Etsy plans to acquire thrifting app Depop for $1.6 billion in hopes of reaching Gen Z users

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Etsy is expanding beyond handmade "Live Laugh Love" bathroom signs with its acquisition of thrifting app Depop for $1.6 billion.

For Etsy, whose median seller is about 39, it's a strategic move meant to court Depop's overwhelmingly Gen Z user base: More than 90% of its users are under 26.

For those of us past our quarter-life crises, here's the need-to-know on the secondhand shopping platform:

• More than 26 million users across 147+ countries buy and sell apparel and accessories.
• Revenue, which mostly comes from the commission Depop charges per sale, doubled last year to $70 million.
• Depop's sales grew faster last year than its fashion resale rivals, Poshmark and ThredUp. More than $650 million worth of goods traded hands on Depop in 2020.

Looking ahead...thrifting is expected to get more popular as Gen Z ages into greater spending power and more shoppers favor sustainable products over fast-fashion. But if that's the glass-half-full take, here's the OJ-and-I-just-brushed-my-teeth one: Etsy has warned shareholders of impending "possible deceleration" caused by "reopening headwinds."

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