Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Risk Factors Summary
The following is a summary of the principal risks and uncertainties described in more detail in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry
• We have a history of losses and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
• We may not be able to return to historic levels of revenue growth rate or effectively manage growth or new opportunities.
• We may not accurately forecast revenue and appropriately plan our expenses.
• We have experienced seasonal and quarterly variations in our revenue and operating results.
• Greater than expected product returns may exceed our reserve for returns.
• We may require additional capital to support our business growth.
• Public health emergencies or outbreaks of epidemics, pandemics, or contagious diseases have adversely affected, and could in the future, adversely affect our business and the business of our consignors and buyers.
• The failure of any bank in which we deposit our funds could reduce the amount of cash we have available.
Risks Relating to Our Strategy
• We may be unable to execute on our retail strategy.
• Our growth strategies may not be successful.
• Expansion of our operations internationally will require significant management attention and resources.
Risks Relating to Supply
• We may not be able to obtain sufficient new and recurring supply of pre-owned luxury goods.
• We may be unable to attract and retain talented sales professionals.
• Our growth and supply of product offerings are enhanced by our ability to maintain our brand partnerships.
Risks Relating to Demand
• We rely on consumer discretionary spending, which is adversely affected by economic downturns, including economic recession or depression and other macroeconomic conditions or trends.
• Our continued growth depends on attracting new and retaining repeat buyers.
• National retailers and brands set their own retail prices and promotional discounts on new luxury goods, which could adversely affect our value proposition to consignors and buyers.
• We must successfully gauge and respond to changing preferences among our consignors and buyers.
• We may be unable to replicate our business model for newer categories of consigned goods.
• Our industry is highly competitive and we may not be able to compete effectively.
Risks Related to Marketing and Brand Management
• Our success depends on the accuracy and reliability of our authentication processes and methods.
• We may not succeed in promoting and sustaining our brand.
• Our marketing and advertising activity may fail to efficiently drive growth in consignors and buyers.
• We rely on third parties to drive traffic to our website.
• Use of social media, emails and text messages may adversely impact our reputation or subject us to fines.
• The public disclosure of our Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") metrics and goals may subject us to risks.
Risks Related to Our Merchandising and Fulfillment
• We may not be able to attract, train and retain specialized personnel and skilled employees.
• We may not be able to identify and lease authentication centers in suitable geographic regions.
• We may experience damage or destruction to our authentication centers or retail stores in which we store of the majority of the consigned luxury goods we offer through our online marketplace.
• Shipping is a critical part of our business and any changes in our shipping arrangements, costs, interruptions in shipping or damage to products in transit could adversely affect our operating results.
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• We may be unable to successfully leverage technology, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, to automate and drive efficiencies in our operations.
Risks Related to Data Security, Privacy and Fraud
• We rely on third parties to host our website and mobile app and to process payments.
• Failure of our data or cyber security could cause us to incur unexpected expenses or compromise our data assets.
• We may incur significant losses from fraud.
Risks Related to Our Leadership and Employees
• We may be unable to attract and retain key personnel or effectively manage leadership succession.
• Labor-related matters, including labor disputes, may adversely affect our operations.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
• If we cannot successfully protect our intellectual property, our business could suffer.
Risks Relating to Litigation and Regulatory Uncertainty
• We are currently, and may be in the future, party to lawsuits and other claims.
• Our use and other processing of personal information and other data is subject to laws and obligations.
• Regulation of “cookie” tracking technologies or changes in such technologies could harm our business and operating results.
• We pay or collect sales taxes in all jurisdictions which require such taxes.
• Failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations may subject us to fines, penalties, loss of licensure, registration, facility closures or other governmental enforcement action.
• Applications of existing tax laws, rules or regulations are subject to interpretation of taxing authorities.
• Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
• If our internal control over financial reporting or our disclosure controls and procedures are not effective, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results, prevent fraud or file our periodic reports in a timely manner, which may cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
• The market price of our common stock may be volatile or may decline steeply or suddenly regardless of our operating performance and we may not be able to meet investor or analyst expectations.
• Short sellers of our stock may be manipulative and may drive down the market price of our common stock.
• Delaware law and provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could make a merger, tender offer or proxy contest difficult, thereby depressing the trading price of our common stock.
• Our certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware located within the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders.
Risks Related to Our Outstanding Notes and Warrants
• We have incurred a significant amount of debt and may incur additional indebtedness in the future.
• The indentures governing our Convertible Senior Notes and 2029 Notes contain restrictions and other provisions regarding events of default that may make it more difficult to execute our strategy or to effectively compete, or that could materially affect our financial position.
• Transactions relating to the Convertible Senior Notes or the Warrants may dilute the ownership interest of our stockholders.
• The conversion of the Convertible Senior Notes or the cash settlement of the Warrants, if triggered, may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
• The accounting method for the Warrants materially affects our reported financial results.
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should consider and read carefully all of the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The risks described below are not the only ones we face. The occurrence of any of the following risks or additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
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Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry
We have a history of losses and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
We experienced net losses of $168.5 million, $134.2 million, and $41.8 million in 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively, and as of December 31, 2025 we had an accumulated deficit of $1,295.6 million. Our key initiatives currently include growing profitable supply, improving efficiencies, and pursuing new revenue streams. If those initiatives or our investments do not prove successful or our market does not develop as we expect, we may not achieve profitability on the timeline we expect or at all, and may continue to experience losses over the long term. Any failure to increase our revenue sufficiently to keep pace with our investments and other expenses could prevent us from achieving or maintaining profitability or positive cash flow on a consistent basis. If we are unable to address these risks and as we encounter them, our business, financial condition and operating results could be affected. We cannot you that we will ever or sustain and may continue to incur significant going forward.
We may not be able to return to historic levels of revenue growth rate or effectively manage growth or new opportunities.
Our past revenue growth should not be considered indicative of future performance. While we experienced revenue growth in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025, our revenue for fiscal 2023 decreased compared to 2022. Our online marketplace represents a substantial departure from the traditional resale market for luxury goods. The resale market for luxury goods may not develop in a manner that we expect or that otherwise would be favorable to our business. Changes in our market make it difficult to assess our future performance. You should consider our business and prospects in light of the risks and difficulties we may encounter. As we grow our business, our revenue growth rates may continue to decline in future periods due to a number of factors, which may include our inability to attract and retain consignors, general economic conditions, including a recession, increased market adoption against which future growth will be measured, increasing competition, slowing demand for items on our online marketplace from existing and new customers, changes to our commission structure, take rate or business model, changes in our total product mix, including as a result of our strategic shift to focus on higher value items or our to capitalize on growth . Our rapid growth has placed significant demands on our management and our operational and financial infrastructure. Continued growth could our ability to maintain reliable service levels for our consignors and buyers, develop and our operational, financial and management controls, our reporting systems and procedures and recruit, train and retain highly skilled personnel. to effectively manage the growth of our business and operations would affect our reputation and brand, business, financial condition and operating results.
We may not accurately forecast revenue and appropriately plan our expenses.
We make certain assumptions when planning our expenses based on our expected revenue. These assumptions are partly based on historical results. We rely on a constant supply of consigned goods to sustain and grow our revenue, making our revenue in any given period difficult to predict. Because our operating expenses are relatively fixed in the short term, any failure to achieve our revenue expectations would have a direct adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and the price of our stock.
We have experienced seasonal and quarterly variations in our revenue and operating results.
Our business is seasonal and historically we have realized a disproportionate amount of our revenue and earnings for the year in the fourth quarter as a result of the holiday season and seasonal promotions. We expect this to continue in the future. If we experience lower than expected revenue during any fourth quarter, it may have a disproportionately large impact on our operating results and financial condition for that year. In any given year, our seasonal sales patterns may become more pronounced, strain our personnel or reduce our profit margins in a given period, which could substantially harm our business, operating results and financial condition. In anticipation of increased activity during the fourth quarter, we also incur significant additional expenses, including additional marketing spend and staffing in our sales and customer support operations. In addition, we may experience an increase in our shipping costs due to complimentary upgrades, split-shipments and additional long-zone shipments necessary to ensure timely delivery for the holiday season. Such increased costs may harm our profitability, especially if we are experiencing lower than expected revenue during the holidays.
Greater than expected product returns may exceed our reserve for returns.
