A new luxury goods e-commerce startup called long story short has a provocative concept: it costs $1,000 per month to join and have the privilege of purchasing their curated collection. As shocking as it may seem, founder Joseph Einhorn believes he understands this portion of the e-commerce market and why many online luxury businesses to date have failed. The founder, best known for his 2010s e-commerce site The Fancy, an exclusive rival to Pinterest, says high-net-worth individuals demand more in terms of privacy and security from their online experience, something that Shopping in a luxury market often does not provide.
In Long Story Short, the private shopping club takes a different approach than other shopping sites.
In addition to simply needing to have the funds to pay your $1,000 a month fee, potential clients must apply for acceptance. Once inside, customers can shop from the site's 50.000 hand-picked luxury products, spanning categories such as home decor, luxury clothing, art, cards, jewelry, watches, gadgets and more, or they can order from the LSS team (Long Story Short) to purchase items on your behalf.
The value proposition (if that word can be used for such an expensive service) is that LSS will manage the transaction on behalf of the customer. That means negotiating with several sellers, purchasing the item, then inspecting it and verifying its authenticity, before shipping it to the buyer. This allows the customer's transactions to remain anonymous to the seller, something highly valued among high net worth individuals due to the security risks of having their name, address or phone number compromised.
While LSS will have this information, Einhorn's experience in e-commerce means he is already familiar with the world of online fraud and how to combat it and has built the new company with privacy in mind. The company won't detail its security practices so as not to invite hackers, but notes that in some cases it trades security for convenience by not collecting or storing anything other than the necessary information. Additionally, some of their systems are not even connected to the web.
Image credits: long story short
The concept of a private shopping club is something Einhorn compares to other efforts to serve high-net-worth individuals, such as in the case of Pharrell's launch of his own auction house last year, Joopiter. And, like in-person luxury retail, LSS aims to provide the white-glove service luxury shoppers expect.
Additionally, Einhorn maintains that subscribing to LSS makes sense for anyone who already spends at least $1.000 a month on luxury items because of the savings it offers. Today's online marketplaces often heavily promote his products, meaning people are paying “at least $1.000” for overcharging for “market waste,” he argues.
“Number one, we recommend items; You can see articles that you probably didn't know about and that you can participate in. And then, number two, let us get you the best price possible, rather than just logging in somewhere. where everyone is attracted to the same type of overpriced item,” explains Einhorn.
He believes that the combination of eliminating marketplace fees and establishing direct relationships with suppliers and vendors means LSS savings could reduce the cost of luxury goods by 20% to 40%. However, his thesis remains unproven as the site is just launching.
“What we hope is that by having this collective purchasing power of serious spenders, like serious buyers, we, as a group, will unlock better terms for everyone,” Einhorn says.
Meanwhile, LSS doesn't mark up items or charge any fees beyond the (expensive) subscription.
Image credits: long story short
Still, Einhorn understands that this business model will attract attention, particularly in the current economic climate where housing prices are so high, young people cannot afford housing, layoffs are rampant and the American dream, for many, has been put on hold. .
"It's not lost on me that this is a provocative concept," he says.
Despite the state of the broader economy, the rich are still rich, meaning the startup already has a handful of customers signed up even before today's launch, including "executives from our favorite companies, athletes, artists, and people from technology,” says Einhorn. us. And thanks to its subscription pricing, LSS doesn't need a large user base to break even or be successful. Even just 100 customers “would be enough,” he says.
However, the founder believes LSS will go further, explaining that there is a global market for luxury retail like this.
"We believe that in the US, the Middle East and China alone, there are hundreds of thousands of potential members in each of those markets that we're going to try to reach today," Einhorn says. In some cases, those customers are less interested in wearing luxury brands but more interested in adding luxury items to their homes, such as in China. He also suggests there is an untapped market of young professionals who see luxury as an asset class to invest in, in the same way they might also see something like cryptocurrencies.
However, LSS aims to discourage customers from pooling their funds for a subscription by vetting applications. Instead, high-net-worth individuals can “sponsor” others, such as their children or assistants, by paying their monthly dues.
The experience in E-commerce of the founder and his ability to gain followers dates back to the early 2010s.
His first shopping startup, Fancy, gained followers among the tech elite, such as Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey, arches Chris Hughes, Apple's Tim Cook, as well as investors such as Allen & Co partner of LeRoy Kim. Meanwhile, investors in Fancy included venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Allen & Co., General Catalyst, Esther Dyson owner of the Celtics, Jim Pallotta creator of MTV, Bob Pittman former COO of eBay, Maynard Webb, Eric Eisner, Jeff Sambergy Ashton Kutcher. In later rounds, he also brought Mexico Carlos Slim Domit y CCC a Japanese holding company behind the Tsutaya chain of book and media retailers.
Although Fancy did not last, Einhorn co-founded other companies, including a New York-based children's comic book store, an eCommerce software engine The Archivist (which was also endorsed by Kutcher), as well as a social network for people who like to walk, Way forward.
With LSS, return to e-commerce with the support of new investors, Misfit Market co-founders Abhi Ramesh (CEO) and Edward Lando. The startup has raised around $500.000.
“Lando has always pushed me to revisit the world of luxury, and he is the dream partner,” adds Einhorn.
Currently, New York-based Long Story Short has a team of seven and only plans to add staff to the service as its clientele grows.
For now, the e-commerce startup is available via the web and as mobile app for iOS. The latter leads one to ask somewhat shamelessly whether LSS is, in some ways, the modern "I'm Rich": one of the first iPhone apps whose presence on the home screen served only one purpose: so that you could afford to buy it
“I’m not surprised you said that,” Einhorn says. “I have tough skin. I know what I'm getting into by posting this. I think that’s a fair point,” he agrees.
However, he adds: “These products cost a lot of money and there are many of them. There is magic in it. That we think have lasting value and are worth it, I would say a private membership club for buyers, where someone thinks about their privacy, and also others think about getting them the best deal... I think that can exceed $1.000 per month. month in return on investment quite quickly," concludes Einhorn.
