A new luxury goods e-commerce startup has been compiled Long Story Short has a provocative idea: it’s $1,000 a month to join for the privilege of shopping her curated collection. As shocking as it sounds, founder Joseph Einhorn believes he understands this part of the e-commerce market and why many online luxury businesses to date have underperformed. The founder, best known for 2010 e-commerce site The Fancy, an upscale shoppable competitor to Pinterest, says high-net-worth individuals demand more in terms of privacy and security from their online experience — something that often don’t do shopping in a luxury market supply.
In Long Story Short, the private shopping club takes a different approach than other shopping locations.
In addition to simply having the funds to pay the $1,000 per month fee, potential clients must apply for acceptance. Once inside, customers can shop the site’s 50,000 hand-picked luxury goods, spanning categories such as home decor, luxury clothing, artwork, cards, jewelry, watches, gadgets and more, or they can request LSS (Long Story Short) group to procure items on their behalf.
The value proposition — if such a word can be used for such an expensive service — is that LSS will manage the transaction on behalf of the customer. This means negotiating with vendors and sellers, acquiring the item, then inspecting and verifying its authenticity, before shipping it to the buyer. This allows the customer’s transactions to remain anonymous to the seller — something prized among high-net-worth individuals because of the security risks associated with having their name, address or phone number compromised.
While LSS will have this information, Einhorn’s experience in e-commerce means he is already familiar with the world of online fraud and how to combat it, and has built the new company with privacy in mind. The company won’t detail its security practices so as not to invite hackers, but notes that it trades security for convenience in some cases by not collecting or storing anything other than necessary information. Moreover, some of its systems are not even connected to the internet.
Image Credits: Long Story Short
The private shopping club concept is something Einhorn likens to other efforts to target high-net-worth individuals, such as Pharrell’s launch of his own auction house last year, Joopiter. And, similar to offline luxury retail, LSS aims to provide the white-glove service that luxury shoppers expect.
Additionally, Einhorn argues that signing up for LSS makes sense for anyone who already spends at least $1,000 a month on luxury goods because of the savings it offers. Today’s online marketplaces often heavily advertise their items, meaning people are paying “at least $1,000” by being overcharged for “market junk,” he argues.
“Number one, we’re recommending items — you can see items that you probably didn’t know about that you can get involved with. And then, number two, let us get the best price possible, instead of just logging in somewhere where everybody’s getting pulled into the same kind of overpriced item,” Einhorn explains.
He believes that the combination of eliminating market fees and building direct relationships with vendors and sellers, the LSS savings could reduce the cost of luxury goods by 20-40%. However, his thesis is yet to be tested as the site is just getting started.
“What we’re hoping is that by having that collective buying power of serious consumers — like serious buyers — we’ll unlock better terms for everyone as a group,” says Einhorn.
LSS, meanwhile, doesn’t list the items themselves or charge any fees beyond the (pricey) subscription.
Image Credits: Long Story Short (user profile)
Still, Einhorn understands that this business model will turn some heads, particularly in the current economic climate where housing prices are so high, young people can’t afford homes, layoffs are rampant and the American dream, for many , has been put on hold. .
“It’s not lost on me that this is a challenging idea,” he tells TechCrunch.
Despite the state of the broader economy, rich people remain rich, meaning the startup already has customers signed up even before today’s launch, including “executives at our favorite companies, athletes, entertainers and people in tech,” says Our Einhorn. And thanks to its subscription price, LSS doesn’t need a large user base to break even or succeed. Even just 100 customers, “would be enough,” he notes.
The founder believes that LSS will go further than that, however, explaining that there is a global luxury retail market like this.
“We believe that in the US, the Middle East and China alone, there are hundreds of thousands of potential members in each of those markets that we will try to go after today,” says Einhorn. In some cases, these customers are less interested in wearing luxury brands, but more interested in adding luxury products to their homes, as in China. It also suggests that there is an untapped market of young professionals who see luxury as an asset class for investment, just as they might see something like crypto.
However, LSS aims to discourage customers from pooling their money for a subscription through checking apps. Conversely, high net worth individuals can “sponsor” others, such as their children or helpers, by paying their monthly fees.
The founder’s e-commerce experience and ability to cultivate a following dates back to the early 2010s.
His first shopping startup, Fancy, gained followers among the tech elite, including the Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, of Meta Chris HughesApple’s Tim Cook, as well as investors such as Allen & Co. partner LeRoy Kim. Investors in Fancy, meanwhile, included VCs Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Allen & Co., General Catalyst, Esther Dysonowner of the Celtics Jim Pallottacreator of MTV Bob Pittmanformer COO of eBay Maynard Webb, Eric Eisner, Jeff Sambergand Aston Kutcher. In later rounds, he also brought that of Mexico Carlos Slim Domit and CCCa Japanese holding company behind the Tsutaya book and media retailer chain.
Although Fancy did not last, Einhorn co-founded other companies, including a New York based children’s comic book storean e-commerce software engine The Archivist (which also had Kutcher’s backing), as well as a social network for people who like Walking, Way to go.
With LSS, it returns to e-commerce with the support of new investors, Misfit Market co-founders Abhi Ramesh (CEO) and Edward Lando. The startup raised about $500,000.
“[Lando has] it has always bothered me to revisit the world of luxury and it is the dream partner,” adds Einhorn.
Currently, New York-based Long Story Short is a team of seven and only plans to add employees to the service as its clientele grows.
Currently, the e-commerce startup is available online and as a mobile app for iOS. The latter prompted TechCrunch to somewhat cheekily ask if LSS is, in some ways, the modern-day “I Am Rich” — an early iPhone app whose presence on your Home screen served only one purpose: to afford buy it.
“I’m not surprised you said that,” Einhorn says. “I have a thick skin. I know what I’m getting into by putting this out there. I think that’s a fair point,” he agrees.
However, he adds, “These products cost a lot of money and there are a lot of them. There is magic in it. That we think they have lasting value and that they’re worth it, I’d say a private members club for power buyers, where somebody’s thinking about their privacy, and also somebody’s thinking about getting them the best deal… I think that might be over $1,000 a month to ROI very quickly,” concludes Einhorn.