We generally allow buyers to return certain purchases from our website and retail stores under our return policy. We record a reserve for returns against proceeds we receive from the sale of goods on our online marketplace and retail stores when we calculate revenue. We estimate this reserve based on historical return trends and our current expectations. The introduction of new products in the retail market, changes in consumer confidence or other competitive and general economic conditions, and higher than expected returns in connection with fourth quarter holiday buying may cause actual returns to
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exceed our reserve for returns. Any significant increase in returns that exceeds our reserves could adversely affect our revenue and operating results.
We may require additional capital to support business growth. If such capital is not available to us, our business operating results and financial condition may be harmed.
We may require additional funds to support our growth and respond to business challenges. To support our future growth, we may need to further develop our online marketplace services, grow our retail presence, expand our categories of pre-owned luxury goods, enhance our operating infrastructure, expand the markets in which we operate and potentially acquire complementary businesses and technologies. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds, which may result in significant dilution to existing stockholders or the granting of new equity securities which have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Our Notes contain, and any other debt financing secured by us could also contain, restrictive covenants relating to our capital-raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities in the future. In addition, we may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain financing on terms to us when we require it, our ability to support our business growth and to respond to business could be significantly limited, and our business and prospects could or be affected.
Public health emergencies or outbreaks of epidemics, pandemics, or contagious diseases have adversely affected, and could in the future, adversely affect our business and the business of our consignors and buyers.
An epidemic, pandemic , or similar serious public health issue (a "public health issue") , and the measures undertaken by governmental authorities to address it, could significantly disrupt or prevent us from operating our business in the ordinary course for an extended period, and thereby, and/or along with any associated economic and/or social instability or distress, have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.
The extent to which a public health issue could impact our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity will depend on numerous evolving factors, known and unknown, that we cannot predict, including the duration and scope of the public health issue; government, business and individual actions that have been and continue to be taken in response; the impact of the public health issue on national and global economic activity; disruption of the financial and labor markets, including the possibility of a national or global economic recession or depression; the limitations on operations requiring employees to perform their duties in-person, such as our warehouse operations; the potential for shipping difficulties, including delayed deliveries to our buyers; and weakened consumer demand. Additionally, the increased number of employees who work remotely during a public health emergency or outbreak could introduce additional operational risk, such as an increased vulnerability to cyber-attacks, and harm productivity and collaboration. In addition, the risks and uncertainties described elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section may be by a public health issue.
The failure of any bank in which we deposit our funds could reduce the amount of cash we have available to pay distributions and make additional investments.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation only insures amounts up to $250,000 per depositor. It is likely that we will have cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash deposited in certain financial institutions in excess of federally insured levels. If any of the banking institutions in which we deposit funds ultimately fails, we may lose any amounts of our deposits over federally insured levels. The loss of our deposits could reduce the amount of cash we have available to distribute or invest and could result in a decline in the value of our stockholders' investment.
Risks Relating to Our Strategy
We may be unable to execute on our retail growth strategy.
We currently operate a limited number of retail stores. We believe that retail stores are effective at raising brand awareness with consignors and buyers and generating new supply. We also believe that an expansion of our brick-and-mortar presence complements our online marketplace and strengthens the omni-channel consigning and buying experience. We have in the past and may in the future continue to reassess our retail footprint and adjust our retail strategy in particular geographies. The opening and closing of retail stores brings operational challenges. We may have to enter into long-term leases before we know whether our retail strategy or a particular geography will be successful. We face a number of challenges in opening new stores, including locating retail space having a cost and geographic profile that will allow us to operate in highly desirable shopping locations, hire in-store talent and expand our retail operations in a cost-effective manner. We also have faced and may in the future face a number of challenges in existing stores, which may include significant exit costs, managing lease obligations and employee-related costs. existing stores may also limit our ability to attract new members, generate new supply and increase demand. We must provide our consignors and buyers with a
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consistent luxury experience across our retail locations. In the past, our stores have been the target of theft and have also experienced property damage. Any such future incidents may result in a disruption to our retail operations and significant costs if not covered by our insurance policies. In addition, the offering of unique, single-SKU products creates supply chain, merchandising and pricing challenges, as we must select the right product mix for each individual store while continuing to manage inventory at our authentication centers. If we are not able to manage or execute on our retail strategy, our business, operating results, prospects and reputation may be harmed.
Our growth strategies may not be successfully implemented, help us achieve profitability or generate
sustainable revenue and profit.
Our growth strategies, including our initiatives to pursue new revenue streams, are evolving. However, these efforts might not be successful or may be perceived negatively by potential consignors and buyers using our online marketplace, such as our use of third-party advertising. Additionally, we may not be able to pursue these efforts at all. We may limit the user data shared with third-party advertising partners, which could have a negative effect on our ability to maximize our advertising revenue. In addition, we seek to balance new initiatives with our desire to provide an optimal user experience on our online marketplace, and we may not be successful in achieving a balance that continues to retain and attract consignors and buyers. If our growth strategies, including our initiatives to pursue new revenue streams, are not successful, do not generate sustainable revenue or help us achieve profitability, it could have a material adverse impact on our business and operating results.
Expansion of our operations internationally will require significant management attention and resources.
While we have members from outside the United States who purchase items from our online marketplace, we have not expanded our physical operations internationally. If we choose to do so, we would need to adapt to and would be subject to new risks relating to various local cultures, languages, standards, laws and regulations and policies as well as tariffs and trade-related restrictions, which could be significant. Our business model we employ may not appeal to consignors and buyers outside of the United States. Furthermore, to succeed with clients in international locations, it will be necessary to locate authentication centers in foreign markets and hire local employees in those markets, and we may have to invest in such facilities before demonstrating that we can successfully run operations outside of the United States. If we invest substantial time and resources to establish and expand our operations internationally and are unable to do so successfully and in a timely manner, our operating results would suffer.
Risks Relating to Supply
We may not be able to obtain sufficient new and recurring supply of pre-owned luxury goods.
Our success depends on our ability to generate a consistent supply of luxury goods to sell through our stores and online marketplace. To do this we must cost-effectively attract, retain and grow relationships with consignors. To expand our consignor base, we must appeal to and engage individuals new to consignment, or who have consigned through traditional brick-and-mortar shops but are unfamiliar with our business. We find new consignors by converting buyers utilizing our online marketplace, shopping in our retail stores, or utilizing our luxury consignment offices. We also reach new consignors through paid advertising, marketing materials, digital marketing, referral programs, organic word-of-mouth and other methods, such as mentions in the press, Internet search engine results and through our brand partnerships. We cannot be certain that these efforts will yield new consignors or be cost-effective. Moreover, new consignors may not choose to consign with us a second time or as frequently, or consign as many items or the same value of items, as has historically been the case with existing consignors. Therefore, the revenue generated from new consignors may not be as high as the revenue generated historically from our existing consignors or as high as we expect. Most of the luxury goods we offer through our online marketplace are initially sourced from consignors who are individuals. As a result, we may be subject to periodic fluctuations in the number, brands and quality of goods sold through our online marketplace on behalf of our consignors, including as a result of the fluctuating value of raw materials such as gold and silver. In addition, a significant number of our new and existing consignors prefer our concierge consultation method for consigning luxury goods, which involves our sales professionals meeting with our consignors in their homes. We continue to optimize our take rate structure. If updates to our take rate structure are not in increasing the consignment of optimal items, our brand and reputation could be affected, we may generate less revenue than expected, and we may choose to further refine the structure. We have a buy upfront program in an effort to generate additional supply. If we to attract new consignors or drive repeat consignments in a cost- manner, or to convert buyers to consignors, our ability to grow our business and our operating results would be affected.
We may be unable to attract and retain talented sales professionals.
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We rely on our sales professionals to drive our supply of luxury goods by identifying, developing and maintaining relationships with our consignors. The process of identifying and hiring sales professionals with the combination of skills and attributes required in these roles can be difficult and can require significant time. In addition, competition for qualified employees and personnel in the retail industry is intense and turnover amongst our sales professionals within a few years is not uncommon. If we are not successful in attracting and retaining effective sales professionals, the quantity and quality of the luxury goods sold through our online marketplace may be negatively impacted, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.
Our growth and supply of product offerings are enhanced by our ability to maintain our brand partnerships.
We have established brand partnerships with certain brands, and may seek to add additional brand partnerships in the future. We believe that these partnerships are important to increasing our supply and growing our business. We make direct purchases of products from our brand partners, which helps us to drive supply and expand our product offerings. To establish and maintain these partnerships, brands must trust, among other things, our authentication process and that we provide a level of customer service that matches those generally provided by luxury brands, for both consignors and buyers, online and in-store. If we are unable to provide value to our existing partners or to add new partners, the growth of our business may be harmed.
