Online Consignment Store For Luxury And Designer Goods The RealReal Raises $20M

TheRealReal, an online consignment store for luxury goods, has raised $20 million in Series C funding from DBL Investors, Canaan Partners, InterWest Partners, eVentures, Greycroft, and Expansion Capital. This brings the company’s total funding to $43 million.

The service lets consignors sell their designer goods online and get up to 70 percent of the sale price, while customers get brands like Chanel and Burberry at lower prices. And The RealReal authenticates all of its designer goods so that customers know they’re getting the original. Categories include women’s and men’s fashion, fine jewelry and watches, and even home decor like fine art.

Each sale lasts for 72 hours, and members can also pay to shop 24 hours in advance of sales ($5 per month). Currently The RealReal has 2.4 million members, processes more than 40,000 luxury items per month, and has shipped more than 450,000 luxury items to date. The site expects to do more around $125 million in revenue this year.

This funding will be used towards operations and infrastructure, explained CEO and founder Julie Wainwright.

Consignment marketplaces, which are going head to head with eBay, are growing fast of late. Poshmark, Twice and others allow you to sell your clothes and more online. But where TheRealReal differentiates itself from some of the others is its exclusive focus on designer goods, similar to Shop-Hers. It’s worth pointing out that this focus caters to a specific audience. But TheRealReal has been working on expanding to other verticals in the luxury market including fine art, and the company says more verticals are in store for 2014. It’s also worth noting the other recent big funding round for FarFetch, which raised $66 million last week.