Poshmark Set to Join IPO Boom


Poshmark Inc., the online marketplace for secondhand goods, will start trading Thursday, the latest e-commerce site to tap the buoyant initial public offering market as the coronavirus pandemic continues to squeeze bricks-and-mortar stores.

Poshmark said it priced its IPO at $42 a share, giving the company an initial valuation of more than $3 billion. The shares priced above the target range of $35 to $39. The business was valued at $1.25 billion in 2019. Poshmark declined to comment, citing a regulatory quiet period ahead of its IPO.

A number of digital marketplaces, including Poshmark, reported more people selling goods in spring 2020 as a way to generate extra income and stave off boredom during widespread lockdowns. Poshmark sellers list everything from $17 reusable Starbucks cups to $3,000 Louis Vuitton handbags. While many traditional apparel companies struggled to survive, Poshmark was profitable for the first time in its 10-year history in the quarter ended June 30.

The company, based in Redwood City, Calif., follows ContextLogic Inc., the parent of e-commerce marketplace Wish, which has traded below its IPO price of $24 after a rocky debut last month. The investor skepticism is an anomaly in an otherwise booming IPO market that has seen sky-high valuations and large gains from tech companies including Airbnb Inc. and DoorDash Inc.

ThredUP Inc., an online thrift store and Poshmark competitor, filed confidentially to go public in October, while luxury retailer Mytheresa Group set plans this week to debut at a valuation of roughly $1.6 billion. All of these companies follow online consignment company The RealReal Inc., which went public in 2019 and now sports a market value of about $2.3 billion.



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