Risks Relating to Demand
We rely on consumer discretionary spending, which is adversely affected by economic downturns, including economic recession or depression, and other macroeconomic conditions or trends.
Our business and operating results are subject to global economic conditions, including tariffs and changes to global trade policy and their impact on consumer discretionary spending, particularly in the luxury goods market. Some of the factors that may reduce luxury spending include economic downturns, including an economic recession or depression, high levels of unemployment, higher consumer debt levels, higher levels of inflation, reductions in net worth, declines in asset values, including home values, the fluctuating value of raw materials such as gold and silver, and related market and economic uncertainty, including as a result of geopolitical instability and disruptions in the financial industry. Many of these factors have occurred, and may occur in the future, as a result of recent macroeconomic uncertainty, fluctuating interest rates, inflationary pressures, credit constraints, changes in trade and tariff policy, and geopolitical instability due in part to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war. Such economic uncertainty and the resulting decrease in the rate of new luxury goods purchases in the primary market may have a corresponding impact on luxury resale, which could manifest in a number of ways, including but not limited to fewer individuals choosing to consign their goods with us, resulting in a decrease of items available in our online marketplace, fewer individuals choosing to buy pre-owned luxury goods, resulting in lower active buyer growth and order volume, and lower AOV due to a combination of lower average selling price per item and/or fewer items per average order, any of which could have an effect on our business and operating results.
Additionally, adverse economic changes and uncertainty could reduce consumer confidence, and could thereby negatively affect our operating results. In the event of a prolonged economic downturn or acute recession, significant inflation, or decreased supply, consumer spending habits could be adversely affected, and we could experience lower than expected revenue. Any of these developments could harm our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our continued growth depends on attracting new and retaining repeat buyers.
To expand our buyer base, we must appeal to and attract buyers who do not typically purchase luxury goods, who have historically purchased only new luxury goods or who used other means to purchase pre-owned luxury goods, such as traditional brick-and-mortar consignment shops, auction houses and the websites of other secondary marketplaces. We reach new buyers in part through television and digital advertising, other paid marketing, press coverage, referral programs, organic word of mouth, our brand partnerships and other methods of discovery, such as converting consignors to buyers. We expect to continue investing in these and other marketing channels in the future and cannot be certain that these efforts will yield more buyers or be cost-effective. Moreover, new buyers may not purchase through our online marketplace as frequently or spend as much with us as historically has been the case with existing buyers. As a result, the revenue generated from new buyer transactions may not be as high as the revenue generated from transactions with our existing buyers. Failure to attract new buyers and to maintain relationships with existing buyers would adversely affect our operating results and our ability to attract and retain consignors.
National retailers and brands set their own retail prices and promotional discounts on new luxury goods, which could adversely affect our value proposition to consignors and buyers.
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National retailers and brands set pricing for new luxury goods that they sell and from time to time offer sales and promotional pricing, particularly during the fourth quarter holiday season, when we have historically made a substantial portion of our annual sales. Promotional pricing by these parties may lower the value of products consigned with us and our inventory and, in turn, reduce the value proposition for both our consignors and buyers. We have in the past experienced a reduction in our GMV and AOV due to fluctuations in the price of new luxury goods sold by retailers and brands, and we could experience similar reductions and fluctuations in the future. However, the timing and magnitude of such discounting can be difficult to predict and can be brought on by unique factors such as a retailer or brand going out of business and liquidating its inventory, which may happen to a greater extent as a result of macroeconomic uncertainty, inflation, geopolitical instability due in part to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, increased U.S. trade tariffs and trade disputes with other countries, and weakened consumer demand. Any of the foregoing risks could affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
We must successfully gauge and respond to changing preferences among our consignors and buyers.
Our success is in large part dependent upon our ability to anticipate and identify trends in the market for pre-owned luxury goods in a timely manner and to obtain consignments of luxury goods that address those trends. We use data science to predict consignor and buyer preferences, and there can be no assurance that our data science will accurately anticipate consignor or buyer needs. Our business model limits our responsiveness to changing preferences, as the majority of our inventory consists of unique, single-SKU items. While we attempt to source goods that complement our existing inventory, we cannot ensure we will do so successfully. To the extent we do not accurately predict and successfully respond to the evolving preferences of our consignors and buyers, our ability to grow our business and our operating results would be adversely affected.
We may be unable to replicate our business model for newer categories of consigned goods or different product mixes of consigned goods.
We previously updated our take rate structure with the goals of optimizing take rate, limiting consignment of lower value items, and increasing supply of higher value items. If such higher value items are not attractive to our existing consignors or buyers, or if such items do not attract new consignors or buyers, our revenues may fall short of expectations, our brand and reputation could be adversely affected and we may incur expenses that are not offset by revenues. In addition, our business may be adversely affected if we are unable to attract new and repeat consignors that supply the necessary high-quality, appropriately priced and in-demand luxury merchandise in this high value category. Additionally, as we enter into new categories, potential consignors may demand higher commissions than our current categories, which would adversely affect our take rate and operating results. Expansion of our offerings may also strain our management and operational resources, specifically the need to hire and manage additional authentication and market experts. We may also face novel challenges in our authentication process and methods as we expand our product offerings. In addition, we may experience competition in specific categories from companies that are more experienced in these categories. If any of these were to occur, it could our reputation, limit our growth and have an effect on our operating results.
Our industry is highly competitive and we may not be able to compete effectively.
We compete with vendors of new and pre-owned luxury goods, including branded luxury goods stores, department stores, traditional brick-and-mortar consignment stores, pawn shops, auction houses, specialty retailers, discount chains, independent retail stores, the online offerings of traditional retail competitors, resale players focused on niche or single categories, as well as technology-enabled marketplaces that may offer the same or similar luxury goods and services that we offer. Many of our competitors have longer operating histories, larger fulfillment infrastructures, greater brand recognition and technical capabilities, faster or lower-cost shipping, larger selections of goods for sale, greater financial, marketing, institutional and other resources and larger buyer bases than we do. As the market evolves, new competitors may emerge, including traditional retail competitors who expand their offerings to include resale. Some of our competitors may have greater resources than we do, which may allow them to derive greater revenue and profits from their existing buyer bases, acquire consignors at lower costs, achieve more favorable total product mixes or respond more quickly than we can to new or emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, and changes in consumer shopping behavior or preferences. These competitors may also adopt more aggressive pricing policies, commission structures or take rates, which may allow them to build larger consignor or buyer bases or generate revenue from their existing buyer bases more effectively than we do. New competitors may us to decrease our take rates to remain competitive and impact on our financial performance. If we to respond to competition effectively, our business and operating results may be affected.
Risks Relating to Marketing and Brand Management
Our success depends on the accuracy and reliability of our authentication processes and methods.
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Our success depends on our ability to accurately and cost-effectively determine whether an item offered for consignment is an authentic product or genuine gemstone, piece of jewelry or work of art. From time to time, we receive counterfeit goods for consignment. While we continue to invest and innovate heavily in our authentication processes and methods, and we reject any goods we believe to be counterfeit, we cannot be certain that every counterfeit item will be identified. In addition, when our authentication method does not involve taking physical possession of goods prior to the sale, our ability to identify counterfeits may decrease, and order cancellations may increase. As the sophistication of counterfeiters increases, it may be increasingly difficult to identify counterfeit products. We refund the cost of a product to a buyer if the buyer questions its authenticity and returns the item. The sale of any goods may our reputation as a trusted online marketplace for authenticated, pre-owned luxury goods which may impact our ability to attract and maintain consignors, buyers and brand partners. Additionally, we have been and may in the future be subject to press or public , including on social media, that our authentication processes and methods are . Any material or perceived in our authentication processes and methods could cause buyers and consignors to confidence in our platform and affect our revenue.
We may not succeed in promoting and sustaining our brand.
