Company Highlight thredUP Inc. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, USA, thredUP has upped the image and services of the traditional thrift store experience. Founded in 2009, the company indicates it is now "the world's largest marketplace" to buy and sell pre-owned women's and children's apparel. Building on the trends of sustainability and shar- ing economy, they want people to "Think Secondhand FirstM" and "discover the magic of secondhand." As stated by cofounder and chief technology officer, Chris Homer "We know that shopping secondhand helps the world in some small way, and we're proud to be a part of that. Being a conscious consumer matters. It matters to you, it matters to us, it matters in the whole big picture of the world" (Apparel, 2017). Here's how it works. Consumers order a "Clean Out Bag" kit from thredUP. They fill it with women's and children's clothing and ship it (free of charge) to thredUP. Sellers have the option of "donating" the merchandise to one of thredUP's nonprofit partners or receiving site credit or a cash payout for a small fee that covers shipping and processing costs. For example, the payout for a quality Patagonia brand casual skirt would be approximately US$4.20. For items being sold on consignment, individuals can re-claim unsold items within a particular number of days. thredUP accepts approximately 40 percent of the clothing they receive and sellers can have unaccepted items returned to them for a processing and mailing fee. If unaccepted merchandise is still wearable, it is sold to third party sellers. If it is not wearable, it is passed to a textile recycler (thredup, 2017). This process, very similar to other thrift store operations, has often confused sellers who assume everything they "sell" to thredUP will be sold online and paid accordingly. For the merchandise accepted, thredUP photographs and prices the items and enters it into their data base which includes a proprietary algorithm. Once online, shoppers can browse and filter searches by category, size, brand, color, and price. The online fashion resale retailer also uses computer technology to recommend products based on a customer's previous purchase history, style preferences, and the products that a customer is browsing. 1) A. What strategies were effectively implemented by this company? B. What challenges did they address in implementing the strategies and how did they address these challenges? C. In your opinion, why is this company successful?