A new luxury e-commerce startup called Long Story Short has a provocative concept: Pay $1,000 a month to join for the privilege of buying curated collections.Founder, this sounds shocking. Joseph Einhorn believes he understands a small part of the e-commerce market and why so many online luxury businesses have failed to succeed so far. The founder, best known for his 2010s e-commerce site The Fancy, a high-end shopping rival to Pinterest, said high-net-worth individuals are demanding more privacy and security in their online experiences while shopping in the luxury market This requirement is usually not met. supply.
Long story short, Private Shopping Club takes a different approach than other shopping sites.
In addition to needing to have the funds to pay the $1,000 monthly fee, prospects must apply for acceptance. Once inside, customers can shop from the site’s curated selection of 50,000 luxury items across categories such as home décor, luxury clothing, art, cards, jewellery, watches, gadgets and more, or request the LSS (Long Story Short) team to represent them Purchase items.
Image Source: long story short
The value proposition – if that word can be applied to such an expensive service – is that LSS will manage transactions on behalf of the client. This means negotiating with suppliers and sellers, acquiring items, and then inspecting and verifying the item’s authenticity before shipping it to the buyer. This allows customers’ transactions to remain anonymous to sellers – a value highly valued among high-net-worth individuals, as leaking their names, addresses or phone numbers poses security risks.
While LSS will have the information, Einhorn’s experience in e-commerce means he is already familiar with the world of online fraud and how to combat it, and is building the new company with privacy in mind. The company won’t detail its security practices for fear of inviting hackers, but notes that in some cases it trades security for convenience by not collecting or storing anything but necessary information. Furthermore, some of its systems are not even connected to the Internet.
Image Source: long story short
Einhorn compared the concept of private shopping clubs to other efforts to cater to high-net-worth individuals, such as Farrell, who launched his own auction house Joopiter last year. And, similar to offline luxury retail, LSS aims to provide the white-glove service that luxury shoppers expect.
Additionally, Einhorn believes subscribing to LSS makes sense for those who spend at least $1,000 per month on luxury goods because of the savings it can provide. He believes that today’s online marketplaces often heavily promote their products, which means people are being charged “at least $1,000” more for “wasted marketing.”
“One, we recommend items to you – you can see items you might not have known about, and you can get involved. And then, two, let’s get the best prices possible instead of just logging in somewhere Everyone is attracted to the same overpriced item,” Einhorn explains.
He believes that by eliminating marketing fees and establishing direct relationships with suppliers and sellers, LSS’s savings can reduce the cost of luxury goods by 20% to 40%. However, his paper has not yet been tested because the website has just been launched.
“We hope that by having the collective purchasing power of serious consumers, like serious shoppers, that we as a group will offer better terms for everyone,” Einhorn said.
At the same time, LSS does not mark the items themselves, nor does it charge anything other than a (expensive) subscription.
Image Source: Long story short (user profile)
Still, Einhorn understands that this business model will raise some eyebrows, especially in the current economic climate where housing prices are so high, housing is unaffordable for young people, layoffs are rampant and, for many, , the American dream has been put on hold.
“I’m clearly aware that this is a provocative concept,” he told TechCrunch.
Einhorn tells us that despite the larger economy, the rich stay rich, which means the startup has a few customers signed up even before it launches today, including “executives from our favorite companies.” , athletes, entertainers and technicians” we. Because of its subscription price, LSS doesn’t need a large user base to break even or succeed. He pointed out that even if there were only 100 customers, “it would be enough.”
However, the founders believe LSS will go further and explain that there is a global market for luxury retail like this.
“We believe that just in the U.S., the Middle East and China alone, each of the markets we’re trying to reach today has hundreds of thousands of potential members,” Einhorn said. In some cases, these customers are less interested in wearing luxury brands and more interested in adding luxury items to their homes, like in China. He also said there is an untapped market of young professionals who view luxury goods as an investment asset class in the same way they view things like cryptocurrencies.
However, LSS aims to prevent customers from pooling funds for subscriptions by censoring applications. Instead, high-net-worth individuals can “sponsor” others, such as their children or assistants, by paying a monthly fee.
Image Source: long story short
The founders’ e-commerce experience and ability to build a following dates back to the early 2010s.
His first shopping startup, Fancy, has developed a following among the tech elite, with investors such as Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Meta’s Chris Hughes, Apple’s Tim Cook and Allen & Company partner LeRoy Kim. At the same time, Fancy’s investors include venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Allen & Company, General Catalyst, Esther Dyson, Celtics owner Jim Pallotta, MTV founder Bob Pittman, former eBay chief operating officer Maynard Webb, Eric Eisner, Jeff Samberg and Ashton Kutcher.In later rounds it also introduced Mexico Carlos Slim Domit CCC is the Japanese holding company behind the Tsutaya chain of book and media retailers.
Although the fantasy didn’t last long, Einhorn went on to co-found other companies, including a New York-based children’s comic book store, an e-commerce software engine The Archivist (also backed by Kutcher), and a social network For those who like walking, Way to Go.
With the support of new investors Misfit Market co-founder Abhi Ramesh (CEO) and Edward Lando, he returned to the e-commerce space through LSS. The startup has raised about $500,000.
“[Lando has] It always troubles me to revisit the world of luxury and he is my dream partner,” Einhorn added.
Currently, New York-based Long Story Short is a team of seven, with only plans to grow as its clients grow.
The e-commerce startup is currently available via the web and an iOS mobile app. The latter prompted TechCrunch to shamelessly ask whether LSS was in some ways a modern-day “I’m Rich” — an early iPhone app that appeared on your home screen for one purpose only: you could afford it.
“I’m not surprised you say that,” Einhorn said. “I do have thick skin. I knew what I was getting into by putting this out there. I think that’s a fair point,” he agreed.
Still, he added, “these are expensive and there’s a lot of them. It’s magic. We think they have lasting value and are worth it, and I would say this is a private members’ club for super shoppers, and there are people in it who Thinking about their privacy, but also thinking about giving them the best deal… I think the ROI will be over $1,000 a month very quickly,” Einhorn concluded.