We believe that growing The RealReal brand is critical to driving consignor and buyer engagement as well as attracting brand partners. An important goal of our brand promotion strategy is establishing and maintaining trust with our consignors, buyers and brand partners. Growing our brand will depend largely on our ability to continue providing our consignors with service that is consistent with the level of luxury associated with the goods they are consigning and delivering value for the goods they consign, all in a timely and consistent manner. For buyers, growing our brand requires that we foster trust through authentication, timely and reliable fulfillment of orders, and responsive and effective customer service. To establish and maintain relationships with existing and future brand partners, brands must trust our authentication process and that we provide a level of customer service that matches those generally provided by luxury brands, for both consignors and buyers, online and in-store. If we fail to provide consignors or buyers with the service and experience they expect, or experience consignor or buyer complaints or negative publicity about our products, services, delivery times or customer support, whether justified or not, the value of our brand would be harmed and our business may .
Our marketing and advertising activity may fail to efficiently drive growth in consignors and buyers.
Our future growth and profitability depend in large part upon the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing, promotion, public relations and advertising programs. We closely monitor the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns and changes in the advertising market, and adjust or re-allocate our advertising spend across channels, customer segments and geographic markets in real-time in an effort to optimize the effectiveness of these activities. We may increase marketing or advertising spend in future periods to drive growth. Even if our marketing and advertising expenses result in increased sales, the increase might not offset our related expenditures. We also face the unique challenge of attracting consignors and buyers to our online marketplace who may be unfamiliar with both our brand and our consignment business model. If we struggle to attract new consignors and buyers to our luxury resale model, or are unable to maintain our marketing and advertising channels on cost-effective terms or replace or supplement existing marketing and advertising channels with similarly or more effective channels, our marketing and advertising expenses could increase substantially, our consignor and buyer base could be adversely affected, and our business, operating results, financial condition and brand could .
We rely on third parties to drive traffic to our website.
We rely in part on digital advertising, including search engine marketing, to promote awareness of our online marketplace, grow our business, attract new consignors and buyers and increase engagement with existing consignors and buyers. In particular, we rely on search engines and major mobile app stores as important marketing channels. If search engines change their algorithms, terms of service, display or the featuring of search results, determine we are out of compliance with their terms of service or if competition increases for advertisements, we may be unable to cost-effectively add consignors and buyers to our website and apps, which would harm our business, operating results and prospects.
Use of social media, emails and text messages may adversely impact our reputation or subject us to fines.
We use social media, emails, push notifications and text messages as part of our omni-channel approach to marketing. As laws and regulations evolve to govern the use of these channels, the failure by us, our employees or third parties acting at our direction to comply with applicable laws and regulations in the use of these channels could adversely affect our reputation or subject us to fines or other penalties. In addition, our employees or third parties acting at our direction may knowingly or inadvertently make use of social media in ways that could lead to the loss or infringement of intellectual property, as well as the public disclosure of proprietary, confidential or sensitive personal information of our business, employees, consignors, buyers or others. Information concerning us or our consignors and brands, whether accurate or not, may be posted on social media platforms at any time. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for
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redress or correction and could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, operating results, financial condition and prospects.
The public disclosure of our Environmental, Social and Governance ( “ ESG ” ) metrics and goals may subject us to risks.
We voluntarily report certain metrics and goals for ESG. This transparency is consistent with our commitment to operate our business with positive economic, social, and environmental impact. The perception held by our consignors or buyers, other key stakeholders, or the communities in which we do business may depend, in part, on the metrics and goals we have chosen to aspire to and whether or not we meet our goals on a timely basis, if at all. Our ability to achieve any stated goal, target or objective is subject to numerous factors and conditions, many of which are outside of our control. Also, by electing to set goals and publicly disclose our ESG metrics, we may face increased scrutiny related to our ESG activities.
In addition, we may be required to disclose various ESG metrics, progress against goals and other detailed information under applicable laws and regulations. For example, the State of California has adopted new climate change disclosure requirements, which mandate public disclosure of certain greenhouse gas emissions data and climate-related financial risk reports. Our compliance with these and other ESG-related laws, regulations and policies could be costly, and any failure to meet our goals, change in our ESG goals, priorities or strategies, change in or evolution of our methodologies for reporting ESG metrics, adjustment to previously reported information, including to reflect new or evolved methodologies for reporting ESG metrics, or perception that we fail to act responsibly in the areas in which we report, may negatively affect our reputation and the value of our brand, including by impacting employee engagement and retention, the willingness of our consignors and buyers and our partners and vendors to do business with us, or investors’ willingness to purchase or hold shares of our common stock, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial performance, and growth. Our methodologies, processes and controls for reporting ESG metrics across our operations are evolving along with multiple disparate standards for identifying, measuring and reporting ESG metrics and such standards may change over time.
Risks Related to Our Merchandising and Fulfillment
We may not be able to attract, train and retain specialized personnel and skilled employees.
To grow our business, we must continue to improve and expand our merchandising and fulfillment operations, information systems and skilled personnel in the jurisdictions in which we operate so that we have the skilled talent necessary to effectively operate our business. The operation of our business is complex and requires the coordination of multiple functions that are highly dependent on numerous employees and personnel. Each luxury item that we offer through our online marketplace is unique and requires multiple touch points, including, among others, inspection, evaluation, authentication, photography, pricing, copywriting, application of a unique single-SKU and fulfillment. The market for employees is increasingly competitive and highly dependent on geographic location. Some of our employees have specific knowledge and skills that would make it more difficult to hire replacement personnel capable of effectively performing the same tasks without substantial training. We also provide specific training to our employees in each of our business functions in order to provide our consignors and buyers with a consistent luxury experience. If we fail to successfully locate, hire, train and retain personnel in the future, our operations would be negatively impacted, which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We may be unable to successfully leverage technology, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, to automate and drive efficiencies in our operations.
We are building automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning and other capabilities to drive efficiencies in our merchandising and fulfillment operations. As we continue to add capacity, capabilities and automation, our operations will become increasingly complex and challenging and may be subject to additional regulation. The legal and regulatory landscape related to AI is evolving rapidly in the United States and internationally, including laws and regulations addressing transparency, consumer protection, bias and discrimination, privacy, and content moderation, as well as the EU Artificial Intelligence Act. These requirements may change quickly, be interpreted inconsistently, and impose significant compliance burdens. While we expect these technologies to improve productivity in many of our merchandising operations, including pricing, copywriting, authentication, photography and photo retouching, any flaws or failures, or unforeseen or impermissible third-party use, of such technologies could cause interruptions in and to our operations which may our business. Moreover, developing, testing and deploying such technologies may also increase our operating expenses. Artificial intelligence technologies create specific risks that require tailored oversight. oversight could lead to liability, governmental or regulatory , financial , and reputational , and could cause us to incur additional costs to such issues. We use artificial intelligence to make initial assessments on authenticity, to identify product characteristics, and to help predict consignor preferences, and we plan to expand our use of artificial intelligence into other areas of our business. We have created our own purpose-built technology, including "Athena," our artificial intelligence
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initiative to operate our business, which may lack efficiency or become obsolete as we grow and we also rely on technology from third parties. If these technologies do not perform in accordance with our expectations, cause us to experience operational disruptions, third parties change the terms and conditions that govern their relationships with us, or if competition increases for the technology and services provided by third parties, our business may be harmed. In addition, the evolution of these technologies, including through agentic commerce, may create unforeseen competitive pressures or cause disruption. Any of the foregoing, as well as our failure to responsibly deploy artificial intelligence in our operations, the failure of artificial intelligence systems themselves, or the failure of our team members to identify and/or rectify erroneous or problematic outputs from artificial intelligence tools, could affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may not be able to identify and lease authentication centers in suitable geographic regions.
We lease facilities to store and accommodate the logistics infrastructure required to merchandise and ship the pre-owned luxury goods we sell through our online marketplace. Our ability to successfully grow our business depends on the availability and cost of leasing additional authentication centers that meet our criteria for a geographic location with access to a large, qualified talent pool as well as square footage, cost and other factors. We currently have four authentication centers - one in Arizona and three in New Jersey. Our capacity needs may grow as our business grows. Optimal space may become scarce, and where it is available, the lease terms offered by landlords may become increasingly competitive. Companies who have more financial resources and negotiating leverage than us may be more attractive tenants and, as a result, may outbid us for the facilities we seek. We also may be unable to renew our existing leases or renew them on satisfactory terms. Failure to secure adequate authentication centers could have an adverse effect on our business and operating results.
We may experience damage or destruction to our authentication centers or retail stores in which we store the majority of the consigned luxury goods we offer through our online marketplace.
