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A new netflix series called Girlboss streams April 21st. It’s loosely based on Sophia Amoruso who started with a little Ebay store, got kicked off the site and started her own site Nasty Gal Vintage. She is no longer with that company, which just filed bankruptcy. In 2016 she was named by Forbes as one of the wealthiest self-made female millionaires in the world, at the ripe old age of…..32! I’ve heard various not so nice accounts about some of her business practices. But, regardless it is inspiring to know that she started the same way most of us have. Link is to a clip of the trailer. If link doesn’t work just google Netflix Girlboss.
Link: Girlboss -
Wow. Never heard of her. Here’s her wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Amoruso
–She started her company in 2008.
–Went from 200,000 revenue to 23 million in three years. (this is revenue and not profit)
–Stepped down as CEO in 2015
–Company filing bankruptcy in 2016I’m assuming she had investors to grow the business that quickly? That’s not something you do out of your bedroom. Fun story but ultimately it’s all short term crash and burn.
At least she got a TV show deal out of it. Her wikipedia page says she’s worth $280-million? That’s crazy. I guess he cashed out before the business fell apart?
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Ah here’s the story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasty_Gal
In 2010, Nasty Gal moved its headquarters to Los Angeles, California. In 2012, the company joined the Index Portfolio with a $9 million series A investment in early 2012, followed by a $40 million series B round of funding in August 2012.[8]
By 2012, the online retailer employed approximately 110 people and had opened an additional distribution center in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, while its 2011 revenue reached $24 million, marking an 11,200% three-year growth rate.[6] In late 2012, Sarah Wilkinson from ASOS [9] joined Nasty Gal as the company’s Vice President of Design.
In 2014, Nasty Gal opened its first brick and mortar store in Los Angeles at 8115 Melrose Avenue. The store has Nasty Gal footwear, apparel, accessories and intimates, alongside items by brands including Jeffrey Campbell, For Love and Lemons, Cameo and vintage by designer labels such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Moschino.[10]
On January 12, 2015, Amoruso announced that Sheree Waterson would take over as CEO of Nasty Gal. Waterson, formerly president of Nasty Gal, now partners with Amoruso to evolve its retail presence on a larger scale. Amoruso continues as founder and executive chairman of Nasty Gal.[11]
Waterson also joined the Nasty Gal board of directors alongside Amoruso and Index Ventures partner Danny Rimer.[11]
On March 27, 2015, Nasty Gal opened its second brick and mortar store in Santa Monica. The 6,500-square-foot store is located on the popular Third Street Promenade and was designed by architect Rafael de Cardenas. The store features a full-service shoe salon and two-way-mirrored fitting rooms.[12]
In 2016, Nasty Gal filed for bankruptcy.[13] The British owned, BooHoo group, announced in February of 2017 they purchased Nasty Gal. Nasty Gal will now be under the BooHoo portfolio umbrella.[14]
So she had $49 Million in venture capital (!!!!!) and expanded too fast. It’s easy to be successful when you have that kind of cash!
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I read her book when it came out, and actually remember her as the topic of many posts on the old ebay Clothing Board. She began with vintage clothing, and was not very popular with many of the other sellers in part because she would take a vintage ankle length skirt and turn into a mini-skirt…popular with her target audience, but an affront to the purist vintage sellers.She also used live models who were clearly part of her target demographic…this gave her a competitive edge over many of the other vintage sellers.
Like many former scavengers, she eventually realized that to make serious money she needed to add new merchandise as well….can’t remember if she started doing that before or after she left ebay.
To this day, there are people who can tell you why (in their opinion) she was a terrible seller. Of course, she’s worth millions and they aren’t…and as Donald Trump has demonstrated, as long as you have millions, a few bankruptcies in your past don’t matter much…
The book presents her side of the story, and obviously, there’s another side of the story too. But one thing I’ll say: she had no lack of energy and determination.
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After re-reading all the various articles mentioned in this thread I am sure that there is something to be learned from Nasty Girl’s ebay adventure. However as previously stated, the Netflix series is “loosely based” on her book. I am not a big fan of reality tv as I believe their reality is not really reality. But that is just me. This series may offer a lot of information and insight into ebay selling. But we have to keep in mind that Netflix wants people to watch it and they want excitement, adventure and they may “tweak” what actually happened. So I think if this series is viewed with that in mind we may learn something about Nasty Girl and her ups and downs.
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I binge watched it and liked it. I’m sure its Nast Gal light. Two things I came away with. The light version “was” me. My daughter watched it and she said “how eerily freaky she was like me”. Including the bridge scene. My daughter was dying of laughter. Second, I finally figured out why I’m not so hot about BOHO. I was BOHO. A child in the 60s. Was a teen in the 70s. I wore all of that stuff. Early 80s I had a white leather jacket that was exactly like the one she had. Ah but if I was truly anything like Nasty Gal, I’d be a multi millionaire.
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I’ve only watched part of the series, but it really disturbed me that it made all of us “evil” resellers out to be semi-reformed petty thieves. Our business has an image problem as it is and this show didn’t help, at least not from what I’ve heard from people I know and read on the internet.
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Yeah, I think the TV show, “American Pickers”, is a better image of resellers. People interested in treasure hunting, learning about history, and reselling to collectors who love the items.
La Frock Stars is also a joyous exploration of vintage clothing. A real love among the buyer and seller: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=ELWvDaU5DOPYY
There’s a reason the woman who ran Nasty Girl isn’t in business anymore. She forgot what it’s all about. Money by itself is really boring.
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Yes, it is definitely more about treasure hunting for me as well!
Ebay was a natural progression for me as in my adult life I have always loved turning trash into treasure. In my arcade collecting hobby, I have restored many completely junked out machines that should have landed on the burn pile. I take great pride in recognizing trash as something that someone would love and appreciate. Same thing with ebay.
My coworkers like to pick on me and think of what I do as being sleazy/ripping people off because my costs are so low. I always point them to my feedback and even personal messages from VERY happy customers. In many cases I’m even doing a service. I’ve sold several toys to folks with severely autistic family members. Me happening to have that very specific out of print toy was the difference in preventing a major long term meltdown and setback. Those have always been my favorite sales.
In short, money is awesome. I love money. But the passion I have for finding treasure and connecting it with the person who will treasure and value it is what really drives me.
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