NiftyThrifty Gets $2 Million In Funding

Sites include niftythrifty.com . Published on September 11th, 2012. Written by Anthony West.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets thrifty and looking to capitalize on this move is NiftyThrifty, an online store offering pre-owned and vintage clothing. The company has just announced the receipt of $2 million in VC funding.

The money, which comes from Tribeca Venture Partners, Signal Ventures, Greycroft, idealab and Howard Morgan, will help launch the online presence in October this year. The initial rollout will take the form of a membership site catering to women with the eventual inclusion of men’s apparel.

Company president Topper Luciani believes that a curated offering of vintage clothing is what the market demographic needs. And it’s a potentially lucrative and sizable market too; according to company president Mark Kingdon, the overall apparel market is about $300 billion. The pre-owned niche that NiftyThrifty is looking to tackle is worth $15 – $18 billion.

NiftyThrifty ha obviously chosen a good time to branch out online. With jobs in America still very thin and looming uncertainties in the coming year, many Americans will be looking to save where they can. The site will have competition from big players like eBay but Kingdon thinks that NiftyThrifty can prevail: “We think it’s really important to have a daily dialogue with our consumers.” This ‘personal’ approach will be the anchor for the site when it launches.

Would you buy used clothes online? Share your thoughts below.