded in 2011, and the free application was brought to iOS devices in 2013.[2] Depop has many features: users can create a virtual store or profile, follow and interact with other users, buy items, and save items for later, and it is available for both desktop and mobile usage. It also recommends clothing items based on your style. [3] Several ethical issues surrounding how users interact with the platform have arisen.

History

Simon Beckerman founded Depop in 2011, and the corporate headquarters moved to London in 2012.[4][5] In 2013 the app was later brought to iOS devices. Simon Beckerman then stepped down as CEO and Maria Raga took his place.[6][5] The app was initially developed to sell items from Simon Bekerman’s magazine, PIG, and it was later made available as a website.[7][8] In 2014, the app had 1.8 million downloads.[9] Depop was designed to function as both a social media platform and online marketplace. Beckerman noted Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest as sources of inspiration. [6] Depop was designed to attract “young designers, cool collectors, small shops and little brands” and its current user base includes younger shoppers and women. [8]

The Depop home page[10]

Features

Home page

Depop features a home page. This page consists of several sub-pages, including “Explore,” “My DNA,” and “Feed.” These sub-pages allow you to explore new items, view recommended items, see your saved items, and view the posts of shops you follow.[10]

Explore Page

The Explore page allows users to look through a selection of items curated by the Depop Editorial Team. It shows you Depop’s most popular sellers based on your searches and it aims to showcase the “best of the best” of user listings. Items featured on Explore tend to sell three times faster than comparable normal listings. [11]

My DNA

The My DNA section of Depop shows recommended listings, users' likes, and past-viewed items. At the bottom of the page, there is an option to "Edit My DNA" to get better recommendations. [10] The algorithm that recommends new items is largely based on previous items users have saved and favorited. This algorithm has resulted in more engagement, more saved items, and more purchased items when compared to the curated items on the explore page. [12]

Feed

The Feed page shows all recent posts from shops a user follows. The Feed page is very similar to Instagram's explore page and is blank unless a user follows a shop. Additionally, this page is not chronological, however, the factors impacting the order of the items are not publically known.[10]

Using Depop

Depop has many built-in functions to benefit buyers and sellers. The features of the app complement the selling and buying process.

Selling on Depop

An example of a recently created Depop store[13]

Depop requires you to have an account to buy and sell items. You do not need an account to browse. 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.”[8][14]

When listing an item, a maximum of four photos can be posted. Depop suggests users model their items and encourages branding and promoting individual shops on other social media platforms. They support and verify their top sellers, and this often gives them more exposure. Depop also pushes its top sellers to the front of the explore and featured sellers page. [15]

Purchasing on Depop

Depop has many avenues for buying items in the app. Users are recommended items in a variety of places and can also search specific parameters and categories. Users must have an account to purchase items on Depop. In the app, purchases can only be made with Paypal, but on the website, purchases can be made with PayPal or a credit card. [16]

Buyers need to be aware of scammers and counterfeit items when making purchases. Additionally, It is impossible for Depop to quality check items because products ship directly from the seller to the buyer. [17] If a user purchases an item that is not as described on the listing or comes destroyed, they may open a case through PayPal’s Dispute Resolution Centre. [18]


Shipping

Many options are available to ship items after completing a purchase on Depop. Depop allows sellers to use their internal system or to ship using external mail carriers.[15] Only sellers in the United States and the United Kingdom can use Depop's internal shipping system. Depop has partnered with the United States Postal Service (USPS) in the United States and Hermes in the United Kingdom.[19] Depop shipping is first class for smaller items and priority for larger items and ranges from $3.75 to $14.40. [20].

Shipping prices are always included in the item’s total cost to avoid confusion. Sometimes, if a consumer buys multiple items from the same seller they can receive shipping discounts due to the "bundling" feature. Because of this, consumers will only pay one shipping fee.  [21]

Ethical Issues

Ethical issues have arisen concerning Depop, with some gaining more traction than others. These issues can impact both sellers and buyers.

