Consignment sneaker marketplace Flight Club and mobile-first marketplace Goat merge and raise $60 million.

Sneaker marketplaces Flight Club and Goat (which is owned by Grubwithus Inc.) will merge together, the companies announced last week.

The marketplaces will operate as independent brands and e-commerce sites. Combined, the marketplaces have more than 15 million monthly site visitors, according to Goat.

In addition to the merger, the marketplaces announced a $60 million funding round, bringing Goat’s total funding to $97.6 million. Venture capital firm Index Ventures led the round, along with investors Accel, Matrix Partners, Upfront Ventures and Webb Investment Network.

Goat launched in July 2015. The marketplace has 100,000 sellers on its marketplace and 400,000 SKUs. It also has 7 million members and more than 300 employees. About 98% of Goat’s sales are made on its app, co-founder and CEO Eddy Lu told Internet Retailer.

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two sneaker marketplaces merge goat flight clubThe marketplace is what Lu calls a “managed marketplace.” For example, a seller will list size 10 Air Jordan Retro Space Jam edition sneakers on the Goat marketplace. Once a consumer buys the shoes, the seller ships the product to Goat, which verifies the item’s condition and authenticity. Goat then ships the shoes to the buyer. The process takes five to 10 days, Lu says. Goat charges a commission that ranges between 12.4% to 24%, plus $5, on each order.

Flight Club, which sources its products from independent sellers, launched more than a decade ago and has two physical retail locations. Sellers can bring their shoes into the retailer’s New York or Los Angeles locations, and Flight Club sells the shoes on its site or in stores. Flight Club takes 20% commission on the final sales of the shoe.

On average, the 75 largest global marketplaces have raised $504.63 million in venture capital, and the 22 apparel and accessories marketplaces on average have raised $180.53 million in venture capital, according to the Internet Retailer 2018 Online Marketplaces database.

 

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