MyNines Gathers Sample Sale Offerings to Create a One-Stop Shop
With the number of online private sample sale sites continuing to grow, one Web startup is hoping to ease the process by gathering sales all in one place.
New York–based MyNines (www.mynines.com) aggregates products across various sample sales sites to create a one-stop shop. Launched in early March, MyNines draws products from men’s and women’s fashion, beauty, jewelry, travel, and lifestyle categories. It is currently in partnership with about 24 sites, including Billion Dollar Babes, eBay Fashion Vault, Gomatta Girls, Reverse and Editor’s Closet.
The very nature of flash sales—with a countdown on how long a consumer can grab a deal—lends itself to the serendipity of shopping online.
“It can be like going to a flea market; you have no idea what you’re looking for, but you come here to get a deal,” said founder and Chief Executive Officer Apar Kothari. “You can come to MyNines looking for a Prada handbag but leave with a BCBG dress. It’s very opportunistic, and the goal is to have quality and well-recognized brands on there.”
Before launching MyNines, Kothari spent some time on the West Coast as a manager of corporate strategy for Fox Interactive and MySpace.
MyNines operates by tapping into a partner site’s XML feed and listing all of the goods together. MyNines receives a flat-rate commission on sales, according to Kothari.
“For smaller guys, it’s a win-win situation because we don’t make money until they make money,” Kothari said. “They don’t have the marketing budget that a Gilt [Groupe] does, yet they have access to this fantastic inventory, so MyNines is another distribution channel for them.”
Kothari also hopes to shine a spotlight on emerging designers, and MyNines sales range from denim to higher-end luxury goods such as handbags. She also believes that the price-driven consumer is still looking online to find deals.
“Seventy percent off is becoming the new 20 percent off,” Kothari said. “People are getting used to finding designer products at sample sale prices across these sites, so they refuse to buy at full price. Luxury shopping will never again be the same.”
Recent sales featured fashions from brands such as Splendid, Ella Moss, C&C California and Juicy Couture.
Cerritos, Calif.–based sale site Reverse, operated by Revolve Clothing (www.revolveclothing.com), saw the partnership with MyNines as an opportunity to expose its sales to an even wider audience.
“We were interested because any additional exposure and traffic to the site is always good for business,” said Reverse buyer Christine Gonzalez. “We also thought that the concept of a one-stop shop for off-price sites would be attractive to flash-sale shoppers.”—Connie Cho