We store the majority of the luxury goods we offer through our online marketplace in our authentication centers in Arizona and New Jersey, with a smaller portion of luxury goods offered for sale in our retail stores. Any large scale damage to or catastrophic loss of goods stored in such authentication centers or retail stores or any other location where goods offered through our online marketplace are stored, due to natural disasters, especially as catastrophic weather events become more frequent due to climate change, or man-made causes such as arson or theft would result in liability to our consignors for the expected commission liability for the lost items, reduction in the value of our inventory and a significant disruption to our business. In addition, while we take measures to avoid damage, conduct inspections of consigned goods and inspect returned products, we cannot control items while they are out of our possession or prevent all damage while items are stored in our authentication centers. For example, we have in the past and may in the future experience contamination, such as mold, bacteria, viruses, insects and other pests, in the goods shipped to us by our consignors, which may cause contamination of other goods stored in our authentication centers or while shipping to buyers. We may incur additional expenses and our reputation could be if buyers or potential buyers believe that the luxury goods we offer on behalf of our consignors are not of high-quality or may be or contain contaminants. Additionally, given the nature of the unique consigned luxury goods we offer on our online marketplace, our ability to restore the supply of consigned luxury goods on our online marketplace would take time and would result in a and of available supply for buyers which would impact our revenue and operating results. While we carry insurance for the consigned luxury goods stored in these authentication centers as well as for business and of income, our liabilities and expenses resulting from a event could exceed our maximum insurance coverage amounts which could have a material impact on our business and operating results. For example, in May 2024, we experienced a fire on the roof of one of our leased Secaucus warehouses.
Shipping is a critical part of our business and any changes in our shipping arrangements, costs, interruptions in shipping or damage to products in transit could adversely affect our operating results.
Our business depends on shipping vendors to meet our shipping needs. If we are not able to maintain acceptable pricing and other terms or if our vendors experience performance problems or other difficulties, including as a result of inflation, a labor strike by employees of our shipping vendors or rising shipping costs, it could negatively impact our operating results and our consignors’ and buyers’ experience. If we partner with additional vendors or switch vendors in response to such impact, we may experience a disruption in shipping, which may negatively impact our reputation with consignors and buyers. We face particular challenges in shipping internationally, including delays in shipments and customer service issues relating to the imposition of duties, which can be substantial for luxury items. Because of the seasonality of our business, any disruption to delivery services due to adverse weather, especially as climate change increases the frequency of such adverse weather, could result in that could affect our reputation or operational results. In addition, most of the items we sell are considered highly and require special handling and delivery. From time to time, such goods are in transit which can increase return rates, increase our costs and our brand. Returned goods may also be in transit as part of the return process which can significantly impact the price we are to charge for such goods
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on our online marketplace. If our goods are not delivered to buyers in a timely fashion or are damaged or lost during the consignment or the delivery process, our consignors or buyers could become dissatisfied and cease using our services, which would adversely affect our business and operating results.
Risks Related to Data Security, Privacy and Fraud
We rely on third parties to host our website and mobile app and to process payments.
Our brand and ability to attract and retain consignors and buyers depends in part on the reliable performance of our network infrastructure and content delivery process. The continuing and uninterrupted performance of our online marketplace is critical to our success. We have experienced, and expect that in the future we will experience, interruptions, delays and outages in service and availability from time to time due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, human or software errors, website hosting disruptions and capacity constraints which could affect the availability of services on our platform and prevent or inhibit the ability of members to access our online marketplace or complete purchases on our website and app. Volume of traffic and activity on our online marketplace spikes on certain days and during certain periods of the year, such as during a Black Friday promotion and generally during the fourth quarter due to the seasonality of our business, and any interruption would be particularly problematic if it were to occur at such a high volume time.
We rely on third-party payment processors to process payments made by buyers or to consignors on our online marketplace. The software and services provided by our third-party payment processors may not meet our expectations, contain errors or vulnerabilities, or be compromise. We have experienced, and expect that in the future we will experience, interruptions, delays and outages in service from third party payment service providers, including payment processors, application providers and hosting services. Any of these risks could cause us to lose our ability to accept online payments, make payments to consignors or conduct other payment transactions, any of which could make our platform less convenient and attractive and adversely affect our ability to attract and retain buyers and consignors.
Failure of our data or cyber security could cause us to incur unexpected expenses or compromise our data assets.
In the ordinary course of our business, we collect, process and store certain personal information (including credit card information) and other data relating to individuals, such as our consignors, buyers and employees. We also maintain other information, such as our trade secrets and confidential business information, that is sensitive and that we seek to protect. We rely substantially on commercially available systems, software, including third-party open source software, tools and monitoring to provide security for our processing, transmission and storage of personal information and other confidential information. We or our vendors, including cloud storage providers as well as other third parties with whom we do business, could be subject to attacks from computer viruses, break-ins phishing attacks, social engineering, ransomware attacks, unauthorized use, misconduct or usage errors by our employees, attempts to overload services with denial-of-service or other attacks, which may allow hackers or other unauthorized parties, including our employees, to gain access to personal information or other data, including payment card data or confidential business information. Further, the use of open-source software may also present additional security risks because the public availability of such software may make it for hackers and other third parties to compromise our platform. Our members use our web and mobile e-commerce applications to consign and shop with us. These applications may become subject to account takeovers, of service, content scraping, or other attacks, which may result in our members' accounts being compromised.
We and our vendors, as well as other third parties with whom we do business, have faced these attacks previously and regularly must defend against or respond to such incidents. Threat actors are increasingly sophisticated and are targeting employees, contractors, service providers and third-parties through various techniques that involve social engineering and/or misrepresentation (such as phishing attempts and similar techniques). Data breaches and other cybersecurity events have become increasingly commonplace, including as a result of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. We expect to incur ongoing costs associated with the detection and prevention of security breaches and other security-related incidents. The techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not identified until they are launched against a target, and we and our vendors, as well as other third parties with whom we do business, may be to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Any actual or perceived compromise of our systems or data security measures or those of third parties with whom we do business, or any to prevent or mitigate the of personal or other confidential information and in detecting or providing notice of any such compromise or could our operations, our reputation, cause some participants to decrease or stop their use of our online marketplace and subject us to , government action, increased transaction fees, remediation costs, regulatory or or other additional costs and liabilities, as well as reputational impact, that could affect our business, financial condition and operating results. While we carry insurance related to potential data , the insurance we do carry may not be adequate to cover all possible that our business could .
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We may incur significant losses from fraud.
We may fail to prevent consignors from consigning stolen or counterfeit goods. Government regulators and law enforcement officials may allege that our services violate, or aid and abet violations of certain laws, including laws restricting or prohibiting the transferability and, by extension, the resale, of stolen goods. Our form of consignor agreement includes a representation that the consignor has the necessary right and title to the goods they may consign, and we include such a rule and requirement in our terms of service prohibiting the listing of stolen or otherwise illegal products. In addition, we have implemented protective measures to detect such products. If these measures prove inadequate, we may be required to spend substantial resources to take additional protective measures which could negatively impact our operations. In addition, negative publicity relating to the actual or perceived listing or sale of or goods could our reputation and make our consignors and buyers to use our services.
We have in the past incurred, and may in the future incur, losses from various types of fraudulent transactions, including the use of stolen credit card numbers, claims that a consignment of a good was not authorized and that a buyer did not authorize a purchase. Under current credit card practices, we are liable for fraudulent credit card transactions because we do not obtain a cardholder’s signature. Our failure to adequately prevent fraudulent transactions could damage our reputation, result in litigation or regulatory action or lead to expenses that could substantially impact our operating results.
Risks Relating to Our Employees
We may be unable to attract and retain key personnel or effectively manage leadership succession.
Our success depends in part on our ability to attract and retain key personnel on our executive team. Senior employees have left our company in the past and others may leave in the future. We often cannot anticipate such departures and may not be able to promptly replace key leadership personnel. The loss of one or more of our key personnel or the inability to promptly identify a suitable successor to a key role could have an adverse effect on our business.
Labor-related matters, including labor disputes, may adversely affect our operations.
None of our employees are currently represented by a union. If our employees decide to form or affiliate with a union, we cannot predict the negative effects such future organizational activities will have on our business and operations. If we were to become subject to work stoppages, we could experience disruption in our operations, including delays in merchandising operations and shipping, and increases in our labor costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, increased inflation rates could adversely affect us by increasing costs, including labor and employee benefit costs.
Risks Relating to Our Intellectual Property
If we cannot successfully protect our intellectual property, our business could suffer.
