Dive Brief:

• ThredUp on Tuesday announced that it has dual-listed itself on the Long-Term Stock Exchange. The online resale platform is the first consumer-oriented company to list on the LTSE, and the second company overall after project management app company Asana.
• The LTSE is designed for companies with a long-term vision for sustainable and inclusive business practices. Companies that list with the exchange must publish and maintain long-term policies, and the LTSE has structured its operations so that long-term value is encouraged and rewarded over volatility and speculation.
• The retailer said in March its Q4 revenue fell about 2% year over year to $71.3 million, gross profits fell 7% to $45 million, and net loss widened 8.9% to $19.5 million. The number of active buyers fell 2% to 1.7 million. ThredUp is expected to release its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the markets close.

Dive Insight:

To list on the LTSE, companies must focus on the future, not the quarter; hold themselves to a standard beyond marketing dollars; and focus on standards based on a company’s strengths and help businesses and investors “profit with purpose.” 

ThredUp describes how it will align itself with LTSE values in a five-point, eight-page document.

One point of the policy is focused on long-term stakeholders. As part of this policy, the retailer said it wants to “inspire a new generation of consumers to think secondhand first,” while reducing fashion waste by extending the life of clothing through resale, reuse and recycling. The policy also includes commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Another LTSE policy focuses on how ThredUp will engage with long-term and sustainability-focused investors. The retailer said it plans to “identify, monitor, and track long-term investor quality and growth trends in order to target and attract appropriately aligned capital.” By doing this, the company expects to optimize its long-term value creation for investors and stakeholders. 

Other policy elements include committing to providing “comprehensive benefit options for employees and their families to live healthier and more secure lives,” and disclosing how ThredUp will approach executive compensation and build its board leadership. 

"It is time for decisive action,” James Reinhart, ThredUp’s founder and CEO, said in an announcement. “Companies have punted too many promises to their stakeholders on the environment, social causes and who they are building for. By dual listing on LTSE, we are codifying the critical relationship between ThredUp and our long-term stakeholders and ensuring our success is their success.”

ThreadUp earns revenue from selling secondhand apparel online as well as its resale-as-a-service business, where it provides logistics for retailers and brands that want to sell secondhand goods. That business has 42 clients.

The Long-Term Stock Exchange describes itself as “the only U.S. national securities exchange with a mission to unite innovative companies with patient capital.” It’s backed by six venture capital firms. 

“With this listing, ThredUp threw down the gauntlet for all consumer companies," LTSE founder and chairman Eric Ries said in the announcement. "It is not enough to make pledges to your stakeholders; it is time for binding commitments the public can believe."

The LTSE listed its first companies in 2021. Asana remains listed but Twilio, a cloud communications platform, voluntarily delisted itself in December 2022. “As part of Twilio’s commitment to non-GAAP operating profitability beginning in 2023, the company has evaluated discretionary expenses and determined that the costs associated with maintaining a dual listing were no longer justified,” Twilio said at that time.

ThredUp is also listed on the Nasdaq. ThredUp’s shares were trading just below $3 on Tuesday ahead of the company’s expected first-quarter earnings announcement.