Etsy buys Depop for 1.6 billion dollars to reach Gen Z
Etsy announced it would acquire Depop for 1.625 billion dollars in a mostly cash deal, according to reporting in Vox and the Wall Street Journal, betting that the London-founded, Gen Z-heavy resale app could extend Etsy beyond handmade goods. The deal landed at the peak of pandemic-era resale enthusiasm, when tech valuations were soaring and secondhand was reframing itself as the future of fashion retail.
The price would look very different in hindsight. Five years later Etsy sold Depop to eBay for 1.2 billion dollars, a reminder that buying into a hot category at the top carries its own bill.