Reselling thrifted clothing

There has been growing awareness of Depop sellers and their impact on thrift stores, mainly among younger people. Named "thrift store gentrification,” this process is mainly critical of thrift stores raising their prices. Recently, online resellers have come under criticism for encouraging this process.[22] 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.[23][24] In 2004 it was noted that, due to thrift stores' normalization in popular media, middle-income shoppers feel more comfortable buying from such stores. Middle-income consumers also use thrift stores to save money and resist a culture of consumption and disposability. Due to thrift stores' growing popularity, there has been an increase in competition from other second-hand stores, discount stores, and online marketplaces. More competition results in thrift stores expanding their target demographic to high-income customers. This causes the stores to move to premier locations, have a clean and inviting interior, and raise prices.[25] The specific impact of Depop on this phenomenon is not known.

Re-working plus-sized clothes

Selling not just thrifted clothes, but re-worked thrifted clothes have increased in popularity. Newer trends sold and popularized on
Shirt and skirt set made from XL Polo shirt[26]
Depop feature size XL and up shirts turned into sets comprised of multiple clothing items. These can range from crop-top and skirt sets, shorts and shirts with scrunchies sets, or anything that can be created from one large clothing item. These re-worked items are often sold by Depop sellers for more money than the original thrifted item, as they have turned a plus-size item into multiple, small-sized pieces. This makes plus-sized pieces difficult to find in thrift stores which can negatively impact middle-income and low-income shoppers. Plus-sized items are often left out of mainstream fashion lines, and if they are included, they are expensive.[26]

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.[27] Founder Simon Beckerman notes that “girls who want to sell their whole wardrobe” make up a large part of their customer base, and that “girls love [Depop]."[8]

The page in Depop's app to create a shop[10]

Women's role in Depop's labor system creates ethical issues. With a focus on creating and maintaining customer relationships and networks, reselling goods online can be incredibly burdening for women. With the reduced ontological friction offered by Depop, sellers often lose their right to ignore information and must be constantly available.[28] 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."[29]

Depop emphasizes the importance of a professional brand, both on the app and other social media applications.[15] Encouraging a professional brand can be ethically complicated as creating a reselling brand is primarily based on “classed and gendered identities, experiences, networks, and bodies.” [29] The large public social media presence sellers are expected to maintain can lead to additional emotional labor and adverse consequences. [30]

Worker's rights

Depop takes a 10% cut of all sales, however, all sellers on Depop are labeled as "bedroom entrepreneurs."[14]Moreover, Paypal takes a 2% to 3% cut of all transactions performed through the app. [15]. These sellers do not receive any benefits or job security and can make varying amounts of money. Some more popular shops are known to earn upwards of $150,000 a year. The typical user earns significantly less, often equating to the minimum wage. [31] Depop shares many features and ethical concerns with a gig economy despite labeling its users as entrepreneurs.

Scammers

There have been reports of users on Depop being taken advantage of and scammed. This mainly occurs when users make a purchase outside of the Depop app, as Depop has buyer and seller protection for purchases made within the app. [32] Though users are highly encouraged to receive payment through the Depop app, they may opt to receive payment outside of the app to avoid Depop's 10% sales cut. Scammers then can fake payment information or refuse to send the item. A company spokeswoman has stated, "when someone transacts outside the app we are unable to trace it or assist with a reimbursement." The app gives multiple warnings to sellers to pay within the app, but it still fosters a place where scammers can take advantage of users.[33]

Depop has implemented AI to help detect if users are attempting to complete a transaction outside of the app. They primarily used a pre-trained transformer network to complete this task. This type of model can bring in existing bias from the dataset it was trained on. Additionally, the accuracy of this model is not stated.[34]

Sexual Harassment

Depop users can face sexual harassment within the internal messaging service. While Depop has a messaging feature, which is used for buyers and sellers to interact, some members utilize it for sexual harassment.[35] One user reported their boyfriend was "pretty much using Depop like Tinder." [36] This can lead to many problems for the young users that are on Depop.[37]

  • Messages illustrating how people use Depop like Tinder [36]

  • Messages where someone asks someone out over Depop [38]

