To our OfferUp community,
As we kick off 2024, I’d like to thank you once again for your continued support. I’m happy to say that 2023 was a strong year of profitable growth for OfferUp, an outcome that would not have been achievable without you, our loyal community. We appreciate your support more than you know, and we remain committed to helping you find meaningful value through your individual OfferUp buying and selling experiences. I cannot wait to continue growing together in 2024.
In 2023, consumers continued to face financial constraints, which affected their shopping habits. As a result, they turned to recommerce like never before, with our fifth annual Recommerce Report finding that 85% of all shoppers bought and/or sold in the secondhand market in 2023, and 27% did so for the first time. We’re seeing a rising acceptance of recommerce through this growth, with our report also finding that 76% of shoppers believe the stigma around secondhand shopping has decreased and that 41% say that buying secondhand is now considered a status symbol.
Last year we pledged to make investments to improve our product and enhance the quality of your time spent with OfferUp. In last year's letter, I highlighted key areas of focus for the OfferUp team, such as continuing to enhance the safety and security of our marketplace to ensure a secure space for buying and selling secondhand items. These efforts yielded positive results, with 2023 concluding with a record-low percentage of users exposed to scams or fraudulent activity on our platform. We also continued refining both OfferUp Jobs and OfferUp Premium last year, offering greater opportunities for millions of users—something we plan to expand upon in 2024. In addition to this ongoing investment in our buyer and seller experiences, we will also focus heavily on the following areas in 2024:
1. Re-invest in our user experience and app performance
In recent years, we have focused on premium products to improve the buying and selling experiences and create new offerings, like OfferUp Jobs, that give users additional reasons to return to our platform. In 2024, we will focus more on key elements of our app that will make it a more enjoyable experience for both new and existing users. We understand that the introduction of certain ad features, while necessary to maintain the quality of our product, can also be disruptive to some. We want all of our users to have a positive and fruitful experience with OfferUp, so in 2024 we are committed to optimizing elements of the user journey including improving our search outputs so results are more relevant for all shoppers, while also providing both our buyers and sellers with more features and tools that make it easier to connect with one another.
2. Attract more employers and job seekers to OfferUp Jobs
After making progress with OfferUp Jobs in 2023, this year we will focus on attracting more employers to list open roles on our platform so that we can increase the volume of listings for job seekers. We will do so through a combination of testing new pricing models for employers, as well as launching frequently requested employer features to make managing their open roles easier. We will also improve the search and browse experiences for job seekers to help them find job listings most relevant to their interests.
3. Expand the number of businesses connecting with customers through OfferUp
Last year we realized many local businesses were using OfferUp to promote their inventory to potential customers in their communities. These businesses figured out how to utilize our existing seller tools designed for individuals looking to resell their items, which had various limitations. Recognizing this, we launched a new account type in 2023 specifically for these businesses. In 2024, we aim to enhance business accounts by introducing additional features and tools. This includes a dedicated portal for managing inventory and buyer chats, the ability for bulk inventory uploads, and promotion capabilities. These improvements will empower businesses to more effectively manage their operations on OfferUp, ultimately delivering an enhanced shopping experience for our users. We do understand the concerns within our local communities regarding how this impacts their ability to connect with individuals but rest assured, we are 100% committed to removing any friction from these local-to-local transactions while expanding our efforts to bring more local businesses onto the platform, we will also ensure that their presence does not inhibit the core OfferUp experience of those looking to connect with individuals in their local communities.
I’m incredibly optimistic about the journey ahead of us in 2024 and am pleased to announce that we are continuing to grow our organization to achieve these results. We recently welcomed Rik van der Kooi and Ben Harrell to our Board, both of whom will bring value to our company from both a governance and operational excellence perspective. They join our current board led by myself, as well as Alec Oxenford, Ali Esfahani, Justin Sadrian, Jeff Jordan, Nick Huzar, and Sylvie de Wever.
Thank you again to our OfferUp community for making this growth possible. Our goal is always to help each of you thrive by finding unique value on our platform, and through your commitment, I can confidently say that the future of recommerce is bright. We cannot wait to see what we achieve together in 2024 and beyond.
Todd