Hey Van got your Linked in request. And yes Lunch With Yullia sounds really fun!
We pioneered something that we call
conversational commerce. At this point, we’d like to continue to evolve that format into as flexible a channel as possible
so that both sides can initiate negotiations and commingle price talk with conversation about the products themselves. We’ll always explore new types of ways to buy and sell through 1stDibs.
It’s still a little early for us to talk about it, but that’s where our heads are—it’s about how we make it easier to connect buyers and sellers wherever they are, through whatever means possible, whether it’s local languages, different purchase formats, new categories that have different appeal in different parts of the world, new technologies, new capabilities. Whatever it takes.
1stDibs was a pioneer in high-end e-commerce, but obviously that space is becoming much more crowded these days—Lucas Zwirner, for instance, launched Platform last month. How will 1stDibs distinguish itself from these newer players on the scene?
Listen, competition expands markets. It trains buyers and sellers, and makes the world a better place. We’re all in favor of as many people participating in this market as possible. We view efforts like Zwirner’s as reflective of the fact that this is the direction the industry is headed. Having said that, only a tiny percentage of our market has actually migrated online.
Third-party estimates of the value of the markets that 1stDibs is in are around $129 billion. Our numbers are public; last year we did $343 million in gross merchandise sales. So, there’s plenty of runway and I would say that the real competition in this market is not others who are vying for the sub-5% of the market that has already moved on. Instead, it’s for those who occupy the 95% that hasn’t yet.<-----