We rely on a combination of intellectual property rights, contractual protections and other practices to protect our brand, proprietary information, technologies and processes. We primarily rely on copyright and trade secret laws to protect our proprietary technologies and processes, including the algorithms we use throughout our business. Others may independently develop the same or similar technologies and processes, or may improperly acquire and use information about our technologies and processes, which may allow them to provide a service similar to ours, which could harm our competitive position. Our principal trademark assets include the registered trademark “The RealReal” and our logos and taglines. We also hold the rights to the “therealreal.com” Internet domain name and various related domain names, which are subject to Internet regulatory bodies and trademark and other related laws of each applicable jurisdiction. Our trademarks are valuable assets that support our brand and consumers’ perception of our services and merchandise. If we are unable to protect our trademarks or domain names, our brand recognition and reputation would suffer, we would incur significant expense reestablishing brand equity and our operating results would be adversely impacted.
Risks Relating to Litigation and Regulatory Uncertainty
We are currently, and may be in the future, party to lawsuits and other claims.
We rely on the fair use doctrine when we routinely refer to third-party intellectual property, such as trademarks, on our platform. Third parties may dispute the scope of that doctrine and challenge our ability to reference their intellectual property in the course of our business. For instance, from time to time, we are contacted by companies controlling brands of goods consignors sell, demanding that we cease referencing those brands in connection with such sales, whether in advertising or on our website. We have consistently responded by reference to the holding in Tiffany (NY), Inc. v. eBay that factual use of a brand to describe and sell a used good is not false advertising. These matters have generally been resolved
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with no further communications, but some have resulted in litigation against us. For example, in November 2018, Chanel filed a lawsuit against us in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York bringing various trademark and advertising-related claims under the Lanham Act and New York state law analogues. The final outcome of this litigation, including our liability, if any, with respect to Chanel’s claims, is uncertain. An unfavorable outcome in this or similar litigation could adversely affect our business and could lead to other similar lawsuits. See “Part I, Item 3 – Legal Proceedings” for a description of the Chanel litigation.
In addition, the Company, its officers and directors and the underwriters of the Company’s initial public offering (“IPO”) were named as defendants in numerous purported securities class actions in connection with the Company’s IPO (the “Securities Litigation”). See “Part I, Item 3 – Legal Proceedings” for a description of the Securities Litigation.
In addition, we have in the past and could face in the future a variety of employee claims against us, including general discrimination, privacy, wage and hour, labor and employment, disability claims and claims related to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Further, the comprehensive safety measures and protocols that we have implemented may not be successful and we could face litigation or other claims related to unsafe working conditions, inadequate protection of our employees, or other similar or related claims. Any claims could also result in litigation against us or regulatory proceedings being brought against us by various federal and state agencies that regulate our business, including the U.S. Equal Employment Commission. Often these cases raise complex factual and legal issues and create risks and uncertainties. In addition, stockholders have filed securities class action us following periods of market . We have been the target of associated with these fluctuations and market and may be the target of this type of in the future.
Defending litigation is costly and can impose a significant burden on management and employees, and there can be no assurances that favorable final outcomes will be obtained. The results of any such litigation, investigations and other legal proceedings are inherently unpredictable and expensive. Although we have insurance, it provides for a substantial retention of liability and is subject to limitations and may not cover a significant portion, or any, of the expenses we may incur or be subject to in connection with shareholder class action or other litigation to which we are party. In addition, plaintiffs may seek, and we may become subject to, preliminary or provisional rulings in the course of any such litigation, including potential preliminary injunctions requiring us to some or all of our operations or selling consigned goods from certain brands. We may decide to settle such lawsuits and on terms that are to us. Similarly, if any to which we are a party is resolved , we may be subject to an judgment that may not be reversed upon appeal. The terms of such a settlement or judgment may require us to some or all of our operations, selling consigned goods from certain brands or pay substantial amounts to the other party. In addition, we may have to seek a license to continue practices found to be in of a third-party’s rights, which may not be available on reasonable terms or at all and may significantly increase our operating costs and expenses. As a result, we may also be required to develop alternative practices or existing practices. The development of alternative practices could require significant effort and expense or may not be feasible. Our business, financial condition or operating results could be affected as a result of an resolution of the and referred to above.
Our use and other processing of personal information and other data is subject to laws and obligations relating to privacy and data protection.
Numerous state, federal and international laws, rules and regulations govern privacy, data protection and the collection, use and protection of personal information and other types of data we collect, use, disclose and otherwise process. These laws, rules and regulations are constantly evolving, and we expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws, regulations and industry standards concerning privacy, data protection and information security in the United States, the European Union (the "EU"), the United Kingdom (the "UK") and other jurisdictions. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”) requires covered companies to provide disclosures to California consumers and afford such consumers qualified privacy rights, such as rights of access, deletion and to opt-out of the sales and "sharing" of their personal information, which relates to "cross context behavioral advertising" or more commonly known as targeted advertising. The CCPA was amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”), which went into effect on January 1, 2023. The CCPA, as amended, removes the exclusion of employment data from its auspices, adds new consumer privacy rights (such as the right to correct inaccurate personal information, or the right to opt out of the “sharing” of personal information for the purposes of cross-context behavioral advertising), expands business’s obligations to secure contractual obligations from service providers and third parties, and expands business’s obligations with respect to automated opt-out preference signals. The new California Privacy Protection Agency completed its first round of rulemaking but has left many new requirements, such as data privacy and security risk assessments and the right to opt out of certain data profiling activities. It remains unclear how these new amendments will be interpreted or enforced. The CCPA may limit the effectiveness of our marketing activities and require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and to incur substantial costs and expenses in an effort to comply. Similarly, several other U.S. states, including Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, Utah, Delaware, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New
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Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Texas have passed similar consumer data privacy laws that impose general data minimization obligations on covered businesses and also extend privacy rights to individuals, including the rights to opt out of targeted advertising and respect automated opt-out preference signals. Many of these state laws also require covered businesses to provide consumers with the ability to opt-out of certain profiling or automated decision-making processes
Additionally, the European Commission imposes stringent EU data protection requirements across all EU Member States through the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). The GDPR has been transposed into national law by the UK (“UK GDPR”) and has been incorporated into the European Economic Area (“EEA”) Agreement. The GDPR and UK GDPR, as well as other statutes and regulations related to privacy and data protection, increase our compliance obligations and may affect our collection, processing, retention and transfer of certain personal data, reporting of certain security breaches, and expose us to increased penalties for non-compliance. Increased regulatory scrutiny could lead to substantial costs, require significant changes to our existing systems, limit the effectiveness of our marketing activities, and subject us to additional liabilities. Further, r ecent litigation in the EEA and the UK has driven significant changes in enforcement and interpretation, and w e cannot yet fully determine the impact these or future laws, rules and regulations may have on our business or operations.
Given the increased legislative and regulatory enforcement focus on the use of data for advertising and artificial intelligence in the EU, UK, US and other jurisdictions, we may be subject to new and unexpected regulatory interpretations and rulemaking efforts, including proposals for regulation of artificial intelligence or other automated decision-making processes. Future laws, regulations, standards and other obligations could, for example, impair our ability to collect or use information that we utilize to create targeted marketing and advertising and offer certain bespoke product features and other capabilities to drive efficiencies in our merchandising operations, thereby impairing our ability to maintain and attract new consignors and buyers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.
These laws, rules and regulations may be inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another, subject to differing interpretations and may be interpreted to conflict with our practices. Any failure or perceived failure by us or any third parties with which we do business to comply with these laws, rules and regulations, or with other obligations to which we or such third parties are or may become subject, may result in actions against us by governmental entities or third-party or class action litigation, and substantial time and resource expenditures, and fines, penalties or other liabilities.
Further, in view of new or modified federal, state or foreign laws and regulations, industry standards, contractual obligations and other legal obligations, or any changes in their interpretation, we may find it necessary or desirable to change our business activities and practices or to expend significant resources to modify our product or services and otherwise adapt to these changes. We may be unable to make such changes and modifications in a commercially reasonable manner or at all, and our ability to develop new products and features could be limited.
If the use of “cookie” tracking technologies is further restricted, regulated, or blocked, or if changes in technology cause cookies to become less reliable or acceptable as a means of tracking consumer behavior, the amount or accuracy of internet user information we collect would decrease, which could harm our business and operating results.
