American Apparel to Open eBay Shop
American Apparel announced July 26 that it will build an online shop on e-commerce site eBay. The American Apparel shop will debut in September. Apparel brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Jockey currently maintain e-commerce shops on the San Jose, Calif.–based online auction site.
According to an American Apparel statement, demand has been growing for the Los Angeles–based brand’s basics on eBay, and the company forecasts that the American Apparel store will become a multi-million dollar venture within its first year of doing business.
“There are more than 30,000 searches for American Apparel on eBay each month, and right now those customers are not buying from us directly,” said Dov Charney, American Apparel’s founder and chief executive. “I’m excited to connect that demand to our vertically integrated production and distribution platform to create a new revenue channel for American Apparel.”
The eBay/American Apparel partnership will entail eBay advertising American Apparel’s new shop through targeted email communication. American Apparel will fulfill eBay orders at its Los Angeles factory. The store will sell a full assortment of American Apparel products, such as T-shirts, underwear, jeans and children’s clothing.
Jockey typically sells closeout merchandise on the auction site. At press time, a three-pack of Jockey’s men’s classic briefs retailed for $6.39 on the eBay Jockey site. The same three-pack retailed for $20 at Macys.com.
Some inventory in the Tommy Hilfiger and the Timberland eBay stores is similarly priced to both companies’ own e-commerce sites. Other items are deeply discounted.—Andrew Asch