References

  1. ↑ Ruback, Brianna. “Depop Raises $62 Million To Fight Counterfeiting, Expand Globally.” Retail TouchPoints, 12 June 2019, https://retailtouchpoints.com/features/financial-news/depop-raises-62-million-to-fight-counterfeiting-expand-globally.
  2. ↑ Christie, S. (2015, March 30). Fed up with eBay? Sell on Etsy, Depop and Folksy instead. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/11490640/Fed-up-of-eBay-Sell-on-Etsy-Depop-and-Folksy-instead.html.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ Azeez, Walé. “Depop: We're All Shopkeepers Now.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 12 Nov. 2015, https://www.politico.eu/article/depop-were-all-shopkeepers-now/
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 “Simon Beckerman & Maria Raga.” The Business of Fashion, 1 Oct. 2019, https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/maria-raga-simon-beckerman.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 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.
  7. ↑ “About.” Depop, https://www.depop.com/about/.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 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. ↑ Christie, S. (2015, March 30). Fed up with eBay? Sell on Etsy, Depop and Folksy instead. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/11490640/Fed-up-of-eBay-Sell-on-Etsy-Depop-and-Folksy-instead.html.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 “Depop.” Depop, www.depop.com/.
  11. ↑ Depop Concept: Empowering the User to Define Their Own Exploration. (22 January 2018), Depop Concept: Empowering the User to Define Their Own Exploration
  12. ↑ Riley, Jonathon. “Depop For You: A Personal Shopper with Millions of Items to Choose From.” Medium, Engineering at Depop, 15 Oct. 2018, engineering.depop.com/depop-for-you-a-personal-shopper-with-millions-of-items-to-choose-from-6128d231ff23.
  13. ↑ Hanbury, M. (2019, June 7). Teens are making up to $300,000 selling secondhand clothes on this Instagram-like shopping app, which is now planning a huge US expansion. Here's how it works. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-money-selling-clothes-depop-2019-5#its-as-simple-as-that-6.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 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/.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 “Seller Handbook.” Depop, https://sellers.depop.com/Seller_Handbook_Final_US.pdf.
  16. ↑ “How do I buy an item?” Depop Help GB, https://depophelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001772548-How-do-I-buy-an-item-
  17. ↑ "How do I buy an item?" Accessed 20 March 2021, from https://depophelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001772548-How-do-I-buy-an-item-
  18. ↑ "How to Buy & Sell Clothes Online: A Guide to Depop, Poshmark, thredUP, and Tradesy" (13 December 20), https://www.attiremedia.com/articles/buy-and-sell-clothes-online
  19. ↑ “Shipping Guide UK.” Depop Help GB, https://depophelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360043320814-Shipping-guide-UK.
  20. ↑ “Shipping Guide US.” Depop Help GB, depophelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001790787-Shipping-guide-US.
  21. ↑ "Bundles on Depop." Accessed March 20, from https://depophelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360017585774-Bundles-on-Depop
  22. ↑ PheusTheFetus, director. TikTok, 30 Dec. 2020, https://www.tiktok.com/@pheusthefetus/video/6911954574253362438
  23. ↑ 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
  24. ↑ 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.
  25. ↑ 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.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Superstar, L. (2020, September). The Great Depop Debate. Styled. https://vocal.media/styled/the-great-depop-debate.
  27. ↑ “Poshmark's 2020 Social Commerce Report.” Poshmark, 2020, https://www.report.poshmark.com/#:~:text=Poshmark%20user%20survey%20respondents%20were,community%20of%2060%20million%20users.
  28. ↑ 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.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 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.
  30. ↑ Khamis, Susie, et al. “Self-Branding, ‘Micro-Celebrity’ and the Rise of Social Media Influencers.” Celebrity Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, 2016, pp. 191–208., doi:10.1080/19392397.2016.1218292.
  31. ↑ 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.
  32. ↑ "Buyer Protection." Accessed March 20, from https://depophelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001827248-Buyer-Protection.
  33. ↑ Brignall, M. (2017, Jun 03). It's part-eBay, part-Instagram, but is Depop safe for your teenagers? The Guardian https://proxy.lib.umich.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/newspapers/part-ebay-instagram-is-depop-safe-your-teenagers/docview/1905336937/se-2?accountid=14667
  34. ↑ Edo-Osagie, Oduwa. “Detecting Out-of-App Fraud.” Medium, Engineering at Depop, 29 Sept. 2020, engineering.depop.com/detecting-out-of-app-fraud-5fdc9f727bd7.
  35. ↑ 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.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 https://www.instagram.com/p/CFm4JWfBrNP/
  37. ↑ 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.
  38. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CEd4sAVhlrO/
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