Cookies are small data files that are sent by websites and stored locally on an internet user’s computer or mobile device. We, and third parties who work on our behalf, collect data via cookies that is used to track the behavior of visitors to our websites, to provide a more personal and interactive experience, and to increase the effectiveness of our marketing. However, internet users can easily disable, delete, and block cookies directly through browser settings or through other software, browser extensions, or hardware platforms that physically block cookies from being created and stored.
Privacy regulations restrict how we deploy our cookies and this could potentially (a) increase the number of internet users that choose to proactively disable cookies on their systems or (b) cause our business partners, service providers, or vendors to no longer maintain their cookie processes. We may have to develop alternative systems to determine our clients’ behavior, customize their online experience, or efficiently market to them if clients block cookies or regulations introduce additional barriers to collecting cookie data.
We pay or collect sales taxes in all jurisdictions which require such taxes.
An increasing number of states have considered or adopted laws that impose tax collection obligations on out-of-state sellers of goods. Additionally, in 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. et al (“Wayfair”), that online sellers can be required to collect sales tax despite not having a physical presence in the state of the customer. In response to Wayfair, or otherwise, states or local governments and taxing authorities may adopt, or begin to enforce, laws requiring us to calculate, collect and remit taxes on sales in their jurisdictions. While we currently collect and remit sales taxes in every state that requires sales taxes to be collected, including states where we do not have a physical presence, the adoption of new laws by, or a successful assertion by the taxing authorities of one or more state or local
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governments requiring us to collect more taxes could result in substantial additional tax liabilities, including taxes on past sales, as well as penalties and interest, which could have a material adverse impact on our business and operating results.
Failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations may subject us to fines, penalties, loss of licensure, registration, facility closures or other governmental enforcement action.
The sale of consigned goods through our online marketplace is subject to regulation, including by regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other international, federal, state and local governments and regulatory authorities. These laws and regulations are complex, vary from state to state and change often. We receive luxury goods on consignment from numerous consignors located in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and the goods we receive from our consignors may contain materials such as fur, skin, ivory and other exotic animal product components, that are subject to regulation. Our standard consignor terms and conditions require consignors to comply with applicable laws when consigning their goods. Failure of our consignors to comply with applicable laws, regulations and contractual requirements could lead to litigation or other claims against us, resulting in increased legal expenses and costs. Moreover, failure by us to effectively monitor the application of these laws and regulations to our business, and to comply with such laws and regulations, may negatively affect our brand and subject us to penalties and .
Numerous U.S. states and municipalities, including California, New York and Florida, have regulations regarding the handling and sale of secondhand goods, and licensing requirements for secondhand dealers. Such government regulations could require us to change the way we conduct business, or our buyers to conduct their purchases in ways that increase costs, such as prohibiting or otherwise restricting the sale or shipment of certain items in some locations. To the extent we fail to comply with requirements for secondhand dealers, we may experience unanticipated permanent or temporary shutdowns of our facilities which may negatively affect our ability to increase the supply of our goods, result in negative publicity and subject us to penalties and fines.
Additionally, the luxury goods our consignors sell could be subject to recalls and other remedial actions and product safety, labeling and licensing concerns may require us to voluntarily remove selected goods from our online marketplace. Such recalls or voluntary removal of goods can result in, among other things, lost sales, diverted resources, potential harm to our reputation and increased customer service costs and legal expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.
Application of existing tax laws, rules or regulations are subject to interpretation by taxing authorities.
The application of the income and tax laws is subject to interpretation. Although we believe our tax methodologies are compliant, a taxing authority’s final determination in the event of a tax audit could materially differ from our past or current methods for determining and complying with our tax obligations, including the calculation of our tax provisions and accruals, in which case we may be subject to additional tax liabilities, possibly including interest and penalties. Furthermore, taxing authorities have become more aggressive in their interpretation and enforcement of such laws, rules and regulations over time, as governments are increasingly focused on ways to increase revenues. This has contributed to an increase in audit activity and stricter enforcement by taxing authorities. As such, additional taxes or other assessments may be in excess of our current tax reserves or may require us to modify our business practices to reduce our exposure to additional taxes going forward, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
In addition, many of the underlying laws, rules and regulations imposing taxes and other obligations were established before the growth of the Internet and e-commerce. U.S. federal, state and local taxing authorities are currently reviewing the appropriate treatment of companies engaged in Internet commerce and considering changes to existing tax or other laws or may change interpretation of existing tax or other laws that could levy sales, income, consumption, use or other taxes relating to our activities, and/or impose obligations on us to collect such taxes. If such tax or other laws, rules or regulations are amended or interpretations change, or if new unfavorable laws, rules or regulations are enacted, the results could increase our tax payments or other obligations, prospectively or retrospectively, subject us to interest and penalties, decrease the demand for our services if we pass on such costs to our buyers or consignors, result in increased costs to update or expand our technical or administrative infrastructure or effectively limit the scope of our business activities if we decided not to conduct business in particular jurisdictions. As a result, these changes may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
We have incurred substantial net operating losses (“NOLs”) during our history. Unused NOLs may carry forward to offset future taxable income if we achieve profitability in the future, unless they expire under applicable tax laws. However, under the rules of Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” generally defined as a greater than 50% change (by value) in its equity ownership over a
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three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its NOLs and other pre-change tax attributes to offset its post-change taxable income or taxes may be limited. The applicable rules generally operate by focusing on changes in ownership among stockholders considered by the rules as owning, directly or indirectly, 5% or more of the stock of a company, as well as changes in ownership arising from new issuances of stock by the Company. In addition, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act imposes certain limitations on the deduction of NOLs generated in tax years that began on or after January 1, 2018, including a limitation on use of NOLs to offset 80% of taxable income and the disallowance of NOL carryback. Although NOLs generated in tax years before 2018 may still be used to offset future income without limitation, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act may limit our ability to use our NOLs to offset any future taxable income.
If our internal control over financial reporting or our disclosure controls and procedures are not effective, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results, prevent fraud or file our periodic reports in a timely manner, which may cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information.
We are subject to the reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”) and the rules and regulations of the applicable listing standards of The Nasdaq Stock Market. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. In particular, we must perform system and process evaluations, document our controls and perform testing of our key controls over financial reporting to allow for management and our independent public accounting firm to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. If we are not able to continue to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or if we encounter difficulties in the timely and accurate reporting of our financial results, or if we or our independent registered public accounting firm identify deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses, our investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, the market price of our stock may decline and we could be subject to lawsuits, sanctions or by regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources.
Risks Relating to Ownership of Our Common Stock
The market price of our common stock may be volatile or may decline steeply or suddenly regardless of our operating performance and we may not be able to meet investor or analyst expectations.
If you purchase shares of our common stock, you may not be able to resell those shares at or above the price you paid. The market price of our common stock may fluctuate or decline significantly in response to numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:
• actual or anticipated fluctuations in our consignor or buyer base, the level of consignor and buyer engagement, revenue or other operating results;
• adverse economic and market conditions, including declines in consumer discretionary spending, currency fluctuations, inflation, disruptions in the financial industry, increased U.S. trade tariffs and trade disputes with other countries, and geopolitical instability;
• the research and reports that securities or industry analysts may publish about us, our business, our market or our competitors;
• variations between our actual operating results and the expectations of securities analysts, investors and the financial community;
• any forward-looking financial or operating information we may provide to the public or securities analysts, any changes in this information or our failure to meet expectations based on this information;
• additional shares of our common stock being sold into the market by us or our existing stockholders, or the anticipation of such sales;
• hedging activities by market participants;
• sudden increased or decreased interest in our stock from retail investors;
• substantial fluctuations in the daily trading volume of our common stock;
• announcements by us or our competitors of significant products or features, technical innovations, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments;
• changes in operating performance and stock market valuations of companies in our industry, including our competitors;
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• price and volume fluctuations in the stock market, including as a result of trends in the economy;
• lawsuits threatened or filed against us;
• developments in new legislation and pending lawsuits or regulatory actions, including interim or final rulings by judicial or regulatory bodies; and
• other events or factors, including those resulting from war or incidents of terrorism, or responses to these events or threats to public health.
In addition, price and volume fluctuations in the stock markets have affected and may continue to affect many online marketplace and other technology companies’ stock prices. Stock prices often fluctuate in ways unrelated or disproportionate to the companies’ operating performance. Moreover, because of these fluctuations, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful. You should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance. This variability and unpredictability could also result in our failing to meet the expectations of industry or financial analysts or investors for any period. If our revenue or operating results fall below the expectations of analysts or investors or below any forecasts we may provide to the market, or if the forecasts we provide to the market are below the expectations of analysts or investors, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Such a stock price decline could occur even when we have met any previously publicly stated revenue or earnings forecasts that we may provide.
Short sellers of our stock may be manipulative and may drive down the market price of our common stock .
Short selling is the practice of selling securities that the seller does not own but rather has borrowed or intends to borrow from a third party. A short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the value of the securities they are shorting. As it is in the short seller’s interest for the price of the stock to decline, some short sellers publish opinions or characterizations regarding the relevant issuer intended to create negative market momentum. Issuers, like us, with securities that have historically had limited trading volumes and/or have been susceptible to relatively high volatility levels can be particularly vulnerable to such short seller attacks. Short selling may also lead to fluctuations of our stock price, particularly if retail investors or others holding “long” positions in our common stock seek to counter short selling activity by purchasing additional shares, thus making it more difficult and more expensive for short sellers to profit. No assurances can be made that declines in the market price of our common stock will not occur in the future in connection with such activity.
Delaware law and provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could make a merger, tender offer or proxy contest difficult, thereby depressing the trading price of our common stock.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could depress the trading price of our common stock by acting to discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company or changes in our management that the stockholders of our company may deem advantageous. These provisions include the following:
• establish a classified board of directors so that not all directors are elected at one time;
• permit the board of directors to establish the number of directors and fill any vacancies and newly-created directorships;
• provide that directors may only be removed for cause;
• require super-majority voting to amend some provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws;
• authorize the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock that our board of directors could use to implement a stockholder rights plan;
• prohibit stockholders from calling special meetings of stockholders;
• prohibit stockholder action by written consent;
• provide that the board of directors is expressly authorized to make, alter or repeal our bylaws;
• restrict the forum for certain litigation against us to Delaware; and
• establish advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at annual stockholder meetings.
Any provision of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock, and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.
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Our certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware located within the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding, any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty, any action arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”), our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, any other action that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine or any other action asserting an “internal corporate claim,” as defined in the DGCL. These exclusive-forum provisions do not apply to claims under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) or the Exchange Act. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to this provision. This exclusive-forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of its choosing for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees. If a court were to find the exclusive-forum provision to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving the in other jurisdictions, which could our results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Outstanding Notes and Warrants
We have incurred a significant amount of debt and may incur additional indebtedness in the future.
As of the December 31, 2025, the principal amount of our 2028 Notes was $48.2 million, the principal amount of our 2029 Notes was $143.8 million and the principal amount of our 2031 Notes was $190.1 million. Additionally, the Company issued Warrants to acquire an aggregate of up to 7,894,737 shares of our common stock (subject to adjustment in accordance with the terms of the Warrants). We may be required to use a substantial portion of our cash flows from operations to pay interest and principal on our indebtedness. Such payments will reduce the funds available to use for working capital, capital expenditures and other corporate purposes and limit our ability to obtain additional financing, which may in turn limit our ability to implement our business strategy, heighten our vulnerability to downturns in our business, the industry, or in the general economy, limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry and prevent us from taking advantages of business opportunities as they arise. If we are unable to generate such cash flow to service our debt, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as selling assets, incurring additional debt, restructuring debt or issuing additional equity on terms that may be or highly dilutive. These alternatives may be to macroeconomic conditions that may affect us. The duration and of macroeconomic uncertainty, any ensuing economic , including economic or depression, could directly impact our ability to implement alternatives to service our debt. We may not be to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on terms, which could result in a on our debt obligations.
The indentures governing our Notes contain restrictions and other provisions regarding events of default that may make it more difficult to execute our strategy or to effectively compete, or that could materially affect our financial position.
Subject to certain exceptions and qualifications, the 2029 Notes Indenture restricts our ability to, among other things, (i) grant or incur liens securing indebtedness; (ii) incur, assume or guarantee additional indebtedness; (iii) enter into transactions with affiliates; (iv) sell or otherwise dispose of assets, including capital stock of subsidiaries; (v) in the case of the Company and any future guarantor (if any), consolidate, amalgamate or merge with or into, or sell all or substantially all of its assets to, another person; (vi) make certain restricted payments or other investments; and (vii) pay dividends or make other distributions (including loans and other advances). In addition, the 2029 Notes Indenture contains a covenant that provides that the Company may not permit liquidity (calculated as the sum of (a) unused commitments then available to be drawn under any revolving credit facility, delayed draw term loan facility or qualified securitization financing permitted thereunder (after giving effect to any borrowing base or similar limitations), plus (b) the amount of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents held by the Company and its subsidiaries (if any)) to be less than $25 million as of the last day of any month. These restrictions, and others set forth in the 2029 Notes Indenture, may make it difficult to execute our business strategy or effectively compete with companies that are not similarly restricted.
The indentures governing our Convertible Senior Notes and our 2029 Notes Indenture also set forth certain events of default after which our Notes may be declared immediately due and payable and set forth certain types of bankruptcy or insolvency events of default involving the Company or its subsidiaries. Such acceleration of our debt could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity if we are unable to negotiate mutually acceptable terms with the holders of the 2028 Notes or the 2029 Notes or if alternate funding is not available to us. Furthermore, if we are unable to repay the Notes upon an acceleration or otherwise, we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.
Transactions relating to our Convertible Senior Notes or the Warrants may dilute the ownership interest of our stockholders.
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The conversion or exercise of some or all of our outstanding Convertible Senior Notes or Warrants would dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders to the extent we deliver shares upon conversion or exercise of any such Convertible Senior Notes or Warrants. If the Convertible Senior Notes or Warrants become convertible or exercisable under the terms of the applicable indenture or warrant agency agreement, and if holders subsequently elect to convert or exercise the Convertible Senior Notes or Warrants, we could be required to deliver to them a significant number of shares of our common stock. Any sales or anticipated sales in the public market of the common stock issuable upon conversion of the Convertible Senior Notes or exercise of the Warrants could adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common stock. In addition, the existence of the Convertible Senior Notes and Warrants may encourage short selling by market participants because the conversion of the Convertible Senior Notes or Warrants could be used to satisfy short positions.
The conversion of the Convertible Senior Notes or the cash conversion of the Warrants, if triggered, may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
In the event the conditional conversion feature of the Convertible Senior Notes is triggered, holders of the Convertible Senior Notes will be entitled to convert their Convertible Senior Notes at any time during specified periods at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their Convertible Senior Notes, unless we elect to satisfy our conversion obligation by delivering shares of our common stock (other than paying cash in lieu of delivering any fractional share), we would be required to settle a portion or all of our conversion obligation in cash, which could adversely affect our liquidity. In addition, even if holders of the Convertible Senior Notes do not elect to convert their Convertible Senior Notes, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or a portion of the outstanding principal of the Convertible Senior Notes as a current rather than long-term liability, which could result in a material reduction in our net working capital. Further, in the event of a fundamental change, which could occur outside the Company’s control, the Warrants may be required to be settled in cash instead of delivering shares, which could result in a material reduction in our net working capital.
The accounting method for the Warrants materially affects our reported financial results.
We account for our outstanding Warrants as liabilities at fair value on our balance sheet. The Warrants are subject to remeasurement at each balance sheet date and any change in fair value is recognized as a component of earnings in each period for which our earnings are reported. We will continue to adjust the liability for changes in fair value until the earlier of exercise or expiration of the Warrants. The volatility introduced by changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on our quarterly and annual financial results.
The capped call transactions may affect the value of the Convertible Senior Notes and our common stock.
In connection with the pricing of the 2028 Notes , we entered into privately negotiated capped call transactions with certain counterparties. The capped call transactions cover the number of shares of our common stock initially underlying the 2028 Notes . The capped call transactions are expected to offset the potential dilution to our common stock upon any conversion of the 2028 Notes . In connection with establishing their initial hedges of the capped call transactions, the counterparties or their respective affiliates entered into various derivative transactions with respect to our common stock. The counterparties or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivatives with respect to our common stock and/or purchasing or selling our common stock or other securities of ours in secondary market transactions prior to the maturity of the 2028 Notes (and are likely to do so on each exercise date of the capped call transactions), or following any termination of any portion of the capped call transactions in connection with any repurchase, redemption or early conversions of the 2028 Notes or otherwise. This activity could also cause or avoid an increase or a decrease in the market price of our common stock.
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